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Navbharat, a Hindi language daily broadsheet, incepted in the year 1934 from Nagpur, Maharashtra recently upgraded its unit with software for better print results and to manage the editorial network.
Color optimizer server
Sachin Phulpagar, deputy general manager – prepress, Navbharat, Mumbai says, “We have conducted several trials and found that GMG’s color management software has better color contrasts.”
Talking about the installed color server, he says, “The new color management software enables us to get better color combinations like purple, which was not easy to get for newspapers earlier. Getting it right on the gamut was difficult; this has now been resolved with the new color server upgrade.”
“Water and ink balance are the crucial elements required to gain the necessary smoothness. Lesser the ink, less will be the need for water and less consumption of ink reduces the risk of offsetting; the drying time is shorter and it also takes less time to get the right colors on the press; paper waste is minimal too. This results in cost savings and more sustainable print production. Currently, the smoothness achieved with the installation of GMG has been excellent and this is well reflected on the newsprint,” says Phulpagar.
On enquiring about the new software performance, Phulpagar observes, “We have reduced the solid color patches. Black reverse patches like those of the gray lines on the front page have been toned down to avoid the see-through effect on 42 gsm news daily. We prefer using gray over black. Our total paper wastage loss has come down to 2% positively. As of now, we have installed the new software here in Mumbai and all the processing work of all the editions is carried out. The other editions are connected with shared IP access for easy workflow. The print file is sent to the different press units, and the file is adjusted according to the dot gain of the several presses, thus providing similar color output through various presses.”
Ink saving module
GMG InkOptimizer is a software solution for fully automatic ink reduction. Using sophisticated ink reduction algorithms, a Device Link transformation is applied to individual images or complete pages. The consumption of CMY inks is reduced, and the proportion of black ink increased, while maintaining an identical color impression. The software analyzes every area of the page that contains color. Areas in which cyan, magenta, yellow, and black level are all present, the software replaces some of the C, M, and Y with black without changing the visual appearance. This technique is known as ‘gray component replacement’ (GCR). Because less total area coverage (TAC) of ink is used and because the image contains more of the inexpensive black ink and less of the expensive colors, ink costs are reduced.
Initially, other software trials were conducted at the Navbharat press unit but they were not satisfactory. The GMG software yielded satisfactory results and is also used by some major players in the newspaper industry. “The pressure of time and costs is constantly increasing on print shops. Consequently, tools that automate the workflow, improve printing properties and realize cost savings are critical solutions for print providers if they want to remain competitive. GMG InkOptimizer precisely meets these requirements,” Phulpagar says.
Paper quality
The paper used for printing was also brought down from 45 gsm to 42 gsm with the installation of the new software. He informs, “Generally, Jeonju paper reels imported from Korea are used while 43 gsm paper from Rama Mills is used as the Indian variant. We need to place an order well in advance where we have a contract.”
The new color management software enables us to get better color combinations like purple, which was not easy to get for newspapers earlier. Getting it right on the gamut was difficult; this has now been resolved with the new color server upgrade.
Editorial management software
Considering digital upgradations for the editorial management, the newspaper has installed the 4C Newswrap Server software, which enables faster news flow from reporter to sub-editor and the server to the page. The reporter just needs to type the news report and upload it to on the Newswrap Server, which shows up files on the desks of all the editions. Approved reports can be availed at a single or multiple editions in the respective locations. The new server allows one to see which news files are currently in use, or have been selected by a particular correspondent for a given section and page in the final print. Some news articles may fall into one or more categories like business as well as general section; so, to avoid confusion, the article taken up by one section is marked accordingly by the software.
Other machinery
In a bid to meet the daily printing requirements, the group has two presses of Orient Super series, with one of them installed with the 3C unit. In CtP, Navbharat has AGFA (Palladio II M). ECRM (Mako) is the recent addition to the unit. “ECRM was installed to bifurcate load as the pages of our Marathi daily, Navrashtra, were increased to 12 pages.
Recent development in Navbharat news daily
Today, Navbharat is a leading news daily in regional language, having over 16 lac copies that are distributed across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. The daily is a 16-page newspaper, with the last four pages doubling up as its supplement. A new supplement—Suruchi—dedicated to women has been recently launched and is published every Thursday. On every Saturday, the newspaper brings out Glamour, a supplement devoted to the film industry. On Sundays, a supplement titled Avkash is released for leisure reading; it caters to the political and general news segment.
