Talking about the realization of digital printing workflow
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The digital printing workflow integrates prepress processing, printing and postpress processing into a system through production control information, realizing the efficient flow and copying of graphic and text information, which will become the only way for printing companies. This paper combines the application status of digital printing workflow and the necessity and conditions of printing enterprises to realize digital printing workflow. It expounds the printing enterprise's method of implementing digital printing process and the problems that should be considered. It is of great significance for printing enterprises to introduce digital workflow.
Firs, Overview of the digital workflow
1. Digital workflow concept
The so-called "digital workflow" is to integrate the three processes of prepress processing, printing and postpress processing into an inseparable system with digital production control information, so that the digital graphic information can be completely and accurately transmitted. The final processing is made into a printed product.
The generalized digital workflow includes two parts: graphic information flow and control information flow. The graphic information flow solves the problem of “what to do”, while the control information flow solves the problem of “how to do it” and “what to make”. It can be said that the basic purpose of "digital workflow" is to incorporate various control information in the pre-press processing, printing and post-press processing into computer management, and to integrate the entire printing production process with digital control information flow.
2. Status of printing digital workflow
At present, most of China's printing companies have not fully realized the digital production of printing, but many manufacturers have realized the digitization of local production. For example, with the popularity and development of DTP, many companies have realized digital processing, transmission and storage in the prepress field; in the field of printing, the application of computers on the printing press has accelerated the digitization of printing, and the printing machine has also realized the digitization of computers. Control; in the field of post-press processing, from the realization of digital folding hands, automatic matching, folding, bookbinding, gluing, attachment paste, three-sided cutting, automatic crawling, to sales, transportation, also basically realized the computer Digital management.
With the extension of the digital chain and the increasing degree of information digitization, the printing production intermediates are more digitally existed, transmitted and circulated, the physical form is decreasing, or even completely disappeared, and the digitalization of production control information flow is gradually realized. . Coupled with the application of computer networks, it has been able to achieve "integrated integration" of graphic information flow and production control information flow. The future digitalization will surely become the only way for printing companies.
Second, the necessity and conditions for implementing digital workflow
1. The need to implement a digital workflow
The digital workflow is one of the hot topics in the printing industry in recent years. Printing companies have three important functions to achieve a comprehensive digital workflow: 1 to make the process from prepress to printing closely connected; 2 to improve production efficiency and save costs; 3 to achieve on-demand printing, expand the short-run printing market. It can be seen that digital printing will be an important driving force for the future printing industry.
2. Conditions for implementing a digital workflow
Digitalization is good, but it is not an easy task to realize the digital workflow of the printing enterprise. The following conditions must be met.
2.1 First, the company's top management must attach great importance to it. 2.2 investment in funds and equipment. These include high-precision, high-performance digital cameras and color scanners, intelligent color standard software, the promotion of direct platesetters, digital proofing technology, and application software (especially intelligent software that increases automation and productivity). Promote applications, high-compression data transmission, multimedia recording output, and all new file formats and standardized data processing, transmission technology can be quickly popularized, and so on. 2.3 The corresponding improvement in the quality of employees.
Third, the method of achieving digital printing workflow
1. Information flow and digitization in the printing industry
From a technical point of view and the entire printing production process, information in the printing industry includes graphic information and production control information.
1.1 graphic information flow. Graphic information is the object that the printing office wants to copy and spread. The quality of the printing is directly related to the effect of printing and copying. Graphic information includes text, images, and graphic information. The digitization of graphic information includes the digitization of text, graphics, and images. The digitization of text information consists of two aspects: encoding and glyph description; the digitization of the image is the collection of the sampled, discrete, and converted image into digitized pixels; the description of the graphical information is the contour of the graph with nodes, lines, curves Mathematical descriptions are made, and conditions such as filling are marked, and description parameters are stored and transmitted using digitized information.
At the time of printing, graphic information is mostly organized in the form of "pages" and "layouts". Therefore, the digitized page description is indispensable for prepress processing. The development of an open, device-independent computer page description language is one of the cornerstones of digital printing. It can describe the characteristics of various graphic elements in the page and their relationship. The purpose is to form the graphic information. The page information is completely transmitted and eventually "imaged" on specific devices (displays, printers, laser imagesetters, CTP devices, etc.). In fact, the role of the page description language is to "integrate" the graphic information.
