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Digital book manufacturing continues to make significant in-roads in the commercial publishing industry, with more and more book manufacturers relying on digital workflows to supplement and complement their overall production needs. Among the reasons for this rising growth in popularity is the fact that new advances in digital finishing are enabling book manufacturers to economically and productively produce short-run titles with little or no sacrifice to the quality of the finished product.
Changing the Focus
Until recently, the emphasis in digital manufacturing had for the most part been on achieving printing results comparable to commercial offset presses. And to be sure, the quality of digital printing is getting better and improving everyday. Still, perfect binding and other finishing tasks in the digital arena had historically not received the attention they deserved. That is until manufacturers saw the need for a change that would bring commercial-quality finishing to the digital market, giving the total book a handsomely crafted look that for all intents and purposes would make it indistinguishable in the eyes of the consumer versus books finished in a commercial offset workflow.
Driving that need to elevate digital finishing were, and continue to be, fundamental shifts in the book publishing industry. As publishing companies have become increasingly wary of committing large expenditures to massive runs—and limiting the forecasting risks and inventory carrying costs associated with these long runs—a greater amount of book production has migrated to digital, in some cases overlapping the market for traditionally printed and bound books. Yet, whether the strategy is to create a limited amount of advance reader copies ahead of a large run, or, if it means generating a relatively small quantity later in a book's life to keep the book in print longer and extend sales opportunities, publishers nonetheless want seamless quality, and they want it throughout the entire lifecycle of the book.
Making it a Reality
Achieving commercial-quality finishing in a digital workflow is only possible if equipment manufacturers pay attention to the slightest detail in their machine design. For example, the milling station in a short-run perfect binder must generate sufficient paper fiber exposure, and notch in a manner that results in page pull-test durability equal to that of the industry's highest-end machines. Furthermore, separate spine and side glue pots that give an operator the ability to apply different glues, with different tack and open time characteristics, to the spine and side of the book block individually, produce a more durable book. Once the book is bound, trimming systems complete the commercial quality finishing of the book.
Versatility Protects the Investment
With regard to versatility, technology should be scalable, making it simple for book publishers to add other finishing components as the need arises. For instance, a digital book manufacturer might first purchase a binder in a near-line workflow, then subsequently install it in-line with the addition of a conveyor as continuous feed digital print technology becomes more productive. This allows book manufacturers to reap the benefits of in-line efficiencies when a complete digital production line is running, while always having the added flexibility of near-line capabilities. All of this modularity provides them with investment protection for finishing components, as they continually upgrade their print engines to keep up with the quickly advancing technology.
You Can Have it All
Today, there really is no reason for the book publishing industry to make sacrifices with respect to quality when utilizing digital solutions, because in addition to top-notch printing, publishers can have everything else they want: Commercial-quality finishing for the digital market, combined with exceptional productivity and versatility. Indeed, it has come of age, and has gone commercial.
Andrew Featherman is the manager of the OnDemand Solutions Division of Muller Martini.
author: By Andrew Fetherman