Cross-century technology (center)

PDF
In order to take full advantage of the benefits of the PDF format in the commercial printing industry, issues such as spot colors, job ticketing, external embedding, and TIFF/IT file formats have yet to be resolved.
To date, PDF has been successful in many areas. It has been widely used by the Associated Press through the AdSend Program. In addition, PDF is a good way to exchange finished layouts and content for various users.
After Adobe released the new version of Distiller software and PDF file format in 1999, the application of PDF will be further developed.
Output Technology Developments in output technology are related to a higher degree of automation and the functionality of Postscript 3 and PDF. Most of the major output device manufacturers can provide automated processes. If you want to seek a higher degree of automation, flexibility, and functionality, further research is needed. Companies such as Agfa, Barco, Dalim, Screen, Heidelberg, and Saige all provide some automated workflow.
Since both Adobe and Harlequin support the inclusion of native PDFs in their RIP solutions, some dealerships have already been implemented, or will be implemented in the near future.
Proofing digital proofing technology is now mature, and with new products from Kodak Polychrome, Polaroid and Imation, and many platemaking machine manufacturers, printing industry professionals can now easily select various types of digital proofers.
In addition, since many devices implement ICC color management and PDF file formats, soft proofing has begun to become. Rtimage's RenderView is a specialized soft proofing product that is distributed by Saturn. This user server application allows users to view downloaded files on direct servers over any network connection, including the Internet. This software allows you to view proofs on the screen without having to download the entire file.
The computer-to-plate computer-to-plate (CTP) technology has been taught for many years. In fact, there are only more than 2,000 installed CTP devices worldwide, and most of them are used by large-scale rotary printers. At present, computer-to-platemaking cannot be widely applied for the following reasons:
First, the conservative concept. People are always more cautious about a new technology. After all, only two influential vendors provided CTP equipment nearly two years ago.
Second, once people start looking at the requirements needed to support CTP, they will realize that there is still a lot to do to support CTP, enhance infrastructure and existing processes.
Third, the uncertainty of CTP Village. The competition between thermal and visible technologies is also affected by the small selection of available thermal plates in some processes. Two years ago, there were only a few thermal plates on the market. However, according to Fujitsu and Agfa, there will be a variety of thermal plates available in 2000.
Network Technology In order to transmit information to devices such as photo-textsetters, plate-setters, and color proofers, the rapid transfer of data files has become more and more important. Today, it has become a reality to develop a server-centric workflow. Therefore, our demand for LANs is increasing rapidly.
Many of the print industry's early adopters of digital workflow initially used Local Talk (50KBPS) as a networking protocol. However, the development of new solutions, such as 10 base T twisted-pair Ethernet (100KBPS) and later 100base T twisted-pair Ethernet (100MBPS), increase the transmission speed, which makes a server-centric workflow become possible. Today, people need to maximize the efficiency of this server-centric work process, which has recently been developed to Gigabit Ethernet (1000MBPS), which is 10 times faster than 100base T twisted-pair Ethernet. . Many Gigabit Ethernet network interface cards (NICs) and connectors have begun to appear, and in 1999 a large number of additional products were introduced to further increase the speed of delivery.
Telecommunication As the digital workflow has gradually become the standard, establishing a smooth and communication channel between the customer and the print owner becomes very important. According to customer requirements, 56K modems, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), and Analog-to-Analog Language (ADSL) and T1 or T3 bandwidth words will all be part of the infrastructure of the printing and prepress companies. In most cases, it is still a timid thing to ensure that you can implement any of the above methods. Some existing problems are related to inadequate understanding of telecommunications and incomplete infrastructure of local telephone companies.
The main trend in the development direction in 2000 is to develop more cooperation between printing owners and their customers. Remote communications, high-speed networks, remote proofing, and color management before output inspection are all effective ways to achieve maximum efficiency.
Trends in digital press technology With the application of digital technology, all intelligence processing industries including printing have undergone dramatic changes, and this change continues.
The biggest feature of the development of the printing industry is the digital control process in the whole printing process. It can also be said that the printing process is moving toward standardization. Because there is an inevitable link between digitization and standardization, in the implementation of digitization, it is necessary to first standardize the processes.
A device that can accept layout information stored in digital form and implement printing is called a digital printer. Digital printing presses are divided into two types: digital printing machines with no plates and digital printing machines with plates. (To be continued)