ia4@CUNIXD.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Imran Anwar) (09/10/89)
NEWSPAPER FRONT END PAGEMAKER SYSTEMS
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I am looking for information on/about companies that provide front end
page makeup systems for major newspapers.
Also any info about satellite/facsimile transmission of data to remote
printing plants etc done by major publications. What is the state of the art?
What companies make such equipment?
These days even computers like the Apple Mac can drive industrial photo-
typsetters like Linotype etc. Does that mean that a newspaper can be brought
out (published daily) using just an Apple Mac based system?
I have used Pagemaker on the mac but wonder if there is any software package
for it that allows Full Newspaper Size Page makup.
I have also seen a "color scanner of 35mm slides" from Nikon that feeds the
data thru an RS 232 to computers (like the MAC IIcx?). Does that mean that
people can now bring out color magazines using such "desktop" stuff?
Any information and suggestions on this subject would be appreciated.
I would appreciate if you would email me directly.
Thanks
Imran
ia4@cunixd.cc.columbia.edu
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------------------------------------------------------------------ianf@nada.kth.se (Ian Feldman) (09/10/89)
In article <8909100418.AA04327@cunixd.cc.columbia.edu> you write: > > NEWSPAPER FRONT END PAGEMAKER SYSTEMS >- - - - - - - - - - > >I am looking for information on/about companies that provide front end >page makeup systems for major newspapers. A *very* good source of such info can be found in what is probably the greatest bargain EVER published - the Upper&lowercase magazine put out by the ITC (International Typeeface Corporation), 2 Hammar- skjold Plaza, New York, NY 10017, tel (to the companion ITC Center, type gallery-cum-library) (212) 371-0699, subscription US$ 20/year - talk to Eloise Coleman. Apart from being a high-class rag for every type of graphic design (ie, not limited to typefaces as such, although it also serves as a vessel for the ITC typefaces promotion) it has most up-to-date column re: computer typesetting & related topics that I've seen (in every second issue or so). I'd summarize it for you here but you're just much better off by reading a stack of back issues which you'll find at the ITC Center once you get there (try the IRT). >Also any info about satellite/facsimile transmission of data to remote >printing plants etc done by major publications. What is the state of the art? >What companies make such equipment? Again, such systems are practically *old*hat*. I remember visiting a newspaper plant in Sweden during the 70-s that transmitted fully- composed pages by high-density facsimile to a sister printing plant some 500 km away. That was still in the era when the newspapers were set in hot type, ie by hand & Linotype-methods. I don't recall seeing any computer there at that time... around 1974 or so. >These days even computers like the Apple Mac can drive industrial photo- >typsetters like Linotype etc. Does that mean that a newspaper can be brought >out (published daily) using just an Apple Mac based system? There are several (*thousands* I'd guess) put out in this manner. For various (not seldom union-related reasons) they tend to be the smaller/ small-distribution ones that cannot afford manual page-making by craftsmen. The results vary from *ugly* to highly professional. >I have used Pagemaker on the mac but wonder if there is any software package >for it that allows Full Newspaper Size Page makup. The limitation is not so much in the PageMaker as in the maximum size that the Linotype 100/300 (= the common typesetting machines equipped with the RIP (Raster Imaging Processor) will print; I recall that it is slightly narrower than the "standard" tabloid size, whatever the last may be. At one point I had to image a whole-page at 90% of the actual size & then enlarge it by traditional photo methods. PageMaker 3.0 (I'm talking of the Mac version; the MS Windows' one is a kludge) is entirely capable of working with full tabloid spreads; there are also several (Apple & third party) 2-Page monitors available, in monochrome, 4 grey-levels, 16- , 256- and full color versions. You ought to remeber, hovever, that large amounts of data (and what are full-page spreads if not that) require **HUUGE** amounts of memory for internal buffers et al; also as fast hardware as possible. An ordinary MacII with a 2-page Radius monitor is *painfully* slow; I wouldn't recommend anything less than a cx (or a MacII with a 33MHz accelerator card), the maximum amount of memory - 8 or 16MB for any serious work (where time counts & human-resources are scarce). >I have also seen a "color scanner of 35mm slides" from Nikon that feeds the >data thru an RS 232 to computers (like the MAC IIcx?). Does that mean that >people can now bring out color magazines using such "desktop" stuff? Now you're talking about something entirely different - a full-color prepress facility. There are systems at around US$ 350,000 or so for that - the desktiop "stuff" may be used for _production_ of b&w (line) originals (= composition) but not for any halftone (of typographically acceptable quality) nor any color work. These are usually marked with squares for later - manual - inclusion during the reprographic (negative) preparation process. -- You just survived another load of gross exaggerations from Ian Feldman, the ASCII hacker ianf@nada.kth.se / ianf@sekth.bitnet ianf%nada.kth.se@uunet.uu.net / uunet!nada.kth.se!ianf
david_islander_hughes@cup.portal.com (09/16/89)
I have extensive experience with using Macs/Pc's in publishing newspapers, plus using modems/ file translations materials, etc to import 'foreign' datadata into page makeup programs. I I personally produce a thrice-weekly paper here on Guam using Macs/Pagema and I have also been responsible for converting newspaper ad makeup department into using Macs. There is really exciting technology available. At one paper I used Macs, CD drives (for clip art) Fax modems to receive logos and other mataerial, plus to send ad proofs to advertisers. Having been a newspaper editor and journalist for over 20 years I have been a part of every transition from Linotype to coldtype, through the years o Compugraphics Compugraphics Stranglehold on the business to the 'new era' of p hands-on production of papers by the journalists and artists themselves. The net isn't the place to talk back and forth on this subject, please send me if you have further questions. By the way, if I am also looking for an editor's position, especially on a pap to make the changeover. Hafa Adai From Guam