Plant Tour
Prepress
The electronic prepress department at Friesens operates 24 hours a day. Our Prepress Department in the Book Division has a staff of almost 40. Although the department is located at the far end of the plant, the actual process of book making begins in Prepress.
Today, Friesen's Prepress Department is digital only. Even film-based reprints are converted to digital files prior to platemaking using a process called copydot.
Prepress utilitzes both Macintosh and Windows PC's and can handle most versions of industry standard desktop publishing software. PDF, however, is the preferred file format for job submission and the recommended way to create them is using SmartPrep. For more info, download the SmartPrep brochure.The heart of Prepress is a workflow sytem called Prinergy. Prinergy is a single-page PDF-based workflow meaning that every job is composed of single-page PDF files that are used as a digital master. All output is based on those PDF master pages. Prinergy handles all aspects of the job including creation of PDF files, output of all the various types of proofs we use, both virtual and paper-based, and output of final plates for the press.
If a customer supplies slides, prints or transparencies, they are scanned in our scanning department. Scanning will utilize any one of three scanners; one Linotype-Hell drum scanner, one Screen flatbed scanner and one Epson flatbed scanner. The scanner used is based on the type of scan needed. All scans are colour corrected and retouched on colour calibrated Macintosh workstations using Adobe Photoshop. All of Prepress is colour managed using ICC based colour managment and a Friesens ICC profile is available on request.
Our primary proof of choice is now ink-jet based. Epson plotters using the above mentioned colour management are used to output either proofs of images or pages. We currently run two Epson plotters for colour contract proofs and one HP plotter for imposition proofing of full sections. A bound proof can also be made in either black and white or colour using one of two Ricoh laser printers. These proofs are bound with a soft cover to give a finished-book style proof and is used for content proof only.
Final output for press is done on either of two Creo platesetters. Both platesetters run thermal plates meaning that the image is burned onto the plate by lasers using heat rather than light. The Creo Trendsetter 4557 is a manually loaded platesetter. The bulk of our platemaking, however, is done on a Creo Magnus automated platesetter which is capable of running 24 hours unattended.
