923

8.2 Networking and Data Flow

As shown in section 1.2, figure 8.2-1 describes the com- For instance, computer to plate technology requires a
plete production flow once more, from the idea – the networked data flow down to the printing plate output,
concept of a printed product – to the finished product, which can be considered the last stage of prepress.
including its distribution to the user. At first, the dif- When using a computer to plate system, the conven-
ferent stages of production were linked together sim- tional data carrier, film, is replaced by the digital data
ply by the flow of material. Nowadays, this flow is in- flow.
creasingly complemented by means of digital infor- When implementing computer to press technologies,
mation, that is, data. the digital data flow must extend to the press
The spreading of computers and networks increasing- room/printing system, since only there will the digital
ly affects the production of printed products. After net- job data be transferred to another medium in order to
working prepress,networks are now being installed in the produce the print media. Depending on the technolo-
printshop and partly in finishing for a multitude of pur- gy used, the medium can be an intermediate carrier
poses. This is mostly due to the digitization of the job da- (printing plate) or the printing material (paper, card-
ta, which is possible by implementing new technologies. board, foil, etc.) itself (cf. sec. 4.1.4).

Database
Production flow

Printed
Consumer, end customer
product
Information sources

Plate, Printed
Originals etc. pages
Customer, Printing
Agency, Prepress Postpress Distributor
process
Publisher
Data Data Data Data
Film, plate, etc. Paper, ink, etc. Material, etc.

Warehouse
Consumables
Supplier

Fig. 8.2-1 Production flow (prepress, press, postpress) with material and data flow for the production of printed products

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924 8 Material and Data Flow in Print Media Production

Implementing a digital workflow reduces the number In the coming years, the use of digital data and net-
of steps in the process, and therefore the production works will not be limited solely to handling job data and
costs. Another advantage of the digital data flow is the production parameters. Today, both the organization
possible improvement in quality. As long as the job da- and the management of a printing company can access
ta exists in digital form, it can be transferred from one a printshop database, to enable electronic job-process-
workplace to another without any loss of quality. Dai- ing and control. Figure 8.2-2 illustrates the connection
ly practice shows that faulty job data can also occur in of the different production stages via data networks; da-
a digital workflow. The advantages and the risks asso- ta relevant for controlling and supporting production
ciated with a digital workflow are described in more de- can be exchanged via these networks (see sec. 3.2.8).
tail in section 8.2.2. Section 8.2.3 describes the individual components of
The digital data flow does not necessarily end with the digital data flow within the production. Since net-
the transfer of data to the printing system for the print- work systems are set to play a crucial role in the print-
ing of the information on the substrate. To further re- ing company of the future, network concepts and in-
duce makeready times and the rate of waste sheets – terfaces will be dealt with in more detail before the dig-
that is, to cut the costs and to increase productivity – ital workflow is analyzed.
more and more production equipment (film or plate
imagesetter, printing, finishing and packaging systems)
is controlled electronically. With the electronic control 8.2.1 Network Concepts and Interfaces
system, machine presettings and production parameters
can be defined. Today, electronic control mostly takes After years of the most various, and partly incompati-
place by means of a control console directly linked to ble networks and interfaces, a group of network proto-
the machine (see also sec. 2.1.4). Yet, it is also possible cols has become a standard. It is the family of Internet
to connect production equipment and to transfer the protocols, better known under the name TCP/IP
control data for the machine presettings and the pro- (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).
duction via a network, in order to increase productivi- Meanwhile, these protocols are used as a standard both
ty and cut costs. The electronic control data can be in the Internet, and in Intranets and Extranets, both in
saved, for instance in the Print Production Format Local Area Networks (LANs) and in Wide Area Net-
(PPF), a vendor-independent format, and transferred works (WANs) (see sec. 3.2.8).
between the different production stages (more details A major advantage of TCP/IP protocols is that they
in sec. 8.2.3, fig. 8.2-13, see also sec. 4.1.4). are not affected by the type of physical connection used

Fig. 8.2-2
The networked production sections (pre-
Press
press, press, postpress) for producing print
media (Heidelberg)

Prepress

Postpress

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 8.2 Networking and Data Flow 925

