Prepress
ZEBRA DELIVERS FIRST CLASS PREPRESS SOLUTION FOR FORWARD PUBLISHINGS BANG & OLUFSEN TITLE
Wednesday 09. April 2008 - Forward Publishing has published premier audio and visual specialist Bang & Olufsens annual magazine since March 2007.
The tile, which demands the production of 4206 pages in 36 languages, and in four versions – all using different printing methods, has required very specific, experienced and precise prepress management to help achieve the success of an immense and intricate job. To ensure the very best quality, service and time-sensitive colour management, Forward chose to work with award winning prepress company Zebra, to undertake the detailed and all encompassing task of producing this publication.
Peter Davies, production director at Forward Publishing explains that Forward won the Bang & Olufsen business due to its understanding of the companys brand and being able to translate this into content, as well as its experience in high-quality multi-language products. He says: “A title such as Bang & Olufsen requires precise project management and commands an eye for detail, which is why it was crucial we chose a prepress supplier that could manage the critical nature of such a job. In fact, this job demanded more than a traditional prepress solution, it required an organisation that would go the extra mile to ensure each version was produced to exacting standards without error. This is a challenge I can say that Zebra completely embraced with considerable enthusiasm.
“The brief we presented to Zebra was to develop a secure workflow that could manage the 36-language title including European, Cyrillic and Asian fonts, as well as a incorporating a mix of black plate and four-colour plate changes across the four versions. Moiré also had to be removed from images, as Bang & Olufsens products are unique in that where they appear to have a curve mesh finish, they actual have very fine holes cut out of the metal and this can create image moiré. For this job, we also specified that Zebra worked directly with Forward and our print supplier to help solve colour consistency on press. It was also essential that images we retouched to match samples provided by the client.”
In addition, Forward, specified in its brief to Zebra, the implementation of a comprehensive in-house proofing and checking procedure to ensure brand consistency at all times and to remove error. Part of this process required the pre-flighting of documents containing OPI imagery that are sent to translators – this was particularly pertinent as these files provided the basis of all language versions. In addition to checking procedures, Forward asked Zebra to set up individual workflows for black-only and four-colour plate change pages and web-offset and sheet-fed sections.
Daniel Simpson, sales director at Zebra says: We started with 147 original pages from which four master versions were generated. These included a 118pp master version, 114pp US version, 110pp Japanese & Korean version and a 118pp Russian & Chinese version. From the four versions of the master document, there were 36 language versions totalling 4206 pp. To add to the complexities of production, half of each publication consisted of magazine pages, which were four -colour changes, and the other half were catalogue pages which were black text changes to a master page layout pages.
“In addition, we were tasked with placing a Bang & Olufsen naming convention on the file, which in the case of the catalogue pages, needed to be a duel naming convention consisting of the neutral set (i.e. Master, US , JAKO, RUZH) and the translation language black-change. The master pages were produced during a 10-day period in which Bang & Olufsen representative was present at Zebra to ensure brand continuity – particularly with regard to swatch samples. The language translations were produced in a 15-day period, and all pages were proofed.”
Mr Davies continues: “Colour consistency was of great importance throughout the production of this title. Many of Bang & Olufsens products are neutral aluminium, which means that the images in their unaltered state are largely greyscale, which is incredibly volatile when printed on a 21 micron FM screen on a web-offset press. The challenge here was to solve the fluctuations that are experienced on press and the solution was to increase the amount of the image that is carried within the Black known as Grey Component Replacement (GCR). Zebra helped us achieve all this by recreating the colour set-up of each grey image to hold a greater depth of black.”
Mr Simpson reiterates this point: “The printer experienced some difficulties keeping the colour in balance so we developed several curves, which while altering the grey balance of images at different levels kept the image colour visually the same. Test forms were then produced to the presss specification and a print test run was undertaken to establish which curve best suited. The results on the press were excellent, and enabled the print house to vary the speed of the press and alter ink densities outside industry parameters without the images showing a bias of Cyan, magenta or Yellow. Images were also tested for moiré and PDF files were supplied at 400 dpi not 300dpi to allow for the sublime / stochastic printing techniques.”
When asked about the key issues and challenges overcome for this job, Peter Davies says: “Firstly to produce four versions of 4206 pages in 36 languages is pretty significant by any standard. But add this to Bang & Olufsens insistence on the absence or moiré and absolute neutrality of the metallic images and theres a definitive need to work with suppliers that you know will succeed and deliver with true professionalism. The challenges have been immense and the client is happy with the work carried out to date.”
Daniel Simpson concludes: “Zebras commitment to this project has been apparent throughout and has involved numerous meetings including a trip with Forward to the printer in Germany to establish exact production procedures. My overall feeling is that all parts of the production chain have worked extremely well together to achieve what was undoubtedly a huge task. I firmly believe that Zebras contribution to this underlines the value good pre-press adds to the production chain.”