The Advantages of CTP Technology in Book Printing

The Advantages of CTP Technology in Book Printing
CTP technology can combine digital printing technology with traditional offset printing technology to complement each other's advantages. There are several advantages in book printing.

1. Save printing time
The CTP technology simplifies the printing process and reduces the preparation time and manpower required for printing, thereby saving the time required for printing the books. According to the statistics of the prepress department of the printing company of Xi'an Coal-to-Aircraft Co., Ltd., based on a set of four-color four-off editions, the time and manpower saved by using the CTP technology are quite obvious, as shown in Table 1. Many printing companies that have already introduced CTP technology are also quite agree with this point.

Nowadays, the publishing house's requirements for the book printing cycle are getting higher and higher, and the printing time required by many books has reached the limit of the traditional printing cycle. The CTP technology will be an effective choice for shortening the printing cycle of books.

2. Improve printing quality
CTP technology uses special screening technology and high-fidelity printing, eliminating the need for traditional filmmaking methods such as output film and artificial imposition, printing, and developing, which reduces human error and achieves extremely high accuracy. The CTP system can minimize the variable factors in the platemaking process. The output of the printing plate dots is reducible, reducing the loss and attenuation of the dots, overcoming the disadvantages of the traditional printing plate, and making the highlights in the printing plate. The details of the dark parts have been well restored, and the prepress and printing links are closely integrated to ensure the improvement of printing quality. In addition, the aging of the book film used in traditional plate making or the preservation time is too long will affect the reprint effect. Books printed using CTP technology, whether monochrome or four-color, are stored on optical discs in the form of electronic files. No matter how long or how many times, the print quality will not change.

3. Reduce printing costs
The CTP technology directly uses computer-edited books for editing and processing, and does not require output of films. The publishing house eliminates the cost of output films and reduces printing costs. Taking a 32-page book with 10 printed sheets as an example, the film costs RMB 1.50 per film and the recording fee can save 480 yuan. If it is a four-color book, the proofing fee for each piece will be 50 yuan, which can save 16,000 yuan. The CTP technology is still in the promotion stage in China. The excessive investment in equipment, the demand for personnel, and the high price of the plate material have hindered the further popularization of this technology. Even companies that have introduced this technology have not clearly seen a drop in printing costs. It is understood that after the use of CTP, plate-making personnel can be reduced from the original 20 to about 5 people, saving the company's printing time and reducing labor costs. In addition, having CTP also increases the company's strength and competitive advantage. In fact, some well-run printing companies have gradually absorbed the factors that lead to the increase in printing costs caused by equipment and media through shortening of time, reduction of personnel, and continuous expansion of printing scale. Even if the purpose of reducing costs cannot be realized for the time being, it will also win time and quality, which is also a very meaningful thing for publishers.

4. Improve management
CTP technology not only involves technological innovation, but also brings a digital management concept. The CTP equipment and supporting processes require companies to digitally manage the printing process. At the same time, the publishing and printing personnel of the publishing house must also meet this digital management requirement and match the CTP equipment.

5. Conducive to environmental protection
CTP technology does not require output film, eliminating the need for printing and other process links, which can avoid or reduce the use and discharge of large quantities of chemical liquids. Although some CTP plates still require chemical treatment, the plates for post-treatment plates have gradually come into use. With the gradual development and improvement of CTP technology, the pollution brought by printing to the environment will be gradually reduced and the green printing will be truly realized.

Practical Application of CTP Technology in Book Printing
In the past, the understanding of CTP technology was limited to the introduction of various media and never actually used it. By chance, our agency tried to use CTP technology to print several kinds of books. After practical application, our company learned from the leadership to the editors and relevant departments that the CTP technology brought many benefits to the printing of books, and saw the CTP. The time, quality, cost, and management benefits created by technology.

1. Printing of Chronological Chronicles of the Qing Dynasty (volumes 1 to 12)
"Ching History Chronicle" is a set of academic monographs published successively by the Society in 1992. It consists of 12 volumes and 275 printed pages. The first printing of 3,000 sets sold out in 2004 and decided to reprint the books and publish 5,000 sets of hardcover editions, which were required to be published before the Guilin Book Fair 2004. When the reprint notice was received from the date of the fair, the publishing department quickly sent 12 sets of films to the No.1 Xinhua Printing Factory in Henan for reprint. When the other party received the film preparation for printing, the film was found to be yellow, and individual films had aged and could not be used. Even if it is used barely, it will greatly affect the quality of printing. If the film is re-published and re-engraved and printed, the publication time will be prolonged on the one hand; on the other hand, the cost of repetitive films and imposition will also be high. At the time of the publication department's dilemma, the salesman of Henan No.1 Xinhua Printing Factory introduced us to the plant's CTP equipment, which can shorten the printing cycle. Fortunately, the electronic files of this set of books are still intact, so the electronic files of the set of books are distributed to the printing plants through the Internet. Considering that there may be issues such as motion printing in the software conversion process, the factory re-proofs the product after the CTP system impositions the large version, signs the document after the editorial review, and finally sends a set of bound and beautifully printed books to the company before the ordering meeting. Long hands. Compared with the first edition of the book, the reprinted book not only has a good printing effect, but also saves about 14,000 yuan in the cost of the film.