for the data transfer; it is therefore irrelevant whether [8.2-3, 8.2-4]. Client/Server systems offer the possi-
the connection is established via a twisted pair, a coax- bility of centralizing (on the server) specific services
ial cable, optical fiber, normal analog telephone, or and making them accessible locally on each client
ISDN; the application protocols remain the same. For system (fig. 8.2-3). The operations required are exe-
instance, there is a protocol for the network services cuted on the server, and the parts that can be execut-
designed for the transfer of data, the so-called File ed locally are transferred to the client. Today, this can
Transfer Protocol (FTP). There is also a basic proto- take place by using technologies that ensure platform
col used for accessing remote computers (telnet). Mail independence. Achieving this requires using Java
protocols, protocols for accessing databases, and pro- Applets [8.2-5 through 8.2-7] computer-independent
tocols for the World Wide Web (e. g., http Hypertext parts of programs, which can be run locally on the
Transfer Protocol) are also a part of the TCP/IP. client by means of an interpreter, the Java Virtual
Another significant advantage is that Internet proto- Machine.
cols are available on virtually all computer platforms. When analyzing the use of networks in the printing
This is all the more important since the world of print- industry, we can observe a continuous “spreading of
ing generally uses very heterogeneous systems, from network,” which started in prepress. Today, three typi-
Macintosh to PCs, generally under Windows or Win- cal forms of network connectivity can be distinguished
dows NT, and Unix stations, which is typically available in the world of printing:
for servers.
Moreover, using TCP/IP protocols makes it possible • Stand-alone networks. Some networks are limited to
to harmonize user interfaces by running standard specific departments or fields (accounting, time
browsers; browsers are software utilities designed for recording, prepress, etc.). The interaction with oth-
the downloading and displaying of information from er departments/fields or companies is not carried
the World Wide Web, which can be used with a uni- out via the network.
form user interface for the different services of the In- • Internal networking. The networking of depart-
ternet. This is well illustrated by Netscape Communi- ments/areas involved in the manufacturing
cator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Under such cir- process provides the means for a digital data
cumstances, the browser itself is irrelevant, unless the transmission within a corporation. This can con-
information is optimized for a specific browser; this, tribute to a more effective cooperation within the
however, makes the user dependent on one particular corporation and speed up the entire manufactur-
browser vendor. ing process.
The consistent use of TCP/IP [8.2-1, 8.2-2] also al- • External networking. The third level of networking
lows the implementation of the Client/Server concept includes a digital data flow for the entire workflow.

Fig. 8.2-3
Example of a Client/Server concept Communication server
(with firewall) Data server Program server
Remote
data Network printer
transmission

Local
area
network
(LAN)

Several clients (e.g., PC, Unix workstation, Mac)

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926 8 Material and Data Flow in Print Media Production

It involves not only all the departments/areas par- (fig. 8.2-4). This meant that order-processing took
ticipating in the production, but also includes all place without recourse to any digital data, information,
the workstations from customer enquiry to delivery originals, or intermediate products. Not until the in-
to the customer. Therefore, this type of network troduction of the scanner for the capture and digitiza-
connectivity not only covers the departments in- tion of originals, and digital phototypesetting, did the
volved in the production, but also the customers printing industry also start introducing digital pro-
themselves and all the administrative departments cessing into its production chain.
in the external companies and partners involved. The digitization of the workflow is illustrated in the
Customer, agency, quotation costing, order accep- following example of offset printing. So far, its work-
tance, work scheduling/materials management, flow has consisted of five stages. A similar development
prepress, printshop, finishing/packaging, shipping, has been observed in the other conventional printing
final costing, billing, and so on, are networked to technologies (see also secs. 3.1 and 3.2).
ensure economical and fast communication, and
production and distribution of printed products in First Stage: Digital Image and Text Capturing
high quality. At first, color scanners and phototypesetting systems (see
also sec. 1.2.2 and fig. 13.1-35) were used to digitize the
There are many facets and combinations of these three first steps of the process chain. Drum scanners read the
networking solutions. The following section will de- originals electronically, carry out the color corrections
scribe the data/contents, as well as the possible system and color separations in the processing unit, and record
configurations required to set up networked printing the result on film (fig. 8.2-5, see also sec. 3.1.4). By using
production. phototypesetting systems, the composition, the expo-
sure of text films,and partly the creation of vector graph-
ics were digitized and output mostly on individual films
8.2.2 Digital Workflow (sec. 3.1.2). The text, image, and graphics were thus avail-
able in a digital form.All further steps in the process were
8.2.2.1 Digital Workflow in Prepress based on the films generated and were analog, such as
As already mentioned in section 1.2, the printing work- the assembling of the full-page film as the basis for the
flow was based exclusively on analog data until the 1970s following steps of sheet assembly and platemaking.

Fig. 8.2-4
Conventional (analog) workflow for the Typesetting Film
production of print media
Image Film Page Sheet Plate- Print- Finishing
capturing/ assembly assembly making Plate ing
editing

Graphics Film Key: Analog production step

creation

Fig. 8.2-5
Workflow with digital scanner and photo- Typesetting Film
typesetting system
Image Film Page Sheet Plate- Print- Finishing
capturing/ assembly assembly making Plate ing
editing

Graphics Film Key: Digital production step

creation

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 8.2 Networking and Data Flow 927

