Automated Print Solutions

62 Pages·1.955 MB·English

by  iSmithers Rapra Publishing

print > e-book
Automated Print Solutions
this e-book examines Automated Print Solutions and
the ascendant technologies in the industry.
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Automated Print Solutions
Pira Business Intelligence
richard romano
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table of contents
Executive Summary 2 Automated vs. Conventional Printing 3 End-use Applications
Automated vs. conventional Printing introduction introduction
4enter web-to-Print 4Hot metal, cold type, and the Birth of offset manuals and technical Documents
4enter mobile Devices and mobile-to-Print 4the Desktop Publishing (r)evolution magazines
end-Use Applications 4the Dawn of the internet Posters, Banners, temporary PoS materials
technology Forecasts 4enter workflow Automation Business Forms and iD
Future outlook 4A Dot-com interlude Packaging
4web-to-Print transforms the industry labels
1Introduction and Methodology 4Print Goes mobile (Sort of) Direct mail and transactional/transpromotional
introduction where we Are today Books
Scope 4web-to-Print catalogues
objective 4mobile management Services newspapers
methodology 4mobile-to-Print other: or, carve Your own niches
Definitions 4the mobile Designer
A closer look at web-to-Print 4 Technology Forecasts
4Flavours of Print e-commerce mobile Devices
4Ability to e-mail or FtP Print Files Software
4A Basic online Storefront the cloud
4Vistaprint Social media
4lulu Platform compatibility
4Branded web Portal Security
4Print e-commerce Applications
4Advantages of Print e-commerce Solutions 5 Future Outlook
A closer look at mobile-to-Print introduction
4Flavours of m2P commercial Print
4AirPrint Self-Publishing
4App Printing transactional
conclusion Packaging
wide-Format
Brand management, marketing options, and customisation
‘workflow’
the Final word
List of Tables and Figures
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print > e-book > automated print solutions
Executive Summary
in and of itself, the phrase ‘automated print solutions’ is a vague 5.5. is tablet-based graphic design and production far behind? As tablets and
catchall term, and so for the purposes of this report, we define the
smartphones
term in two ways: At the same time, vendors are starting to release mobile-
perform more tasks
1. A system whereby print files can be processed, sent compatible versions of, or interfaces to, their workflow production
and displace more
to press, and finished with minimal, if any, user or management information systems, giving users remote access to
of the functions
intervention. A key component of this process is that jobs in the production queue and facilitating true remote job status
the print files are delivered via the web. tracking. that a proper
2. A system also known as ‘print anywhere technology,’ or computer performs,
perhaps ‘push-button printing’ wherein the ‘button’ can Automated vs. Conventional Printing the more there
be found on a desktop computer or, increasingly, on a it could be argued that the road to automated printing was started
will be a place
mobile device like an iPhone or an iPad. back in 1884, when ottmar mergenthaler invented the linotype,
for them in the
a new ‘automated typesetting system’ that allowed the user to
print production
these two definitions also incorporate the ability to access, track, enter, via a keyboard, the type to be set, and the machine would
preview, proof, and approve print jobs from a mobile device. compose and output lines of metal type. Since then, automation workflow.
the advent of the internet in the 1990s set the stage for has largely been on the prepress side of the production process,
automated print solutions; by the end of that decade, the idea and the whittling away of all the processes that at one time
of ‘web-to-print’ solutions were starting to transform the industry constituted ‘prepress’ was the drive to some form of automation.
and create new business models for creative print businesses. in metal type gave way to phototypesetting, just as letterpress gave
the decade that followed and up to the present, the proliferation way to offset lithography, and just as desktop publishing automated
of smartphones and the emergence of the tablet Pc have been graphic design and production. computer-to-plate added even
creating a new phenomenon called ‘mobile-to-print,’ which has the more automation, and now with direct digital printing, files can go
potential to change printers’ relationships with print buyers, and to directly from designer to press with only an riP standing in the way.
change the public’s relationship with print as well.
whether this is truly automation or just simplification is a fair
As tablets and smartphones perform more tasks and displace more question. But in the 1990s, systems appeared that allowed print
of the functions that a proper computer performs, the more there providers to receive jobs, funnel them directly into a workflow
will be a place for them in the print production workflow. Adobe production system, set parameters, and never have to manually
has already ported a version of Photoshop to the iPad, and has touch a page until it comes off press, be that press offset or,
incorporated a slew of mobile tools in its brand-new creative Suite increasingly, digital.
