Introduction to my GRCP101 Final Project

For my Final Project for GRCP101 I have decided to research the area of Electronic Publishing.

There are many types of Electronic Publishing and methods of Publishing but I would like to focus my research on Desktop Publishing in the print industry and the inventions and developments of publishing within that industry.

I shall give a brief overview of Electronic Publishing in general but for the most I shall concern my findings to Desktop Publishing. The title of this Final Project is “From the Printing Press to the Electronic Press”.

REASON I Choose this field of Research?

Given that I have spent many years in this industry. I feel this would be a very strong topic for my research. I would also like to include the different career paths in this industry from Production Artists, Graphic Designers, Digital Operators and the death of some careers also example the Plate Maker. I feel my research will be very useful to anyone who is thinking of entering into the Print industry, either as a Graphic Designer, Production Artist or a Digital Operator. This will help people decide if this career path is right for them.

What is Electronic Publishing?

So what is Electronic Publishing? To fully understand what the term Electronic Publishing means, we must first look at the word publishing and its aspect. Publishing goes through 3 stages, publish, publisher, and finally publishing. Publish means to issue, for sale or distribution, to the public printed, reproduced textual or graphical material. In order to publish one needs a publisher. A publisher is simply a person or company who publishes books, periodicals, multimedia etc., and finally, publishing is the business or activity of a publisher.

By adding the word electronic in front, it does not change the meaning of publishing, but the publisher does it electronically and with no paper involved. There are some exceptions to this rule in Desktop Publishing where the publisher sends electronic files to a printing press for final output to paper for distribution. This same principle applies to Digital Printing, which will be explained in more detail in this research paper.

There are various forms of electronic publications, ranging from books, newspapers, magazines, websites, CD ROMs, DVD, ebooks, E-journals, digital libraries, manuals and Social Networking. With escalating paper and publishing costs, magazine publishers and the academic community is now turning to electronic publishing as a way to reduce cost. On the other hand, copyright issues are limiting the amount of articles that newspapers are putting forth electronically.

Recent developments in DTP

Recent developments that have had impact
on the
Desktop Publishing industry:

In recent years there have been two major developments in the desktop publishing industry that changed the cost and speed of the publishing process. The two new technologies are related and work together, listed below are the two new features:

Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format):
Created by one of Adobe's founders John Warnock originally it was an internal project at Adobe to create a file format so documents could be spread throughout the company and displayed on any computer using any operating system. These documents could be viewed on any machine and any selected document could be printed locally. This capability would truly change the way information is managed. Today most desktop applications can created PDF files, these files can be sent to a client by internet as a low resolution for proofing during the production process and when they are ready for print can be made high resolution and sent straight to a CTP system for high end printing. To read a PDF file you need the free software from Adobe called Acrobat reader of which 500 million copies have been distributed so far. This has made electronic publishing of digital files readable on all computer systems, quicker delivery, easy to send for proofing, cutting cost of traditional delivery methods and overall speeds up the production process. PDF files are also widely used on web pages as attachments for download.

CTP (Computer to Plate):
One of the latest technologies to emerge in the desktop publish industry is CTP or computer to plate. This new technology does away with the need of film, image setters and plate makers. For years the publishing industry has been spending millions on film and image setters now with a touch of a button a file can be sent to a workstation, files are then put into position and are sent straight to the plate which is then placed on a litho printing press for printing. PDF workflow is the method used for file transfer.

 CTP (Computer to plate workflow)

Advantages of CTP (Computer to Plate):
Plates are produced in less time and more consistently. (Film can move on the plate as it is being placed for exposure or as it is being exposed). CTP ensures better registration, and image-to-edge repeatability.

CTP systems can significantly increase print shop productivity. The fastest CTP systems can output up to 120 12-inch plates an hour, punched and ready for press.

The chemistry used to develop the plates is generally more environmentally safe compared to older film chemistry.

If a publishing company does not have CTP system in place they can send a high res PDF file over the internet or on disk to a company who has CTP.

Kodak CTP system, ”Trendsetter News”

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