Among the various page description languages, PostScript relies on its advantages to become an internationally popular page description language. It has made outstanding contributions to the digitalization of printed information for more than a decade, but with the advent of multimedia and Internet publishing, it has gradually emerged. Out of disadvantage. The PDF format is based on the PostScript imaging description model. It can integrate text, graphics, images, audio and video information into one. It can form different types of publications according to different needs, and is gradually becoming the main digital page description format, especially in It has been widely used in systems related to integrated digital processes.
1.2 control information flow. Controlling the flow of information is the necessary control information needed to properly process a printed product. For example, print finished product specification information (layout, size, processing method, modeling data), quality control information (printer ink control data, post-press processing control data, etc.) required for printing processing, and equipment arrangement information for printing tasks. The digitization of control information is realized and developed along with the emergence and development of numerical control technology. As the degree of digitization of information continues to deepen, the digitization of production control information flows is gradually developing.
The digitization of control information is based on the realization of electronicization, that is, the realization of single-machine electronic control of printing and post-press equipment, and then the control information is represented by binary digits to realize the "numerical control" of the equipment. Therefore, a further requirement for digitally controlled printing equipment and post-press processing equipment is that digital control information must be capable of online or offline exchange (ie, production control information must be transmitted to the relevant equipment via a network or other storage medium), After receiving the information, the device converts the information into action instructions that the device can execute in order to properly implement the production.
Since there are many types of pre-press, printing and post-press equipment and different characteristics, the control methods and instructions are different, so a device-independent file format is required. In this format of the document, the various related production information involved in the prepress, printing, and postpress processes are described in a language to facilitate the use of various devices. The PPF and JDF established by the CIP3/CIP4 organization are the file formats that meet the above requirements.
2.CIP3/CIP4 and PPF, JDF format files
CIP3/CIP4 is an international cooperation organization composed of dozens of internationally renowned prepress, printing and postpress manufacturers. CIP3 (International Cooperation for Integration of Prepress, Press and Postpress) is the international cooperation of prepress, printing and postpress integration. CIP3 has now been changed to CIP4 (International Cooperation for Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress), more specifically extending the scope of "integration" to pre-press, print and post-press processes.
The CIP3-based print production format PPF is written in PostScript language, and its limitations have now been replaced by JDF, which is based on CIP4's job description format. The JDF format was developed by Adobe, AGFA, Heidelberg, and MANRoland, and is written in XML. .
The goal of creating a JDF format file is as follows: 1. Using JDF as a "digital standard job ticket", tracking and recording its status at any stage from the birth, execution, and termination of a print job. Provides information for proper control of systems and equipment. 2 Use JDF to closely and organically connect customers, printing business organizations, management information systems, prepress/printing/postpressing production departments.
JDF is to exchange information on the production, business, and related information management of printing in a wider field, so as to control it more efficiently. A notable feature of JDF is the feedback of information. For example, in the JDF file, the ink area adjustment data of the printing machine, the control strip density/chromaticity data, the registration allowable error data, etc., can be transmitted to the printing machine console as preset data of the adjustment machine. These are PPF. Format files can also be done. But in addition, JDF also requires the system to be able to feedback in order to control the system "there is a number in mind"; in addition, JDF defines each relevant department, process steps and equipment with "nodes", divided into different levels, each node Both can receive information and can report back to the production control system about the execution of the task.
Therefore, the control of the entire printing process by the all-digital process linked by JDF files is complete and meticulous. The status of a certain printing task at all levels and stages must be “preset and feedback”, which is also relevant. The equipment management system of the unit and department put forward higher requirements.
3. Implementation of JDF process
At present, most of the digital printing workflows for printing enterprise applications are based on JDF processes. The customer provides the original, layout and production requirements of the graphic. After receiving the task, the printing unit determines the appropriate process route and printing and finishing equipment according to the basic characteristics of the printed product and the customer's requirements.
The pre-press processing stage is basically the same as the PDF process. After the full-page layout, the information about the printed folding, cutting and binding, and registration lines has been determined. This information will be used directly for post-press equipment control. After the RIP interpretation process, the record information of each plate is obtained. In addition to recording on film and plates, the basic data for each ink zone of the press can be counted, eliminating the need for plate scanning.
The post-press processing data is determined during the pre-press processing. It is only necessary to input the relevant data into the control system of the corresponding post-press equipment. The pre-adjustment process will be greatly shortened, so that the post-press equipment will quickly enter the working state and get The final product.
