(Weymouth, MA) December 06, 2004… Despite a growing percentage of jobs that enter the print shop in entirely digital form, the reality is that many still arrive as hard copies. If the job is to be printed digitally, the only way to accommodate these situations is to scan the hard copies to electronic files and perform makeready on the job, which may involve activities ranging from page clean-up to combining pages into a document. These necessary steps continue to come under scrutiny as print service providers look for ways to reduce set-up time, improve quality, and increase productivity within their production environments.

To help print service providers in their quest for finding the best software available to do the job, InfoTrends/CAP Ventures has released a new white paper entitled Production Workflow Solutions Product Compendium: Scan and Makeready.

The Compendium provides a high-level, in-depth description of scan and makeready software focusing on the features and considerations that are of greatest importance to print providers and the print production workflow. Also included is a brief description of the products within each category, a discussion of how the various products are positioned in relation to each other, and vendor profiles.

Companies profiled in the Compendium include:

• Advance Hi-Tech, Inc.
• Alto Imaging Technologies, Inc.
• EFI
• IBM Printing Systems
• KN
• Kodak NexPress
• Océ
• SOFHA GmbH
• Xerox Corporation

The Scan and Makeready Compendium is available immediately to clients of InfoTrends/CAP Ventures’ European and North American Production Workflow Solutions Consulting Services. To learn more about the Compendium or to make a purchase, please contact Alison Hipp at (781) 616-2100, ext. 126 or via e-mail at alison_hipp@infotrends.com.

InfoTrends/CAP Ventures is the leading worldwide market research and strategic consulting firm for the digital imaging and document solutions industry. We provide research, analysis, forecasts, and advice to help clients understand market trends, identify opportunities, and develop strategies to grow their businesses. Additional information about InfoTrends/CAP Ventures is available on the Web at www.infotrendsresearch.com.