Graph Expo: Heidelberg’s Portfolio of Products Makes Digital Book Publishing Fast and Easy

Books of all types - professio- nal manuals, school textbooks, novels and more - can now be published in less than an hour, employing state-of-the-art digital printing equipment from Heidelberg.

Heidelberg enables easy integration between its digital technologies and customers' existing workflow solutions to deliver documents that contain both black-and-white and color content; documents whose initial format is digital short runs (up to 1,000) and whose main production is offset; and documents that contain variable information on the cover or inside pages.

At the Graph Expo and Converting Expo trade show, Heidelberg is demonstrating integration with two third-party solutions that complement the company's portfolio of products for digital book publishing:

• Pagewing Digital Publishing System, a Web-based software application that allows publishers to create books as master XML files that can be stored, edited and used to generate multiple output options in a timeframe dramatically improved over conventional processes. With Pagewing, more book titles can be offered and back-listed books can be brought back into print.
• The new BPRF module from CP Bourg, which perforates, rotates and folds paper, enabling the digital production of smaller-size books.

These solutions work in tandem with Heidelberg's already impressive array of equipment, dramatically reducing the cycle time for digital book publishing and helping publishers keep inventories under control and eliminate waste. "Only Heidelberg offers print providers such a wide array of leading solutions for book publishing - both in digital and offset technologies," said Wolfgang Pfizenmaier, president of Heidelberg's Digital Solution Center. "Today, we offer all of the pieces for Heidelberg to seize the enormous growth potential in the digital book publishing market."

The market for digitally produced books presents a sizeable growth opportunity for Heidelberg in black-and-white printing. Some analysts predict that the percent of books printed digitally will grow to more than 40 percent - becoming a 24 billion-dollar industry - by 2015.

Heidelberg's portfolio of book-publishing solutions includes a wide array of prepress, press and postpress solutions.

At the prepress stage, Heidelberg offers on-line publishing services such as the new Prinect Internet Portal, connecting print shops and print buyers on-line with standardized order entry and job submissions. In addition, the company employs time-saving ImageSmartTM software for enhanced workflow in digital black-and-white and digital color printing and standardi- zation in digital prepress and print job submissions. Heidelberg also utilizes the new Prinect Printready System and MetaDimensionTM System, featuring workflow tools for both digital and offset printing as well as short- and long-run printing jobs.

When it comes to digitally printing books, Heidelberg's portfolio includes the Heidelberg Digimaster 9110 System and the new Heidelberg 9150i Network Imaging System for producing black-and-white content on inside pages and also variable data; the NexPress 2100 Digital Production Color Press for short-run color and variable-data digital book printing; the Heidelberg Quickmaster DI press, which produces full-color book covers and inside pages for short- and medium-run production; as well as the Heidelberg Speedmaster press and computer-to-plate technologies for both digital and traditional offset printing needs.

For postpress solutions, Heidelberg provides a wide range of book publishing finishing options, both inline and offline, such as the online Perfect BinderTM accessory for the Digimaster printer or the BindexpertTM system, a high-quality offline perfect binding solution for low-volume applications.

(Note: Prinect, ImageSmartTM , Digimaster, Quickmaster and Speedmaster are trademarks of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. NexPress is a trademark of NexPress Solutions LLC.)

For further information:
Europe:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Corporate Communications
Matthias Hartung
Tel.: +49 (0)6221 92 50 77
Fax: +49 (0)6221 92 50 46

USA:
Heidelberg Digital Solution Center
Director, Communications
Doug Sprei
Tel.: +1 (0)585 512 8054
Fax: +1 (0)716 253 0788
E-mail: doug.sprei@heidelberg.com