JDF format files make the production process orderly, information management and feedback are automatically completed, and remote control is realized. Thereby ensuring the integration of digital processes before printing, printing and printing, and making the whole printing work management more scientific. The digital workflow of JDF integration is shown in Figure 1.
Fourth, the realization of digital workflow thinking
1. Evaluation of digital workflow
So many manufacturers are trying to promote their digital workflows and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. Manufacturers, scholars, and customers each have their own set of standards, but the most important thing is the customer's standard, because the customer is the ultimate user. We believe that the development of today's processes is constantly becoming mature and perfect, and each has its own characteristics. It is not necessary to evaluate which is good or bad. The key is to see which process is more in line with the actual situation of the enterprise. The company brings more profits.
2. The need to purchase a digital workflow
Digital workflow is a good technical product, but not every enterprise needs to buy and use, and must not be fashionable, we must make judgments and decisions based on our actual situation. For example, an output center only needs a set of RIP. If you spend tens of thousands of dollars, you can buy a special RIP and a large version of the software. Why do you need to spend more money to buy a digital workflow? In addition, consider whether you need to buy now. If it is not too urgent, it is better to wait for a while. As time goes by, the performance of the process will be more perfect, and the price will be cheaper.
3. The choice of digital workflow
First, the decision maker or the main technical staff must be fully familiar with the content, role and advantages of the digital workflow; secondly, have a comprehensive understanding of the production process and process of the enterprise, and have a clear idea of how to use the digital workflow. There is a clear goal for what effect to achieve; then, examine the different processes to see which process is more cost-effective than your actual requirements. For example, companies with more foreign businesses must consider the requirements of foreign companies. Foreign companies have their own standards for digital workflows. In addition, newspaper printing is different from commercial printing, and the selection criteria will be different. Finally, after-sales service is also an important inspection standard. Therefore, when purchasing a process, the company must comprehensively consider various factors and choose a digital workflow that suits its own characteristics. At the time of purchase, you can purchase in modules and gradually upgrade and add modules according to actual needs.
4. The use of digital workflow
The digital workflow is a system engineering, not a single product. It is closely related to each production process and production equipment. The original production process must be adjusted to meet and comply with the requirements of the digital workflow. The digital workflow is only a tool, and ultimately it must be done by people. Therefore, the quality of the relevant personnel is particularly important. There must be good management personnel and excellent technical personnel, as well as serious and responsible operators. For example, the output of the folding version has a very important practical significance for subsequent printing, but if a human error occurs in the large version, it will cause great losses. Therefore, the operator must be responsible and good. Printing process knowledge. Nowadays, the application of digital workflow is relatively simple and one-sided (mostly applied to prepress systems). In fact, it has very powerful functions, but we have not found and used them. This requires us to constantly research and explore repeatedly. And experiment, accumulate experience, tap potential, and maximize its role. In addition, when applying digital workflows, it should be flexibly applied and mastered in light of actual conditions. Foreign electronic documents are not necessarily standardized. Different documents need different solutions. In view of the current printing status in China, manual imposition can not be completely eliminated. Some journals' advertising films will be used repeatedly, and they need to be manually imposed. It is necessary to take into account the factors of manual imposition, but also to consider how to save, whether to do self-revision and so on.
V. Summary
The three steps of prepress processing, printing and post-printing of printed materials from raw materials to molding determine the quality of printing and the level of production efficiency. In order to accomplish these tasks efficiently and with high quality, it must be continuously optimized from the technical and management levels to minimize the useless consumption of time, materials, manpower, etc., and also reduce the adverse effects on the quality of printed products. To make the production run smoother and the product quality is stable at a higher level. Only in this way can printing companies survive and develop in today's fierce market competition. In recent years, digital workflows have developed rapidly, and well-known domestic and foreign manufacturers have launched their own digital workflow solutions, which emphasize openness, compatibility and operability, so that the entire workflow can achieve the best results. There are two modes of digital workflow that are currently promoted and applied in China. One is a long-distance full-digital workflow, and the other is a short-distance pre-press digital workflow. The mode chosen by the enterprise is determined by the specific circumstances of the enterprise. However, in general, compared with the traditional process, the digital workflow not only has advantages in terms of work efficiency, product quality, production cost, but more importantly, the digital workflow is an inevitable trend of prepress and printing development. It is also a necessary condition for the development of technologies such as CTP, digital proofing, CIP3, CIP4, digital printing, etc. It is also the key to the survival and development of enterprises.