Designing the pre-press process of the graphic designer in the proofing era

What is design proofing? In the current proofing, digital proofing can be divided into design proofing, color proofing, and dot proofing according to various effect requirements. Can color proofing be introduced into the design studio to achieve design proofing? In fact, designers can design proofing with a narrow digital printer. Digital proofing system is generally composed of hardware and software. The hardware is mainly a large-format printer using inkjet technology (such as HP's HP DesignJet 5000 large-format printer), and the software is mainly developed for digital proofing RIP software (such as: Kim Ho's Express Color RIP color management software) . The large-format printers currently on the market are large in size and high in price.

If the format is reduced to a narrow one and the cost is reduced, people can afford digital proofing machines and digital proofing machines. For example, some organizations have strict requirements on the design of designs, and each layout usually needs to be modified several times in the production process. This type of users has already started using digital proofing as a proofing proof. In the process of modification, first use digital proofing, and then do the traditional proofing after the modification is completed. This will not only facilitate repeated modification, but also save the proofing cost. In the newspaper photo album, people have already used A3 format printer output, very convenient. We have every reason to believe that a narrow digital proofer will surely keep pace with it.

If this naivety comes, then we will describe a graphic designer's prepress process:

When the designed pattern is more realistically displayed in the computer, a narrow-width digital proofer is connected, and the proofer prints out the sample at the speed of an almost normal printer; after careful inspection and comparison, the defects are corrected one by one, so , and then start the proofing machine, and then make a sample. If the sample still looks unsatisfactory, modify it and print it again.

Perhaps people will worry about the cost of printing, but the cost of a narrow format digital proofer will be negligible compared to this convenience. In fact, both the purchase cost and the color cost of printing are relatively low. The price of a narrow format digital proofer is certainly much cheaper than the large format proofer used in the output center. What is the cost of the sample? As we mentioned above, the cost of digital proofing at the output center is similar to the cost of traditional proofing: if you provide four samples for users and eight proofs for example, traditional proofing requires 50 yuan, and digital proofing The cost of proofs is about 10 yuan, and four sheets are about 40 yuan. How is the speed? Large-format digital printers can print up to 7 square meters per hour and up to 52 square meters per hour. Do not forget, this speed may be the speed of all proofing work, no need to copy the disk, do not have to run east and west, all in a short time!

After the day comes, proofing will not need to go to the output center. The designer's office is the "output center."

The crowd wins the match

Many companies have seen the prospects for digital proofing and design proofing and huge business opportunities. They have invested a lot of human and material resources in research and development. As far as digital proofing is concerned, it is the result of comprehensive application of technologies such as computer technology, color printing technology, and color management. At present, there are many domestic digital proofing systems such as BestColor digital proofing system, CGS digital proofing system and Hewlett-Packard-Jinhao digital proofing system. There are mainly domestic digital proofing systems developed by Peking University. Among these digital proofing systems, the most widely used large-format color inkjet printers are manufactured by Hewlett-Packard and Epson, with a print resolution of 1200 dpi. The print accuracy and print quality are comparable to print and even exceed the print quality; the print format can be achieved. A0 is even bigger and can adapt to the requirements of various types of printing format.

As a world-renowned provider of computing and imaging solutions, Hewlett-Packard has a unique ability to predict and analyze the market. HP sees that traditional printing cannot meet the company's growing printing needs, and it has introduced a digital proofing system that best suits the needs of businesses. HP-Jinhao Digital Proofing System was developed on the basis of industry-standard Jin Hao Express RIP, HP's latest large-format color inkjet printer HP Designjet5000, plus precise color management technology.

Jinhao Express RIP can support Postscript Level 3. Four-color or six-color printing; Supports ICC international standards; With tone adjustment curve; Satisfy the linearization work; With any adjustable color adjustment tool; Can output PDF, TIFF, PS, Files in EPS format, etc.; Fully automated workflows; Support for AppleTalk, Spool Folder, TCP/IP network printing; Support for multi-task parallel work; preview before printing to avoid errors. Can run on Windows NT or Power Mac platforms. With a well-designed user interface, both the Apple PC environment and the PC environment are easy to learn and easy to use without the need for traditionally proofed high-skilled printers.

HP-Jinhao color digital proofing system has two main characteristics: First, fast, and second, high precision. The print speed of the HP DesignJet 5000 series large-format color inkjet printers has increased dramatically. With full-format, best-quality prints, it can print 4.6-5.9 m long per hour, roughly equivalent to 7-10 pairs. The printer's speed is due to its unique JetExpress multi-nozzle, high-frequency thermal inkjet technology, which integrates 512 nozzles on a 25 mm wide printhead with high frequency jets up to one second per second. The bell ejects 15,000 ink dots and prints 20 mm width in each line. In addition, the printer also uses six-color ink and special color layered printing technology, so that the same position can be up to 21 ink dots, increase the number of layers of each ink point, improve the fineness of the print image And sense of hierarchy.

Business investment is at that time

Digital printing is a sunshine in the traditional printing industry, with some characteristics of the sunrise industry. Investment in digital printing means a considerable return.

Traditional printing adds more equipment and investment costs. Taking the proofing during the printing process as an example, if two sets of four-color proofing are completed within one hour, the investment in traditional equipment requires four sets of proofing machines, supporting printing and printing equipment, plus the required staff and considerable The investment of the factory building is about RMB 2 million, which is a big investment for SMEs. The investment in digital proofing will not exceed 1.5 million yuan at most, and the additional labor will be close to zero. In terms of material costs, the cost of traditional proofing paper and ink is very low, the higher is the plate and syrup. Digital proofing an open format is about 25 to 170 yuan. In general, the return on investment for digital proofing can be much higher than traditional proofing.

The full set of HP digital proofing system only needs 12-18 million yuan, which can meet the requirements for proofing of full-width printing format, eliminating the huge investment of hundreds of thousands to millions of traditional proofing (printer, printing machine , plate machine, drilling machine, etc.). And only 10 square meters of office space is suitable for the office environment, eliminating the roar of large factory buildings and machines for traditional proofing.

Lower investment and production costs have the advantage of market competition. According to preliminary estimates, the production cost of using the HP-Jinhao Color Digital Proofing System (calculated as a sample of one sample sheet) is much lower than traditional proofing and has a huge profit margin. When HP introduced a printer designed specifically for "design proofing," investment costs and proofing costs would be even lower.

Designing the feeling of heartbeat

In any case, digital proofing came, designing proofs came, and many people met, used, and had something to say.

“Traditional proofing cannot do multi-devices, which means that one job needs to be output on different media. Traditional proofing can't be done, but design proofing can do it. Design proofing system can correct itself and simulate different output formats, such as magazine size. , poster size, etc., automatically modify the contents of the file."

"The benefits of design proofing are less investment, the cost is also very flexible, and you can know in advance the effect, especially in color management, first adjust the printer, set some goals, can be light powder, matte powder or newsprint, After measuring, proofs like the actual design are printed."

“After the film was exported for a day, the proofing would take one day, but now a few minutes can be output for a design proofing A3 size, which will output the film without problems and save a lot of time. In addition, the final standard of color control in the past is often manipulated. Proofing company hands, but now in their own hands. Can be a good control of time and cost."

There is a market for demand, and there are markets where companies will seize business opportunities. Hewlett-Packard in the printer market, after the development of large-format digital printers, developed for the majority of design agencies A3 format digital design proofer, will be launched in August and September this year. At that time, proofing will be another world.