Using FM Screening for ink savings

The average ink savings by switching from, for example, a 175 lpi AM/XM halftone to a 20 micron FM halftone, is about 10-15% (depending on the range of tones in the original art). Since the average sheetfed printer will spend about 3-4% of their gross earnings on ink, as an example, for a $10,000,000 dollar a year printer the ink savings using FM screening will range from about $35,000 to $52,500 a year.
The reduction in ink usage for the same final presswork appearance, comes primarily from the use of a cut-back curve applied to the FM screened plate, the thinner ink film characteristic of FM screening, and the higher percentage of the tonality being created optically (optical dot gain) .

How higher dot gain saves ink

The smaller the halftone dot is, the greater its perimeter to area ratio is.
Since dot gain occurs at the perimeter of the dot this results in smaller dots having more dot gain. And since FM halftone screens are made up of very small dots they will initially have a higher dot gain compared to a conventional AM/XM halftone. That higher dot gain compared with, for example, a 175 lpi screen, must be “normalized” by using a tone reproduction curve applied to the plate to achieve the same final presswork appearance. As a result, to get the same final tone on press that a 50% dot at 175 lpi gives - you might only need a 40% dot with an FM screen. Because a 40% dot area carries less ink than a 50% dot area - the result is a reduction in ink usage.

For example, here is a 4/C image rendered at 175 lpi:Left bottom is a 50% tone, center bottom is the 50% tone on plate, right bottom is the final result: a 65% tone on the press sheet. The look of this presswork will be the target for the FM screen presswork.

Next is the same image but this time rendered with a 20 micron FM screen:Left bottom is a 50% tone, center bottom is the 50% tone on plate, right bottom is the final result: an 80% tone on the press sheet. The presswork is now too dark compared to the 175 lpi AM/XM target.

However, by applying a tone compensation curve to the plate, the extra dot gain can be factored out:Left bottom is a 50% tone, center bottom is the 50% tone mapped to 40% on the plate, right bottom is the final result: a 65% tone on the press sheet. Now the FM presswork is tonally aligned to the AM/XM target presswork. And since lighter tones on plate carry less ink area, the result is a reduction in ink consumption.

FM's thinner ink film also helps save ink

Small FM dots cannot carry as thick a film of ink as larger AM/XM dots can because there is not as much dot area to carry the ink. This characteristic also contributes to ink savings.
The below image shows the thickness of ink on a 175 lpi AM/XM halftone. Ink density has been mapped to height to show the thickness (depth exaggerated for illustrative purposes).
Here is the same 3D projection - this time with a 20 micron FM screen:
In North America, approximately 80% of telephone directory printers and 60% of newspaper flyers (as well as 90% of WalMart flyers) are printed using FM screening in order to take advantage of ink savings for cost and well as environmental impact reductions.

Believing is seeing - improving the decision-making process

Although we probably all hope to make business decisions in a clear, logical manner, unfortunately our decision making process can easily be compromised without our even being aware that it's happening. Our decision-making processes whether it's about new equipment purchases or press-check approvals is often exploited by vendor sales and marketing people - to their advantage.
Here are some of the classic effects we may fall prey to. It can be a good idea, during any decision-making process, to take a step back and review these effects to be certain that you haven't fallen prey to one of them.
Halo Effect - Something is rated highly simply because there already exists a positive impression of its source. For example, hardware from a respected or existing supplier often rates higher than hardware from an unknown vendor even though an objective analysis might prove otherwise.
Reflection Effect - Employees provide input to the decision making process, for better or worse, based on their perception of management.
Belief Effect - Personal decision making is given over to an outside trusted source because the individual does not have the skills needed to make the decision. This can happen even if the trusted source may not have the skills to make the right decision themselves. We may reject something if we have a bias against the person, organization, or group to which the person belongs – however we are usually inclined to accept a statement by someone we like.
Demand Effect – We conform to the decision making expectations that we believe others have of someone in our position.
Mob Effect – The individual's perception of a situation, or decision to be made, is altered to conform to the opinions held by the group.
Selective Effect - The individual selectively searches for facts that support certain conclusions but disregards other facts that support different conclusions. We may actively screen-out information that we do not think is important. Later, we may distort our memories of chosen and rejected options to justify the chosen options.
Expediency Effect - The individual, or group, prematurely ends the search for information, often by accepting the first alternative that looks like it might work. This action is based on the idea that making a decision is better than no decision at all or of continued protracted arguments/discissions.
Optimism Effect - We tend to want to see things in a positive light and this can distort our perception and thinking. Often referred to as wishful thinking.
Recency Effect - We tend to place more attention on more recent information and either ignore or forget more distant information.
Repetition Effect - A willingness to believe the things that we have been told most often and by the greatest number of different of sources.