Second Stage: Desktop Publishing (DTP) being developed. These software utilities permitted the
Another stage in the digitization of data began in the imposition of pages, the assembly of print sheets and
’80s, with the introduction of Desktop Publishing their exposition on print format-size films. These films
(DTP). This technology is based on powerful comput- serve as originals for the plate exposure, which is the last
ing hardware and software, which could be economi- analog operation in this stage of prepress (fig. 8.2-7); for
cally introduced into the graphics industry, and has further details, see sections 3.2.5 and 4.2.
gained general acceptance in the entire printing indus-
try. DTP not only allows texts, images, and graphics to Fourth Stage: Digital Platemaking
be captured and edited on the same workstation (com- with Computer to Plate (CtP)
puter); it also permits the compiling of text, image, and The information is directly transferred to the printing
graphics elements digitally into complete pages using plate from the digital sheet assembly without generat-
layout programs and the outputting of these by laser ing any film – and is called computer to plate (see also
imaging units on film. Thus, the manual process of page sec. 4.3, with details and examples of equipment). This
assembly is eliminated – but not the sheet assembly generally takes place by means of a laser imaging unit
(fig. 8.2-6; see also sec. 3.1.5.2). directly on the printing plate in a special plate image-
While the second stage is already fully established in setter. Thus, the conventional plate exposure is no
the printing industry, an increasing number of com- longer required (fig. 8.2-8). The digitization of prepress
panies are presently introducing stages three to five, de- ends with computer to plate.
scribed in the following paragraphs. Another use of CtP is that platemaking is directly in-
tegrated in the printing press (computer to press/direct
Third Stage: Digital Sheet Assembly imaging). This technology will be described in detail in
and Computer to Film (CtF) section 8.2.2.2; details and examples of equipment can
Already shortly after the introduction of DTP, large-for- be found in section 4.4.
mat laser imagesetters (> DIN A3), which could expose
films in the format of the corresponding printing press- Fifth Stage: Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)
es, were becoming available on the market. At the same The transfer of production-relevant data from pre-
time, software utilities for the digital sheet assembly were press, and the work preparation for the makeready and

Fig. 8.2-6
Workflow with Desktop Publishing (DTP) Typesetting
for the page assembly
Page
Image Sheet Plate- Print- Finishing
assembly Film Plate
capturing/ assembly making ing
(layout)
editing

Graphics Key: Digital production step

creation

Fig. 8.2-7
Workflow with digital sheet assembly and Typesetting
computer to film system
Page
Image Sheet Film Plate- Print- Finishing
assembly Plate
capturing/ assembly making ing
(layout)
editing

Graphics Output on a Key: Digital production step

creation computer to film system

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928 8 Material and Data Flow in Print Media Production

Fig. 8.2-8
Workflow with computer to plate system
Typesetting
Page
Image Sheet Plate Finishing
assembly Plate Printing
capturing/ assembly imaging
(layout)
editing

Graphics Computer to plate Key: Digital production step

creation system

control of printing and finishing systems and the ship- cluding printing (see sec. 4.5 and chap. 5). The image
ping processing (fig. 8.2-9) play a vital role in intro- carrier is imaged digitally for each new print copy; non-
ducing CIM in the printing industry. The purpose of impact printing presses are directly fed with data from
this development is to achieve a “networked print- prepress, which means that the entire platemaking is
house,” which will be discussed in detail in the next no longer required (fig. 8.2-10).
sections. Digital printing also includes the use of computer
to press/direct imaging technology (sec. 4.4) on the
8.2.2.2 Digital Workflow and Digital Printing basis of conventional printing technologies, in which
(Computer to Press) the image carrier is automatically imaged within the
In section 8.2.2.1 (see fig. 8.2-8) within the fourth stage press.
computer to press/direct imaging has already been If the digitized workflow is not completely in place,
mentioned. In this particular case the image carrier is digital printing is realized by means of the computer to
entirely generated in the press on the basis of digital plate technology, as well as computer to film in its ex-
data. tended sense, since these technologies are based on en-
In digital printing, non-impact printing technologies tirely digitized originals.
(i.e., printing technologies not requiring any image Figure 8.2-11 gives an overview of the possibilities of
carrier) enable the highest level of digital workflow in- digital printing; the digitization of the production steps

Fig. 8.2-9
Workflow with Computer-Integrated Manu- Typesetting
facturing (CIM)
Page
Image Sheet Plate Finishing
assembly Plate Printing
capturing/ assembly imaging
(layout)
editing
Analog production step
Graphics Key: Digital production step digitally controlled
creation

Fig. 8.2-10
Digital workflow with computer to press Typesetting
(NIP or direct imaging technology)
Page
Image Sheet Finishing
assembly Printing
capturing/ assembly
(layout)
editing
Analog production step
Graphics Key: Digital production step digitally controlled
creation

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 8.2 Networking and Data Flow 929

Conventional Printing
("mechanical” printing)
with image carrier/
permanent image e.g., Offset
RIP C to film Convent. Printing press
platemaking
Digital full page/ e.g., Offset, Gravure Printed
print sheet C to plate sheet
RIP Printing press
(image, graphics, text, (to cylinder) (full page)
multicolor) e.g., Offset
RIP C to press/
Digital Printing direct imaging
PostScript (processes,
file systems)
RIP C to press/
direct imaging
Electronic Printing with rewritable
(NIP technologies) image carrier
without permanent image carrier,
i.e. lost image e.g., Electrophotography
Imaging Inking Printing
C to print
(NIP
RIP tech- Imaging & Inking Printing
nology) e.g., ”X“-Graphy
Ink directly
on paper
e.g., Ink jet

