Simplicity: It Works in Print, Too

I often visit printers who have dozens (or hundreds) of plate compensation curves in their workflow. In every case, the curves have been created in an effort to extract the best possible quality, and there are plate curves for every possible use: for coated, for uncoated, for particular proofing systems, for particular jobs, for particular printing presses, and so on. On top of that, plate curves are never thrown away, so the list grows longer and longer over the years, until it becomes nearly impossible to find the right on.

Time spent looking for the right compensation curve increases, as does the probbility of something going wrong.

On of my first moves in a printing plant is to make those curves go away, replaced by a small suite of very effective curves. Why? Because it's simple, and it works. Simplicity makes people smarter, while coomplexity, by making things more complicated, has the effect of making people stupider.

Eric Burke, in his Sutffthathappens blog, has a great post on simplicity. A picture is worth a thousand words...check it out.

Soft Technology Implementation in Print

We have many new technologies developing in print: softproofiing, digital, ink optimization and print verification to name a few. But it is looking more and more like the real advances that can be gained in print hinge on human issues, more than purely technical fixes.

What brought this point home was a recent podcast on web optimization. It was only very recently that search engine optimization or SEO was considered a geek's paradise, requiring lots of obscure knowledge, exotic software programs and so on. In other words, the problem of SEO was seen as a purely technical one, requiring a technical fix. The technology has evolved, however, as has the required approach. Now that the technology has become accessible and easier to use, the purely technical approach no longer delivers results. What does work is the very old fashioned element of actual content: people using their brains to actually extend some real knowledge.

What's the connection to printing? Many of the difficult to use and expensive technologies have become inexpensive and easier to use, but the missing ingredient-continuous human effort to make continuous improvement-are all to often missing. This is bad news for operations who have made heavy capital expenditures for expensive presses and workflow systems that are poorly used but very good for lean operations who have learned to use their existing equipment effectively, and employed smart solutions to leverage what they already have.

How complicated is ISO 12647, anyway?

Printers who just finally started paying attention to tracking their densities have been a little shaken by the G7 groundswell, and feel overwhelmed by rumors of some ISO thing out there. ISO? Isn't that some European thing, like the metric system? Why do things keep changing? What happened to good old fashioned printing?

It's true that ISO 12647-2 is probably the most-talked about, longest, and least read publication (at least in the United States) since "The Name of the Rose", but boiled down to its essentials it is straightforward and familiar. Latest editions have gone colorimetric, but the original edition was all about density, dot gain.....oh, and gray balance.

To help cut through the fog, take a look at this post-it-note sized condensation of ISO 12647-2, from the original 1996 edition. It may be a golden oldie, but I'll bet it looks pretty familiar to many offset printers who never heard of the original standard.

What is most important to Digital Print Buyers?

Bob Wagner asked the question, "What's important to digital print buyers" and the answer may surprise you. On a listing of importance, price was in 5th place. Most important? Dependability, followed by print quality and turnaround time. What does this mean to digital printers? Competing on price alone may be a poor strategy. Go for quality and service. Read it here.

Cal poly presents 2011 International Printing Week

San Luis Obispo – Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Department has announced the lineup for its 2011 International Printing Week, set for Jan. 25-28.

The theme of the four-day event is “Graphic Communication – The Production of Knowledge.” The program will include seminars by industry leaders, laboratory dedications, demonstrations, a career fair, a banquet and the department’s winter advisory board meeting. All seminars and demonstrations are conducted on campus. Industry members are invited to attend the seminars. Check out the details here.

How Colors Affect What We Buy

Did you know that color accounts for an 80% increase in brand recognition? Or that 85% of shoppers list color as a primary factor in making a buying decision? Or that 93% list visual appearance as a leading factor in making purchasing decisions?
ton Post:
Kiss Metrics put this study together, hat tip to the Huffington Post.

Photoshop Rap Tutorial

It had to happen: a rap video tutorial for Photoshop.

PIA/GATF Color Conference Finishes

The PIA/GATF color Conference ended on Tuesday with a keynote presentation from Mike Rodriguez of RR Donnelley on the history and future of color management or "The Tinted Ramblings of a Color Geek"

Things turning up for print?

According to "What They Think", print may finally be turning up:

Monday’s release of August’s US commercial printing shipments showed that they increased on a current dollar basis for the last five months. When adjusted for inflation, four of the last five months were up. The first quarter of the year was rather dreadful, but these last months have been quite a turnaround. If the month-to-month comparisons continue in this manner for the rest of the year, the industry could have a $1 billion increase compared to 2009. Keep your fingers crossed.

Too early to get our hopes up? Read the whole thing.

Color Logic Receives Must See'eum Award at Graph Expo

The Process Metallic Color System by Color-Logic received a coveted MustSee’ems! award at Graph Expo 2010 in Chicago.

Worth a look; It is amazing how well metallic effects can work if the design plans for them from the beginning.