Summary

(Der Report ist auch in Deutsch verfügbar. Hier finden Sie weitere Informationen.)

Will digital printing replace the offset process in the future? Does the advent of digital webfed presses herald the end of coldset newspaper printing? There is at any rate a growing interest in digital newspaper printing, and the topic is increasingly being talked about in the industry.

Some years ago, when Stroma in London and later Miller Newsprint in Malta began producing international newspapers, it drew little attention in the industry. There was a general consensus that digital newspaper printing was a niche application and destined to remain so for a long time. The limitations in speed, costs, output format and colour appeared so massive that the technology could never match offset, let alone surpass it.

But exactly that kind of thinking was wrong. Digital printing is not supposed to compete with offset; rather, it is intended to capture new business areas.

In the preface to the new SFN Report, ”Digital printing for newspapers,“ Manfred Werfel, Deputy CEO and Executive Director, WAN-IFRA, examines the perspectives of various players and the opportunities digital printing can offer them.

The report investigates the business case for digital printing, the current use of digital printing in newspaper production and examines the latest case studies in the USA, Italy and Germany. Among the topics are these:

• Digital printing as a distribution concept. Distributors were the first to develop a business model exploiting digital printing. The production of foreign newspapers allows distributors to sell copies on the day of publication without expensive air freight costs – an attractive offer.
• Short print runs. Many newspaper printing plants are independent businesses that are constantly seeking additional print jobs – but producing small jobs on a large offset press is not cost-efficient. This is where a digital press can demonstrate its potential to the maximum.
• Hybrid printing. Ink-jet imprinting in offset-produced newspapers is a brilliant idea, since it combines the best of both technologies and opens up entirely new marketing opportunities.

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