PRINT MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

“My name is Brittany and I am a Print Media Technologies (PMT) student at Hochschule der Medien – Stuttgart. I am from Southern California and my background is in business, communications, and fashion design. I decided to major in PMT because I believe it is the foundation for all business communications.

In a digital age, markets have become saturated with online advertising, but print allows a company to convey its brand with unique aesthetic qualities of font, color, images, and texture. As a Print Media Technologies student, I examine all components of printing as each plays a vital role in creating a high-quality product! One of those being pre-press. The pre-press process is the phase between the layout creation and final print product. Pre-press includes but is not limited to, color management, imposition, Computer to Plate (CPT), and proofing.

HdM’s pre-media facility offers students the latest digital technologies available to the media industry. This includes various design software packages such as Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop, as well as an industry-standard pre-press workflow software. The access to necessary software programs allows students to follow along with professors in class, receive feedback in real-time and create tangible products all within the classroom environment. As a result, I have gained valuable insight into the print workflow processes and developed a deeper understanding of the customer journey. As an aspiring business owner, understanding pre-press is imperative as within this process customer expectations are agreed upon with contract proofs. Studying at HdM has afforded me the opportunity to strengthen my skill set in this subject and others within the printing field!”

First come, first served!

“My name is Núbia, I am from Brazil and my background is in biology. I decided to major in PMT because I find it an extremely exciting area that allows me to work in different areas, with different products, applying different techniques and I am still able to use my knowledge as a biologist, for example in biochemistry, sustainability and in the search for an increasingly environmentally friendly production.”

Pre-Media is a number of processes to produce, adapt and deliver multi-channel, multi-market communications that maximise brand engagement.

It is anything that happens to a piece of artwork to take it from its original state when completed by the creator to a form that is ready for public consumption. This can range from colour correcting a photograph to post production and colour management to preparing a PDF for printing. This includes
various pre-press technologies and systems.

Because Pre-Press is a specific type of pre-media, pre-press activities are considered a pre-media process. It involves graphic communications manufacturing processes with emphasis on the variety of pre-media technologies available, and their application.

It includes design, layout, typography, fotography, retouching, computer graphic imaging (CGI), impositioning, proofing, raster image processing (RIP), computer to plate (CTP) or computer to press or web-to-print, material selection, colorimetric science, colour management and finally finger printing.

The software used in the HdM are used to create layouts and do retouching or post-production. These Pre-Press Computers also have professional programs for preparing and planning print jobs installed. Students can use these software at any time for all their projects. Apart from software, we also have different devices to measure ink, substrates and print quality.

The Equipement

Heidelberg Suprasetter

High performance for medium formats and its highly reliable embedded technology, unique in its category, the Heidelberg CtP Suprasetter A105 offers excellent quality at maximum production speed. The Suprasetter range provides great flexibility in plate handling, plate types and sizes, and punching. Another factor of productivity and flexibility, the machines are easily integrated into the Prinect production flow, with free choice of screens and ‘Plate on Demand’ technology for the direct launch of plate production from the control desk of the press.

Kodak Flexcel NX has been designed by Kodak to meet the new challenges of today’s business requirements. Flexcel NX Imagers expose the Kodak Flexcel NX Thermal Imaging Layer at an impressive speed of 9.6 m2 per hour, about half the time it takes to image a digital flexo plate with a laser ablative mask. Loading and unloading are also faster, because no taping or clamping is required.

DuPont Cyrel FAST 1000TD delivers outstanding plate quality and uniformity. This processor has the ability to produce a finished plate without solvent washout. The wide format Cyrel 1000 EC/LF for exposing and light-finishing plates is available to complement the Cyrel FAST 1000TD. As with all elements of the Cyrel  FAST system, it is environmentally friendly with no solvents to handle, store or recycle. In addition, the new design saves space and requires no expensive plateroom construction. Cyrel  FAST 1000TD allows the production of Cyrel FAST finished plates of up to 35.4 inch by 47.2 inch in less than one hour, making it the ideal just-in-time platemaking system for a market that demands quick turnaround and high quality.

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