On-demand publishing can be either a business to business or business to consumer operation. Business to business may be the traditional approach of publishing but where the content is created and edited and produced online using the Internet. Business to consumer is where the business works directly with the final consumer in the creation, editing or production of the product. Examples of this can be photobooks, greeting cards, self-publishing of books, posters and many other items. A term that is often used for these processes is “web to print,” however this term is also used to cover online business processes of ordering, monitoring and paying for print production.
The key aspects of on-demand publishing are the elimination of stored inventory, the potential for personalization of the product, short or very short runs, including run lengths of one, and in most cases the use of digital printing. Another key aspect of on demand publishing, particularly in the business to consumer space is payment is made by credit card before any production takes place. The use of digital printing is not always the case and on-demand publishing can be used with very automated offset presses.
Two good examples of this are Vistaprint, one of the world’s fastest growing and most successful printing companies, and Flyeralarm, a German web to print company. Both these companies work only with web to print for ordering predominantly business stationery products, but where printing is on multiple large KBA and Heidelberg presses. In both of these cases the benefits are achieved by using special software to “gang” multiple different print jobs on the same sheet.
The following however are a few of the types of application we are finding in on demand publishing.
Photobooks – This is probably the fastest growing digital printing application. This is taking images that are taken in digital cameras or mobile phones and laying out these pictures in a personalized photo album. To do this one uses a special photobook layout program loaded down over the Internet. One then selects the pictures one wants to use and lays these out including scaling, rotation and cropping of them and adding any text.
When all the pages are laid out the finished book is uploaded over the Internet to the photobook producer. The price per book is quoted and payment is made with ones credit card. The book or books are then produced using digital printing and posted back to you. Most photobooks are produced on HP Indigo presses but nowadays more and more books are being produced on Xerox iGen4 and Kodak Nexpress presses as well.
Books – Digital printing of books has been done now for many years where publishers are using this technology for reprints or very short runs of books. On demand publishing has opened up a new area of book publishing and this is self-publishing. This is where an author can produce the book without needing a publisher.
There are a number of organisations that provide an online publishing platform that allows content to be laid out comprising text and images and the generation of chapters, indexes, tables of contents, etc. When the book is completed a price per book is calculated for production of the book using digital printing, and payment is again made by credit card and the book is produced and delivered.
On demand publishing is also used by professional publishers to allow for books that have not actually been printed or are out of print to be ordered online by a bookseller and for the book, in a quantity that can be as low as one copy, to be printed and delivered.
Personalized newspapers – Another example of on demand publishing is being seen with an organisation in the UK called Newspaper Club. This allows a range of content that can be taken from the Internet, from blogs and from other forms of content and laid out into newspaper pages. This is being used for events like concerts, weddings, schools sports etc. When the pages are all prepared they are then sent for printing. If the volume is more than 5,000 copies then the pages would be printed conventionally on a newspaper offset press. For short runs the newspaper would be printed on a continuous feed inkjet press.
On demand publishing opens up a range of new publishing applications by passing the conventional publishers and using the Internet and digital printing to generate new and often highly profitable products. It provides new opportunities for digital printers and online publishing organisations to generate new and profitable business.
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