By: Printing News
What matters is how it's printed.
Making a hardcover book is simple. Just cut some sheets of paper, fold along the grain, punch holes, and sew it together. All you have to do next is seal the spine with glue, attach the cardboard cover, and viola, a hardcover book! Sounds easy, right? It is, but how exactly does a printer select the most viable printing solution when it comes to hardcovers? Which method works best for these books, digital or traditional offset printing? Many times these two options come to mind, and questions have been raised since the introduction of on-demand printing.
In the Classroom
For starters, digital printing has significantly affected the sales of hardcover books. According to Don Reisfeld, president of Morton Advertising, the demand for hard cover books is higher because of digitally printed high school yearbooks. Entourage Yearbooks and Express Press both offer cost-effective, on-demand yearbooks. Entourage does not require minimum order sizes, and ordering customized yearbooks is easy, according to the company's Web site, which also advertises its understanding of the 'business' of yearbooks and the stresses and demands of publishing.
Express Press uses variable data software to publish its selection of its Expressly-Yours yearbooks, but it took awhile to get to that step. When the company formed in 1978, the dated technology combining a small press and an ITEC paper plate dubbed the company a "quick printer."
"In 2000, we once again took advantage of new technology to be a 'quick printer.' This time though, instead of letterheads, envelopes, and multi-part forms, we became a quick printer of yearbooks. We use the HP Indigo five-color digital press," explained Founder Bob Clar. The digital press allows the company to offer school customers quick turn around and lower prices.
The prepress required in traditional yearbook printing in the past added to both cost and time. The Express Press staff turns out hard- covered, perfect bound yearbooks from start to finish in approximately seven weeks. Typically, the traditional yearbook publishers want the pages of the book to be available in January, for a delivery in May or June. With digital, the schools have gained many more weeks to gather information, which even includes some extracurricular activities and sports that have been previously overlooked due to time constraints.
The Internet plays a major role in the process, enabling schools in need of hardcover books to find Express Press, and place orders that are shipped nationwide. With the combination of the Internet and digital printing, Express Press, and its yearbook division, Expressly-Yours, is seeing continued growth. Because of new technological advances in the industry, the company's digital printing method is actually offset printing using liquid inks. HP Indigo uses an inking system that is transferred to a blanket—like traditional offset.
Besides yearbooks, hardcover photo books have also succeeded because of digital printing. Such books have kicked the market up a few notches, including HP's Shutterfly, which produces customizable, hardcover photobooks such as wedding albums, baby books, and vacation memories. Currently offered in five sizes, custom photo books are available with a variety of cover options. Other hardcover photo book sites on the Web include Apple iPhoto, Kodak EasyShare Gallery, and Snapfish. There are also Web sites that allow creation of personalized hardcover books, including www.picaboo.com and www.myphotobookcreator.com.
Photo books have been on the rise lately, and growth is increasing annually. All of Snapfish's fulfillment partners print the books on HP Indigo 5500s, which use HP's ElectroInk technology. ElectroInk is a liquid ink that combines the advantages of electronic printing with the qualities of liquid ink.
John Jacobson, Jr. from On Demand Machinery (ODM), a manufacturer of book binding equipment, said photo book sales took off because of the digital market. "You can now make a hard cover book for $30, whereas back in the day it would cost hundreds. Photo books took off even without advertising and tons of work."
You Be the Judge
Aside from photo books and yearbooks, digital printing has had a major impact on other hardcovers as well. New authors can publish books easily and for less money, and first-time publishers can make hard cover cookbooks, how-to guides, and poetry books to name a few.
However, compared to offset-printed hard cover books, digital paper stocks can be difficult to bind. Also, the scuff resistance tends to be better on offset printing than on digital products.
Offset printing is still the most common form of high-volume commercial printing. While digital presses are getting closer to the costs and benefits of offset, they have not yet been able to compete with the volume of hardcover books an offset press can produce—the more materials printed, the lower the costs.
Typically, any additional print costs are minimal, but on the flip side, there are many unused hardcover books left over, and stored in warehouses.
"That has to do with production quality. You can print 2,000 books on offset and go back and print more, depending on how strong the demand is for the book," explained Paul Parisi, president of Acme Bookbinding. "You can also do a digital print at first, then go offset when you need more copies."
Acme Bookbinding uses Mekatronics Ultrabind equipment for all its short run and single copy binding. "(Ultrabind) is designed to handle single copy books of any size, one after another—all different, with a fully self-adjusting process that requires no operator knowledge or adjustment," explained Parisi. The company recently purchased its third Ultrabind, and still has its first machine, which is 18 years old. It "continues to run like a charm," described Parisi about the quality of the equipment.
Practical Applications
Borders, paired with Lulu.com, launched a personal publishing program recently. The idea is to provide consumers with a quick an easy way to produce personal hardcover books on demand. Borders revealed the program at its first concept store in Ann Arbor, Mich., at its digital center, through interactive kiosks. Compared to the full Lulu.com catalog, the templates are options are limited, however, they will offer the convenience of making and then receiving a book in a physical store, rather than going completely through an online interface.
The program will be accessible through the kiosks in 13 additional concept stores planned to open this year. Also, existing stores will offer personal publishing how-to books, as well as information on the personal publishing program.
Lulu.com CEO Bob Young said the thousands of writers and readers visiting Borders each week have their own stories to tell, and now, because of the personal publishing program, nothing will stand in their way.
The Verdict Is in. Or Is it?
ODM published a how-to guide, featuring hardcover bookbinding and producing books for the on-demand digital industry. In the pamphlet, the company illustrates how to produce single copy, hardcover books in large quantities.
"The sales of hardcover books are going up, because digital printing is creating opportunities that once didn't exist," said Jacobson. He also said that digital printing may eliminate offset printing in the hardcover market. "We may see offset's demise. Digital is now more affordable, and people can benefit from this."Jacobson also compared digital printing versus offset printing for hardcover books to Apple iTunes taking over Wal-Mart's position as the number one music retailer, according to a consumer survey. Apple Inc. statistics state that iTunes has sold more than four billion tracks since its launch in 2003, thanks in part to the popularity of its line of iPod portable music players. He mentioned that this clearly points to the status of the digital revolution. "Books are next," he said.Despite his vision of an all-digital world of print, Parisi feels offset is here to stay. "Offset will always be here, and digital will always be here. People still listen to the radio. People still go to the movies. Offset and digital printing both have a place in the market—it depends on who you are and the nature of the product; you're not going to print Harry Potter on a digital press. If you're printing a high volume, you're going to go offset."
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