Future Digital Proofing

Proofing plays an important role in designing, printing, and publishing. With the development of digital workflow and the emergence of various performance and price proofing systems, the importance of proofing has become increasingly prominent. Previous conventional analog proofing has shown amazing performance and development speed, but digital proofing will completely surpass and replace analog proofing.

Recently, North American State Street Consultnts (consulting company) made a survey entitled "A Way to Expand Digital Workflow: Proofing."

According to the survey, half of the 343 printing companies stated that they will purchase new proofing systems in the next few years, and only 4% of the printing manufacturers have indicated that they want to choose a simulation proofing system.

The popularity of digital proofing is mainly due to the development of computer-to-plate technology. Printers that already have or plan to deploy a computer-to-plate system have shown great interest in purchasing a digital proofing system; 30% of printers who want to purchase a digital proofing system also want to configure a platemaking machine.

At present, the division of requirements for various types of digital proofing systems on the market is not clear. One-third of printing companies want to buy inkjet printers, 22% of printers want digital screening equipment, and 19% of printers want color laser printers. Some trends show that the digital screening system is the most popular and has developed rapidly. About 22% of manufacturers consider deploying a digital screening system, while a third of users with digital screening systems plan to add new equipment.

The trend of proofing materials The current market for analog proofing and digital proofing has continued to develop rapidly. Most printers hope to increase the capacity of proofing materials, but most of the proofing materials are designed for analog proofing. The format is limited to four pages or more, and even the development of multi-layered printing materials used in the simulation proofing system has not been developed. consider.

Intention to Purchase Almost half of the printers surveyed said they would purchase a new batch system in the next few years. Most of the purchase targets are digital proofing systems, and many potential buyers are planning to configure a digital screening system. Demand for dye-sublimation printers is declining.

Reasons for purchase The main reason why printers purchase digital proofing systems is to increase work efficiency and job speed while reducing costs. The use of the digital proofing system and the application of the computer-to-plate system are indispensable.

Obstacles to development The biggest obstacle to the current development of the digital proofing system is the occasional small error between proofing and print, which the printers cannot tolerate.

Cost is also one of the issues. According to the survey, printers are more concerned about the cost of purchasing a proofing system than they are about the cost of using the system later. But in fact both are problems.

The vast majority of printers interested in digital proofing believe that the proofs used for printing must have precise dots. Only by looking at the proofs, the final results of the printed matter can be determined. The printed matter will not suffer quality problems due to proofing.

Here are some factors that affect the development of digital proofing:
· Occasional errors · Cost of the entire system · Cost of proofing · Sometimes the proofing sites and printing sites are slightly different · The loss of outlets · The user's approval · The singleness of sampling consumption · The change of workflow

The color of proofing The most common method for matching the proof colors is still visual inspection, which accounts for 47%. Followed by the use of densitometers, 34% of the surveyed printers use this method. Only 12% of the surveyed companies use proofing color processing software. 3% of the surveyed printers used spectrophotometers, and the other 3% handed over the work to others. Most printers believe that color proofing is not a problem.


Some printing companies often complain about the reason for the proofing system when there is a problem with the printed matter. When consulting with these printers about the problems with the proofing system, they believe that the proofs have deficiencies in calibration, consistency, and color matching.

According to the survey, printers with digital proofing systems were asked whether they had used the digital proofing system and the mocking proofing system to do the same job. One-quarter said that they rarely did that; most of them stated that they were in the same workflow. At times, digital proofing and mock proofing may not be used at the same time.

From the survey results, it can be seen that the printing manufacturers are willing to use their digital proofing system in combination with the simulation proofing system, which makes the advantage of digital proofing precision calibration not fully utilized. Most printers still use the old analog proofing standard to draw matching digital proofing systems.

Conclusion The survey showed that digital proofing has been accepted by most printing companies, but its function has not been fully utilized. The supporting standards and facilities are still incomplete and need to be further developed and improved.