Testimonials

“Market Leader + Market Leader = The Perfect Duo”

The Nussbaum Media Publishing Group has a weekly circulation of more than 1.1 million copies of official gazettes and local newspapers. They are a market leader in Baden-Württemberg, a federal state in Germany. The family-owned company was founded in 1959 and employs around 580 people at twelve locations. Additionally, Nussbaum also produces various event magazines, inserts, special prints and many other print products. There is a concentrated focus on their digital transformation with digital and mobile offerings to achieve a primary business model goal.

Goal 1: Media-neutral production

Media-neutral production – cross media publishing – is particularly important in a company as large as Nussbaum Medien. The high-quality, media-neutral data for different output channels (print, online publishing…) not only saves a lot of time but above all costs. Process optimization throughout production and all departments is the magic word.

The starting position

At Nussbaum Medien, all texts and images from the layout departments of the individual branches run through FotoWare’s Color Factory image optimization software. As early as 2008, FotoWare commissioned printing expert Gerhard Bley from the Dresden-based company Imagic to optimize the use of Color Factory with the help of ICC profiles.

Sven van der Jagt, Production Manager at Nussbaum Medien stated, “It was about time we optimize our image and display data for print output. To constantly change all production parameters, i.e. paper, printing plates, inks, etc. cost us an immense amount of work and effort. With his extensive knowledge, Mr. Bley was able to thoroughly optimize our color management. Fortunately, the permanent readjustment of the CMYK settings (media profiles) in all branch offices and production-relevant locations eventually came to an end.”

The media-neutral solution

Gerhard Bley from Imagic explains the path to media-neutral production at Nussbaum, “First, the newspaper printers have to straighten out. ColorLogic’s CoPrA, has the ability to generate high-quality ICC printer and DeviceLink profiles. Thus, we were able to improve the print characteristics and profile the newspaper printers. Between the existing layout departments and the print sites, Weil der Stadt and St. Leon Rot, we were able to establish a media-neutral production with ISO Coated V2 as the CMYK exchange color space. Technically, the CMYK color space ISO Coated V2 is not really media-neutral, as it is used for coated high-quality offset printing. However, compared to the significantly smaller color gamut of newspaper – which is actually used for printing – it is very well suited as an exchange color space.”

Using ZePrA

Bley continues, “The final adjustment of print data, i.e. the conversion of data prepared by the branches as CMYK in ISO Coated V2, is then carried out using ZePrA, the top-class color server from ColorLogic using DeviceLink profiles. In addition, conversions to the respective printing conditions at the printing sites in Weil der Stadt and St. Leo Rot are finally carried out during the RIP process. Due to new papers, inks, etc., adjustments are still necessary so we use CoPrA and ColorAnt from ColorLogic.”

According to Sven van der Jagt, the advantages for Nussbaum are clear, “With the help of Mr. Bley and ColorLogic, we achieved our primary goal of a media-neutral production. The entire production process became considerably more simple and streamlined.”

The dynamically production-relevant process parameters are now only handled at one point (directly in the RIP process) by using DeviceLink profiles using ColorLogic’s solutions. The editorial contributions of the municipalities (images and PDF) and finished special prints are normalized by ZePrA and Color Factory in Enfocus Switch. In addition, we use ZeZePrA to fully automate the creation of ePapers based on the print data. Furthermore, the editorial offices use ZePrA for proofing on Xerox digital presses. The proof conversion of data is done in ZePrA with the simulation of the paper coloring used in the newspaper and the smaller color space than ISO Coated V2. This results in full automation of our processes.

Goal 2: Two sites, one print result

The second objective at Nussbaum was to achieve a perfectly balanced print result for the Weil der Stadt and St. Leon Rot production sites. Gerhard Bley from Imagic explains the implementation as follows, “Both sites require a high level of interchangeability and redundancy to achieve with two press types and each one has a different print process. Therefore, we can guarantee reliability in the event of a breakdown. Weil der Stadt has two KBA Cortina presses with waterless offset. The St. Leon Rot location has a KBA Commander CT with a water-base offset. Both sites already established media-neutral prepress and ran prints under ISO Coated V2. We printed on UPM fine 80g and UPM matte 54g and 70g. We had to bring the different printing processes under one roof in order to achieve a uniform print result. In St. Leon Rot, we performed a DeviceLink transformation from ISO Coated V2 to the customer’s color space. Then, we adjusted this in Weil der Stadt using the ZePrA color server.

Conclusion

Sven van der Jagt sums up, “The use of ColorLogic solutions was ultimately a double win for us: the entire production process became considerably simplified and streamlined. Together with Mr. Bley from Imagic, we managed to create a media-neutral production. However, just as importantly, is we now created the same printing conditions at both production sites. This results in no downtime in the event of an accident.”

Additional information on ColorLogic GmbH

About ColorLogic: As one of the world’s superior color management software providers, ColorLogic GmbH is a leader in providing technology and innovation for prepress houses, offset, gravure, packaging, digital, large-format and multicolor printers. Utilizing industry knowledge, extensive product offerings, and advanced technological capabilities, ColorLogic GmbH develops solutions for customers worldwide. ColorLogic’s products include ColorAnt, CoPrA and ZePrA, which provide an unparalleled range of color management technology with a high level of automation possibilities. For more information, please visit their website, Twitter page, or YouTube channel for product overviews and tips. Customers from Germany please contact Impressed GmbH regarding all your color management inquiries.