Printbuyers Online

Do I really save money with digital proofs vs. film proofs?

Answered by Gorden Pritchard, Print Solutions Expert, Creo

Question:
When many of my print suppliers converted from film-based proofs to digital proofs, they all said this new way of proofing was going to save time and money. While, I do see the time savings (especially when we have last minute changes), I have not seen a reduction in cost on my print jobs. Are they just not passing the savings along to me or is there another reason that I am not seeing the savings?

Answer:
Digital proofs can save the print buyer both time and money because they allow the majority of proofing to occur client-side and earlier in the production cycle. Good color management practices ensuring that both soft and digital proofing are aligned with anticipated presswork so that those proofs are reliable indicators. This greatly reduces the number of proofs that the printer will actually provide and therefore reduces the actual final cost of the print project. Often the only proof that the printer now provides is the single, final, sign-off proof that will go to press. And because the cost of a set of proofs typically represents a very small portion of the total cost of a printed job, the price reduction of a few percent in proofing may not be visible to the buyer given the total cost of the printed job.



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