the basics of digital print · the basics of digital print there was a time, not so long ago, that...

Making Sense of Wide Format Digital

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The basics of digital printThere was a time, not so long ago, that

to reproduce anything in print required

a comprehensive level of understanding

about analogue pre-press methodology,

the use of repro cameras and films, plates

or screens, planning and in-depth colour

knowledge, plus the behaviour of the press

being used for the job. Today all this has

changed now that digital workflows have

become the norm and a different type of

operator or specialist has emerged; the

inherent skills that played an important part

in the entire reproductive process have been

replaced mainly by those with a knowledge

of computerised front-ends.

The acceptance of digital print has opened

the doors to myriad businesses that,

The Digital Dots Wild Format Digital

Printing Technology Guides are about

providing you with all you need to

know about investing in wide format

digital printing technology. The Wild

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tions of key digital production tech-

nologies. The Wild Format articles are

relevant for all parts of the graphic

arts supply chain, especially print

buyers and designers. They’re for

anyone with great ideas who wants

to get them into print cost effectively

and conveniently.

The Wild Format guides are intended

to expand awareness and under-

standing of the craziness that can

be created on wide format digital

printing devices, from floors to lamp-

shades and everything in between.

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Making Sense of Wide Format Digital Wild Format

intensive manual procedures across to

computerised techniques, there has been a

complete metamorphosis in how jobs are

prepared, proofed and output. The skill sets

required in production departments have

changed and the reliance on software to

automate and check many tasks has now

become de facto as a working method.

However, an efficient digital workflow today

is often not as simple as manufacturers

and suppliers would have you believe.

The assumption that there is commonality

between each element in the set-up

hitherto, had no real knowledge about

the parameters of print and the learning

curve that was associated with successful

results. In wide-format terms, and as a

viable process, it simply didn’t exist in

the old days. This meant, where large

dimensions were required, these were

produced typically as sheet multiples that

were printed either by the screen process

or offset litho or, sometimes, a mixture of

both.

Starting in the 1980s, when creative tasks

began to move inexorably from labour

Efficient workflow can result in faster production, accurate colour and better quality results. Photo © Sophie Matthews-Paul



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tends to be erroneous; although cross-

platform connectivity is now far better

than it was a few years ago, there are still

areas that can cause confusion and chaos

within the production process. There is a

tendency, too, for users of digital printing

configurations to work from the end

backwards believing that the output device

is the most important element and, while

this might be key to producing the desired

end result, it can’t achieve optimum success

without a backbone of the right front-end,

software, colour management, pre-flighting

and profiling. Unlike analogue, with long

run applications, there is no margin for

tweaking settings on press once the job

is running; for low volumes and one-offs

you only get one chance to get it right,

particularly when it’s a wide- or superwide-

format job on a premium material.

The wide-format world is brimming

with machine options and the necessary

software to drive them, whether they

are A1+ (600mm) photo printers, 5m

superwide-format roll-fed engines, or any

of the options that sit between those two

typical extremes. The principles remain the

same regardless of type of output device,

the ink it employs and whether or not it

is roll-fed or flat-bed or both. All digital

printing machines need to be driven and,

although the overall control is down to one

or more operators, the key component is

the right selection of software containing

the necessary tools to take an incoming

data file and convert it, through a series of

processes, into a finished application that is

correct in quality and colour.

In the early days setting up and running

a wide-format printer could be fraught

with compatibility issues and a host of

idiosyncrasies that presented would-be users

with a string of unwanted complications to

unravel. Typical would be a machine that

only understood its own interpolation of

a chunk of data so, although the job was

raster image processed (RIP) prior to output,

it used a mysterious proprietary format.

Any company working with machines from

more than one manufacturer found that,

once the file had passed through the initial

creation stage, any commonality left the

building as each RIP handled the processing

in its own way.

In the early days setting up and running a wide-format printer could be fraught with compatibility issues and a host of idiosyncrasies...



handling so that, logically, an operator

wasn’t faced with a giant learning curve

every time a new piece of equipment was

added to a company’s digital armoury.

Nowadays the basics of working with digital

data have seen a huge shift of emphasis for

many display producers and sign-makers.

Although many retain a design facility, and

certainly need nifty operators who can

solve pre-flight and colour discrepancies,

the growth in incoming jobs supplied as

print-ready artwork has mushroomed.

