Digital Magazine News - September/October Issue
Inked Stained and Digital Savvy
Two major printers embrace digital delivery of magazines and don't regret it.
Print and digital delivery would seem to mix about as well as oil and water. After all, one of Digital's big selling points is that it will cut print runs and costs, a concept no printer wants to encourage.
In the last 18 months, however, two major printers, Cadmus Communications and Fry Communications have embraced digital delivery of magazines and embarked on ambitious plans to offer clients a wide range of both print and digital services.
"We know that print world is changing," notes Alex Hambleton, VP of emerging solutions at Cadmus, when asked why a printer would champion a technology that might threaten their core business. The market is going to change with or without us. Why not change with our customers so that we can grow in the digital area and continue to provide a full range of services to our customers--print, digital, electronic media."
Alan D. Snyder, prepress operations manager at Fry who has been spearheading their digital initiative, adds that moving into digital was also a logical extension of existing services, which cover a wide gamut form print into web development and programming. "We are already working with so many publishers," Snyder says. "We already understand their business needs and have established lines of communications. Their trust in our ability to deliver high-quality services is a huge advantage for us."
50 Titles and Counting
About three years ago, the privately held printer began exploring digital delivery options even though none of their print clients were producing digital editions. After exploring the possibility of creating their own software and looking at the products being offered by the major vendors, Fry eventually inked a deal with Olive Software so that they would provide Olive's software and services to their customers.
"We didn't want a proprietary reader and we wanted a product that would be flexible both in terms of the technology and in terms of the business relationship they were willing to establish," Snyder says. "We felt Olive was the best available."
Since then, thing have moved quickly. While digital is still a small component of Fry's overall business, Fry is currently producing digital editions for about 50 publications each month, a work load that averages about 4,000 pages, making it one of the leading providers of digital delivery services.
More work is on the way. "There is definitely greater interest in the market place," Snyder notes. "We're launching new titles at a greater pace now then we were a year ago."