Fig. 8.2-11 Digital printing: processes, components, and systems

and production means is increasingly ensured by com- ther, using CIM reduces the number of waste sheets
puter to plate technology through to computer to print in printing and finishing, due to the simplified
systems, using electronic printing processes. All the pos- makeready procedure.
sibilities presented share the fact that printing the en- • Quality improvements: An improvement of quality
tire sheet is based on a set of data that uniquely describes can be observed through digitization in all stages.
the complete multicolor sheet content (text, graphics, This is mainly due to the accuracy of data and the
image). reproducible accuracy of the tonal range transfer.
Digitization and automation also simplify the stan-
8.2.2.3 Digital Workflow: Advantages, Challenges, dardization of the entire printing workflow. A con-
and Possibilities tinuous color management can only be achieved by
• Saving time: The generation of originals (films, implementing full digitization throughout prepress.
printing plates) is significantly accelerated. Im- • Quality management: The problem for computer to
plementing CIM in printing and finishing has plate is that file errors can cause major losses of
permitted the shortening of makeready times. high-grade printing plate material. When exposing
• Saving material: When changing over to computer films for individual pages, a file error causes an ex-
to plate technology, savings in material becomes posure error for just this set of films, while when
particularly obvious, since the use of film and film exposing a plate the error affects the complete set
processing chemicals are no longer required. Fur- of printing plates. Thus, implementing digitization

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930 8 Material and Data Flow in Print Media Production

and automation in ever more stages sets higher made reliable and the staffing structure has been
standards for quality management. A significant changed; manual and auxiliary work is no longer
workstep in digital workflow is the input and out- required, and operations that were previously sepa-
put control of data (preflight check), which can be rate and labor-intensive were combined.
carried out by experts using special software utili- • Skilled personnel: On the one hand, digital work-
ties. flow has saved labor, on the other, requirements
• Digital proofing: In an analog or partly digital sys- for the personnel have become more demanding,
tem, it is helpful to prepare proofs before the sheet and new qualifications, such as for preflight tasks,
assembly. These are designed to simulate the print- are needed. This becomes particularly obvious in
ed result as accurately as possible. Color separation prepress, where the tasks of three former profes-
films are used for analog proofs. The procedure sions, compositor, reproduction technician, and
must be changed over to digital proofing systems platemaker are now combined into one and can
(e.g., ink jet printers, thermal sublimation printers) be carried out at the same workstation. Moreover,
at the latest with the introduction of computer to this situation has created an increased need for
plate technology, since film is no longer used in the system administrators to guarantee the opera-
workflow. As yet, most digital proofing systems are tional safety of increasingly complex networked
still not able to simulate the printed result as accu- systems.
rately as the analog, film-based proof. Moreover, • Decentralized publishing: By integrating digitiza-
many customers are still reluctant to accept these tion, the processes of typesetting, image capturing,
systems, especially since most digital proofing sys- exposure, proofing, printing, and so on, can take
tems cannot deliver a screen structure identical to place at different sites, while the data transfer and
the final printed copy. Another reason is that digital communication between the companies involved in
proofing systems often cannot be used on all sub- these processes is ensured by means of networks
strates (see sec. 3.2.11). (e.g., Internet) (see sec. 9.1.2).
• Last minute changes: Changes can generally be
managed easily and without any loss of material, as 8.2.3 CIP3 for the Computer-Integrated
long as work is carried out in the digital data file.
For this reason, growing digitization makes changes
Manufacturing (CIM) of Printed
at relatively advanced stages of production possible Products
(e.g., sheet assembly, platemaking).
• Archiving/re-use of data: Archiving of digital data As already described in section 8.2.2.1 (fig. 8.2-9) the
saves on space and is easier to organize than films fifth stage of a digital workflow, the transfer of pro-
and mounting films. In this way, previously gener- duction-relevant data from prepress, is vital in order to
ated data can be re-used at any time for other jobs, introduce Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM).
with or without any change. When using CIM, this An important initiative for the support of digital
advantage can also be seen in the makeready and workflow in the manufacturing of printed products is
the control of the printing and finishing systems. the CIP3 consortium. CIP3 stands for “International
Archive systems must be well designed and struc- Cooperation for Integration of Prepress, Press, and Post-
tured to meet the operational requirement of en- press”; it is an association of around forty internation-
suring that the required version of the files can be al companies, mostly manufacturers of prepress, press,
always found quickly. and postpress, as well as suppliers and users [8.2-8]. (In
• Backup: In a digital workflow, loss of data can have 2000 the CIP3 consortium was renamed CIP4: Inter-
major consequences in time and cost if no specific national Cooperation for the Integration of Processes
form of backup is implemented. The installation of in Prepress, Press and Postpress.)
backup systems, overvoltage protection equipment, The objective of CIP3 is to improve and automate the
and stand-by units for servers, as well as the setting production of printed products by setting a standard
up of access rights, are important measures in or- throughout the industry, the Print Production Format
der to prevent any loss of data. (PPF). PPF defines a uniform data structure and asso-
• Rationalization: Due to increasing digitization and ciated coding for the data that is necessary for the whole
automation, workflow has been rationalized and technical production. This PPF is supported by the

