I thought your piece on color management ["The Greatest Show on Earth?" May/June 1998, p. 8] was well-written and properly conveyed the feelings of both myself and the NAA Color Management Task Force on the subject. I was glad to see the article avoided, and in fact refuted, the notion that color management is a magic bullet for quality.
Again, nice job.
Bernie Szachara
Director, Imaging Integration
Gannett Co. Inc.
Arlington, Va.
Equal Time
I am writing with regards to the recent TechNews article on preprints ["Tame the Tornado!" July/August 1998, p. 6].
You briefly mentioned preprint-management software. Heidelberg’s Prima and some of the home-built programs were mentioned. There was no mention of GMA Inc.’s SAM software system. Perhaps you should write a follow-up story with more detailed information on the different systems available.
Overall, it was a good general article.
Gary Hughes
Production Director
El Paso (Texas) Times
Kudos and Story Ideas
I am writing to offer a few comments on your story "Tame the Tornado!":
- This was a great piece on insert growth and customer service. They are issues we all face.
- It would be nice to see a follow-up in the next issue of TechNews on equipment to handle insert growth and customer service!
- Perhaps you should do an in-depth story on the benefits/downfalls/complexities of adding to existing equipment in packaging centers and pressrooms.
- Perhaps you could also do a story on packaging-center productivity, with in-depth specifics on the inserts-per-hour metric and how to track it. Also the drop in productivity that can be expected with poor insert quality and quantity (number of inserts in a package).
Keep up the good work—TechNews is a terrific industry publication.
Wayne Bean
Vice President, Operations
Tucson (Ariz.) Newspapers
Glaring Omissions
I was reading an article in the TechNews May/June issue called "Print Quality Winners" [p. 7], and noticed that some of the winners of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association Print Quality Contest were omitted. I think if you are going to publish the winners, all of them should be recognized.
Tom Moore
Marketing Manager
NAPP Systems Inc.
San Marcos, Calif.
We agree. All of the winners are listed in the story "SNPA Print Quality Contest Winners"—Ed.