Book on demand at drupa 2004 versus ´PDF in Book Out´ at drupa 2016

Book on Demand was the central theme at drupa 2004. With promises of superfast delivery times and monetisation of content by unlimited reprints manufacturers of digital print systems scored many orders. A phletora of print technologies was used to help publishers get rid of their cellars full of unsellable books. Inkjet. liquid toners, and toner print technology were able to print on various paper types, against lower costs and higher speeds. Hand in hand with these print developments went the software developments to manage the book on demand systems. Networking, another trend at drupa 2004, made sure that the first application of web2print saw the light and workflow systems form order to despatch of books could be automated. The results of these developments can be seen at drupa 2016 where Muller Martini´s ´PDF in Book Out´ shows how far we have come with Book on Demand.

A book is more than just a cover
The production of a cover is one of the challenges for Book on Demand. Use of colour, choice of material and print quality make or break book sales. If the inside of the book is printed on a different material or if monochrome is sufficient the cover needs extra attention. The finishing of the cover is also critical, especially with hard covers with a fabric binding. At drupa 2004 the solution most used was preprinted covers. This was a problem for books with smaller volumes. This problem will be solved by various manufacturers at drupa 2016. It will be interesting to see what the most efficient and economic solution is. Because the right solution will make the ever rising number of small volume books profitable. This growth is mainly due to the ease with which everyone with a computer and an internet connection can make a book. Services for self publishing authors such as Blurb and Amazon are also growing. They take away the work that is usually done by traditional publishers, from editing to marketing and distribution. Which proves that a book is more than just a cover.

PDF will save Book on Demand
The role of the portable document format is ambivalent. Whilst PDF facilitates the digital distribution of, often illegal, copies it at the same time saves the Book on Demand process. Because without a good PDF of the millions of available book titles it would be impossible to get a good Good on Demand process going. Making a PDF which can easily be transformed into a book is not easy. Unavailable fonts or unprintable images prevent good quality. The magic word is ´flight check´; checking the PDF for any technical problems before print. Pioneers such as Markzware, Enfocus and Callas have found a solution. Profiles made and provide by print companies allow writers and publishers to make the perfect PDF. A PDF which can be proofed and checked by the workflow of a Book on Demand system.