The old saying “change is good†also applies to color proofs, and its changes are obvious to all. Following the development trend of the entire industry, color proofing quickly shifted from analog to digital and finally digital proofing. Now people already know how to use it, where to use it and benefit from it. But what is strange is that analog proofing has not stopped the pace of development, and is no longer a subtle change.
Is it a simulation of the previous system?
Simulation proofing is actually a proofing method for film. When proofing is required, the film has to be transferred from one place to another. The user gets proofs of the film. Since the data is locked in the film and will not change, using film as a medium for transferring data is a good method. However, with the continuous standardization of the file format, this proofing method is also changing.
The main direction of change is to transmit data through the network, but there are many problems encountered in the process of transmission, such as fonts, overprints, software version compatibility, and so on. At present, the commonly accepted file formats in the industry are TIFF/IT and PDF formats. Using such a standard file format to digitally transfer files can overcome many problems, and at the same time can basically guarantee that when copying in the same manner, Stability, predictability, and credibility.
Digital trend
On the one hand, digital proofing is developing very fast. People have already begun to adopt and trust this technology and have a deeper understanding of it. This is the result of spending some time. They believe that the use of digital proofing technology is very handy, and can benefit from it, and with the deepening of proficiency and understanding, they know how to solve problems that may be encountered.
On the other hand, analog proofing has been around for about 22 years, and users have reached a very proficient level. In fact, anyone in the printing field may have obtained mock-up proofs, and can roughly describe the type of use and related specifications and parameters (eg, whether to print using SWOP - web offset publication specification parameters or to use Commercial printing methods; what type of dot gain value should be used).
However, digital proofing broke this situation. Any proofs are different from the past, they appear in a variety of different formats (with or without dots), and they are different (inkjet, thermal sublimation, thermal development and thermal transfer). For each person, to understand the continuous tone sample without a network, and compare it with the proofs with a network point to understand its formation process and the principle requires a long learning process.
After the recognition of its quality, people feel that they can choose this type of continuous proofing method and realize that when considering the turnaround time of printed jobs, the quality level of the final printed sheets and some other issues (such as moiré), Many of them are not limited to analog proofing.
But the change is not easily accepted by some people, so some manufacturers use various methods to help people who do not want to turn to digital proofing to change their minds. Fuji Corporation has developed two systems and has already put to market:
PictroProof - This is a dye-based two-page continuous proofing machine that is positioned inside the proofing and does some proofing without a halftone dot; FinalProof - a four-page high quality proofing proofer, is actually a Fuji The exact copying of ColorArt, the proofing machine, can print halftone dots, pigments and the same screening method on the actual printing materials used.
What else needs to be done for an all-digital process?
When all the digital devices are there, but there are quite a few people who have not changed their minds and adopted them, what should be done in the face of such facts? Now the company can completely operate without film, from digital information to digital proofing, modify and re-do a digital proof, after confirmation, go to computer direct plate (CTP) equipment or direct imaging press, and then print copy, and simulation The method is as accurate.
In the past, there was a dispute between those who did a full digital process and those who did a simulation process. The latter believed that a complete digital process could not be achieved. In the process of production, they will encounter troubles and there will always be unexpected events, but this has become a thing of the past. Now they have done enough work on the adopted file format, industry standardization and improving the quality of CTP and digital proofs, so that a complete digital process can be used at every stage of the process.
At present, some of the higher-end printing companies have used a complete digital process, and they can afford the cost of learning and training - similar to research and development funds. Such companies can try new technologies, and even if they can't receive good results, they can go back and do a simulation process.
In contrast, small and medium-sized manufacturers do not have the time to afford tuition fees. So they think it's safer to do film-based proofing.
With the advancement of technology and product intelligence, the learning process has been shortened. And big manufacturers have already tried it, and it is time for others to follow. This is also the reason why digital proofing has undergone enormous changes in recent times.
Earlier, people did not know what the market's response to digital proofing was, what problems it would encounter when using it, nor how to correct it. But now all this is no longer a problem.
Although there are still some obstacles, large companies and large manufacturers have realized their existence. They also experienced the similarities and differences between analog and digital in the process of practice. But like other things, when a new technology emerges, Some people will come out and hope that the investment in this will bring more business opportunities. These companies will encounter a variety of problems, but they are also the first to benefit from this technology.
Once the technology is mature and the first to try to get people's approval, there will be a second wave - because the facts have proven that other companies have begun to accept it. These companies are not the first investors in the technology. They invested all the advantages of digital process flow and made the investment more targeted.
The numbers have soared
More and more people are ready to turn to digital proofing, and there are still plenty of people waiting to see it, but in any case the transition from analog to digital is very rapid.
Today, the market share of analog proofing is still the largest, but this situation changes every day. It won't take long for digital proofing to catch up even beyond the market for analog proofing. I don't know if one day simulation simulation will be launched permanently from this market. Looking at its future development may be a very interesting thing.
Proofing products
In the past few years, many manufacturers have introduced many halftone digital proofing devices to the market, including Creo-Scitex's Trendsetter/Spectrum and Spectrum, Polaroid's Pola-Proof, Imation's Creo's equipment production materials, and Fuji's FinalProof. .
SWOP and proofing
Obviously, this reform has affected the printing industry in many ways. Therefore, it is not uncommon for the SWOP specification to undergo some changes. At the beginning, SWOP did not recognize pressureless simulation proofing, but only accepted imprinted samples. Later, with the Application Data Sheet (ADS), SWOP began to accept simulation proofing, but required visual matching with the SWOP-approved sheets, which could be purchased in sets. However, the problem is always varied, and visual matching can easily introduce some artificial subjective factors. Each manufacturer may say: "According to our proofs, our products are matched." But this has no effect.
In another transition, SWOP printed a SWOP printer press sheet, a test strip called TR001, with the actual data of the SWOP standard listed above. In 1999, SWOP developed a standard process for pressureless proofing. Pressureless proofing can be either analog or digital. This means that during the proofing process, it must be visually and technically matched to the TR001. The SWOP must prove that the visual and technical data is used to calibrate according to the manufacturer's application data sheet (ADS) to achieve a finer matching process. . This is a very effective process. In addition, each product is retested once a year, forcing companies to ensure that their systems remain stable and unchanged.
In the aspect of simulation proofing, there are proof systems with spot colors or non-primary colors (ie, colors other than CMYK). In the digital arena, people are adapting to it and deciding whether to turn. In addition, the digital proofing system is not as perfect as analog proofing. So, now all of us are trying hard to solve the problem of how to generate non-primary colors on digital proofing machines to take part in the competition. This will become the only and largest target for all merchants in the next few years.