Have you tried any new technologies recently: CTP? PDF? Digital links to suppliers?
We have tried and continue to try some of the emerging technologies. Several of our book manufacturers are now using direct-to-plate systems for both one-color and four-color process work. We like this technology for several reasons. With the elimination of film, there is one less medium involved in putting ink on paper, and the result is a sharper dot and improved overall resolution. Most of our titles are now supplied as paged PDF files from the compositors to the book manufacturers. PDF files are cleaner and more stable than previous page-application-only files; they are preflighted and compressed, requiring less time to image direct to plate and providing greater assurance of file integrity and completeness.