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 8.2 Networking and Data Flow 931

products (software and hardware) of CIP3’s members heterogeneous environments (e.g., for highly auto-
and other companies [8.2-8]. mated computer to plate systems, as well as to conven-
tional systems with film exposure).
Print Production Format (PPF) The use of CIP3/PPF is currently limited to techni-
In the past few years, the printing industry has cal production data. Due to the diversity of (commer-
witnessed a trend that has become ever more defined: cial) job management systems on the market, the
due to the advent of digital technologies, the produc- adoption of a uniform format would have been wel-
tion of short print runs has continued to gain in impor- come, but was not a priority since the development of
tance. In terms of production process, this means that systems performing these tasks was already more ad-
the equipment must be ready for the next job more vanced than for the management of the technical pro-
quickly. duction data. Numerous systems are already in use to-
In the long chain of operations necessary for manu- day. Consequently, CIP3/PPF does not contain any
facturing printed products many presses can already be commercial data, but rather creates the interface with
controlled and preset electronically. Until now, the re- job management, job tracking and workflow systems.
quired setting values are often still input manually, al- Finally, CIP3 Print Production Format is an open-sys-
though much of the information required is already tem standard. The specification is freely accessible
available in previous operations. [8.2-8].
The possibilities of electronic data exchange have
hardly been exploited, especially in heterogeneous en- Content of CIP3/PPF Files
vironments using equipment from different manufac- A CIP3/PPF file can contain descriptions of sheets, a
turers, as is often the case in practice. This can be ex- related directory (PPF Directory), and product anno-
plained by the absence of a uniform, manufacturer-in- tations and comments. PPF contents can be saved or
dependent format, with which data could be sent from edited successively or simultaneously in a PPF file.
one processing step to the next. Based on the various sub-processes during the pro-
In 1994, upon the initiative and order of Heidelber- duction of a printed product, the contents, which are
ger Druckmaschinen AG, the Fraunhofer Institute for saved, exchanged, or read in the PPF file (e. g., using
Computer Graphics published a study on the require- CIP3 Parser or Editing Library), are described in the
ments of a Print Production Format (CIP3/PPF). This following.
format would serve as data container for the exchange Since all product information and sheet elements have
of information between prepress, press, and postpress. been defined by the time of imposition, modern imposi-
The objective of the research for CIP3’s Print Produc- tion systems offer the possibility of generating PPF files.
tion Format was to apply the concepts of computer-in- When printing, the ink zone presetting, paper trav-
tegrated manufacturing (CIM) to the manufacturing of el, register adjustment, and the colorimetric and color
printed products. density measurement can be set using the data from
Initially, the study identified three areas of print prepress (see fig. 8.2-13). During imposition, or in the
production that would benefit from data saved in RIP, a low-resolution preview image of the entire sheet
PPF: printing, cutting, and folding. These areas re- can be stored in the PPF file. Appropriate compression
quire information that is already available in pre- processes for the sheet images compatible with
press. Meanwhile, the range of application has been CIP3/PPF (e. g., 20 MB) were selected since the image
greatly enlarged, and now includes further opera- data can be up to 640 MB in size for a perfecting job
tions in finishing, which are involved in the manu- of eight A4 pages per sheet side and 4 color separations
facturing of an entirely specific printed product, such per side.
as a brochure. Feeder and delivery of a sheet-fed press can be pre-
set according to the sheet format. The PPF file contains
Integrating Prepress, Press, and Postpress the type and position of the register marks for the reg-
Whereas the current systems designed to support print ister control. Finally, the PPF file may also contain the
production workflow are mostly limited to prepress, positions and the setpoint values of color and density
CIP3/PPF ensures a coherent model from prepress to measurement fields for in-line and off-line color
finishing. The data format does not prescribe any spe- measurement and quality control. Other attributes are
cific workflow, but can be practically adapted to very used, for instance, for the specialized support of web

