Implementing a solid proofing solution can mean big savings for newspapers, both in consumables and headaches.

Consider the (Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which trimmed its consumables bill by a third when it traded in its old proofing machine for a new iProofer from iSys-The Imaging Systems Group Inc. in April 2006.

 

The Democrat-Gazette (daily, 182,789; Sunday, 276,436) previously used an Océ machine that printed full-size proofs on the butt-ends of newsprint rolls.

“We were in the market for (another) full-size proofer, which few papers use anymore,” said Stacy Hawkins, deputy managing editor for production at the daily. “We’d kind of spoiled our copy desk and they really liked seeing stuff full size rather than reducing it to A3 or 11-by-17-inches.”

Photo: Stephen B. Thornton, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Stacy Hawkins, deputy managing editor for the (Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat-Gazette compares a proof from the iSys proofer to the front page of the daily.
 

Hawkins said his newspaper first saw iSys and the iProofer at Nexpo 2005 in Chicago.

The iProofer, which the daily uses to proof its news copy, prints in black-and-white using thermal printing, which eliminates the use of a drum and toner.

Souped-up machine

“It’s basically a souped-up fax machine,” Hawkins said.

The Democrat-Gazette’s switch to the iProofer required the daily to begin purchasing paper to print proofs since the previous proofer used newsprint. The paper goes through about 10 rolls every six weeks, but Hawkins said the $4,000 per year it now spends on paper still comes in under the mark of what it was spending on consumables with the old proofer.

The Democrat-Gazette prints 100 proofs per day on average, Hawkins said, and despite some initial problems with the first machine the paper received, Hawkins said iSys immediately sent a replacement proofer.

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“We plugged it in and we haven’t touched it since,” he said. “It just runs flawlessly.”

Because proofs are printed on a bright white paper rather than newsprint, Hawkins said they are easier to read. The speed of the proofer has also been key for the daily.

“You punch a button and before you walk to the proofer 25 feet away you’ve got a proof coming out.”

The Chicago Tribune employs two iProofers that it began using two years ago, primarily to proof ads.

“It allows us to look at a complete page with the display ad and the type,” said Alex Rosario, client systems analyst for the Tribune.

The Tribune (daily, 566,827; Sunday, 940,620) chose the iProofers to replace a legacy Monotype proofer following an extensive search.

“The biggest benefit is that you can see what a front page or advertising page is going to look like before you send it to press and it’s not that expensive to run,” Rosario said.

The proofers have been reliable for the Tribune, which Rosario said prints 65 to 70 proofs between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. each day.

“Within seconds of receiving the image, the proofers are already starting to print.”