On Press With CTP

"Any prepress cost you want to try to factor in, this is far and away one of the best dollar for dollar values that you can look at," says John Scott.

"Our ROI was immediate from the day it was installed," observes Victor Kishter. "There are not many pieces of equipment you can say that about, but for our company, it was one of the best investments we've made. It had a great impact, economically and time-wise."

Another big benefit to Kishter's company was the small footprint of his CTP equipment. "We had a huge room with all our prepress equipment in it. When we brought that in, we were able to clear out all that prepress equipment. We did a complete conversion and we picked up a whole bunch of space," he relates. And what did he do with that space? Added mailing services in order to open up a whole new profit center.

Peter Savitt points out that his bottom line has also benefited from the adoption of CTP. "I eliminated a person. I don't buy chemistry—this is completely chemistry free. The only chemistry I need is water; I'm completely green. It's a huge benefit."

Words of Advice

Several of the interviewees had some words of advice for printers who are considering the move to CTP.

"A lot has to do with what you have in your budget to spend on the equipment. There are higher end devices that have a lot more whiz bang," says Jim Mitchell."There seems to be a lot on the market that gives you this ability these days, but you just have to shop carefully and know what you're looking for. Talk to other people who have used the equipment of the sort that you're thinking about buying. It's always a good idea to do that. Other than that, I'd just say make a decision as quick as you can and move in that direction as soon as you can because there are just so many benefits."

Victor Kishter concurs. He also spoke with others who were already using the equipment he chose. "We were able to take advantage of real world experience, rather than just going on faith in the salesperson. We knew what that piece of equipment was capable of doing and what kind of impact it could have when we bought it."

"I would tell them to definitely go for it because as soon as you set up the piece of equipment, you'll wish you had it 10 years ago" adds John Scott. "As soon as that first plate came off, by the second plate, I was thinking, 'If I'd had this five years ago, what could I have done?'"