"We see people and things not as they are, but as we are."
- Anthony de Mello (1931 - 1987) Jesuit Priest

Ink savings using solid screening

Solid screening is a technique that reduces ink consumption (and associated costs) by punching holes – too small to be seen in the presswork – into graphics that normally would print as a solid 100% tone or color. This technique is best suited for newspaper printing where the combination of dot gain and absorbency of the paper hide the visibility of the holes in the final presswork.
In this example I've used the character "$" from the Bitstream "Vera" font**, however this technique can be used with any line/solid graphic. In order to create the holes, I've screened the letters from 100% solid to a 90% tone. The correct amount of screening back to use requires some experimentation as it is a function of the halftone screening and paper that is being used.


A - The original character (Bitstream Vera) at 10 pt.
B - The same character using the SPRANQ Ecofont*. This font is designed with holes within the letters to reduce inkjet ink consumption by approximately 15-20%. The font can also be used for offset printing, however, because of the size of the holes used, this font is limited to a maximum character size of about 12pt.
C - The same character but screened back to 90% using a 133 lpi AM halftone. Because the AM dot is quite coarse, this technique is best suited to sans serif sizes greater than 18 pt. otherwise the character become too broken up by the halftone screening.
D - The same letter but screened back to 90% using a 20 micron FM halftone. The high resolution FM dot allows this technique to be used with both serif and sans serif fonts ranging from about 9pt and larger.

For newspaper application, rather than using a halftone to screen back type, it may instead be worthwhile to develop a custom font or to modify the current publication font(s), and build holes directly into the characters in similar fashion to example "B" above.

* The SPRANQ Ecofont can be downloaded from: http://www.ecofont.eu/
** The Bitstream Vera font can be downloaded from: http://www.dafont.com/bitstream-vera-mono.font

Screening solid tone areas in order to reduce ink usage is not limited to flat tone areas or fonts (as described in part 1), the technique can also be used on halftones which are, after all made up of small areas of solid tone. Here is the original image of comedian Tony Hancock:Here is a close up of the original AM/XM halftone version of the image; (Click images to enlarge)
Here is the AM/XM halftone rescreened with a 2% AM halftone dot (applied to tones darker than 5%):A more sophisticated version of this method is used in Esko Concentric screening:
And here is the AM/XM halftone rescreened with a 2% FM dot (applied to tones darker than 5%):
Punching holes into halftones does add complexity in prepress and may not be possible with some workflows. However, it can be a useful strategy to reduce ink consumption in both black and white and color images for those systems that are able to screen bilevel halftones.

Reflect the customers you want to retain

The environment we create, personal or business, home or office, is a reflection of our preferences, attitudes, and capabilities. In order to enter new markets, attract new customer prospects, or help retain existing customers, pay a visit to their offices to see the environment they work within. Then take a critical look at your buildings, offices, reception area, washrooms – all the areas of your business that customers will see. The better your facilities mirror your prospect’s environment the more comfortable they will feel that they're "in the right place" with people who understand their unique needs and, as a result, the greater opportunity you will have of becoming their preferred supplier.

World's fastest stamper

When I was a teenager, to help earn extra money, my mother would bring home "piece work" from the printshop where she worked in the bindery department. In the evenings I would sit at the kitchen table manually stamping sequential numbers onto invoice forms using a gizmo like this:
I'd get a penny for each completed numbered invoice form. I was pretty fast, but not as fast as this lady:


Please press the play arrow to view the video. Note that it may stop for a moment while the video buffers in the background.

