The following questions were sent via the Internet by a newspaper editor who wishes to remain anonymous.
I have been handed the major project of getting our newspaper fully paginated. I could use some guidance.
We have a Xywrite-based (the flavor is CText) front-end system. Our plan is to keep the front-end system and paginate on PCs running Quark. The ad art, news art and photo departments will continue building on Macs. We currently paginate our TV book, some section covers and some advertorial products. Our goal is to be fully paginated.
I want to see how newspapers of similar size and technology configuration are doing it. We have a daily circulation of 67,000 and a Sunday circulation of 98,000. Any suggestions on who is doing it right with up-to-date equipment? On who made a good conversion recently?
Probably the most advanced site I know that is paginating with Quark on PCs is the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, Ill. Papers with Xywrite front ends include the Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal, Albuquerque Tribune and the Daily Universe in Provo, Utah. Papers with CText front ends include the Altoona (Pa.) Mirror, Warren (Ohio) Tribune Chronicle and The Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria, Ohio.
Our front-end vendor is charging too much for its flavor of Quark. Does anyone know of a good Quark Xtension that can filter out or, where appropriate, convert the coding that Xywrite (CText) uses to define various fields (non-printing text, bold, italics, etc.)? For instance, if we have a news story file that contains fields with editor notes or cq's (in a nonprinting field), bold field and italics, is there a filter that strips out the non-printing field and converts the bold and italics coding in Xywrite to bold and italics in Quark?
Try calling Peter Baumgartner, president of North Atlantic Publishing Systems, at (508) 250-8080. He tells me he has a solution to your problem.
What are some of the major pitfalls that I should watch out for?
Check the cover story of the Nov./Dec. issue of TechNews for an overview of the problems involved in paginating with Quark.
On average, how many pages can a paginator build per day?
According to the ASNE/SND Technology Survey, the industry average is 5.0-5.5 pages per person per shift.
How does pagination affect staffing in the backshop (production, photo-comp, paste-up)? The newsroom? The camera and pressroom?
Consultant Neil Chase says, "If the goal is to eliminate all composing and engraving people, then the newsroom almost certainly must grow. A target might be that for every three jobs eliminated, you'll bring one new job into the newsroom."
Does anyone have a good work-flow chart they could share on how their system operates? I'm looking for work flow and system configuration.
The Daily Herald in Arlington Heights has an excellent system diagram. Their system integrator, Digital Equipment Corp., helped them put it together. You should also see the cover story of the Feb. 1995 issue of Presstime.
How do you maintain consistent quality control, especially with color?
Check the cover story of the May/June TechNews. Also, NAA's Tom Croteau is an expert in this area. You can call him at (703) 648-1213.
Are there any publications to which you would subscribe about pre-press, newspaper pagination, imaging, etc.?
The best publications I've seen are the ASNE/SND Technology Survey, The Cole Papers (a newsletter) and Pre (a magazine). The Cole Papers is edited by David Cole, who also writes our "What Next?" column (see The Troubled Soul of a New Machine).
Do you have any information on OPI or DCS?
OPI stands for Open Pre-press Interface. It allows you to work with low-resolution images for designing and high-res images for output. Apple, Autologic, Cascade, Hyphen and SII all use OPI. I saw a presentation once by Larry Ross of Detroit Newspapers, where he updated and output the same document from the same Mac, with and without OPI. It took 50 minutes and 54 seconds without OPI, and four minutes and 53 seconds with it. So OPI can save you a lot of time.
Be careful, though, because some newspapers have had problems (see An OPI Bypass).
DCS stands for Desktop Color Separation. As the name suggests, it's a way to separate colors on a PC. You end up with four separate files for C, M, Y and K, plus a fifth to preview the combination. Tom Croteau at NAA can tell you more.
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