Calibrating the Colour Digital proofing is now commonplace in the printing industry. It is cost-effective, allows for late alterations and can be outputted quicker – but is it really accurate for colour? In any digital environment 100% data integrity is crucial, producing a Postscript or PDF file and then imposing for print achieve this. At this stage the digital colour proof is generated and this is where problems can often occur which will alter the colour balance, we at CALL have dealt with these problems. Trapping is one main area, which needs careful monitoring, and we have spent many months perfecting. Our process is now automatic and takes into account the fact that the printing process is a physical operation where movement and distortion occurs which is outside the control of the process. Our automatic trapping is so fine that the human eye cannot see it, yet it improves the finished print beyond recognition. This process is now fully integrated into our system. Perfecting colour calibration of digital proofs has been a thorn in the side of the printing industry for many years - up until now that is! We are now finally achieving our desired standards of work. Our experienced staff are experts in colour, workflows, programming and printing technologies. We have experimented with different output devices, tried just about every type of paper on the market and even written reports that have been submitted back to manufacturers. We now believe we have achieved good colour representation to provide our customers with accurate proofs calibrated to our individual presses. Finally all our hard work has paid off . . . 6 station Trimstitch Our bindery department have recently purchased a new Trimstitch, which has improved our overall finishing quality. The new workstation is faster, more automated and the end result is noticeably crisper and neater. The unit has 6 stations; books can be stitched in one pass where previously they had to be done in two. It includes a cover feeder, which avoids creasing and folding the cover prior to inclusion. Superior trimming is achieved with fourth and fifth knife attachments - books can now be trimmed 2-up, saving time and money. Production speed has dramatically increased from 1500 books per hour to 6000. A valuable machine that will enable us to pass on cost savings directly to our customers. Scanner choice The decision to change from a drum scanner to a flatbed was, surprisingly, not a difficult one. Drum scanning has historically been the first choice for repro houses when setting up scanning workstations. With quality always an issue the flatbed scanner system never seamed to fair well, yet it did have some obvious advantages. So when a high-end system from Agfa/Crosfield was tested with exceptional results, our scanning department suddenly changed their views. Flatbed scanning has advantages over drum technology of not needing to bend the original when scanning; it is quicker and can scan more items at once. Our main concern was, however, the quality issue, so after much testing and visiting manufacturers we decided to purchase the XY scanner from Agfa. We were really impressed with this piece of equipment. This thoroughbred is built so well, is standalone and so heavy that no vibration is transmitted to the scan. And inside the Agfa is 30 years of top quality technology from Crosfield, so it produces super accurate and super sharp scans. Large originals can be easily accommodated with an image size of 440mm x 340mm possible. With a scanning resolution of 14,000dpi, originals can be enlarged by an astonishing 4,600% without loss of resolution. Transparencies can also be oil mounted to reduce grain of the original and the effects of Newton rings. We offer a full scanning service to our customers which incorporates colour accuracy, calibration and, of course, sharpness beyond compare