Product Development – how vendors develop products for the graphic arts industry

In general, a technology company's focus is on developing products that have a projected volume of sales sufficient to cover the costs of development, manufacturing, productizing, and going to market with the goal of returning a specified margin of profit.
Product development usually has nothing to do with whether the product is the right product, or the best product to address the issue, or one that is best for the industry – it only has to do with the potential return on investment for developing the product.
Product development is an expensive time consuming process and so most companies will take a rigorous, organized, approach. Sometimes it may make use of a flow chart like this one:or this oneto help all the stakeholders see "the big picture" and how the various functions fit together in the complex process of product development.
The process will also include documented "gates" or significant milestones through which the product must go through which is often represented using a Gantt's Chart like this: to track progress, delays, and missed target dates.

Step 1 - Needs Assessment.
This identifies the needs and business opportunity for a new product. Ideas for new products can come from market and consumer trends, the company's R&D department, competitors, existing customer suggestions, front line employee suggestions, salespeople, corporate spies, and trade shows. One has to be careful during the needs assessment phase because, as Henry Ford noted, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

Step 2 - Economic Validation.
This attempts to identify the return on investment of developing the product or the risk of not developing the product. Perhaps historical data from similar solutions might be used or a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) may be done.Sometimes it's just a WAG (Wild Ass Guess). It's also important to know how much a customer will pay for the product since it must be produced for much less because of mark-up and margins required by all the people that handle it. The discussion is specifically to make sure that the product cost (and appropriate markups) don't exceed the customers desire and ability to purchase.

Step 3 - Gathering Outside Information.
Typically, a patent search and some market research are done to ensure there are no existing barriers to the product's development. Marketing would do research on things like competitive analysis, market availability, costs of getting the product to the consumer, etc. as well as some justification (in hard numbers) as to why the product will be able to penetrate the market.

Step 4 - The Design Phase.
Here the goal is to find not just any solution - but the "Elegant Solution" - the one that's the best blend of compromise of all the conflicting requirements. This process involves conceptual design where fundamental and "big" ideas are scoped out and evaluated. Often this starts with a brainstorming session where open-minded, creative thinkers from inside and outside the company gather and share ideas for exploration and evaluation The conceptual design phase is also a time for comparing competing products against a reasonable list of requirements to see how the competition stacks up.
Step 5: Screening of ideas.
The ideas generated in Step 4 are critically evaluated by the management team to isolate the most attractive options. As the ideas are whittled down to a few attractive options, rough estimates are made of an idea’s potential in terms of sales, production costs, profit potential, and competitors’ response if the product is introduced. Acceptable ideas move on to the next step.

Step 6 - Concept Development.
This begins the principal design phase (the micro level) where the details are developed and where the fundamental engineering is done. Market research continues to analyze the viability of the product ideas. The key objective is to obtain useful forecasts of market size, overall product demand, operational costs (e.g., production costs) and financial projections (e.g., sales and profits). Additionally, the organization must determine if the product will fit within the company’s overall mission and strategy.

Step 7 - Prototyping
Prototyping is the design verification phase of product development and is used to demonstrate or prove aspects of a design. Prototyping simply takes the design from the virtual and imaginary realm to the physical world. The kind of prototype used must fit the needs of the project and to demonstrate the viability of the product - especially since there is often a significant cost involved.Fabricated prototypes are typically functional versions that may or may not look like the final product but give the opportunity to test function and prove something works. Prototyping also allows manufacturing assessment to determine the best way for the product to make the transition from design to production easier, faster and smoother. This is the "Alpha" and "Beta" phase of product development.

Step 8 - Production
The Production phase is usually, by far, the most expensive part of product development. The design needs to be fully documented with detailed drawings for the applicable parts and assembly. Service support and training are initiated.

Step 9 - Product Marketing
Marketers begin to construct a marketing plan for the product. Once the prototype is ready the marketer seeks customer input - perhaps at beta test sites. However, unlike the concept testing stage where customers are only exposed to the idea, in this step the customer gets to experience the real product as well as other aspects of the marketing mix, such as advertising, pricing, and distribution options (e.g., retail store, direct from company, etc.). Favorable customer reaction helps solidify the marketer’s decision to introduce the product and also provides other valuable information such as estimated purchase rates and understanding how the product will be used by the customer. Reaction that is less favorable may suggest the need for adjustments to elements of the products or the way the product will be marketed to prospective customers. In addition to gaining customer feedback, this step is used to develop customer testimonials and white papers. Sales and dealer channels start to be trained on the upcoming product.

