Digital print has cut new pathways for the book publishing sector, and as technology improves, still more opportunities will arise for digital printers.
It is already well established that digital printing has significantly changed the nature of the book publishing market, with books being printed on demand in single units or in short runs, allowing publishers to minimise stock-holding and waste.
Since the book market is far from being a homogenous beast however, there have traditionally been sectors within it where digital print could make an impact, and others – specifically high quality colour illustrated books – where publishers still often favoured the analogue methods they felt comfortable with.
This might be changing however. The cut sheet toner technology from the major press vendors – Kodak, Ricoh, Canon, Konica Minolta, Xerox – and of course the liquid ink HP Indigo, has been more than capable for some time. According to Chris Aked, marketing manager for commercial printing at Canon, inkjet is also reaching that point. ‘Inkjet is absolutely there for fantastic quality,’ he said. ‘The reality is, you’ve got to have the right paper, the right ink and the right technology. Inkjet is at a point where it can demonstrate fantastic quality, but the paper cost is often very expensive – so is the limitation the paper or the technology? A lot of publishers and printers recognise that this technology is there, it’s just the paper and ink, and we know that’s going to change quite dramatically in the coming years.’
Digital colour is increasingly being used in the educational sector, he observed, and children’s books is another growth area where both inkjet and toner are more than suitable.
HP Indigo is more than suitable also, and that is Rotolito Lombarda’s preferred choice for high end illustrated colour at the moment. The Milan-based company was an early adopter of inkjet web technology through HP. It has now put in the Indigo 10000 press, and Adam Phillips, who heads up the firm’s UK sales operation, says this carries ‘real potential’ to explore applications for high quality illustrated digitally-printed books. ‘It is in its infancy, but that’s going to be very interesting, and we will respond with further investment when we see viability and demand.’
A number of UK printing companies, both large book specialists and smaller commercial outfits, are using toner or HP Indigo equipment to work with the book sector. In fact, it goes both ways, according to Paul Randall, HP’s EMEA market development manager for Mail and Publishing.
‘What you see is a lot more print service providers becoming multi-application focused,’ he told Digital Printer. ‘Companies that you would not see as being book focused are printing books and also addressing lots of other sectors of the market. The other side is CPI, the largest book printer in Europe with a huge number of inkjet web and HP Indigos, but in the UK they are looking to get into the general commercial print space. These presses give them that ability.’
The common theme with these companies is an entrepreneurial approach and wanting to sell value, he continued. ‘They don’t see themselves as printers or manufacturers, but as providers of added value for customers. They are talking to publishers about their supply chain. There are several functions involved in the life cycle of a book: sales, marketing, production, distribution. As a digital printer, you’ve got to understand what benefit you are going to bring to a company like that.
‘The last thing you want to do is just go and talk to production, because the only thing they will be worried about is price per unit, and this conversation needs to get past that and talk about profitability per unit.’
The advice from Ricoh’s Gareth Parker is really about education: ‘Speak to the whole supply chain – publishers, paper mills/merchants, and press manufacturers – to educate both you and them on possibilities of digital. Before you make assumptions on new technology, test or suggest to your best clients and seek feedback from them. Read the available research on digital book production – Ricoh has a new white paper available on the subject; and take a closer look at the trend in orders over the past three years to understand where book orders are coming from.’
It is as well to realise that the needs of a small publisher are not the same as a large one though. Smaller publishers have to be more reactive, responsive and creative; larger publishers need to strip out the costs of volume publishing. Across the board though, publishers are looking to de-stock warehouses; they want short runs to test the market, change and adapt or even personalise. Therein lies the opportunity for digital printers.
