Cloud-based software certainly isn’t a new technology. In fact, the term cloud-based was first coined by Google CEO Eric Schmidt at a conference in August 2006 — and the concept itself arguably dates back much further.
No matter the exact date of inception, industries of all different types have been reaping the benefits of cloud-hosted systems for over a decade. But for some industries with a lot of moving parts, adoption has been slower. Newspapers certainly fit that criteria, with many publishers still relying on a mix of innovative technology and legacy systems.
Prepress operations is one area where newspapers have experienced the widest adoption of cloud-based systems, and reaped the greatest benefit. What used to be the domain of big-name newspapers is now seeing more small publishers as well. Pressroom controls and operations have begun to follow suit and there’s little doubt we’ll see increasing adoption of cloud-based systems in press and postpress operations in the next decade and beyond.
Denton Publications of Elizabethtown, New York, is among the smaller publishers that have moved critical prepress operations to the cloud. Denton publishes newspapers including The Sun Community News, which serves Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton and Warren counties in New York state, and The Vermont Eagle, based in Middlebury.
Besides printing approximately 71,000 copies of The Sun, Denton produces roughly 35 weeklies and a handful of monthlies and college papers. All of those jobs run through NewsWay.
Prepress integration
Denton completed installation of the hosted version of ProImage’s NewsWay and associated software in October. Alexander said the move has enabled the automation of several prepress processes, including integration with the publisher’s ink presetting software from QuickSet Corporation.
Alexander said color registration is now “next to perfect,” and that Denton is realizing significant savings on ink and paper. Next up, Denton will roll out cloud-based OnColor Eco, ProImage’s ink-optimization software.
“Being in the cloud affords us all of the latest versions of these applications,” Alexander said. “And certainly this has helped with efficiency, allowing us to do more with fewer bodies — and to take better care of the employees we have.”
The Las Vegas Review Journal has also moved its key prepress functions to the cloud, launching NewsWayX, OnColor Eco, and Intellitune earlier this year. In addition to its flagship daily — with circulation of approximately 65,000 copies daily and 85,000 on Sunday — the software is helping bolster its commercial printing offerings.
The installs followed the Review-Journal’s rollout of computer-to-plate equipment from Agfa, which went live in March.
“These apps can be accessed from anywhere and upgrading is simpler and faster in the cloud,” said Prepress Manager Julie Herron. “Maintenance is better managed, and as our IT staff has been reduced it’s nice to have the vendor sup- port we need when issues arise.”
Like Alexander, Herron cites the benefits of easy integration with other systems — specifically the publisher’s PitStop Server preflighting app and Asura production software.
All of these apps are helping the Review-Journal to court more commercial work, which it spreads out among its double-wide Goss Newsliner press and its Didde commercial press.
The workflow is integrated with both presses and the Review-Journal is producing glossy work, books and single-sheet inserts on the Didde pres. It is producing some smaller papers in Nevada and southern Utah on the Newsliner press.