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932 8 Material and Data Flow in Print Media Production

presses, such as built-in cross cutters or the presetting All data is stored in a structured form in the
of folders. CIP/PPF file. For instance, there are separate sections
Cutting and folding are usually the two major stages for each side of a sheet. This logical structure is pro-
in the process of finishing. Cutting involves dimension- grammed with a data attribute inheritance mecha-
ing the cutting blocks and positioning the cutting nism. Thus, an element can inherit attributes from el-
marks. Nowadays the coordinates of all blocks to be cut ements on a higher level of its hierarchy. In this way,
must generally be recorded anew using a digitization the attributes valid for several elements can be copied
tablet; the recording of the coordinates in prepress en- in a higher-level structure. They can then be saved
ables the automatic prepositioning of the correspond- once for all the subordinate structures. This also fa-
ing sensors. cilitates access to the data required for a process (e. g.,
At the stage of folding all folding procedures and cutting).
their individual parameters need to be set. Since the Contrary to other solutions, which are either vendor-
selection of the imposition layout already provides specific island solutions or solutions for a specific area
the folding layout, this information can be saved in (e.g., prepress), the CIP3 Print Production Format was
the PPF file and transferred to the folding process. It designed to be a vendor-, press-, and platform-inde-
can then be translated into a folding instruction (or pendent (processor type-independent) data format.
in a folding program) adapted for the respective fold- This has greatly facilitated – if not enabled for the first
er. (Fig. 8.2-13 gives a simplified description of the di- time – the exchange of data in heterogeneous environ-
versity of use of CIP3/PPF data via a prepress inter- ments, that is, between systems from various vendors
face.) with diversified hardware and software components
In the subsequent finishing, CIP3/PPF describes (as found in practice today).
how sections that were generated in the previous
steps are processed into a final product. The setup da- Use of CIP3/PPF in the Workflow
ta required for these operations is available in Print The first application, which integrated CIP3/PPF in its
Production Format. Thus, a PPF file can contain a workflow, was the ink zone presetting (fig. 8.2-12; see al-
complete product description. It contains descrip- so fig. 2.1-163). The advantages of implementing CIP3
tions of operations such as collating or gathering, can be clearly recognized.
binding by various methods (perfect binding, If the content of the entire print sheet exists as a
thread-stitching, etc.), three-sided trimming, or in- CIP3/PPF file, it is possible to accurately calculate the
formation about accompanying products (e. g., CD- ink quantity required for each color separation, that
ROM) or pull-out postcards. In addition, the Print is, for each printing unit, thus achieving very precise
Production Format includes administrative data, ink zone presetting. Some software packages can be
such as an unambiguous job identification or infor- used as a digital equivalent to the plate image readers,
mation about the length of the run. which have been used since 1982 for the ink zone pre-
Within the CIP3 Print Production Format, produc- setting (see also sec. 2.1.5.4). These not only guaran-
tion-specific data, called “private data”, can be stored. tee a higher resolution compared to the conventional
By this means it is possible to save the actual setup val- plate image readers, but are also cheaper and faster.
ues of a machine used for the production and the data The time saved in presetting the printing press and the
originating from prepress in one CIP3/PPF file. If there reduced number of waste sheets represent further ad-
is a repeat job on the same or a similar press, the old vantages of the digital equivalent to the plate image
production settings can then be used directly. With the reader.
“private data” mechanism, the CIP3 Print Production There are further applications using CIP3/PPF,
Format can also be utilized to save parameters that are which, for instance, automatically generate programs
neither known in prepress, nor can be derived from the for the use of cutters, and which position the sensors,
information already available (e.g., because they de- or transfer setpoint values for the control of the print-
pend directly on the presses used for production). ing quality; these also contribute greatly to saving time
Another benefit of the re-usability of this data are the and waste sheets. Figure 8.2-13 illustrates how
significantly shortened makeready times for repeat CIP3/PPF can be integrated into prepress to create an
jobs. If necessary, the private data can simply be delet- interface between the various finishing sectors by using
ed before data is sent to external production sites. the existing information/data extensively.

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 8.2 Networking and Data Flow 933

The companies using CIP3/PPF have experienced

very satisfying results. Shortened press makereadies,
which are all the more obvious in short print runs, con-
stitute a major advantage.

Coding of CIP3/PPF
In its initial form, CIP3/PPF was coded in PostScript, a
page description and programming language [8.2-9].
PostScript was used for the definition of data types and
of the data itself. CIP3/PPF files are not to be confused
with PostScript files, which are generally used today for
film and platemaking. The CIP3/PPF file does not con-
tain any data that is exposed, but only the product in-
formation described previously, which is coded in Post-
Script.
Other coding standards are also being developed. For
instance, Adobe is working on designing a PDF-com-
pliant coding, as a part of the Portable Job Ticket For-
mat (PJTF) [8.2-10 and 8.2-11].
A standardization of other interfaces, and the imple-
mentation of file coding standards, would be welcome.
The content of a CIP3/PPF file could then be coded in
a database. In this case, a uniform database layout
would be useful. A standardized programming inter-
face, such as an Application Programming Interface
(API), could also be used to access the data.
Fig. 8.2-12 All these alternatives have in common that the un-
Ink zone presetting for a multicolor sheet-fed offset printing press derlying data structure and the semantics of the data
calculated with prepress data by using CIP3/PPF in the workflow
would be harmonized. We might then imagine that
(Heidelberg)