2. Printing of The Complete Works of World Fine Arts
"The Complete Works of World Fine Arts" consists of 20 volumes and 469.25 printed pages. The book is printed in four colors. In order to ensure the printing quality and reduce the cost of the pre-platemaking, CCS decided not to export the film and conduct the traditional proofing, and used the CTP technology to print directly at the Henan Xinhua Printing Factory. When the electronic files of the set of books are sent to the printing factory, the technical personnel of the printing factory re-RIP. The printing staff of the publishing house before the start of printing personally went to the factory and approved the content and color of the proofing and printed it on the machine. This set of books, as the first set of world art history written by the Chinese people, has been highly valued by the community for its wonderful content and exquisite printing. At the same time, due to the use of CTP technology, it saved 200,000 yuan in output film and proofing costs. It is precisely because of the decrease in printing costs that the book adopts a low-price strategy and improves the book's market competitiveness.

So far, the number of books printed by CTS using the CTP technology has reached 60 kinds of more than 350,000, and its quality, time, and cost advantages have been approved by the leaders and editors of our society. If conditions permit, in the future, our color books and key books will be printed using CTP technology, and gradually transition to two-color books and monochrome books. At the same time, it is also recommended that the fixed-point printing plant cooperating with our company introduce and use CTP technology when conditions are ripe.

The Status and Existing Problems of CTP Technology
Since the introduction of the first CTP equipment in China in 1996, it has been about 8 years. As of September 2004, the number of CTP equipment has reached 312 sets (“Print Manager” survey statistics). From the standpoint of annual growth rate, it seems to be quite considerable, but 312 sets are too low compared to more than 90,000 printing companies nationwide. The printing companies that own CTP equipment have problems such as unbalanced geographical distribution, unbalanced development within the industry, and low utilization rate of CTP plate making. What are the reasons why this very promising new technology has been promoted and popularized in China? To sum up, there are mainly the following aspects.

1. Large equipment investment, high plate material prices
It is understood that a set of CTP equipment needs to invest 1.5 million to 2 million yuan. Such a large investment is equivalent to the price of 2 to 3 traditional offset presses, which is difficult for most small and medium-sized printing companies. Moreover, high investment in a short period of time can hardly be rewarded, resulting in many manufacturers dare not buy. In addition, the high price of CTP plate has become a major obstacle to the popularization of CTP technology. Ordinary PS plate is about 35 yuan per square meter, while imported CTP plate is as high as 100 yuan per square meter, and domestic CTP plate is about 50 yuan per square meter. As the printing industry's largest consumer consumables - printing plate, its high prices, will directly affect the confidence of companies in the CTP.

2. The lack of digitization process, high professional requirements
A considerable number of small and medium-sized printing enterprises have a relatively low level of modern management and a serious shortage of professional talents. This situation has also hindered the promotion of CTP in small and medium-sized printing companies. CTP equipment requires a certain technical background and is an update of the printing process. CTP technology is closely integrated with modern science and technology. Before the introduction of CTP equipment, printing companies must raise the level of modern management and train a group of specialized personnel with high professional qualifications and digital work experience. First, prepress operators must have working experience in desktop systems; second, there must be strict knowledge of product quality control and color management; and third, the digital workflow used must be a compatible universal digital interface for any The data flow generated by the front-end software can be effectively interpreted.

3. Inadequate promotion and promotion, customer demand is not strong
Customer demand is an important factor for companies to introduce and use CTP. Customer demand is the main purchasing motivation for the introduction of CTP equipment companies. In the market economy, demand creates a market, and weak demand naturally leads to a weak market. The main reason is that there is not enough publicity and promotion of this technology. It is understood that many publishers do not know much about CTP technology, let alone use it. This situation certainly affects the decision of the printing company to a certain extent. According to the investigation of Beijing Hualian Printing Co., Ltd., many publishers do not basically use CTP technology when they do not understand it. Once they understand or use this technology, they have a special interest in it. In addition, a large number of foreign customers are very familiar with this technology, almost all books are printed using CTP technology.

4. A wide range of equipment, unstable performance and quality
Currently, there are many types of CTP devices. From the brand point of view, there are nearly 20 suppliers such as Creo, Agfa, and Heidelberg; from the perspective of imaging methods, including thermal, photosensitive and CTcP, etc.; There are inner drum type, outer drum type, platform type and so on. Which kind of equipment represents the development direction of CTP technology, it is difficult to draw a conclusion. In addition, CTP equipment currently has the disadvantages of poor equipment and media stability, poor compatibility between digital proofing equipment, plate processor, and digital workflow. These reasons have caused many companies to dare not buy it, but have chosen to wait and see.
The promotion and popularization of any new technology must undergo a gradual development process. The widespread application of CTP technology in China is only a matter of time. First of all, companies that have purchased CTP are very positive about CTP technology. Second, there are a large number of potential customers. As the domestic CTP equipment and plates are gradually becoming mature and localization of the plates, the obstacles to CTP development have gradually eased. In addition, ordinary PS plate-making technology (CTcP) is expected to enter the domestic market. With the continuous promotion and development of CTP technology in China, many issues affecting the development of CTP will be gradually solved. With