© Estelle Jobson 15 Feb 2001

In this paper, I will discuss digital printing as a key recent development in print technology. I will explore digital printing against the background of offset printing, mention certain strengths and limitations, discuss the most appropriate media for digital printing and the relationship-building necessitated by digital printing. I will conclude with a speculative statement on the future of digital printing.

Before defining digital printing, I will first explore the limitations of ‘traditional’ offset lithography (hereafter ‘offset’), which will enable me to make a meaningful analysis of the benefits of digital printing. Offset typically handles print runs of over 2,000, because smaller runs are not economically viable. Offset is a relatively inflexible procedure, because the closer one gets to print, the more difficult and costly it is to make corrections. Pared to its basics, the actual printing functions via the ink traveling from ink font to plate and from roller to paper. This process accommodates very little variable data. Printing and binding can take days or more often weeks, after which the printed product must be warehoused and shipped to distributors, during which a measure of loss is almost inevitable. Stock gets damaged and ‘lost’. Publishers’ profits are eaten into by these costs and losses, as well as by returns on unsold products, pulping and remaindering and the guessing game of knowing when and if to reprint and revise texts (even if old stock is still available). The offset method therefore is intricately woven into a larger print business model. This model digital printing challenges from start to finish.

Despite these drawbacks, through serious industry interaction and education, offset has become well standardised and technologically sophisticated. For example, an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) was established to facilitate the standardisation and quality control of colour print work. Before the advent of digital printing, the only short-run print options available were either to run very low runs on offset printers at painfully high prices, or to photocopy back-to-back and use spiralbinding or heatbinding. While this was the dominant mode for semi-formal documents through the nineties, it was hardly an attractive, or professional-looking solution.

It is to these limitations (inflexibility, run size and variability of data) that digital printing seems to offer the solution: a printer that caters for runs as small as a single copy, leapfrogs the film and plate stages, prints substantially variable data (images and text) and fixes errors at any stage, even in the middle of a run. The traditional printing model of ‘print and distribute’ has been turned upside down by the digital model of ‘distribute and print’, now that that files can be sent electronically to a digital printer, anywhere in the world, where they can be printed and then locally distributed. Indeed digital printing challenges not only the printing process, but the printing business model too.

As terms such as ‘digital’ and ‘digitisation’ are used very freely, it is necessary to clarify their relevance. Over the years, printing has become increasingly ‘digital’: more and more data is transported and exchanged in digital formats, instead of as hard copies (paste-ups and camera-ready copy). This rise of digital technology can be termed ‘digitisation’, which impacts on all of our lives, regardless of whether we are involved with the print industry or not. One effect of digitisation, is the rapidly decreasing cost of digital technology, such as PCs, scanners and desktop printers, which have ironically become much cheaper, as their quality improves exponentially. In publishing, for example, technology-based costs such as typesetting have decreased dramatically over time, making book production cheaper, faster and easier. A further trend in publishing exists towards a (more) ‘efficient supply chain management [that demands] smaller, more frequent print runs, resulting in shorter lead times and increased stock turn’ [my italics], a trend which cries for digital printing, for a new business model of not fewer documents printed, but more versions in smaller quantities. What makes this novel is that ‘the publishing process can be reduced to its essentials, its fundamentals, which is editorial publicity and electronic distribution’.

Unlike offset printing which in ink-based, digital printing is toner-based. Digital printing requires neither film nor plates, is a faster process and can be used to print only one single proof. Instead, the printer reads information from the data files provided and through an electrostatic or xerographic process (also called ‘electrophotography’), the photoconductor drum is electrically charged to attract the toner. The toner, bonded by heat, is then printed onto the paper. This is essentially the same process used for Xeroxing. The end-result is a book that looks, to the untrained eye, like a book printed on an offset printer.

The first digital printers were black-and-white only, such as the DocuTech machines. While these employed electrophotography, the end-product was not particularly noteworthy, as it looked much like a well-photocopied and bound product. Hot on their heels, however, were digital colour printers (such as DocuColor and Xeikon machines), which have created a much bigger stir. Recent developments include technology to print on adhesive labels and polyester film and improved binding and ink cost saving functions. While the developments are rapid and digital printing is very topical, there may be a ceiling as to how much the market can absorb.

A certain amount of industry debate exists as to whether digital printing colour management matches that of offset printers or not. While digital printers use toners, as opposed to inks, and the colour range is a close match to the offset ink range, the paper used affects the appearance of the colour. A unique benefit of digital printing is that toner printing on uncoated paper is comparable to litho printing on coated paper. These discrepancies may stem from the lack of strict standardisation in the digital printing industry, as well as the limited range of paper stocks that can be used on digital presses.

Another debated issue is that of tone value. In offset, about 16% dot gain is ascribable to tone loss from film to plate, ink to paper, exacerbated by the light scattering effects of paper. Digital printing, however, transfers the tone value 100% accurately from data to paper, but as files are usually set up to compensate for the offset loss of tone value, digital printers are obliged to adjust their machines accordingly. Standardising processes are called for.

While digital printers boast they can handle print runs of up to 2,000, in reality, most runs are not more than 500. Certain products, providing a niche market for digital printers, are required in small numbers and good colour quality. These include highly specialised publishing, (customised) financial reports, legal texts and subscription-based updated inserts and instruction and software manuals (small quantities needed, but each manual has hundreds of pages). Trade book publishers are using digital printing to print advance copies for marketing and promotional purposes. For educational publishers, digital printing facilitates the production of submission copies and blads. Textbooks are submitted to boards of education and at times, only 15 or 20 final copies are needed, but the boards often reserve the right to request subsequent corrections to submission copies. Digital printing jobs also include promotional items, such as inserts, posters and increasingly variable data marketing inserts. Jap-Olson reported that clients were ordering customised gift-wrap over the internet, a commodity for which digital printing is ideal.