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print > e-book > automated print solutions
Executive Summary
Enter Web-to-Print one of the biggest applications that emerged as Some of the benefits of print e-commerce include:
the 1990s segued into the 2000s was ‘web-to-print’ (w2P), which, at • Efficiency in design of professional, customisable,
its most basic, referred to any print job ordered via a web site, or at its consistently branded materials.
most complex, used a branded web portal to spec and order a wide • Fast turnaround.
array of corporate identity and/or marketing collateral materials, • Ease of segmenting, targeting, and personalising
which could be customised and personalised in various ways. templated materials.
• Decentralised marketing allows other nonmarketing
For the printer, web-to-print offered several advantages, not the departments, distributors, and even customers/users to
least of which was the ability to create customised applications for customise materials for their own requirements whilst
clients and carve out specific niches. Sure, there were production the central marketing department still maintains control
and cost advantages, but the big advantage was opening up of the branding.
opportunities for creative and entrepreneurial print shop owners. • Elimination of warehousing and maintaining inventory
today, the term web-to-print is starting to get a bit creaky, and is saves costs, avoids obsolescence, and reduces waste.
not necessarily representative of what the process actually is, or • Facilitates the creation of new business models that
has become. A suggested new name is ‘print e-commerce,’ which is add greater value for print customers than simply
what we will call it throughout this report. ‘printing stuff.’
the flexible nature of the technology that allows print e-commerce Enter Mobile Devices and Mobile-to-Print the next step was
can create a seemingly infinite variety of applications. For to put the internet in people’s hands—literally. early smartphones
our purposes—and basic simplicity—we can put current print such as the BlackBerry and the Palm treo whetted the public’s
e-commerce solutions into one of three buckets: appetite for mobile internet connectivity, and the 2007 release
1. t he ability to e-mail or FtP print files of the Apple iPhone improved on those early capabilities—and
2. a basic online print storefront (à la Vistaprint) invented a whole new class of software: the mobile phone app.
3. a branded (with the print buyer’s identity) web portal the release of the Apple iPad in 2010 was the first commercially
that allows print customers to create personalised or viable tablet computer, and its mobile internet access and app-
customised documents—sales and marketing materials, driven architecture also drove the market for mobile functionality.
collateral, identity, etc. it’s not difficult to imagine that the tablet computer, as it accretes
new features and more capabilities, will supplant the desktop and
the laptop computer. this has two important ramifications for the
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print > e-book > automated print solutions
Executive Summary
printer of tomorrow: more and more print will shift to tablet-based imaginations of print providers, as the craft of printing has moved
content, and print projects will be increasingly designed on and from the back end of the process to a primary place in front-end
transmitted via tablet computers. the ioS 4 already has a mobile strategy and business development planning.
print function called AirPrint that allows documents to be printed
wirelessly from an iPhone or iPad to a compatible desktop or End-Use Applications
network printer. this section looks at Print Anywhere solutions in the context
of Pira’s roster of end-use markets. not all of these markets will
what we are calling mobile-to-print is still very much in its infancy. At benefit from automated print solutions—and many markets may
present, there are two basic ways of accomplishing mobile-to-print: be becoming less and less important from a printing standpoint. in
1. p rinting directly from a mobile device (à la AirPrint), others, we will ‘blue-sky’ some potential applications that haven’t
much like printing to a desktop printer from a proper necessarily appeared yet.
computer;
2. using a mobile app to upload documents or images for in each of the markets below, we will indicate:
commercial printing. • W here that end-use market is going vis-à-vis print and
other media
the latter is one of the most interesting and potentially exciting • P otential applications for automated print solutions
iterations of mobile-to-print: photoprinting via iPhone apps. that • L evel of impact of automated print solutions on the
is, take iPhone photos, import them into an app, upload them to specific end-use market
a print provider, and have them print and mail custom postcards
or photobooks. For U.S. users, there are two iPhone apps for this As for the level of impact, we use the following four symbols:
purpose—SnapShot Postcard and Simply Postcards, by Simply color 1. n=negligible or no impact on production process for
lab and nSn Solutions, respectively. Both of these apps work very that end-use market (<1 percent)
similarly: You take any photo that’s on your iPhone, load it into a 2. l=low impact (<33 percent)
template, add a personalized message and a mailing address (the 3. m=moderate impact (33 to 66 percent)
apps sync with entries in the contacts app), and then upload it to 4. H=High impact (>66 percent)
be printed and mailed. it costs $1.99 per card (both apps charge
the same), and the process is rather quick and easy. TABLE 0.1 P otential impact of Print Anywhere technologies
CLICK TO VIEW TABLE
on end-use markets
these types of print applications will likely further spark the
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print > e-book > automated print solutions
Executive Summary
Technology Forecasts and related industries as time goes on and mobile computing and
there are many technologies making an impact on the printing communication continue to evolve.
industry in general and aspects of the automated print solution/
print e-commerce/Print Anywhere discussion in particular. this what will mobile devices themselves look like in 2016? Sure, that’s
section will look at some of these technologies, predict how they five years from now, but back in 2006 we had never heard of
are likely to develop over the next five years, and determine what smartphone apps, mobile-to-print, or tablet computing. what is
their impact on automated print solutions is likely to be. next for mobile devices? wearable computers? embedded devices?
