Talking about the main problems of the transition from DTP to CTP
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The short name of the desktop publishing system is DTP, and the English name is De Publish. The desktop publishing system combines text photosetting, image color separation, graphic editing and synthesizing, creative design and output coloring or color separation film. It is unmatched by previous photo-imaging, electric-division, and even full-page imposition systems. It brings bright prospects to the printing, publishing, packaging and decoration, advertising design and other industries.
The main problem in the transition from DTP to CTP
CTP technology has many advantages and will be widely used in the future, which has been recognized by domestic and foreign industry. However, after several years of development, China's CTP technology has not been widely applied. The reason is that there are various questions about the technical and economic problems of the CTP system.
1. Technical aspects
1 The problem of digital process flow before printing.
If direct platemaking technology is used, the printer must have the necessary prepress system. Originally, many printing factories have only small printing machines and no prepress equipment because of the small scale and lack of funds. Because there is a special output center that can output film, the printing factory can print and print only the film sent by the factory customers. However, if the printing factory adopts the direct plate-making technology, it accepts the digital documents provided by the customers. The printing factory must purchase the corresponding pre-press equipment, and if necessary, scan or modify the work for the customer, which is also for the enterprise- A kind of burden, so it is difficult for such small-scale printing enterprises to carry out pre-press digital process transformation. There is also the problem of digitalization of film images. Prepress digitalization is the basis of CTP technology. For traditional film images provided by customers, how to make the film scan to solve its digitization process is a very important issue. After the film is scanned, if the digital processing is not good, serious quality problems will occur. Therefore, how to use various software and scanning parameters by enterprises requires careful study.
2 digital proofing problem.
After the enterprise uses CTP technology, the traditional proofing method can no longer be used, only the digital proofing method can be used. However, the digital proofing color and the traditional proofing have a certain distance, and the newspaper industry can not accept the proofing requirements. For the printing of books and magazines - how to deal with some color, especially for some special colors or colors, this is a problem to be solved. As we all know, the credibility of traditional proofing is very high. Since the proof and the printing plate use the same film, the process is basically the same, so the content on the original is guaranteed, such as image, resolution, bleeding, repair Side and registration marks and other content. The CTP outputs color samples to different systems, such as color printers and other digital output devices. In this process, every time I interpret the R I P, it will affect the layout format and bring a big error to the final print quality. Unless the RIP problem is solved, the digital proof problem will be solved.
One solution to solve this problem at present is: "RIP once, multiple outputs." That is, once a group file is interpreted by a RIP into a vector format, or a dot array, the vector file can be multiplied; This eliminates many repetitive tasks, saves a lot of time, and guarantees the quality of the proofs. Another solution is the PDF (Portable Document Format) format promoted by Adobe, which ensures consistent output regardless of the device to which the file is exported.
3 imposition problem
Because the layout of the newspaper is very complicated, the composition of each-title layout is ever-changing (including electronic documents, film, paper, etc.), so the imposition software is required to have good adaptability and compatibility.
4 plate color problem.
In the traditional plate making process, the color code of each color plate is attached to the film on the film during the printing process, and is directly printed on the color film by the photo-aligning machine of the split-format. In the new CTP process, there is no color standard on each color plate output by the direct plate making machine, so it must be made in the RIP or imposition software of the C T P system. Direct plate making simplifies the process, but at the same time it reduces the chances of people seeing and checking for errors. If you accidentally make mistakes, once the printing plate is finished, the error will be found and the entire plate will be remade. So it can be said that computer direct plate making simplifies the process. The registration accuracy is improved, but the mans error requires re-platemaking, which inevitably increases the cost. If you use a direct plate, you will abandon a version if you use a direct plate. Careful, careful, and careful care is required during the direct plate making process.
The problem of color management for computer-to-plate is also important. There is no unified standard yet. but. Even with a unified standard. Users who have already adopted color management techniques may still follow the methods they are used to, and because many printers are less convinced of color management, their application process will be slower.
2. Economic issues
1 equipment investment is large.
At present, the price of CTP equipment is relatively expensive. The general model price is about RMB 2 million, which limits the use and promotion of this technology in various small and medium-sized enterprises. However, if the world equipment and plate manufacturing company wants to fully promote the application of CTP technology in various countries, it must consider the price of its ability in the enterprise, and constantly research and correct the technology, materials and other aspects to reduce its cost, especially in many worlds. After the famous prepress manufacturing company joins the competition, technology and price will be the main focus of competition. Several units in China have already invested in research and development of CTP technology, and it is expected to achieve localization as soon as possible.
2 imported plates are expensive.
The plate is the bottleneck restricting the application of computer direct plate making. From the current market, direct plate-making plates rely on imports, and their prices are 25% to 40% higher than the ordinary PS version. If other factors are considered, such as re-platemaking, the cost of the plate will be 33% to 60% higher for companies doing commercial printing, and higher for companies doing newspaper printing. 1 0 0% to 150%, the new plate that does not require development is more expensive. If the thermal version can be mass-produced in the future, the price will be cheaper, which is equivalent to twice the price of the PS version. Therefore, the localization of the plate will be particularly prominent.
Basic requirements for successful conversion to CTP technology by DTP technology
The key to smooth transition from DTP to CTP is:
1 Pay attention to the interface technology with the front-end system, namely: the data exchange technology between the color prepress processing system, and the perfection of the data and technology of the back-end equipment. For large files, data exchange speed and data transfer speed are critical.
2 Require enterprises to establish a new set of electronic document management systems to improve data storage and retrieval technology.
3 The requirements for color management technology and RIP technology are also important. Large-capacity files require RIP to have powerful processing power to achieve efficient work efficiency.
4 Have more than two years of experience using PostScript electronic prepress system; this experience ensures that prepress technicians are familiar with basic file processing and troubleshooting, and can quickly find and solve font problems, lack of images, and poorly constructed Documents, etc.
5 Sufficient printing consumption: A certain amount of money is required to implement the CTP system. The printer must consume a certain number of plates in order to get a corresponding return on investment.
6 High-quality plate operations: The printer must ensure the continuity of the plate quality.
7 The main work is no more than 4 colors, and the printed network cable is lower than 175lpi.
8 has 6 to 12 months of digital proofing experience: Digital proofing is the most controversial technology in the CTP workflow.
There is no doubt that film will be replaced by a CTP workflow, even though the plates used in CTP systems are more expensive than traditional plates, but this can be compensated for by increasing output yield, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency.