Application and thinking of digital workflow in th

The application and thinking of digital workflow in printing

digitalization and networking have become the popular trend and development direction of today's publishing and printing industry. Digital printing, digital workflow, CTP, PDF, JDF, cross media publishing, etc. have become hot topics in the industry, and digital workflow has become a highlight now

digital workflow is to integrate the three sub processes of pre press processing, printing and post press processing into an inseparable system with digital production control information, so that the digital graphic information can be transmitted completely and accurately, and finally processed into printed products

the generalized digital workflow includes two parts: graphic information flow and control information flow. The basic purpose of digital workflow is to bring a variety of control information in the process of pre press processing, printing and post press processing into computer management, and connect the whole printing production process with digital control information flow

yesterday of digital workflow

in 1995, 26 prepress, printing and post press enterprises in the world jointly established CIP3 (International Cooperation for integration of prepress, press and post press), which is committed to the realization of integrated computer control of prepress, printing and post press processes, which means "International cooperation of prepress, printing and post press integration". The main purpose of the organization is to study and formulate some standard formats to improve the quality of printed matter, reduce costs and improve production efficiency with the concept of data-based process flow. The establishment of CIP3 has effectively promoted the formation and application of digital workflow

at the beginning of 1999, Heidelberg, Manroland, Agfa and adobe, the four members of CIP3 Association, jointly developed the first version of JDF and established the JDF alliance. On July 24, 2000, JDF alliance and CIP3 alliance reached an agreement to join CIP3 and add the word "process", thus establishing CIP4 (International Cooperation for integration of processing in pre press, press and post press) association. At the same time, JDF's intellectual property rights are also directly transferred to CIP4 Association

drupa2000, the digital workflow has become a hot topic in the industry. However, there were few process products at that time, and most of the processes were only coordinated with prepress equipment, and were also provided by major prepress equipment suppliers. They were not technically perfect and lacked integrity. Therefore, most people only accepted the digital workflow as a new concept, and did not fully understand its connotation or fully recognize its role. Therefore, At that time, digital workflow was not really promoted and widely used, especially in foreign countries and at home. In the four years from Drupa2000 to drupa2004, the digital workflow has gradually matured and improved, and its application has become more and more extensive

today's digital workflow

drupa2004, digital workflow is shining with a new look. The publicity is much stronger than that of four years ago. Its technology is more mature, and many new concepts and functions have been added. The process products are rich and colorful. There are more than 80 manufacturers. Not only the main equipment manufacturers have their own process products, but also the process products of many third-party independent suppliers, but also the process of Chinese interface of domestic developers, which makes mice unable to run away from products. Today's digital workflow has been raised to a new level and entered the practical stage

the application of digital workflow in foreign countries is better than that in China, and the scope of application has been extended from prepress to printing and the whole post press work. In the past two years, dozens of domestic enterprises have also used digital workflow. One part is the process products provided by the manufacturer with the purchase of imported equipment, and the other part is the foreign or domestic workflow introduced separately. Although most of them are only used in prepress systems, they do play a great role in their respective enterprises

1. Application of digital workflow in Beijing Xinhua Printing Factory Beijing Xinhua printing factory is a large state-owned printing enterprise, mainly engaged in book printing and post press processing. In order to meet the market demand, further improve the production capacity and prepress process level, improve production efficiency, improve operation management and expand business, Xinhua printing factory introduced a set of PDF digital workflow in November 2003. After a year of operation, the effect is good, which has completely replaced the previous rip and plays an important role in Xinhua printing factory

2. The role of digital workflow in Beijing Xinhua printing plant

summarizing the one-year operation of digital workflow in Xinhua printing plant, we believe that it has the following characteristics and advantages

(1) easy to operate, learn and use. This process is a pure Chinese interface, which is clear at a glance and easy to understand and master. We have mastered its use and basic maintenance skills through a week of training, and it will be put into production soon after installation and commissioning

(2) standardize the prepress process. Before the introduction of the process, black-and-white proofing had a special print driver, phototypesetting output had a special rip, and digital proofing had a special driver and color management software. Now it is uniformly managed by the process. All kinds of different documents are standardized through the normalizer, forming PDF files, and then sent to different output devices according to different requirements

(3) improve production efficiency. In the past, the work of the machine was relatively simple. When processing a file, other files would have to wait in line. Now, many machines have installed process systems, which can disperse the interpretation and processing work to different machines, and the output equipment can output continuously, which greatly improves the work efficiency