Anything is possible, as these types of advances are no longer
Similar to the discussion in the previous section, we will indicate: solely the stuff of science fiction.
• W here that particular technology is going
• P otential impact of the technology on automated mobile devices are becoming a more integral part of our lives, and,
print solutions for better or worse, are becoming the medium through which we
• L evel of the technology’s impact on automated experience the world. the challenge for the printing industry is to
print solutions understand how print might occupy that new world. mobile-to-print
solutions are exciting because the best of them illustrate how print
As for the level of impact, as before, we use the following four symbols: can continue to be relevant to an increasingly electronic audience.
1. n= negligible or no impact on production process for everything we have been calling automated print solutions
that end-use market (<1 percent) has the potential to stimulate forward-thinking, creative, and
2. l=low impact (<33 percent) entrepreneurial print providers to dream up unique applications,
3. m=moderate impact (33 to 66 percent) services, and products. That’s where the future of the industry lies.
4. H=High impact (>66 percent)
TABLE 0.2 Where the technology is going
Future Outlook
Automated print solutions, print e-commerce, mobile-to-print,
CLICK TO VIEW TABLE Print Anywhere—these may seem like a random assortment of
vaguely related technologies, but they are interconnected and
will become even more so as well as more important for printing
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print > e-book > automated print solutions
1 Introduction and Methodology
Introduction Scope ...the primary
A sales rep out on the road accesses his company’s branded web For the purposes of this e-book, we are going to clarify two purpose of this
portal, hosted by a print provider, opens a templated spec sheet, meanings for automated print solutions:
report is to define
adds some information about a prospective customer, and orders a 1. A system whereby print files can be processed, sent
exactly what it
couple of printed copies, which arrive within 48 hours. to press, and finished with minimal, if any, user
is we are talking
intervention. A key component of this process is that
about (automated
An author has written a business book and, after being ignored the print files are delivered via the web.
by mainstream book publishers and agents, decides to publish 2. B etter known as Print Anywhere technology, or perhaps print solutions),
it herself; she uploads the content to an online on-demand book push-button printing. Just as you hit a Print button to since the
printer, where it can be purchased by customers driven to the site send documents to your desktop or network printer, vagueness of the
via the author’s social media efforts. so, too, do print buyers increasingly have the option
term itself could
of simply pushing a button to specify and print a
refer to just about
A family on holiday in Paris uses a smartphone to take pictures of commercial print job.1 that button might be found on
anything.
their children standing in front of the eiffel tower; they upload the a desktop computer or, increasingly, on a mobile device
picture via a smartphone app, enter a destination address and a like an iPhone or an iPad.2
greeting, and a custom postcard is printed and mailed.
the term automated print solutions also refers to the back end of
A couple was just married, and as a commemorative gift to their the process, or the production system installed in the commercial
guests, they assemble photographs of the wedding, upload them to print location that makes all of this possible. Also related to this
a digital printer, and order a limited set of customised photobooks. topic is the ability to access, track, preview, proof, and approve print
jobs from a mobile device.
these are just a few examples of a cluster of related technologies
and processes generally known as automated print solutions. A it should be no secret to anyone reading this report that in the
quick Google search turns up a plethora of companies actually past several years mobile devices have proliferated dramatically.
named Automated Print Solutions, so the primary purpose of this Apple alone has sold more than 100 million iPhones,3 while the
report is to define exactly what it is we are talking about, since the 20 million iPads sold to date have been quickly displacing Pc
vagueness of the term itself could refer to just about anything. sales4. mobile applications have been a hot category for the past
two years, and advances in hardware and software are continually
expanding what can be done on a mobile device. it is not difficult
1. F or a brief period, push-button printing wasn’t just a metaphor. In the U.S., a version of Adobe Acrobat had a button that could 8
automatically transmit a print-ready PDF file to the nearest FedEx Kinkos (now FedEx Office), a quick-print franchise.
2. The button was quickly removed after a great deal of grumbling from independent commercial printers and printing associations.
3. http://venturebeat.com/2011/03/02/apple-100m-iphones/.