Step 10 - Commercialization
If market testing and beta site experience display promising results the product is ready to be introduced to a wider market. Some companies launch products well in advance of actual availability in order to stifle the sales of similar products from competing businesses. Sometimes the product is introduced or rolled-out the product in waves with parts of the market receiving the product on different schedules, or with only parts of the total product solution being available. This allows the company to ramp up production in a more controlled way and to fine tune the marketing mix as the product is distributed to new areas.

The Wayback View – SP Plateless Offset Technology in 2000

Recently, J P Imaging, with their experimental Miracle Plate* technology, has demonstrated a unique concept – that of switching an uncoated litho ‘blank’ uncoated plate from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. The benefits of this technology, if it becomes a product, is the potential elimination of all chemicals in plate coating, organic solvents from the coating process, as well as all requirements for processing equipment and associated chemistry. It would also have major environmental benefits by drastically reducing the demand for aluminum within the printing industry.

The announcement has renewed interest in alternative ways to image plates for offset lithography. One such alternative was demonstrated as a proof of concept at GraphExpo in 2000. The CreoScitex "SP Plateless Technology" was a plate imaging system where a plate could be imaged, and reimaged, by spraying an ink receptive coating (Agfa Lightspeed) on it while the plate was mounted on press. Rather than manufacturing, cutting, and shipping plates that could be used only once - printers would just purchase the ink receptive liquid coating.

Please press the play arrows to view the video. Note that they may stop for a moment while the video buffers in the background.
This 1 minute video uses animation to explain how the direct on press ("DOP") SP Plateless Technology works.


This 11 minute video is the live demonstration presented by Doug Richardson (now CEO of General Fusion Inc.) of the CreoScitex SP Plateless Technology using a Shinohara press at GraphExpo in 2000.

The Haida mask images were my small contribution to this project.

*More info on the Miracle Plate technology is available HERE

"Know Thyself" - Which car brand are you?

From a legal point of view, when a printshop becomes incorporated it marks the formation of a legal entity that is effectively recognized as a person under the law. And, like any other person, the printshop has a "personality" – its face to the market and the customers it serves. From a marketing and sales point of view, it is very useful for management and front-line workers to have a clear and unanimous understanding of the personality that the printshop wishes to embody and project to its public. Doing so can help guide everything from investments in new equipment and services, to the decor used in the plant. It also helps set customer expectations for the experience they will have when they do business with the shop.

Which car brand are you?

Better defining and understanding your printshop's personality can be helped by borrowing a technique used in marketing - asking the simple question: "If your business was a car, which brand of car would it be and what would its personality traits be?"

Here are some (briefly) detailed ideas to get you started, each of which could be expanded to cover every aspect of your business.

BMW "The ultimate print machine." We emphasize the equipment and technology we apply to print projects. We compete on value - not on price - to print specifiers and buyers who can appreciate what we bring to the table. Our lobby is spartan and contemporary and proudly shows the many international awards for print quality that we've garnered. Our press room is a showcase of excellence.

Toyota Prius "Harmonizing quality, value, and the environment." We emphasize how our print processes meet the print quality needs of our customers while minimizing the impact on the environment. We are not the low cost provider, instead we compete on sustainable value by nurturing long term relationships rather than operating on just a job by job basis. Our lobby mingles local awards for print quality and from sustainability organizations. Our press room demonstrates our environmental initiatives with dedicated recycle and reuse areas.

SMART car "Two and four-up jobs are where we excel." We're nimble and are able to turn around jobs quickly. Although we're a small shop, we can provide much of the expertise you'll find with the big shops - and we've got a few print quality awards to show for it. We compete by providing a very personal service with great value for the dollar performance. Our pressroom is quite small so, instead, we concentrate more our customer facing areas such as our storefront, lobby comfort, and on-line print order system.

MACK truck "The long run specialist." We're the big iron - so we stay with what we do best: long press runs and contract work. Our facilities haven't changed much over the years, although we do have a few bits and pieces of the latest technology. Our customers aren't that interested in awards, but we do submit work for judging, after all it does show that we are proud of our work and it does help to cement relationships with our customers. Our pressrooms are huge and not really suited for our customers to visit - so we have a small visitor area where they can relax on the rare occasion they may need to see a job on press. Because of our size we consume a great deal of resources, and because of customer concern we will be looking into implementing some sustainability programs.

Of course there are many more cars, and personalities, to explore to help you define your own unique corporate personality.