Going direct to plate was an easy decision for John and Kelly Johnson, owners
of a Kwik Kopy® Printing franchise in DeSoto, Texas. Having relied on service bureaus
to generate films, the Johnsons kept detailed records of how much revenue was
going to other suppliers. The firm felt comfortable with investing in its own digital
system when their service bureau expenses reached a pre-defined threshold.
After analyzing the offerings, they invested in a turnkey system from RIPit® that
includes a drum imagesetter and the OpenRIP® running on a Pentium workstation.
In addition to improving the revenue stream and lowering outside costs,
John Johnson says the move to digital platesetting has significantly improved
overall quality. "The line copy is crisp and clean, while the screens and halftones are
beautiful" he observes. "It even surpasses the quality that we were able to achieve
with film and metal plates. Most importantly, our customers have noticed the
difference and keep coming back because they know the quality of work we are
able to produce."
The Johnsons' Kwik Kopy Printing Center does the design and layout on about
80% of its work, and has to rework most of the files that come in to prepare them to
print correctly. Only about 5 percent of the files are ready to RIP and plot as submitted,
Johnson reports. He recognizes that going digital requires an ongoing commitment
to educating his customers that want to prepare their own layouts.
Most importantly, digital platesetting has boosted the overall quality of this Kwik Kopy's
work. "We are able to easily add fine screens even to simple jobs that make them
look much nicer. The RIPit Direct to Plate system compliments our designer's talents,
and press setup time has been minimized because the plates come off the imagesetter
in precise register. Our entire staff has recognized the benefits of going digital."
In addition to enhancing customers' jobs, the RIPit system is benefitting the
Johnsons' profit margins. Since the RIPit system enables them to add screen tints
and halftone images to jobs without the added expense of film and metal plates,
even their most cost conscience customers are returning to request that we add
photos on future jobs. "The key is that they are coming back, which means they are
pleased. That is what we are really looking for... happy customers".
The Johnsons' Kwik Kopy prints a variety of one- and two-color short-run commercial
work for regional customers. Most jobs are output at 133 lpi and 150 lpi at 1,200 dpi
and 2,400 dpi on 7-mil polyester plate material. The firm has printed up to four-over-
four spot colors, as well as four color process jobs.
Going digital has been a learning process for this firm and Johnson is quick to point
out that coordination between pre-press and press personnel is critical to making
the system pay for itself. "There are a number of technical challenges, and
realistically it took us about 3 to 4 months to completely absorb the changes in our
work flow system," he confides. "Talented employees that are dedicated to quality
and are willing to embrace the changes required are essential to a successful
shift to direct-to-plate printing."
Johnson notes that digital platesetting makes prepress scheduling a critical factor in
printing a job. "Camera ready" is an outdated term... new digital files must get prepped
prior to output and even repeat jobs must initially go through the pre-press
department for correct positioning on the plates. After the initial reprint, it is a simple
matter of opening the archived file and sending it to the RIP. "Printers considering
going direct to plate must seriously examine their pre-press capabilities to ensure
they are ready to absorb this paradigm shift in how jobs are produced," he cautions.
"Our pre-press department does a great job."
In less than six years, the Johnsons have built a successful franchise and since
workspace is limited, the small footprint of the RIPit system was an important factor
in the purchase decision. Purchasing the RIPit system was a logical step to
accomodate their growing clientele. Through hard work and smart investments in
the RIPit Direct to Pate system, the numbers are definitely adding up.
