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Fall 2003

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Courier Kendallville Continues to Grow with New Four-Color Press
Excitement abounds in Kendallville, Indiana, and throughout the industry as Courier continues its expansion into the four-color book markets. Courier Kendallville, already known to book publishers for its friendly service and flexible production schedules, will essentially double its four-color capacity with the purchase a new ultra-high-capacity web press from MAN Roland North America. The press will be fully operational in April, 2004.

Four-Color is “What We Do Best”
Courier has been producing four-color work in Kendallville since 1995 and has three conventional four-color web presses already in service there. “The folks here couldn't be happier with the decision to install this new press,” says Kendallville Plant Manager Sybella Wilder. “Four-color books are what we do best, and now we will be able to do a lot more of them. We look forward to increasing our four-color business with all our customers.”

Color Means a Better Book
One big reason that Courier is adding four-color capacity is to meet the growing demand for color in textbooks.
Industry projections have Education continuing to grow faster than other book market segments, and within the segment there is a strong migration from one- and two-color to four-color. “Providing full-color photography and illustrations in their books is one of the best ways for publishers to engage students and to complement other educational materials that are increasingly produced in electronic format,” says Peter Conway, Vice President of Sales.

More Capacity Means Flexibility
The substantial increase in capacity will enable Courier Kendallville to meet the growing demand for four-color while continuing to deliver the highest quality, the flexible schedules, and the world-class service for which they are known. Courier Kendallville will be able to handle more rush jobs and to accommodate last-minute changes to schedules to an even greater degree. Publishers should feel confident that they can send Courier Kendallville significant blocks of additional work without running up against any capacity constraints.
 
ABOUT THE PRESS

The MAN Roland LITHOMAN IV press is considered ultra-high-capacity because it is significantly larger and faster than the high-capacity web presses used to print books today. It prints a 48-page signature with each impression.

The press outperforms conventional presses on both long and short runs with state-of-the-art technologies such as closed loop color control and an optical web scanner that regulates color register. These features and many others are built into the press to ensure the highest print quality.
Publishers Insist on File Check
Usage of FastPath File Check, Courier’s free online file validation tool, has skyrocketed in the past six months as more and more of our customers are instructing their compositors to use the service before sending their files to Courier.
Customers whose files are validated with File Check avoid file problems that can cost so much, in terms of both dollars and schedule.
FastPath
“FastPath is such a fantastic service,” says Steve Franzino, V.P. of Technology. “But promoting its use has been an interesting challenge because so many of our customers subcontract file preparation to third-party compositors. While the many benefits of File Check fall to the publisher, it’s the compositor who must use it. And since the compositors work for the publishers, not for Courier, it’s only natural that they respond to the publishers’ suggestions more readily than to ours.
We’ve found that the publishers who reap the rewards the soonest are those who instruct their compositors to use FastPath.”
You can try File Check for yourself by registering at www.courierfastpath.com. Once you see how easy and effective it is, you will be sure to insist that your compositors use it on all your Courier jobs.
Right From the Start Tip

If you have already instructed your compositor to use FastPath File Check before sending your files to Courier, then you should expect your files to arrive at Courier validated as error-free. Why not put yourself completely at ease by asking your compositor to attach the clean inspection report to an email and send it to you? The report is a very small HTML document that opens in your browser. When you see that the report is clear, you will rest assured that your compositor has done the job and that you will not endure costly delays due to file problems.

Tips of the Month are excerpted from Right from the Start: The book professional’s guide to preparing digital files for print production, Fifth Edition, published by Courier Corporation.
 

Courier Companies, Inc. · 15 Wellman Avenue · N. Chelmsford, MA 01863
Send your questions and comments to french@courier.com