With 25 years of experience in prepress automation for printers and publishers, the German software manufacturer OneVision Software has developed an Automation Suite to meet the needs of book publishers. The software solution combines a workflow management system and a prepress package with special tools for book printing which automate the entire printing and production process for printers of books, photo books, manuals and technical documents.
Extremely flexible workflow management system as production backbone
An intelligently designed, fully automated workflow is the basis of the suite and can be easily connected to any type of third-party system such as shop-, MIS, or postpress systems. With an easy-to-use drag and drop editor, book printers can map their production processes digitally, define them flexibly, standardize them and, finally, run them automatically.
Print data optimization for smooth, error-free production
Initially, the prepress package checks incoming print files for errors, corrects and normalizes them, and generates ISO standard-compliant, error-free print files for a smooth printing process. ICC-based color management, reliable flattening of transparencies and the generation of barcodes are included.
Automated splitting and merging of content and cover pages
When multi- page documents are delivered, content pages can be automatically separated from cover pages. Documents delivered as individual pages, on the other hand, can be combined to multi-page documents. In both cases, the spine thickness can be calculated automatically, which is important for further production steps.
Maximum efficiency through automatic impositioning
Impositioning templates are automatically selected and adapted based on the page format of the PDF, including barcodes and text information. As a result, high processing speeds can be achieved even for very large volumes.
The Book Automation Suite automates time-consuming, manual work, especially in the area of book-on-demand printing. Optimum interaction between print data and high-speed presses helps in avoiding errors and reprints. Book printers use the Book Automation Suite to produce short runs with greater efficiency and the highest print quality.
2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India
Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and
multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.
The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry.
While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately
their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book
printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.
The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.
Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.
Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.
Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.
– Naresh Khanna
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