Despite the decreasing technology gap between the general public and printers, surprisingly few non-industry people are aware of digital publishing. Printing, apart from desktop jobs and photocopying, is still associated with large print runs and huge machines that crank and grind. When the public awareness of digital printing rises, vanity publishing may flourish to serve the needs of wanna-be writers, who wish to turn their manuscripts into a few hundred copies of bound books. Yet another application is the reprinting of ‘out-of-print’ titles. Publishers, formerly obliged to revert rights to their authors once a title was declared out of print, can now withhold them with print-on-demand: selling single copies to individual buyers. Some publishers have in fact started their own print-on-demand services for backlist titles.

Digital printing creates, in addition to a more sustainable short print-run business model, greater opportunities to repurpose data, in varying formats. For example, one might order a limited number of large-print editions of a book, special-event editions, or customised versions. With smaller, more frequent print runs, the costs of warehousing, returns and damaged copies start to decline. Equally so, does the need for warehousing staff. In theory, the retailer can be cut out too. If the digital age takes us to the point where an individual can order a single copy of a book on-line and have the printer ship the book to him/her directly, an entire distribution step is removed. By first distributing (particularly across the globe) and then printing, publishers can evade cost-incurring barriers such as import tax, freight charges, stockholding charges and related administration.

Internet-users are becoming more accustomed to increasingly personalised marketing and buying options. Combined with their own access to desktop print technology, there will be mounting demand for and user familiarity with personalised print items. In the not-too-distant future, buyers will be able to request only those sections of a publication they require and indicate those they do not.

By the same token, publishers can and do determine exactly which advertising will reach which customers. This niche market advertising, which has taken place in the magazine industry for several years, can be covert (e.g. supplying senior citizen adverts to golden-oldy subscribers) and overt (e.g. addressing a client by name, referring to the customer’s last purchase or residential area). Digital printing has exactly the right technology to vary the print face of every page, in every printed item, to meet the needs of the booming niche-marketing budget.

As mentioned, the digital printing industry lacks cohesion on standardisation, colour management and the format in which files can be accepted. From the point of view of the publishers, fewer prepress stages inevitably means more mistakes. Many clients are nervous to go straight to press, with no ‘final’ proof. Digital printing is ironically often used for that very purpose: as a final proofing stage before going to offset print. Other clients, however, cannot get their advertisers to supply their ads digitally and are forced to stay with offset printing. The strongest myth about digital printing is that it is much more expensive than offset printing. While it is more expensive, it offers certain savings: costs associated with film- and plate-making and disposal. For small print runs, while it may not be cheap, it is certainly cheaper than the offset options for comparable print runs.

At present, digital presses have certain paper stock limitations. Few digital printers offer more than 12 paper options and customers, who have viewed offset paper sample books, may be disappointed by the selection. Likewise, the heaviest stock for covers has been not more than 10 point. When heavy ink coverage is needed, problems may arise too, with ink spreading and drying. When titles go through several, subsequently revised versions, publishers face the question of whether each revised version is officially revised or reprinted (with minor corrections), and whether the title should be issued a new ISBN (creating numerous administrative repercussions). Imprint pages and copyright information are often incomplete on digital prints, as they are viewed as informal proofs of the real thing. However, they do land in people’s hands and need to be traceable and correctly presented.

The fact that digital printing serves only one niche of many printing needs, indicates that digital printers need to work in co-operation with offset printers. Not being strictly in competition, they can share clients, providing service for both their digital and offset needs. Additionally, if the ‘distribute and print’ model is to work, printers need to establish functional relationships with digital printers globally and agree on standard workflow methods. The theory of sending a file to be digitally printed in Northern Australia might be easier than the practice if no existing, reliable suppliers and distributors exist. Technology suppliers, such as Xeikon, AGFA, IBM and Xerox should ensure that adequate technical support is available, globally. Technology leaders, such as Germany, the US and the UK are likely to have solid technical support, but if other countries are to be part of (global) digital printing, they too will need support.

Print-on-demand, a phrase which conjures up the image of a book being printed on the spot at the drop of a hat, refers more aptly to an on-going relationship between a publisher who needs on-going, smaller, revised print runs and therefore depends on a sustainable relationship with the printer. While all print-on-demand is printed digitally, the converse is not true.

Limitations of digital printing already stated are that the presses are slower than offset machines and can only handle short runs. Elcorsy Technology, however, maintains that its new Elcography® technology provides all the benefits of digital printing, and overcomes all its most striking limitations. It offers speed (reporting 50,000 pages/hour), large print runs and low cost (US 1.6 cents per duplex print in four colours, excluding paper and overhead costs). Instead of toner, Elcography® uses a liquid ink that turns into gel via an electrochemical process called electrocoagulation. Furthermore, the ink control of Elcography® enables the thickness of each dot and its diameter to determine ink coagulation, supplying even sharper resolution and combating the quandary of digital versus offset quality. Without wishing to discuss this technology in great deal, the information available is very promising.

Elcography® is so new, it seems not to have become a buzzword yet. If, however it is the product it claims to be, then this would be the ultimate revolutionizing of the offset press: offering a hybrid offering the best of the offset and digital printing worlds. A press that runs large runs, with variable data, cheaply, on demand. Would Elcography® create a third, major print option? Or would either digital printing or offset fall away? And what would the limitations of Elcography® be? All these questions beg another paper to be written.

return to paper index

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