Last Thoughts On On Demand

By Frank Romano

April 27, 2007 -- The On Demand show has ended. Go in peace. They say that 25,000 people were there and I stopped counting at 12,000. But the memory lingers on and here are some musings on issues that may be of interest.

1. On Demand printing is not only about digital printing. The term has become a euphemism for digital but that is not true. The Presstek DI press was at the show as was the Screen TruePress and both produce plates on press and reduce makeready to 10 minutes or so. Newer offset presses with CTP can also get makeready down to 20 minutes or less. On demand printing means I get the printing when and where I want it. How it is produced is academic.

Printing today is all about time. Print is the last domino that falls over in a process that begins with marketing goals and creative approaches and wends its way through production and proofing steps to the point at which a file is submitted to a printing company. If you do the arithmetic, the printing step is allotted the least amount of time. Thus, for jobs that are appropriate, digital printing, with a makeready of almost nothing, is applicable. This is why short run, quick turn  jobs have pretty much moved to digital.

2. The myth of Web-To-Print. The message I was getting is that W2P is the panacea for the printing industry. I love the idea of web storefronts that allow customers to buy printing online but let us realize that Internet transfer of files is now routine. And many jobs do not lend themselves to a storefront; this is why most of the print bought on the web ends to be business cards, memo pads, presentation handouts, and simple brochures. We need a better term for linking originators and buyers over the Internet to printers.

3. Pre-pressless workflows. The dream of JDF is that a job is entered with sufficient macro data to run in what is called “lights out” mode. Now I hate to trash anyone’s dreams but we cannot get designers to make InDesign or Quark files that work correctly. Imagine what happens when their information is used to acquire paper and drive all processes automatically. Where this concept works is where there is a contract relationship with the customer. This means that the printer and the customer will wok together on defined projects over some span of time. Thus, the customer and printer establish standards, checks and balances, and procedures that work best for both of them.

But many jobs come in from strangers and he printer has no idea what problems lurk in the files provided. There will always be the need for someone to find and fix the typographic transgressions and image irregularities of files submitted for print.

4. Pressman to dataman. The press operator has long been among the elite of the printing workforce. But that is changing. The IT or MIS expert is now the key person. They are responsible for updating software, maintaining websites and networks, and dealing with databases.

5. The 24/7 global economy. Half the world is asleep at any moment. If you are, it means that our competitors are awake. At one time print was a local business; now it is global. We get more print from Canada and Mexico and the UK than we get from China. Well, maybe. Think of all the stuff made in China. It gets tags and labels and goes in a package and the packages go in a carton and the cartons go in a container and the containers go on ship. When customs checks it out, they count the stuff but not the tags and labels and packages and cartons.

6. There is more to documents than documents. Tags, labels, certain signage, and certain packaging are large and growing markets. Some of this was discussed, but we should expand our coverage of on demand printing to include all printed products. There is still the impression that printing is a single sheet of 8.5 x 11-inch paper.

What do you think? Please send feedback to Frank by e-mailing him at fxrppr@rit.edu

Video: See Frank deliver the keynote speech at the EDSF luncheon at On Demand

Video: See Frank gives an introduction to On Demand and tells us what to expect

Frank Romano has spent over 40 years in the printing and publishing industries. Many know him best as the editor of the International Paper Pocket Pal or from the hundreds of articles he has written for publications from North America and Europe to the Middle East to Asia and Australia.

He is the author of over 44 books, including the 10,000-term Encyclopedia of Graphic Communications (with Richard Romano), the standard reference in the field. His books on QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign, and PDF workflow were among the first in their fields. He has authored most of the books on digital printing. His latest book is the 800-page textbook for Moscow State University.

He has founded eight publications, serving as publisher or editor for TypeWorld/Electronic Publishing (which ended in its 30th year of publication), Computer Artist, Color Publishing, The Typographer, EP&P, and both the NCPA and PrintRIT Journals. His columns appear monthly in the Digital Printing Report. He is the editor of the EDSF Report.

Romano lectures extensively, having addressed virtually every club, association, group, and professional organization at one time or another. He is one of the industry's foremost keynote speakers.

He has consulted for major corporations, publishers, government, and other users of digital printing and publishing technology. He wrote the first report on on-demand digital printing in 1980 and ran the first conference on the subject in 1985. He has conceptualized many of the workflow and applications techniques of the industry and was the principal researcher on the landmark EDSF study, Printing in the Age of the Web and Beyond.

He has been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Times of London, USA Today, Business Week, Forbes, and many other newspapers and publications, as well as on TV and radio. He has partnered with InfoTrends on strategic information for the printing industry.

He continues to teach courses at RIT and other universities and works with students on unique research projects.