Ok. I've been away from the printing industry for a long time. Got 2 years experience with offset printing. Now I want to set up a small print shop. Projects will be brochures, flyers, yearbooks and other small stuff.
Before there's the typesetters, strippers, artist, color sep, plate making then to the press and out to the binders.
I want to be able to skip/shorten the looong pre-press process. Computer to plate and straight to press and out to the binders? Is this correct? My info/knowledge may not be complete and out of date. Gents, please help.
What machines do I need to be able to deliver the prints in the shortest possible time? I sometimes hate it when the local print shop tells me it will take at least a week to finish the "brochures." NO offense meant to the "printmasters" but to many clients, the waiting time is a big turn-off.
What technology do we have these days to make things faster? Oh yes -- digital offset comes to mind if I want to avoid the plate also but that is another story. Good for short runs but probably it's still costly.
It's good to know the available process regardless of cost. After knowing what's available, let's consider the alternatives with "budget" in mind. Ahemmm .... I do not have an open checkbook for this project.
Thanks in advance!
Subject: Putting the pieces together -- help! 
Fri May 02, 2008 1:15 am
