Digital printing has unparalleled superiority

Whether it is a publishing house or a printing factory, they all hope to improve their work efficiency. Publishers want to sell books on the shelves as quickly as possible, and printers want to keep production as continuous as possible, so for them, productivity and profit are two equally important factors.

At present, book publishers generally prefer to use digital printing technology because it can not only help themselves, but also bring great convenience to their customers. John Conley, Xerox’s vice president of publishing marketing, explained: “The first priority of a printing plant is to work with publishers and help them find out what they need most.”

Digital printing can bring people faster turnaround speeds and lower inventory burdens. Users who use this technology can output more digital prints. Smart publishers are fully able to understand what digital printing means to them.

From the perspective of economics, creating digital books will enable publishers to benefit in the days to come. Fewer prints and lower inventory allow publishers to get more liquidity without having to put all the money on the printed book. In addition, digital book publishing allows people to maximize their creativity. With the support of variable data printing technology, personalization has also had a major impact on the publication of digital books. Customized story books and personalized photo albums attract dealers to enter the digital printing industry.

Meaning for publishers

The progress of digital printing technology has provided many books and publishing houses with more economical printing options. Digital book printing solutions can help publishers meet tough business challenges. Conley said: "If a new printing solution can't contribute to the improvement of a publisher's business performance, then it has no meaning."

MartinJ.Fetherman, the manager of Martini's on-demand solutions department, explained: "The publishers now do not have to bear the risk of excessive inventory and product backlog."

InfoTrends' statistics show that short-run printing will become the most popular form of printing. At present, the short-lived print between 250 and 499 copies has achieved a 40% increase, while the long-run print with more than 5,000 copies has a 44% decline.

This is a very attractive statistical result. Guy Broadhurst, vice president of product marketing for Océ North America, points out: “Publishers can provide more books to readers without increasing inventory.” Publishers can now increase the volume of their books at any time by simply using an electronic file. Maintain large-scale supply of books for a long time. The result of this will directly lead to an increase in the profitability of the publishing house. As long as the book is put into print, the publisher can retain the copyright of the book and make money from it.

According to Michael Mello, product catalog manager for HP Indigo, publishers do not really need to worry about the sale of printed books. They do not need to be limited by the number of prints and do not have to bear the cost of expensive inventory, because all books are virtual and can be produced at any time.

Authors of books can also benefit from digital printing. Chris Reid, Global Solutions Manager at InfoPrint Solutions, explained: “For those who are the first authors and unable to make large-scale printing of books, it is now possible to test the market by printing a few books through digital book publishing technology. React, then wait for market demand to increase, and then increase the amount of print."

Why does it take so long?

There are many reasons why digital book publishing can be so popular. Saving time, making money, enriching product categories, and benefiting publishers and authors can all be a reason for this technology's popularity. Mark Hunt, Marketing Manager of Standard Finishing Systems, added: “Printing and binding on demand can not only save you a lot of inventory costs but also allow you to focus on finding more business opportunities from key customers.” Publishers see digital book production as a way to control costs and maintain competitiveness, but why not start digital publishing from now on?

One of the reasons may be that the publication of digital books has not attracted people's attention. As the traditional lithography industry gradually escalates, digital book publishing is entering the eyes of people with a new attitude of a market leader. The days of printing with 35mm film are gone forever. Nowadays, people can not only upload their own digital photos through different websites, but also create personalized digital photo albums through the internal sites of certain companies. And finish printing within 24 hours.

SiNguyen, product marketing manager of Depot USA, said: “The photography industry is a brand new field for most of us, and it is also a new market that will allow us to show our talents. Traditional lithography will still occupy the market. There is a place, but it is almost no longer possible for growth."

Make your choice based on your own situation

With digital printing continuing to challenge traditional printing and the tremendous changes it has brought to the printing industry, personalization has become a major highlight in the publishing market. Book retailers like Amazon.com can now let users customize story books or invite children and their parents to make stories.

Paula Balik, global product marketing manager for Kodak's Graphic Imaging Group’s electronic imaging system, said: “Digital printing technology allows publishers to provide customers with highly customized publishing services, such as customizing different chapters in the same book. Also, It also creates many new opportunities for authors and publishers."

Color promotes personal success. Nguyen pointed out: “Once people see color, they will have the desire to change it. It has brought us a new level of marketing. Color can not only be used to produce personalized covers, but also can be used to create personalized content."

A colorful world

With the increasing flow of personalized printing and the continuous improvement of digital printing quality, color printing will also surpass traditional black and white printing. Most of the books' texts are printed in black ink, but black fonts are certainly not as striking as colorful ones.

Reid explained: "In today's printing market, color printing has become more attractive to digital publishing publishers. Although its cost is high, people who are interested in it are becoming more and more. Of course, in most cases, black-and-white printing still dominates the market with its strong price advantage."

Aditya Dwivedi, market research and communications manager at Sakon/PunchGraphix, said: “In general, book printing companies have introduced black digital printing equipment to enhance their short-term production capabilities. In a book, often only the front cover is colored. While the content is mostly black and white, the demand for color digital printing by end-users is still increasing, and books and magazines are no exception. Therefore, printers must invest in color devices to enhance their product features."

Text books and children's books are always printed in color, because most of these books contain detailed illustrations. Statistics show that publications printed in color are becoming more and more. Kodak’s Balik explained: “In digital color, we regard books as one of the three fastest growing applications. Although books and publications account for 25% of total printed pages, only very A small part is printed on digital presses, so digital technology has great potential for development in this area."

The birth of digital photo albums has promoted the growth of color printing. People can print a personalized digital photo album by simply printing the photos they took on their holiday and printing them on glossy paper with colorful clip art. These businesses drove the development of websites such as Lulu.com and promoted the application of digital color printing technology in more fields.



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