Fig. 8.2-13
CIP3/PPF-based prepress interface for PostScript Computer Direct Imaging
Computer file to Print
the connection of printing and postpress/ to Film Computer to Plate Computer
finishing (Heidelberg) Plate to Press
6. 1110 7
Digital PostScript
file 2 15 14 3 Presetting:
Proof – Ink
zones Measurement &
– Format Control systems
– Register
Layout PostScript marks
file, – Control
CIP3/PPF strips Press
file –…
Imposition Prepress Interface
Cutting Cutter
data
Prepress Folding Folder
data
Bindery Binder
data
Postpress

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934 8 Material and Data Flow in Print Media Production

several companies that cooperate in generating specif- particular have no real-time update of their status. The
ic products would use a file format for communica- company’s management is generally not able to evalu-
tion between companies, but a central database with- ate whether a job in production is being produced ac-
in each corporation. Upon receiving an order with a cording to the hours calculated, or whether its printing
CIP3/PPF file, the content of this file would be con- will be delayed. The only way to find out is usually to
verted into the database. As long as this order re- “walk around the production” or to “phone around in
mained in this company, all applications would di- all the departments,”in order to form an opinion about
rectly access the database, if the network architecture the progress of the job.
allows it. Alternatively, all applications could access the For example, many companies organize daily
data via a uniformed API – regardless of the fact that 30-minute production meetings, during which the
this data still existed in the CIP3/PPF file or was stored staff discusses and defines the outstanding jobs, what
in the database. It would even be possible to imagine jobs are in production, and where. Even when plan-
using this API for remote access to the data via a net- ning the production of a job on short notice, there are
work protocol. still several changes during the daily production. Jobs
A direct database interface can facilitate the exchange that have been overlooked and urgent jobs often have
of CIP3/PPF data. Moreover, information regarding to be slipped in between. This often causes addition-
the production status of each job or page can be re- al, unproductive press makereadies, which could be
trieved at any time. avoided by means of reliable production planning.
Figure 8.2-13 illustrates how a prepress interface trans- In companies where absolute punctuality and trans-
fers the prepress information for the subsequent pro- parency in the production status are required, certain
duction steps to the print production. Prepress inter- specific procedures have been progressively estab-
faces can process CIP3/PPF and PostScript files. The lished, together with the use of electronic planning and
market is mostly dominated by CIP3/PPF. The Prepress monitoring systems. The next section (8.2.4.2) will de-
Interface generally processes CIP3/PPF data that is pre- scribe these systems in detail.
pared by the prepress system. It is of no importance The newspaper printing industry, where up-to-date
whether the job is digitized in PostScript or PDF for- information is a must, requires an absolutely reliable
mat. production system on a daily basis. Besides the neces-
sity to deliver the newspaper, speed – and therefore ab-
Job Definiton Format (JDF) solutely reliable scheduling – is a prerequisite for the
Another new initiative by the core group of Heidel- production of a daily newspaper. There are similar
berg, Adobe, MAN Roland, and Agfa is the develop- marginal conditions in the printing of catalogs and
ment of a “Job Definition Format”(JDF). This Job Tick- magazines, for example, in rotogravure. In this case, the
et Format is compatible with Adobe’s Portable Job press utilization schedules have the highest priority be-
Ticket Format (PJTF) and with the Print Production cause the equipment is so cost-intensive that idle time
Format (PPF) developed by the CIP3 group, thereby must be kept to a minimum. Further, any delay in de-
contributing to a fully integrated workflow in the livering the product will not be accepted by the cus-
graphic arts industry. JDF also includes new commer- tomer.
cial processes. Internet-based solutions for production If the release of a weekly magazine is delayed, the ma-
at various locations are made possible by implement- jority of that issue would not be sold, the advertising
ing XML (Extensible Markup Language) standards. customers would not pay their bills because of the de-
lay, and might look for alternative media where they
8.2.4 Production Management/Monitoring could place their advertising in the future.
This scenario serves to illustrate why the newspaper
Systems and magazine printing industries were the first to im-
8.2.4.1 Purpose, Applications plement solutions that would reduce such risks. How-
In printing companies with large printing volumes, ever, printing companies with a large printing output
production management and monitoring the jobs play a must also integrate a rational solution for the planning
vital role in ensuring punctual delivery and cost-effec- and monitoring of their production. On the basis of
tive production. Most printing companies do not have these prerequisites, and taking into account the differ-
a detailed overview of the jobs in production, and in ent fields of application, systems were developed so