(4) ensure production quality. Because different documents have been standardized, the system will automatically check errors and give an alarm prompt in time when standardizing. In addition, PDF documents generated after the specification can be color separated or synthesized for preview, which greatly reduces the occurrence of errors before output, and also ensures the consistency of various proofs and film output, thus ensuring the quality

(5) flexible hand folding function. The folding function is particularly important for printing enterprises that mainly print books and periodicals and have both horse riding, fine binding and paperback. The process includes the folding of common books and periodicals, complex and special folding, as well as special folding for packaging. These folding functions greatly facilitate the needs of large edition output. (

6) convenient for up transmission. The generated PDF file has the characteristics of embedded graphics and text, reliable, open, suitable for network transmission and so on. It can easily communicate the file, so the material that needs to resist high temperature up to 220 ℃ can be transmitted to the customer through the network for proofing and printing, and the customer's file can also be received from the network for output. After the introduction of the process, Xinhua printing factory also carried out the business of output about 1/3 lower than the level of traditional concrete residential buildings of about 740 kg/m2. At the same time, the advantages of PDF also facilitate the storage of "digital film"

(7) expand business scope. This process can deal with documents made by common plate making software, founder software and office software, as well as documents in PS, EPS, TIF, PDF and other formats. It is easier to deal with documents that used to be difficult. For example, a customer used a file made with adobeindesigncs software (this software is rarely used in China), which cannot be processed by traditional methods at all, and the output of this file can be successfully completed by using digital process

the five factors (8) that affect the overall performance of the electronic tensile testing machine have good openness and compatibility. The system can connect different manufacturers and different models of production equipment, and can be installed and used on PC and MAC. It has created conditions for Xinhua printing plant to introduce CTP equipment

digital workflow has played a certain role in Beijing Xinhua printing factory, and other enterprises that apply digital workflow have also received good results to varying degrees. Today, people in the industry have begun to recognize and understand the digital workflow and realize the practical significance it brings to production. Many printing enterprises have begun to use or are preparing to use the digital workflow

tomorrow of digital workflow

although the digital workflow based on JDF has gradually become mature and perfect, on the whole, it is still in the enlightenment stage, and its application has not been popularized. Even the enterprises that use the process often only apply a part of the functions in the process, and some enterprises have not fully recognized and accepted the digital workflow, and its technology and performance need to be further strengthened and improved, so, The popularization and development of digital workflow still needs a process. As martinbailey, chairman of CIP4, said, it is expected that JDF will truly realize automation and complete interoperability in another 5-10 years. Therefore, in the next few years, digital workflow will be the development direction and popular trend of the printing industry. These years will be more powerful propaganda, more mature technology, more popular application and more significant role. I believe that digital workflow will have a beautiful tomorrow

thinking about digital workflow

in today's hot digital workflow, as insiders and users, we should conduct objective analysis and calm thinking. I put forward a few questions of personal thinking for your reference

thinking 1: how to evaluate the digital workflow

so many manufacturers are vigorously promoting their digital workflow and evaluating its advantages and disadvantages. Manufacturers, scholars and customers have their own set of standards, but the most important thing is the customer's standards, because customers are the end users. I think that today, each process is becoming more and more mature and perfect, and each has its own characteristics. There is no need to evaluate whether it is good or bad. The key is to see which process is more in line with the actual situation of the enterprise and can bring greater profits to the enterprise

thinking 2: whether to buy digital workflow

digital workflow is a good technical product, but not every enterprise needs to buy and use it. You must not catch up with the fashion, and you must make judgments and decisions in combination with your actual situation. For example, an output center only needs a set of rip, and it can buy a set of special rip and large version software for tens of thousands of yuan. Why spend more money to buy a set of digital workflow? In addition, we should consider whether we need to buy urgently now. If it is not too urgent, we might as well wait for a period of time. With the passage of time, the performance of the process will be more perfect and the price will be cheaper

thinking 3: how to choose digital workflow

first, decision makers or major technicians must be fully familiar with the content, functions and advantages of digital workflow; Secondly, we should have a comprehensive understanding of the production links and technological processes of the enterprise, have a clear idea of how to use the digital workflow, and have a clear goal of what effect to achieve; Then, examine different processes to see which process is more cost-effective in line with your actual requirements. For example, enterprises with more foreign businesses must consider the requirements of foreign investors, who will have their own standards for digital workflow; In addition, newspaper printing is different from commercial printing, and the selection criteria will also be different. Finally, after-sales service is also a very important inspection standard

Institute