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by Tatyana Sinioukov Sending your books overseas to be printed? Use a little courage, a gentle heart and a lot of brains to bring your books home successfully When sending books overseas to be printed, what does the publisher expect as the outcome? Just as Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz expected a solution to their problems at the end of the yellow brick road, print buyers expect their forays into overseas printing to yield a positive outcome, in this case, high quality, committed service at a reasonable price and an opportunity to establish a

by Tatyana Sinioukov The foil stamping industry has been enjoying a quiet year, it seems. Some changes that are worth mentioning, however, include an apparent increase in use of hot stamping foils for books and the emergence of several new products and processes. More than ever, stamping foils come in a wide variety of colors, finishes and effects: from marble, snake skin, imitation leather, pearls, wood grains and geometric patterns to holograms, pigments, metallics and tints, offering book designers endless creative possibilities. "The cost of foil has come down considerably over the last two years, too, and that makes a big difference," reveals Stewart

When it comes to computer-to-plate printing, more printers and publishers join the ranks of the believers every day, either experimenting with CTP with their four-color jobs, or switching to it by Tatyana Sinioukov Despite some limitations, as discussed by industry professionals below, CTP for four-color book production saves time and money and offers faster turnaround and higher quality than a conventional, film-based workflow. That's why more and more printers and publishers join the ranks of the believers every day, either experimenting with CTP with their four-color jobs, or switching to it completely. According to Frank Ervin, vice president of training and technology at

By Rose Blessing The top brass at printing companies insist that their top priority is finding ways to meet publishers' demands for faster turnaround times, an August feature in this magazine reported. Now, a look at how print buyers view this trend Diane Grossman Assistant Production Manager Publishing Services Academic Press Now and then Diane Grossman asks for a miracle from her printers--and gets it. Yet overall she has not noticed faster industry job turnaround times since joining Academic Press nearly two years ago, she says. On the whole, turnaround times have never been a problem area, possibly because she's able to give her

I apologize for admitting it, as you might prefer to believe that this magazine is edited by a brilliant, clairvoyant luminary, but deciding what to write about in this column was kind of a no-brainer. Let's see, what's really important in book publishing now? Well, DUH, it's the big focus on digital short-run printing. Several organizations are introducing new services and equipment to allow publishers to print from one to 1,000 or more books economically. Now publishers don't have to commit to a large print order to publish or reprint a title profitably. Oh, there's a lot to work out yet. First of all,

Publishers want faster turnaround--and printers know it. By Rose Blessing Today's book manufacturers are under the gun. Yes, publishers have always wanted faster turnaround for less money. What's new is that today's publishers not only want it; they demand it--and expect to get it. And printers feel they have to provide it. As Bertelsmann's Wayne Taylor, president and CEO of Berryville Graphics, phrased it, "We are not in the book manufacturing business. We are in the publishing business. We have to be a partner with our publishing clients and give them what they want when they want it -- even if it means working

While the publishing industry had a relatively stable 2020 and a pretty sunny 2021 thus far, we are definitely not out of the woods yet, not with the mutating virus around. For Hong Kong/China print manufacturers, pandemic-induced challenges outside of their control are hampering the efforts to deliver the final goods to their clients.

Last year, ink companies announced price hikes on their inks and coatings in North American markets. Now, they are facing two serious challenges far beyond their control.