Gannett’s Visalia (Calif.) Times-Delta in February converted from a homegrown workflow to ProImage’s browser-based NewsWay app to consolidate a number of job functions for the production of its daily and its sister publication, the Tulare (Calif.) Advance-Register. Following the NewsWay deployment the Times-Delta commissioned two PlateRite News 2000S computer-to-plate units from Screen USA.

The Times-Delta (daily, 19,310; Saturday, 22,406) last summer became the first broadsheet to cut its web to 44 inches and should the paper decide to skinny down more in the future, the new workflow will support it, according to Operations Manager David Sutton.

“If we do another reduction, NewsWay will make it very simple,” he said.

There are currently seven staffers using the app, via the Web client.

“I can view pages and approve them from my office, from the prepress area or even from home,” Sutton said. “The great thing about it is you don’t have to be a software expert to use it.”

Teresa Disinger proofs pages for the Visalia (Calif.) Times-Delta. The Gannett daily began using NewsWay at the beginning of the year to produce its own paper and sister paper the Tulare Advance-Register.
 

Ease of use was key in the selection process, according to Dee Dee Gober, Gannett’s regional IT director for the Times-Delta and Advance-Register as well as the Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif., Salinas Californian and the Fort Collins Colordoan.

“It’s very easy to pick up and learn, it’s very Web-friendly, which is important,” she said. “We don’t want pressmen having to mess with software, and we can control who’s got access to what.”

Immediate boost

Quality improvements were immediate, Sutton said, not only for the newspaper products, but also for the numerous commercial jobs the publisher prints.

NewsWay integrates the Times-Delta’s Managing Editor ALS front end, Atex Mactive, OneVision Asura preflighting, Mediaspan NewsEditIQue, QuarkXPress, GMG ink optimization, DPS ad tracking and Adobe CS apps.

The daily placed high value on vendor support.

“I can call them anytime and they get back with me immediately and not only fix the problem, but explain to me how to fix it,” Sutton said.

David Mohrbacher, of the Saint Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press’ platemaking department, monitors NewsWay.
 

Gober looked at several vendors in the selection process for the Visalia and Tulare papers, and said it’s crucial for newspapers considering implementing workflow software and CTP to look not only at the products, but to take a close look at the vendors themselves.

Approach key

“The key thing (is to look at) their installation approach, the support they provide and their availability,” she said. “On the hardware side, make sure you’ve got a vendor that’s going to be there for awhile, that they’ve got a good product from the plate perspective and that they’re going to come through for you on all of your issues.”

Choosing the right workflow software has helped the dailies successfully migrate to CTP, Gober said.

“You’ve got to have the right solution in place to manage the workflow for you,” she said.

Gober and Sutton said the dailies are currently evaluating the potential benefit of implementing ProImage’s OnColor Eco ink app alongside NewsWay, but that a final decision hasn’t been made. ProImage said the Miami Herald and Staten Island (N.Y.) Advance have already purchased the ink optimization software (see sidebar).

Pioneer Press’ updates workflow

The Saint Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press, meantime, completed installation of NewsWay. NewsWay will integrate the publisher’s editorial and advertising systems, hard and soft proofing devices, RIPs, new Kodak CTP equipment and punch benders. What sealed the deal, according to Production Director Kevin Garris, was NewsWay’s ability to send ink presets to the Pioneer Press’ Goss International Corp. MPCS press controls.

“It has also provided us with a significant improvement in throughput speed,” he said.

NewsWay imports page plans from the publisher’s Atex Mactive  ad system and creates edition plans for various daily products. Pages are released from the paper’s editorial app, while the Atex app releases PDF pages to NewsWay. Pages are then load balanced between two Harlequin RIPs where they can be monitored through NewsWay’s browser-based interface. Bitmapped pages are analyzed, imposed, burnt with text furniture and marked for sorting by Nela equipment. Finally, pages are routed to queue for inspection and approval by plateroom staff.

Single conduit

NewsWay routes TIFF files to the Pioneer Press’ Newscolor proofing app, calculates ink values and transmits those pages to the Goss press control app for ink presetting.

Other newspapers recently deploying NewsWay include the Marin Independent in Novato, Calif., which installed the app to drive its existing Barco CTP units; the Times Union in Albany, N.Y., which will use NewsWay to automate imposition and manage production to existing filmsetters until the publisher selects a CTP vendor in conjunction with an upcoming press upgrade and expansion at its Colonie, N.Y., plant (see Newspapers & Technology, April 2008); and the Seattle Times, which will use the app to drive its existing filmsetters.