Quad/Graphics Expands Business With New Ad Management Service.

Business Editors

PEWAUKEE, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 3, 2002

New Service Satisfies Publishers' Demands for a Reliable File Format

for Computer-to-Plate Production While Offering Ad Agencies the

Advantage of Expedited File Processing

Quad/Graphics has launched a new service that quickly and easily converts digital advertising files (or even film) to a universally accepted format for digitally imaging plates. The Internet-based service is a boon to advertising agencies and engravers that must conform to publishers' demands for TIFF/IT, DCS2, PDF/X1 and other raster-based file types, but don't yet have the production capability.

What's more, the streamlined nature of the service can significantly condense the ad processing/approval cycle, returning as much as two days' time to the creative process. As a result, ad agencies have more time to work with their clients to produce timely, effective advertising content.

The service is provided by Quad/Graphics' Advertising Resource Management (ARM) Center, which has a dedicated call center for handling file conversions.

                            ARM Call Center
         Toll-Free Hotline: [phone] (or 1-866-ARM-CENT)
       Call Center Hours: Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST

"Increasingly, publishers are requiring advertisers to supply advertisements in a raster-based format because of its reliability for computer-to-plate production," said Tom Frankowski, vice president of Imaging Operations for Quad/Graphics. "Yet, there's a lack of facilities capable of providing raster-based file-conversion services. Through the ARM Center, we aim to fill that void."

As part of its comprehensive file-conversion services, the ARM Center:

-- Provides thorough file-inspection services, immediately notifying customers
of file-related problems.

-- Prepares files (or film) to the requested file type(s).

-- Sends content proofs for inspection and approval. Available proof options
include Digital Reader, IRIS, Spectrum and top sheets.

-- Distributes final files and proof materials to a requested location,
including to multiple printers.

-- On request, archives ad files for future pick-up and re-use/re-purposing.

To use the services of the ARM Center, ad agencies and/or engravers need only call the center's toll-free hotline and provide some basic processing and billing information before uploading their files to a secure Internet site. From there, the ARM Center's print ad specialists handle the rest - from preparing files to creating proofs and distributing final files.

Soon, the ARM Center will give customers the option of placing file-conversion orders through its Web site, www.ARMCenter.com. "In this regard, the Web will serve as a high-tech complement to our high-touch, call center service," Mr. Frankowski said.

Already in use, www.ARMCenter.com lists publishers' ad specifications for free and makes them available at no charge to any advertising agency or engraver that logs on. (No password or other information has to be provided in order to gain access to the ad specs.) "We wanted to create a universal access point for ad specs," Mr. Frankowski said of ARMCenter.com. "Any agency or engraver can log onto ARMCenter.com and see a publication's ad specs. It provides another way for publishers to clearly communicate ad specs and file expectations 24/7."

Currently, multiple publishers and titles have their ad specs listed on ARMCenter.com, with more regularly signing on. Publishers need not print with Quad/Graphics to list their ad specs on ARMCenter.com.

Raster-Based Files vs. Vector-Based Files

Raster-based files have become the preferred file format for computer-to-plate production because they reliably produce consistent quality proofs and plates.

"Raster-based files are reliable because they are formatted in discrete pixels of color and resolution," Mr. Frankowski said. "No elements need to be added to interpret the data in a raster-based file in order to make a proof or a plate." In other words, the file data used to make a proof is the same file data used to make a plate, eliminating advertiser and publisher concerns that proofs and plates are made from separate, and potentially different, information.

By contrast, vector-based files - which include many popular applications such as Quark, Illustrator and PageMaker - require interpretation prior to making digital proofs and plates, creating opportunities for errors. "In the days of film, we made the proof and the plate from the same piece of supplied film," Mr. Frankowski said. "With vector-based files, we must interpret or convert the supplied file into a new, raster-based file to make the proof. Then, that second-generation file is used to make the plate. There's an extra, potentially error-ridden step when dealing with vector-based files."

Included in the vector-based file interpretation process is adding fonts and exchanging low-resolution images with their high-resolution counterparts, among other steps. "By nature of the way vector-based files operate, fonts, images, logos, etc. are separate, unique elements in the file," Mr. Frankowski said. "All too often we find fonts or images are missing, or text spontaneously re-flows, or page elements like boxes or shadows are simply not interpreted properly. Then, we have to go in and fix the problem, which can be time-consuming and costly."

Given the simplicity and reliability of raster-based files, all major printers have universally adopted the format for computer-to-plate production.