LL Printers: Cost-effective digital and traditional offset press ... - HP

Cost-effeCtive digital and traditional offset

press Color matChing maximizes produCtivity

Digital offset printing is a fast-growing service offered

by both traditional offset printers and new businesses

specializing in cost-effective, short-run document

publishing. Although most traditional offset printing

businesses already incorporate digital printing into

their press workflow, many simply exploit the relative

economic convenience and speed of inkjet printing

technology to create one-off, prepress-like proofs

instead of taking advantage of the full complement

of color and quality tools available in digital presses

today.

Enhancing integrated digital and traditional

offset workflows

L+L Printers is one of the largest commercial printers

in San Diego, conducting business from three facilities

in California. With advances in the quality and

speed of digital offset printing, L+L Printers realized

that they could exploit a combination of digital and

traditional offset printing to enhance their workflow

and expand the products and services they offered to

their customers. Although their full prepress solutions

include high-end color correction and retouching

for both offset and digital workflows, there was no

competitor specialized in the crossover between the

two technologies. This was an opportunity for L+L to

differentiate themselves in the market.

Automating color matching processes

When L+L Printers invested in their second HP Indigo

5500 Digital Press they worked with HP to implement

an easy to use and cost-effective color-matching

process across the technologies. Bob Dixon describes

the advantages near-seamless printing across printers

and technologies brings. “We have two 40” sheet-fed

offset presses, among others. HP Color Management

Services has given us the capability to instantly match

colors between our traditional and digital presses. You

can actually print a proof, or ten proofs, on the digital

press and each is a very close match to what it will look

like in production on traditional offset. We are more

productive and we get there faster. Inkjet proofs do not

give you that exact color match… or repeatability.” Bob

states.

Bob Dixon, Vice-President at L+L Printers, explains the

business scenario that made HP Indigo’s HP Color

Management Services a key factor in ensuring successful

and smooth implementation of color matching across

printing platforms. “About a year ago we acquired a

high-speed document printing business. We replaced

the pre-existing system with the HP Indigo 5500 Digital

Press and the HP SmartStream Production Pro RIP to

achieve higher quality and more reliable performance.

---

At a glance

Industry sector: Commercial Printer

Business name: L+L Printers

Number of staff: 100

Headquarters: San Diego, USA

Telephone: +1 858 278 4300

Web site: www.llprinters.com

To learn more, visit www.hp.com/go/graphicarts

© 2010 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without

notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying

such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be

liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

4AA1-2699EEW, May 2010

CHALLENGE

• Automate the color matching

processes across digital and

traditional offset printing presses

to simplify workflow and gain

precious time

• Create cost-effective, colormatching

proofs in short print

runs on digital presses before

publishing volume runs on

traditional offset presses

• Gain and offer customers

complete confidence in color

matching processes across

printing technologies

We showed customers output on the Indigo and they

were amazed with the quality,” Dixon says, adding,

“When we needed to do a color match between our

HP Indigo press and our traditional offset printers, our

experts would have to work harder… tweak the colors

and spend more time getting there. When we needed

to match colors between traditional offset and digital,

it was a non-automated process involving some trial

and error.”

The team from HP Color Management Services took a

couple of days to visit the three facilities and create the

profiles L+L Printers required to automate their color

matching workflow for their digital and offset presses.

Thanks to their in-depth knowledge of HP Indigo

presses, combined with their offset press and plate

making expertise, HP Color Management Services has

ensured that there are no loose ends in L+L Printers’

internal workflow across their press printing platforms.

Powerful printing and publishing solutions

L+L Printers focuses on delivering the highest

quality printing achievable, adopting the best

workflow and technology available to satisfy their

customer demands. Bob explains the advantages of

implementing the HP Color Management Services

automated color matching workflow. “It is not always

about getting the best colors. Customers expect colors

that match their final output on their printers. The

automated process ensures that they get that color

match and not the colors you think they should get,”

Bob declares.

An important customer in the automobile industry

recently held a dealer convention in San Diego. The

customer wanted to achieve greater engagement on

the part of its dealers and one of the strategies was to

“We have two 40” sheet-fed offset presses, among others. HP Color Management

Services has allowed us to match color between our traditional and digital offset

presses. You can actually print a proof, or ten proofs, on the digital press and each is

a very close match to what it will look like in production on traditional offset. We are

more productive and we get there faster.”

— Bob Dixon, Vice-President, L+L Printers

SOLUTIONS

• HP Color Management Services

• 2 x HP Indigo 5500 Digital Press

• HP SmartStream Production Pro RIP

• Traditional offset presses

RESULTS

• Automatic, simple-to-use color

matching process from digital

presses to traditional offset

presses

• Offer economical proofing

in unlimited numbers on

digital press as opposed to

costly proofing printers or

comparatively slower, “singlecopy”

inkjet technology

• Expand services to customers

in full confidence, reliably and

economically

involve dealers in the development of the parts catalog.

L+L Printers printed about 300 copies on their HP Indigo

5500 Digital Press. The final print run consisted of about

16 to 20 thousand copies of the 24-page catalog. The

300 proofs matched the customer’s draft, which in turn

matched the final copies printed on the traditional offset

press, except of course for the changes proposed by the

dealers. Dealers were asked to choose colors, comment

on layout and generally become involved in the design.

HP Color Management Services automated color

matching workflow ensured a seamless, cost-effective

solution to exploit the benefits and cost-savings offered

by each technology to satisfy the customer’s needs.

Bob explains an additional advantage the company

has gained from employing HP Color Management

Services. “As owners of two HP Indigo presses located

in San Diego and Carlsbad, true color matching

between the presses means a sales rep can get

approval for a proof in one location and print the job

in another, saving critical time on travel or postage for

sending proofs,” Bob claims.

Growing fast, going further

L+L Printers was voted 7th fastest growing privately

held company in San Diego in 2008 by the San Diego

Business Journal. Founded over 50 years ago, 4 years

ago the company opened a second facility in Carlsbad

in California and has recently acquired Bordeaux

Printing in San Diego. Employing over a hundred staff,

the company possesses the expertise and know-how

to excel and match customers printing and publishing

demands, combined with a readiness and vision to

harness advances in technology that make L+L Printers

stand out from the competition.

Progressive Profitable Printing