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The world's largest collection of prices and pricing related support tools for the desktop professional |
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current rates for writing, editing, graphic design, DTP, prepress, multimedia and web design and development |
| HOW DO I KNOW MY PRICE IS RIGHT? |
 Set your rates using
How to Price Graphic Design & DTP Services
or Pricing Guide for Web Services
These books clearly explain how to set prices that work. (Both books also include tips on estimating, bidding and
negotiating jobs.) |
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by Robert Brenner, MSEE, MSSM ©2000 Brenner Information Group (This article is also available as a .PDF download: Pricing Color Proofs.PDF) As digital color proofing becomes even more capable and accepted by mainstream printers and prepress departments, more buyers are beginning to discover the cost advantage of digital over analog. But is the advantage real? In this article, you’ll learn the actual prices buyers face when they pick and choose the type and level of color proofing acceptable to them.
The pricing of color proofs has interested me for several years. Since we first began
to collect and track color output prices, we’ve noticed a plethora of different products being
touted as color proofs in advertisements, price lists and online websites. This article
discusses color proofing from a pricing perspective.
Here’s what I understand about color proofing. There are primarily two different types of
color proofs — analog proofs and digital proofs. Analog proofs are produced using film and
photographic techniques. Digital proofs are produced from computer files and printed on
digital machines. Analog proofs are further divided into laminate proofs and overlay proofs.
Laminate proofs are composed of laminated film sheets. They are used for accurate
evaluation of color and a good predictor of how a printed job will look coming off the press.
These proofs are often called contract proofs as they are the standard reference for what is
acceptable in color printing. Laminates include AGFA Pressmatch, Fuji ColorArt, DuPont
Chromalin, Fujifilm FujiProof, Imation Matchprint, and other Matchprint proofs. For example,
the Chromalin laminate proof is produced when a film negative is exposed onto a
UV-sensitive material that is laminated onto a white board. The exposed image is colored
with toner and then the next
CMYK film is exposed and colored until the full four-color proof
representing the final printed image is complete.
Overlay proofs are like laminate proofs in that they are made from the actual film material
that will be printed. An overlay proof is constructed from negative or positive CMYK film
registered and overlaid on a paper substrate. Overlays are not as color accurate as
laminates, but they are less expensive and faster to make. Overlay proofs include Color
Key and the Enco NAPS. Sometimes they are called progressives. One popular overlay
proof is the Color Key. This proof is comprised of four sheets of acetate with each color
dyed on its own plastic sheet and taped at one end to a white board. When the four sheets
are stacked (overlaid) and registered, the four color image is visible over the white
background of the board.
There are also the paper proofs such as blueline and Velox that
are produced using film and photographic techniques. Bluelines are made by exposing a
film onto Dylux material to produce blue images on a white background. Essentially a film
negative is stripped into position and then processed photographically to produce a printed
page of what is on the film. These monochrome proofs are used to check the integrity and
typography of a page layout. They are considered position only proofs. Bluelines are sold
by the color. In my research, I found prices for one-, two, three- and four-color bluelines.
The Velox is a high quality monochrome contact print made from a film negative. It’s most
suitable for proofing single color designs and is typically used to make camera-ready
artwork from film. The Velox is a high contrast black and white print. The name originated
from the use of Kodak Velox paper.
Then there are the digital proofs. These are divided primarily into two major categories —
continuous tone and halftone proofs. Continuous tone proofs don’t have noticeable
gradations in the color. Although produced by equal-size dots of ink, the tones change
smoothly and continuously from the darkest to the lightest. It’s like having a continuous
range of shades. Continuous tone (also called contone) proofs include DuPont Digital
Waterproof, Iris Realist , Polaroid DryJet , Fujix Pictrography, and Splash/Xerox copier/printer
proofs.
Halftone proofs are produced using a grid of dots where
different levels and colors are simulated by varying the size and position of the dots. The
resolution of halftone proofs is called its line frequency and is measured in lines per inch.
Halftone proofs include Creo Proofsettter, Fujifilm FinalProof, Kodak Approval XP, Polaroid
PolaProof, and Prestech PEARLhdp proofs. The FinalProof laminates to actual paper
stock and is being advertised as Fujifilm’s answer for contract quality proofing from a digital
machine. We also found the 3M Digital Matchprint and some other proofing devices that
promise contract or near contract color accuracy. The world of color proofing is moving
quickly into digital.
We found other digital color proofs that weren’t advertised as contone or halftone. These
include the dye sublimation proofs—DuPont PreView, Imation 3M Rainbow, Kodak XLS 8650,
Kodak DCP 9000, Screen TrueRite, and Tektronics 480 proofs. There are also thermal
wax color proofs such as Seiko ColorPoint, and Tektronics 200I proofs. The solid ink proofs
come from the Tektronics Phaser 380. And digital inkjet proofs come from the Barco
Impress, Epson Stylus Pro 5000, and Iris 3047, 4012 and 5015 printers. As you can see,
there are a LOT of proofing machines.
Now, given this somewhat confusing partitioning and allocation of color proofing, let’s look
at how the prices compare. To do this, I went to our online searchable database, Real Prices
Confidential. With over 43,000 price points now in this data warehouse, I searched for
prepress color proof prices. What I found has enabled me to make some fair conclusions
about what these prepress products really cost to the buyer.
I looked only at US prices and to compare apples with apples, I chose 11x17 as the target
output size (although some proofing systems are only capable of producing up to 8.5x11
size proofs). In some cases, I used the 12x18 size to pull a price.
Table 1 shows the range of prices for analog proofs. -------------------------------------------------------------
In general, the laminated proofs are more expensive than the overlay proofs. Remember
that Matchprints are laminated proofs and these have a long history of being the defacto
standard for accurate color print prediction.
Digital proofs encompass a wide assortment of outputs all the way from inexpensive inkjet
and laser prints to the larger and more expensive workstation proofs. Table 2 shows the
range of prices for digital proofs.
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Based on the popularity with prepress departments, the prices in our online, searchable
database show that the most often advertised proof is the dye sub, particularly the 3M
Rainbow proof. Next comes the Matchprints (both analog and digital) followed closely by
the inkjet proofs (primarily Iris proofs).
Figure 1 puts all this into graphical perspective by comparing the price ranges for digital
and analog proofs.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Figure 1. Distribution of color proof prices. (available as a PDF download: Color Proof Chart ) download it  here!
It was difficult to allocate some of the advertised proofing products to a specific category
since many service shops failed to identify the source equipment used to produce their
proof. Thus, we weren’t certain where to place “contact proofs,” “color proofs,” and “overlay
proofs” when these titles were not accompanied by descriptive explanation.
But the key here is that many proofing options are available to the buyer. Some are good
for design evaluation. Others are good for color evaluation. And the high end proofs are
good for press color prediction.
Whether you’re producing a magazine cover, a full color ad, or a large display poster, there’s
a proof that is just right for you. Ask your printer which proof they recommend for each step
in the design and production process. Each prepress shop that we contacted had several
options for proof output. Each had an initial design evaluation proof and each had a final
color accuracy proof. With the information in this article, you should be able to proceed with
confidence, knowing the approximate price to budget for any type of color proof output.
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©Copyright 2001-2009, Brenner Information Group, All rights reserved.
Last revised on April 24, 2009