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Introduction and Methodology
to envision a time in the near future when the Pc—certainly Objective
the desktop computer, probably the laptop, as well—is largely this report covers the emerging developments in Print Anywhere
supplanted by a tablet computer. technologies and identifies the potential global markets for
mobile print technologies. we provide a commentary and analysis
the changes wrought by the proliferation of mobile devices are of the trends in this space to help companies identify market
myriad; mobile devices have upended marketing and advertising, opportunities and develop strategies to take advantage of the
for example, while the wi-Fi and 3G capabilities of mobile devices changing conditions.
means the internet is now as portable as print. this has had
dramatic repercussions for the book, magazine, and newspaper Methodology
publishing industries. little data exist on automated print solutions. Part of that is the
result of the vagueness of the term, another is that the technologies
more to the point of this report, the prevalence of mobile devices referred to are too new for there to be comprehensive and
can engender important changes in the print production process. projectable data available—whether in Pira’s extensive databases or
As tablets and smartphones perform more tasks and displace more via third-party sources. where data exist, they will be presented, but
of the functions that a proper computer performs, the more there the reader should be aware that this report will be predominantly
will be a place for them in the print production workflow. Adobe a qualitative overview of Print Anywhere applications. it was
has already ported a version of Photoshop to the iPad, and has prepared via extensive third-party research, vendor press materials,
incorporated a slew of mobile tools in its brand-new creative Suite interviews with users, and researcher experience. Quantitative data,
5.5. is tablet-based graphic design and production far behind? few and far between, are cited where relevant.
Vendors are starting to release mobile-compatible versions of, Definitions
or interfaces to, their workflow production or management Some of the terms used in this report include:
information systems, giving users remote access to jobs in the
production queue and facilitating true ‘remote’ job status tracking. 3G—Short for third generation, or a set of standards for mobile
But automated print solutions aren’t entirely about mobile devices; telecommunications. Generally, 3G networks must meet
but, as with a lot of technology, there is overlap. we’ll see where international mobile telecommunications-2000 (imt-2000)
that overlap occurs. specifications, or peak data rates of at least 200 kilobits per
second. Some 3G networks go beyond that and offer mobile
broadband access of several megabits per second to smartphones.
4. Aaron Ricadela and Dina Bass, ‘Apple iPad’s ‘Buzz Saw’ Success Cuts PC Sales at HP, Dell,’ BusinessWeek, May 18, 2011, 9
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-05-18/apple-ipad-s-buzz-saw-success-cuts-pc-sales-at-hp-dell.html.
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Introduction and Methodology
App—Short for application. in the context of mobile computing, offset printing. on-demand printing avoids having to warehouse or
app refers to a small program that runs on a smartphone or tablet inventory printed materials, and also allows for ease of updating.
computer and performs a specific function, such as locating nearby on-demand books—that is, books printed one or a few at a time as
businesses (a location app), posting Facebook or twitter updates needed—is one example of PoD/Jit.
(a social media app), playing games, creating and editing colour
palettes, identifying fonts—just about anything. POD—Acronym for print on demand. See on-demand printing.
JIT—Acronym for just-in-time. See on-demand printing. Premedia—new term that some printing shops and plants use in
lieu of prepress. that is, it refers to all the processes that take place
Management information system (MIS)—Software that before deploying a particular project to a variety of media channels,
analyses most or every aspect of a print business to track be it print, the web, or other.
productivity. miS can be used to track jobs, and can include or
integrate with Supply chain management (Scm) and/or customer Prepress—All of the processes that take place prior to putting
relationship management (crm) systems. a print job on press, including typesetting, colour separation,
platemaking, proofing, trapping, and more. what actually
Mobile device—in this report we define a mobile device as any constitutes prepress has been changing as technology changes. in
handheld gadget that can perform essentially the same functions some digital printing workflows, prepress can simply involve hitting
as a computer, and access the internet. Smartphones and tablet a button and riPing a file for direct output.
computers are the two primary categories of mobile devices we will
be concerning ourselves with in this report. RIP—raster image processor. component in a printing system that
outputs a bitmap.
Mobile-to-print—the ability to submit a print job for output using
a mobile device such as a smartphone or a tablet computer. Smartphone—A cellphone that has capabilities beyond simply
making and receiving calls, such as also allowing internet access
On-demand printing—Also known as print on demand (PoD) (web and e-mail) as well as the installation of a wide variety of
or just-in-time (Jit) printing, the use of a digital colour production apps that turn a phone into essentially a small computer. the
press, high-speed digital black-and-white printer, or even colour Apple iPhone and rim BlackBerry are classic examples.
copier to print jobs for clients as they are needed, as opposed to
the mass-printing-and-inventorying model traditionally used in Tablet computer—A handheld computer, larger than a
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