COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Gazette of Colorado Springs is just one of Freedom Communications Inc.’s newspaper properties to undergo some major changes of late - changes that are happening very quickly. Freedom’s ambition is to convert 22 of its newspapers to thermal computer-to-plate by year-end.

The installs cover associated workflow software from myriad vendors and punch bending equipment from Nela. 

The Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colo., converted to a computer-to-plate workflow in December.
Photos: Tara McMeekin

The Gazette (daily, 90,900; Sunday, 107,945) is one of eight sites so far to have installed equipment and software (see Newspapers & Technology January 2005). Installs and go live at each site typically took five days or less. According to Freedom’s director of enterprise purchasing Gary Blakeley, The Gazette has been somewhat of an anomaly in terms of installation time. The slower schedule in Colorado Springs is largely because of the newspaper’s heavy load of commercial work, Blakeley said, for which the newspaper is still doing some software tweaking. The Gazette has been live on the new equipment with its daily product since December.  

“The Gazette is focusing on trying to convert all of its commercial work over and it’s a matter of creating templates for all of those jobs,” Blakeley said. He estimates that the newspaper will be live with all of its products early this month.

Workflow app options

The Gazette opted to keep the same workflow in place that it had used with its filmsetters, but Freedom’s additional properties will receive either ECRM’s MaxWorkFlow, Agfa’s ProImage NewsWay or Creo’s Prinergy workflow software in conjunction with their CTP deployments. 

Gary Blakeley, director of enterprise purchasing for Freedom Communications Inc., is overseeing the company-wide installation of CTP platesetters, benders and associated software at 22 of the group’s newspaper facilities.

All of the Freedom newspapers to deploy CTP to this point have chosen two thermal Newsetter lines apiece from from Anitec and Kodak Polychrome Graphics. One exception, the Anaheim (Calif.) Print Facility, which handles newspapers and commercial work, installed two Creo Trendsetter thermal CTP units.

Blakeley said Creo is also in the running for some of the forthcoming sites.

“We may in fact put some Creo units in some of the smaller sites that are farther down the (installation) schedule,” he said. Freedom’s schedule calls for all of its sites to be installed by the end of the year.

One of Freedom’s properties, The Telegraph in Alton, Ill., will not deploy CTP because the design of the facility poses particular challenges for bringing in the equipment.

Imaged plates are conveyed from The Gazette’s prepress area, through the wall to the pressroom on the other side. 

“For Alton, it would have cost a fortune just to get into the building the way it was constructed,” Blakeley said. “It would have been an engineering feat.”

Leaving the comfort zone

At the time of publication, Freedom’s most recent install was at The Monitor in McAllen, Texas, which went live with its two Anitec KPG Newsetters and Nela punch bending equipment the first part of January.

No matter the size of the paper, each Freedom site will deploy two CTP units to eliminate the need to retain film backup - logic that Blakeley equates to holding onto Linotype machines in case an imagesetter fails.

The Nela vision punch bender at The Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colo. Each of Freedom’s sites installing CTP will also receive a vision bender or a three-point bender from Nela, depending on color requirements.

“You can’t,” he said. “You just have to rely on the new technology - yet it’s such a comfort zone for people that it’s hard to get them to understand, but that’s exactly why we have two (machines) everywhere. You have to have that redundancy.”

All of the newspapers are embracing the technology, Blakeley said, despite some initial hurdles.

“If you talk to our newspapers in Panama City (Calif.) or Lima (Ohio) or Victorville (Calif.), or even Mesa (Ariz.), all the people that have done this - the first couple of weeks have been tough for them,” Blakeley said. “Everybody’s a little nervous about this, plus they’re getting rid of imagesetters that have been their lifeline and all of a sudden relying on this new technology.”

Needs support

Blakeley said Freedom’s CTP project has been dependent on a lot of commitment in terms of project management.

“We’re still trying to work out some communication issues internally so everybody knows what everybody’s doing at the right time, but we’ve been able to work through all of the problems,” he said. “From an equipment standpoint and an installation standpoint, everybody’s been exemplary, it’s just the logistics that have been difficult.”

Larry Stewart (left), director of building services and Red Benson, production systems manager at The Gazette, working on software installations in conjunction with the newspaper’s CTP deployment.

Blakeley said Freedom’s project is unique in terms of its magnitude.

“Our entire company is going with this and we’re doing these installs every two weeks.”

He said he’s impressed with the thermal CTP technology he’s seen from both Anitec/KPG and Creo and that he’s been equally impressed with Nela’s punch bending equipment.

“They seem to be a really good fit with either company,” he said.

Among the Freedom sites still to install CTP and associated equipment are the Yuma (Ariz.) Daily Sun, the Times-News in Burlington, N.C., the Odessa (Texas) American, The Clovis (N.M.) News Journal, and the Porterville (Calif.) Recorder.