Life-To-Page controls & options

[Photo_Boy]

I'm the in-house photographer at a niche publishing company. We do about sixty 80-120 page full-color how-to books a year in the realm of traditional fiber arts: quilting, knitting, crochet, fabric dying & embellishing, etc. The images are mine from the time they're in front of the camera to the time they've been proofed (ColorBurst & Epson 7800, et al) and heading to overseas presses. We're now researching Print-On-Demand options. At this point it looks like our best bet is the Xerox 700 with a RIP to-be-determined.

As time goes on I intend to offer what I can in the way of insights and solutions for color management in the front of & inside the camera, but for now I have a couple of questions that searching didn't adequately answer:

1-Should I expect to be able to retire my Epson/ColorBurst proofing setup and replace it with output from the Xerox/RIP? I am getting excellent results from the Epson, but our CFO likes the per-page costs quoted for the Xerox.

2-Is there a non-salesman means of getting information about which of the RIPs would be best for our specific needs? I'm guessing this forum may be just that, but any other suggestions would be appreciated.

3-Does the spiral binding have any viable alternatives with comparable per unit cost & labor involvement? I just think low-end cookbook and middle school yearbook every time I see that coil sitting on a bookshelf!

4-Are there any facilities in the Seattle area open to having a curious photographer (infer your own meaning) visit the facility and ask a number of questions? I think the guy with ink on his fingers could offer a lot of practical insight.

Thanks,
Photo_Boy

 

[X33]

1-Should I expect to be able to retire my Epson/ColorBurst proofing setup and replace it with output from the Xerox/RIP? I am getting excellent results from the Epson, but our CFO likes the per-page costs quoted for the Xerox.

Yes you could. You need to print some samples of your own files and be the judge yourself.

2-Is there a non-salesman means of getting information about which of the RIPs would be best for our specific needs? I'm guessing this forum may be just that, but any other suggestions would be appreciated.

My personal choice for high end photography is the CREO 700 RIP, make sure you get the Advanced Color Package that includes the Spectrophotometer.

3-Does the spiral binding have any viable alternatives with comparable per unit cost & labor involvement? I just think low-end cookbook and middle school yearbook every time I see that coil sitting on a bookshelf!

You could get hard covers, like photobooks. Check out : Binding Machines for Tape, Strip, Hardcover, Soft Cover, Photo Book, and Presentation Binding - Manufacturer of Fastback Book Binding Equipment

 

[lfelton]

We print similar books and you'd be welcome to visit our factory, but we're the other side of the world!

I think that the X700 would work pretty well for this application, especially if you equip your machine with the high end colour management options as X33 suggests. The other machines that I consider able to do this (not exclusive, just the ones known to me) are the KM6501 and the X7002/8002. Of course the new Kodak and HP inkjets are designed for this market, but I'm assuming you don't have $1M to spend!

Unless you've manufactured books before, you are in for a very, very steep learning curve. I guess you will want to offer perfect bound and possibly some hardback with custom printed cases? For this type of application (instruction manuals with lots of colour pics), you really need to be looking at a PUR machine. Please do yourself a favour and don't consider one of the little desk top machines. These are great for some applications, but really NOT POD of your types of books. If you do your research, you'll find that there is also some fantastic case making machinery out there for POD hardbacks (a lot of it manufactured in the US!), not cheap and they take up a lot of room. We've recently got into the short run hardbacks and the results are stunning, but very labour intensive.

Spiral binding is OK for menu books etc and we have lots of happy customers who have bought these. They are fairly slow to make, the coils are relatively expensive, but the plus side is that they are pretty easy to create a secure bind on. You'll need an automatic punch, one of the new generation which are geared toward digital print. We find that spiral binding thicker books is more time consuming as the coils are progressively more difficult to insert the thicker the book is.

Don't forget that you'll either need a laminating line for the covers, or a UV coater - again there's a pretty steep learning curve for these.

There's a lot more to know, but my sandwich is finished now, so must go back to work. Hope that helps!

 

[Craig]

The other option which is the road I have taken is to print everything yourself and take it to a trade binder and have them finish the books. The trade binder I use does not print, they only perform the finishing required to complete the job...perf, score, trim, laminate, bind, number stuff like that. It makes it a little easier knowing they will not go after my customer since they can't print the job to begin with.

Until you have enough work to justify the dollars on a PUR perfect binder this may be a viable alternative.

When it comes to RIP's, I have had great results with Fiery, that is the front end for my 8000AP. I haven't seen a real big difference between Fiery and Creo in color output, I think they each do an excellent job, I am just more comfortable with Fiery since I have been using them the last 12 years. Just tell your Xerox rep you need to see prints from each... and not Xerox supplied prints, but your own material. Not just 1 or 2 prints but several hundred/thousand. When I did a demo on the 8000AP I ended up running 3000 12x18's duplexed, the salesman was a little shocked.

 

[Photo_Boy]

Thanks!

Thanks!

I appreciate the feedback from all of you. Now that I'm done with my "touch of the Swine" I'm ready to get back into exploring how to make this work for our company.

I'll be processing and researching the suggestions you've made, and working on my next round of questions.

Thanks again!

 

[Craig]

Photo_Boy, I just cleaned my keyboard, I ain't getting pig flu!

 

[CSimpson]

2-Is there a non-salesman means of getting information about which of the RIPs would be best for our specific needs? I'm guessing this forum may be just that, but any other suggestions would be appreciated.

3-Does the spiral binding have any viable alternatives with comparable per unit cost & labor involvement? I just think low-end cookbook and middle school yearbook every time I see that coil sitting on a bookshelf!

I personally like the Creo, I think the interface is a bit easier to navigate than my Fiery. I also like the fact that when you buy a Creo you get it all (At least this has been my experience) whereas Fiery sells the basic RIP and the add on modules. In your case you want the color module with the spectrometer for sure. I don't know all your needs or software on hand, but you might also want the impose module as well. Take this into consideration when you get quotes on the two rips.

Some people have suggested Perfect Binding, but I am not sure you want to get in that deep. If you are using coated stocks, which I am sure you are, you will want a PUR capable binder and this cost a lot of money.

Have you looked into Double Loop Wire? You can get natural metal colors like copper, nickel, or brass . This looks a lot classier than plastic spiral and the initial and piece investment is very similar to plastic spirals.