FTP remote proofing

Recall from the 1980s that only printing companies and prepress factories had color proofing equipment. In the early 1990s, customers who knew computers began to make their own productions and sent the resulting documents to the printing factory for high-end scanning and proofing.

In the mid-1990s, customers purchased drum scanners, large-capacity servers, and more mature internal output devices like 3M/Imation's Rainbow. Today, customers continue to maintain more in-house production work, which has led to changes like remote proofing.

Remote proofing first sends the documents from the printing factory to the customer via courier and outputs them on the customer's color proofing machine. Later, the printer directly exported the document to the customer's color proofer via ISDN or a high-speed T-1 line.

Today, the technology-sensitive printing and prepress manufacturers have established the Internet FTP (File Transfer Protocol File Transfer Protocol) site. These sites are often built on the Internet server of the printing factory, allowing customers who have connected to the Internet to upload their files to the FTP server of the printing plant. After the printing factory completes the prepress production, the files are copied back to the server. The customer can download the completed file from the server and output it on his own color proofing machine.

Day-night express color proofing has given way to FTP remote proofing. FTP remote proofing allows printers and customers to see the same proofs a few minutes after the document is sent out.

Paul Hanson, CEO of Hanson Graphics in Memphis City, said: “The TP site has not significantly increased costs, but it can better serve our customers and thus increase our business volume. We provide variable data, short-run, on-demand printing services to some customers. Without an FTP site, these services will not allow for cost.

FTP is changing the way printers and prepress companies provide services to customers. An output test participant received his test file via FTP within 15 minutes. This way outweighs day and night delivery methods -.