© H a n d b o o k o f P r i n t M e d i a, H . K i p p h a n ( I S B N 3 - 5 4 0 - 6 7 3 2 6 - 1 )
 8.2 Networking and Data Flow 935

that production could be planned, monitored, costed, Product Manufacturer

and commercialized efficiently.
DataControl/Prinect Heidelberg
8.2.4.2 Production Monitoring Systems PECOM MAN Roland
Although this topic was described in detail in section OPERA KBA
1.9.2, the following will highlight a few specific systems. K-LAN II/KMS Komori
To have an up-to-date overview of the production of DiamondLink System Mitsubishi
a newspaper at any time, for instance, certain tracking
and visualization tools are a must. Checking must be Table 8.2-1 Production and information systems (management in-
formation systems) for the graphic arts industry (selection)
possible for each individual element, for example, an
advertisement or an article that is to appear on the page
of the newspaper. After checking, the system sends sta-
tus messages such as “in production,” “stopped,” or Figure 8.2-14 shows the terminal for production
“ready.” This task is vast and complex since the entire monitoring on the control station of a production sys-
production process can involve several systems from tem. Figure 8.2-15 provides an overview of network
different manufacturers.When producing newspapers, connectivity and the use of software components and
diversified, independent systems are in use in the fol- systems, installed in a typical company of the graphic
lowing areas: administration, editorial department, arts industry.
production of advertising, image editing, layout, print- Systems designed for remote data transfer, remote
ing, shipping, and so on. monitoring, and control of the production systems al-
Therefore, the task of a tracking system is to gather so play a vital role. They can assist the production car-
information from each partial system and to give an ried out at different sites and ensure early detection
overview of the entire production. In order for this sys- and diagnosis of errors. They can therefore perform a
tem to work properly, all partial systems must transfer quick service regarding maintenance work or mal-
the status information of each element in a standard- functions.
ized form to a central tracking system (see also sec.
1.9.2).
Upon the initiative of IFRA, the association for news-
paper and media technologies, a workgroup was formed
in 1994, in order to specify a vendor-independent track-
ing system. In 1997, a second version of IFRAtrack was
released [8.2-12]. For the coding of the tracking infor-
mation, XML (Extensible Markup Language) was pre-
ferred to IMF (IFRA Message Format). In addition, the
connection protocol now used is TCP/IP (Transmis-
sion Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), which is
based on existing standards.
Commercial printing has also introduced solutions
for production monitoring similar to those in the
newspaper printing industry. Table 8.2-1 enumerates
some companies, who have developed systems specifi-
cally optimized for interfacing their own printing sys-
tem components (see also fig. 2.1-169).
Several systems are used to support other diversified
steps in production and organization. For example,
modules of SAP/R3 software are utilized for monitor-
ing costs and materials. Finally, each existing system Fig. 8.2-14
and module must be integrated in order to provide a Press terminal on the control station of a production system with
comprehensive solution for all areas of the company’s connection to a production and information system (DataControl/
administration and production. Prinect, Heidelberg)

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936 8 Material and Data Flow in Print Media Production

Fig. 8.2-15 CPC 32:

Production and information system for the Open interface to
Prepress Interface vertical market
networking of a printing company and for Prepress
Agency/ software
the planning, execution, and monitoring of Finishing
Service
production (see also figs. 2.1-150 and Remote
2.1-169), (DataControl, Heidelberg) data trans- Data
mission Control
Printing presses
CPC 21/CPC 23: from other
Print quality measuring Modem
manufacturers
and control systems Production and information system
CPC 31:
Plate image reader
for ink presetting CPC 21, 23 CPC 31 CPC 32

Printing

References in 8.2 [8.2-7] Rusty, H. E.: Java network programming. O’Reilly,

[8.2-1] Stevens, W. R.: TCP/IP Illustrated Volume I-III. Cambridge 1997.
Addison-Wesley, Reading (MA) 1994. [8.2-8] (for CIP3) http://www.cip3.org/
[8.2-2] Glaser, G. M.; Hein, M.; Vogl, J.: TCP/IP-Proto- [8.2-9] (for PS) http://partners.adobe.com/asn/
kolle, Projektplanung, Realisierung. DATACOM, developer/PDFS/TN/PLRM.pdf
Pulheim 1990. [8.2-10] (for PDF) http://partners.adobe.com/asn/
[8.2-3] Orfali, R.: The essential client/server survival guide. developer/acrosdk/DOCS/pdfspec.pdf
Addison-Wesley, Reading (MA) 1994. [8.2-11] (for PJTF) http://partners.adobe.com/asn/
[8.2-4] Orfali, R.; Harkey, D.; Edwards, J.: Abenteuer developer/PDFS/TN/5620.pjtf.pdf
Client/Server. Addison-Wesley, Bonn 1997. [8.2-12] (for IFRAtrack) http://www.ifra.com/Website/
[8.2-5] Newman, A.: JAVA-Referenz & Anwendungen. IfraSite.nsf/html/consultifratrack
QUE, Haar bei München 1998.
[8.2-6] Harms, D.; Fiske, B. C.; Rice, J. C.: Web site pro-
gramming with Java. McGraw-Hill, New York 1996.

© H a n d b o o k o f P r i n t M e d i a, H . K i p p h a n ( I S B N 3 - 5 4 0 - 6 7 3 2 6 - 1 )