“Digital Printing and Virtual Proofing” the hot topics presented at WPPC seminar

Two of the hottest topics in the printing industry today are variable data printing and the elimination of the hard copy proof. Both were presented recently at a seminar hosted by the Wisconsin Publishers Production Club (WPPC). A panel of six speakers from various segments of the printing industry brought attendees up to speed on the new technologies.

Each speaker had some eye opening insights into where the printing industry is headed. Here is what they had to say.

Joe Falcone - NexPress – “Digital printing started when the first Mac was hooked up to a printer,” said Falcone. Xerox was the granddaddy of digital with high speed, high-end copying. The other key digital print technologies include HP Indigo and NexPress.

The biggest use of digital up to now has been in the statement processing market. There are seven levels of digital printing. 1. Static Short Run (single version), 2. Versioned (two or more plate changes), 3. Personalized (name & address), 4. Customized (demographic data), 5. Transactional (statements), 6. Fully Customized (1 to 1 relevant data), 7. Automated Fulfillment (web to print), which is the fastest growing segment.

Bill George from KPG told WPPC attendees that the virtual proof was the future of printing.

Falcone summarized variable printing in two ways “Spray and Pray” for address only and “Speak to Me” for use of highly relevant data.

Tim Gierszewski - Color Ink – “The click charge for variable data printing is much higher, but so is the ROI.” Gierszewski pointed out quite a few other benefits of digital printing too!

The database file can be put to better use with smaller mailings to a very targeted audience. Variable data can be printed in any color, any font and any typesize. Graphics and photos can be personalized. Offers and price points can be changed per individual prospect.

Response rates increase tremendously with use of relevant variable data...10 to 25% response rates will become the norm. Korbell got a 98% response to a highly targeted promotion. How far can it go? Dogs have actually received variable data brochures!

Todd Thompson - Plus Digital Printing – “You have just 2.4 seconds to grab a prospects attention,” warned Thompson. His company shifted from a prepress business to a digital printer in order to survive. Prepress is going away.

He shared some examples of how variable printing increased response for his customers. A military academy had always received 40 to 50% response rates from an annual fund drive to their very loyal alumni. They were satisfied. Thompson thought the academy could do better. They tested a mailing to alumni that included their salutation, graduation date, the names of three classmates and a photo from their graduation year. Donations doubled and the response rate was 100%!

A shoe store needed to reduce inventory of odd sized shoes. Thompson helped them develop a mailer that would target people with feet that matched the overstocked shoe sizes. The promotion reduced inventory quickly. They decided to start buying manufacturers overstock at reduced prices. They could now promote size 13 shoes to people with size 13 feet and get a higher profit margin.

He cautioned though, that relevance is only as good as the data.

John Sweeny - Integrated Color Solutions – “In virtual proofing, the file is the proof.” Sweeny explained how PDF proofing is fast becoming the norm in the printing industry.

With virtual proofing, the print customer can look at a proof and press sheet on a computer monitor at a remote location. That same proof is viewed on a compatible monitor at the printer. Corrections can be made in real time. Approval can be completed in minutes. The savings in time is huge.

There are now 14 monitor systems that have been certified and approved as virtual proof remote systems. The biggest publishers in the country have adopted these systems. Time Inc. is installing this equipment for all its publications. The system has eliminated 25 physical handoffs for every paper proof, on every page, in all of their magazines.

Bill George - KPG – “The matchprint is history!” George provided more insight into the benefits of virtual proofing.

The virtual proof is the most accurate, consistent and reliable system on the market. It provides accurate CMYK color, consistent matching color to color, monitor to monitor, monitor to hard copy and location to location.

Virtual proofing reduces deadlines, inaccuracies and costs. It’s taken the proofing cycle down from days to hours. It’s a better predictor of press results. It eliminates the FedEx bill.

Wayne Metcalf - Banta PubNet – “44% of adults age 18 to 34 now read their daily news on the internet.” Metcalf explained that digital magazines are a growing trend to reach that market segment.

Magazine publishers who have added digital versions of the publications have discovered new benefits from their web site. Digital magazines provide additional distribution. They open new markets overseas. Foreign versions can be translated in other languages more inexpensively. Back issues can be searched. Digital reprints can be sold. Issues can be distributed on CD or by e-mail.

The biggest advantage though, is the ability to provide advertisers variable data and animation within their ads. By collecting relevant subscriber data, the ads they see can be tailored to their wants and desires.

WPPC donates $7,500 toward printing education(L-R) Dean Flowers, an Associate Dean at Waukesha County Technical College thanked Marty Ochs for the $7,500 donation made by Wisconsin Publishers Production Club. Ochs is the Exectutive Director of WPPC. The funds will be used to create scholarships for students entering the printing and graphics program at the college.

This seminar showed that variable data is showing significant growth in both the print and on-line worlds.

The Wisconsin Publishers Production Club (WPPC) donated $7,500 to the Waukesha County Technical College recently. The money is slated for use in the college’s new Harry V. Quadarcci Printing and Graphics Center located in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.

Dean Flowers, the Associate Dean of the center, accepted the check from Marty Ochs, the Executive Director of the WPPC. The center boasts one of the finest print educational facilities in the nation. It was designed by industry representatives to offer a highend learning environment reflective of industry expectations. The Printing & Graphics Center is situated within the nucleus of the Midwest’s print industry. More than 11,000 printers are located within 250 miles of the college.

The WPPC is an organization dedicated to providing educational and networking opportunities for those in the publishing industry. Supporting the Quadracci Printing and Graphics Center was a natural for WPPC. “These graduating students will be the future of the printing and publishing industry in Wisconsin,” said Ochs.

For more information about the college go to www.wctc.edu. The WPPC website is at www.wppc.org.