Today’s digital workflow takes into account a circumstance already understood by the manufacturers of CtP technology: For the average company, a quick transition from conventional copier technology to CtP technology is difficult, if not unrealistic, mainly for economic reasons. For this reason, many equipment and system manufacturers are focusing on the production of CtF (Computer to Film) systems rather than on form. In this case, the printing company will have to leave manual plate mounting in its production process, but for the time being it can do without a system for outputting the whole print sheet to the plate material. In the future, however, when plate output systems become cheaper (as they tend to be), it will be able to move painlessly to direct output from digital data arrays directly to the plate. As a result, many companies are in the process of integrating CtF systems into their digital workflow in order to ensure that they can move to CtF in the future.
A few words about the use of Internet in printing
The use of the Internet in the printing industry is increasing. Lately, printing companies that work with the Internet have emerged, but this has entailed a need for special work organization. With the introduction of the Internet, printers can now also receive and work with remote color proofs (Remoteproof).
What a modern printer should look like
This development of printing has radically changed the role of the printer. They are no longer the typical printer we are used to seeing nowadays, but a highly qualified operator of modern printing equipment whose duties depend on the type of machine he or she operates. Therefore, the training programs for printers, who have to master modern computerized technology, are also changing.
The printers must be familiar with the technology of prepublishing, with prepress, and, of course, with multimedia and new software solutions, without which it is impossible to make a step today.
