Gretchen Peck

When it comes to the environmental footprint you leave behind in your catalog and direct mail operations, no doubt you want to do the right thing. But understanding the terms of the debate takes a bit of self-education. “The challenge is moving away from the arena in which we talk only about paper made of post-consumer-waste (PCW) recycled content, to a forum that’s focused on the new idea of the entire lifecycle of paper — from the time the tree is cut to the back door of the printing company,” says Scott Bond, senior vice president for Bulkley Dunton, a New York City-based

Catalog print production has never looked so good. The past few years — actually, the past decade since computer-to-plate came on the scene — have been replete with technological improvements to the print production workflow. Gretchen Peck, a contributing writer for Catalog Success, spoke to four catalog creators to find out what their crowning achievements have been in the realm of print production workflow, the strategies they’ve put in place, the technologies they’ve embraced, as well as new challenges. The discussions revealed that, indeed, there’s been great progress in the areas of content capture and prepress, but there’s still room for improvement

The concept of approving a catalog proof that was anything but ink-on-paper seemed absurd back in the early 1990s. Sure, we’d all been soft proofing for years, eyeing up the way pages looked on our art director’s desktop display. But we looked at those images differently then. We saw them for what they were — a poor RGB imitation of what a CMYK-printed catalog would look like as the paper rolled off the press. Some things never change. “Soft proofing is a double-edged sword,” says Sarah Fletcher, creative director for Charlestown, R.I.-based Catalog Design Studios. “On the one hand, it is, by

Achieve a Better Production Workflow Hint: Expect more from your printer Consider the relationship you have with your catalog printer. Besides the quality of what it prints for you, how would you classify its workflow processes? Is it easy for you to submit jobs? Are you confident you’re saving as much as you can on prepress costs? Do you think you’re getting the best possible level of customer service? In tough environments such as this one — when paper and postage costs are on the rise, for instance — you must not be conservative in the expectations you set for

When computer-to-plate (CTP) printing hit the catalog scene in the mid-1990s, it promised to revolutionize catalog production. And it has. But it didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t occur without the support and cooperation of vendors and developers who built tools to support the new digital way of printing. The development of CTP platesetters was just the beginning of the transition from film-based processes to a completely digital way of producing catalogs. Every year since CTP was first introduced, the catalog industry has grown more adept at using it to produce editions. And each sequential year has seen exciting new technologies that promise to

Paper prices are expected to increase this year. Couple that with the still-uncertain U.S. economy, and you have a period in which making a smart decision about paper is tougher than ever. It requires both a fundamental understanding of the paper market and a willingness to rely on a little help from your friends. Think Branding First No matter the type of catalog you have — or the products or services it touts — the first step to take before choosing a catalog paper is to consider your brand, says Kathy Johnston, creative/production services manager at catalog consultancy J. Schmid & Assoc.,

Problem: Multititle business-to-business cataloger NEBS wanted to reduce catalog and direct mail prepress costs charged by its third-party providers. Solution: Bring prepress duties in house. Results: Prepress costs were reduced by up to 50 percent, for an estimated annual savings of more than $450,000. And production turnaround times have decreased significantly. New England Business Service (NEBS) has provided small to medium-sized U.S. businesses with forms, checks and promotional solutions since 1952. The Groton, MA-based company now boasts a customer base of more than 2 million. NEBS produces more than 40 catalog titles, with a total annual circulation of more than 57

Dollars & Sense: Catalog Co-mailings For catalogers, the past decade has been explosive with innovation. For example, desktop publishing led to computer-to-plate manufacturing and digital prepress. Files replaced film, and the process of print production became more streamlined and efficient. So much so, in fact, that catalogers now must look to operations outside the prepress and pressroom realms for cost savings, to what some consider a hard-numbers-based necessary evil: postage. “As postal costs continue to be an ever-increasing part of a cataloger’s total budget — and in order to stay competitive — they have to seek out new efficiencies in the process,”

The printing and publishing industry’s transformation into a computer-integrated manufacturing platform continues unabated. “The artificial intelligence that’s being incorporated into technology reduces makeready times, reproduces color consistently and provides feedback on performance — ensuring the finished product is of the highest quality,” says George Ryan, executive vice president and COO of the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF). The artificial intelligence communication protocol Ryan is referring to is known as the Job Definition Format (JDF). And it’s a term you are sure to hear more about in the future. What is JDF? JDF is based on XML (eXtensible Markup Language), a standard

Competition for consumer affection is more ferocious than ever in this uncertain economy. During times like these, cutting costs to save some much-needed cash may be in order. In that vein, some catalogers have taken the step of shopping around their print work. While that can be a smart move, it’s easy to lose sight of considerations other than that all-important bottom line. Choosing a printer based only on price can be a treacherous and slippery slope to travel. Francis Crowley, executive vice president of sales at Spencer Press, a Wells, ME-based catalog printer, admits it’s true that catalogers can cut great