Encouraging this are the many businesses

As wide-format digital print became an

accepted production method, so file

handling and processing not only became

more flexible but common elements were

incorporated that made it easier to drive

a variety of engines from a single front-

end. Users were advised, before investing,

to make sure that their printers of choice

and the software used to drive them

were designed and configured for the

future and not just to get them through

their immediate requirements. With this

versatility came vast improvements in

uniform file formats, profiles and PostScript

Convenience and ease of set-up are both important in today's wide-format print engines. Photo © Sophie Matthews-Paul



Wild Format

prohibitive in the past. Manufacturers

both of printing machines and associated

software are all too aware of being able

to meet the quality and accuracy formerly

afforded only via analogue production

while, at the same time, they realise fully

that convenience and ease of set-up are

important values that need to be integrated

into the workflow.

Additionally, developers of specific file

types and their associated structures have

also simplified the processing of jobs for

output across the majority of digital devices

available on today’s market. Gone are the

days of working with native PostScript

and making it suitable for interpolation

and practical use by front-end and printer

operators. Instead of being forced to

learn a variety of formats and expected

parameters for different printing machines,

the development of the Adobe PDF Print

Engine (APPE) now means that there is a de

facto method of combining data generated

by an application so that fonts, graphics,

layouts and colour can all maintain their

integrity and additional facets, along with

versioning and variable data handling.

PDF format now seamlessly handles the

idiosyncrasies presented by PostScript with

APPE generating print-ready rasters that are

compatible with any type of digital output

device.

who rely primarily on a web-to-print model

as well as those who offer customers precise

instructions on how to supply their artwork

in the right format for production at a given

size and quality. Perhaps unwittingly, this

increase in data acceptance direct from

the end client has shifted the responsibility

away from the print company, if a job isn’t

up to scratch and it’s noticeable how a web-

to-print operation’s terms and conditions

have placed stringent caveats about who is

culpable if the results aren’t fit for purpose.

Currently there are remarkably few graphics

jobs that can’t be printed using digital

means and, with the flexibility afforded by

most print devices, cost-effective results

can be generated even on the lowest of

volumes. These extend far beyond the

standard four colours plus spots and specials

that often posed restrictions or were cost

Gone are the days of working with native PostScript and making it suitable for interpolation and practical use by front-end and printer operators.



work with the platform that best suits their

capabilities and requirements.

Parameters have changed as digital print

has become increasingly sophisticated,

while still being required to maintain its

work-horse capabilities. In the early days

throughput speed wasn’t really a key factor,

as file processing and print speed were

both relatively slow. But, as processing

capabilities became more powerful and

were able to keep up with more complex

instructions being received by incoming

data, so front-end productivity needed

There is also the question of whether to opt

for a wide-format printer that employs its

own DFE (digital front end) or an engine

that gives the user a variety of options

over which productivity software might be

best suited. Some machines, particularly

those at the lower end of the market, come

with their own out of the box programs

that at least allow the operator to get

up and running without having to install

independent packages to get the job

done. Other developers offer a choice of

Macintosh, Windows or, even, Linux front-

ends to give operators the opportunity to

Uniform file formats are now an accepted part of digital workflow, simplifying production methods. Photo © Sophie Matthews-Paul



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size or printer type and which productivity

software is selected.

As in many walks of life, you tend to get

what you pay for when you make an

investment in wide-format equipment. But

even a modest digital set-up should be fit

for purpose and produce the right quality

of output according to the machine’s

specification. A good manufacturer or

supplier isn’t there simply to install the

device and software, but should be in the

position to offer solid levels of technical

advice, back-up and service. And, while

the key criteria for digital print won’t alter,

everyone involved should have an eye

on the future as new developments and

options come on-line.

– Sophie Matthews-Paul

to stay abreast of the vastly improved

rates generated by newer devices and the

components required to drive them. As

a result the ball-park figures representing

square metres or sheets/hour are a

combination of mechanical and engineering

properties of the printing machine and the

data handling and processing of jobs ready

for the output process.

In the space of fewer than two decades

the requirements for assembling a good

digital end to end workflow and print

operation have been simplified and are

no longer a complex knitting together

of software and hardware in the hope of

generating suitable end results. Even the

most basic of operations these days should

be reliable and foolproof. Users of high-end

digital equipment that needs to function

without fault in heavy duty production

environments, should be able to rely totally

on the efficacies of their printing machines

and the front-ends used to drive them.

The basics of a digital set-up remain

constant whether it’s a start-up option with

a low-end printer and a relatively simple

capability to generate files and RIP them or

if it’s a multiple device installation which

comprises a heavy investment into industrial

strength production equipment. The

workflow remains the same regardless of

the basics of digital print · the basics of digital print there was a time, not so long ago, that...

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