Web-to-print: Does the Second Step ignite?

(NPES International E-commerce Website, July 31, 2008) Interview with the technology consultant and prepress expert Bemd Zipper about Web-to-print and new solutions at Drupa.

drupa technology guide: Doesn't the term web-to-print sometimes get on your nerves? Bernd Zipper: To be honest, no. Obviously, web-to-print is a broad generalization of what is meant by the web-based production of printing copy, but, just as with 'digital prepress' there is often, I am afraid, a need for a kind of generally valid term hence web-to-print.

drupa technology guide: Looking at the market today - do you think it pays to begin with simple applications and then to slowly grow with web-to-print? Bernd Zipper: I believe that the days of the business card applications are over. Web-to-print above all in conjunction with a portal - is the 'digital shop front' of a media service provider and a logical extension of the Internet side of the product and service portfolio. No one can or should opt of this any longer - since this is the general way in which society is developing. Rather, I therefore advise occupying niches with clever solutions or creating large target group portals right away rather than starting small.

drupa technology guide: Which, in your view, are the five most noteworthy web-to-print solutions?
Bernd Zipper: If you were to specify which area of application, then I could name five noteworthy applications. Applications that currently impress me are mainly ones based on Adobe InDesign Server and QuarkXpress Server- especially if the GUI is stylishly and efficiently designed. Here, Adobe Flex and also AJAX currently play a major role – a clear pointer, for example, for the future of web-to-print is Buzzword from Adobe.

drupa technology guide: In your view, is it enough for there to be an e-commerce solution such as a web shop that is primarily concerned with the ordering and handling of printed matter for it to be web-to-print?
Bernd Zipper: No - definitely not. For the term web-to-print to be applicable there are always two components. On the one hand, there is the generation of print copy via an Internet application and, on the other hand, there is the commercial handling of the resulting print jobs. Simply uploading jobs, ordering and tracking them is not enough to qualify as web-to-print. On this the experts - from the BVDM to Zipcon Consulting agree.

drupa technology guide: What are the primary tasks that the various web-to-print systems are used for today? Bernd Zipper: Static, online print ordering is not web-to-print, and so I would rule that out for a start. Otherwise, I would say around 60 % of all applications relate to traditional jobbing work, some 20 % to mailings and 10 % are geared to advertising campaigns, with the remaining 10 % being covered by books-on-demand and advertizing material. Translation management is an application that spans several categories, playing a role in commercial work, mailings and campaigns.

drupa technology guide: Adobe has recently released its new Adobe AIR/Flex web utilities technology and Microsoft will follow suit this year with Silveriight 2.0. Which technology do you regard as more suitable for web-to-print? Will only one solution establish itself or are both technologies for the future?
Bernd Zipper: Both technologies have their points - although I personally see the greater potential in Adobe Flex, primarily because a large number of developers are already working with Adobe Flash Technology.

drupa technology guide: Where are the advantages of AIR/Flex and Silverlight over standard Internet technologies such as XHTML/CSS/AIAX? Bered Zipper: The faster, slicker implementation of GUI functions will certainly be realized more rapidly with Flex and Silverlight. However, one should not therefore write AJAX off. All three technologies help fast applications to be realized. Flex has its nose ahead here primarily in the area of Rich Internet Applications.

drupa technology guide: What web-to-print highlights or new developments are you expecting at Drupa? Bernd Zipper: The web-to-print portal and the integration of web-to-print applications via JDF into the print and prepress workflow is one anticipated area of development. Here, many large suppliers are now seeking to jump on to the bandwagon. Unfortunately, a lot of the traditional major players in the printing industry have slumbered through the surge in web-to-print – much to the delight of HP, Xerox and Kodak. I am looking forward to what will be on show.

drupa technology guide: Increasingly, the expectation is for software systems, regardless of their type, to be open enough to allow problem-free communication between different solutions. Can one expect JDF/JMF to cover all these requirements? Bernd Zipper: No. JDF and, within it, JMF are geared to the needs of the printing industry - and no previsions are made for links to SAP and ERP systems. Despite XML and Co. the interface problem cannot always be solved at the press of a button. Your comment, 'Increasingly, the expectation is...', picks up on an 'unfortunate' trend. Even when the software is cheap the customer often still expects the works and why also increasingly? How, pray tell, should a small software publisher - who is often in any case already snowed under with a mass of interface requests from his customers for older and often exotic systems - supposed to provide all possible interfaces in advance? One can do a lot here with the standard, XML-based transfer formats, but nobody can provide for everything in advance. Oddly enough, no one expects this from one major player.

drupa technology guide: Is there a web-to-print high flyer for you at Drupa that nobody had heard of a year ago? Bernd Zipper: Yes, several - these applications are on show in the Drupa Innovation Parc (dip) - but please forgive me if I do not name names. All I wil| say is that scarcely any of the web-to-print suppliers in the dip were present at Drupa 2004. The market is booming and a visit at Drupa will pay more dividends than ever.