Top 7 Myths about Cold Web Presses

Print buyers need to get out more. Go visit your vendors at least twice a year. While you're at it, visit printers who have capabilities you're unfamiliar with. Maybe a digital printer. Maybe a printer with mailing and fulfillment services. Maybe a fine finisher. Maybe, in the heat of the summer, a cold web printer.

Which brings me to today's column: myths about the cold web. Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Hillary Librot, the president of Web Corp. in Randolph, MA. Web Corp. is a cold web printer, and Hillary had me nodding my head in agreement as she began to list some common myths that she runs up against time after time.

Here are Hillary's Top 7 Myths about the Cold Web:*

Myth #1: Cold webs are only good for light copy. Registration and heavy coverage are issues.

That's so "yesterday." Today's cold web presses are of a much higher quality and take advantage of today's technology. Ink and water balances are now more evenly regulated, and registration is tightly controlled by a computer.

Myth #2: Cold webs are just for letters.

Wake up and smell the...ink! Bind-in cards, wraps, and brochures of ALL configurations (4 pages and up) can be printed on cold webs. Using a 23" press, you can print a 23 x 22" sheet or an 8-page brochure, printed 4 colors with bleeds, in one pass. It goes directly to the folder to slit, nest, and fold or glue-bind in line to its final size. It's a neat 2-step process instead of 3: no cutting!

Myth #3: You need at least 50,000 pieces to be cost effective on a cold web.

As in all printing, you must pick the right press to do the job. Printers like Web Corp. with multiple press sizes can be competitive on all quantities.

Myth #4: Cold webs are known for uncontrollable dot gain.

Cold webs WERE known for heavy, "plugged" halftones or mottled color. Today's cold webs are built so the dot gain is virtually the same as a sheet fed press. By using the correct prepress software, color and dot gain are both controlled before plates are made.

Myth #5: Your paper selections are limited with a cold web.

Cold webs were synonymous with newsprint once upon a time. Luckily, the paper industry has recognized that direct mail does not live by 50# white offset alone. There are many paper grades and colors available in a variety of roll sizes. Purchasing the right roll size for the right job allows for the best pricing. For example, 14" rolls are perfect for 8 1/2 x 14" laser letters.

Myth #6: Cold webs have limited online operations.

Cold webs have the ability to do multiple perf configurations, horizontal, vertical, T or L perfs,* folding, slitting in-line, and batch counting. Letters can be slit in-line on press to their final size of 8 ½ x 11" and packed flat into cartons: one process, no cutting.

Myth #7: Cold webs print in low line screens, which produce a grainy halftone.

Cold webs used to use line screens as low as 85. Now we print with at least a 133 line screen and very often with a 150. We are also experimenting with 175 line screens. The higher the line screen, the finer the resolution for halftones, color photos, and screens.

That's all very cool news for a hot summer day in New England. Thank you, Hillary, for clearing the air on cold webs. You can reach her at 781-963-0315.

*Cold web presses don't have ovens or refrigeration systems (heatset webs do). The inks are dried by air. They can only print on uncoated stock.

**T perfs are used sometimes at the bottom of letters or cards so that a coupon or ID-size card can be "perfed" off for the customer to keep.L perfs are mostly seen when doing bind-in cards where the customer is going to fill out a card and return it to the sender.

© 2004 Margie Gallo Dana. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. To subscribe to Margie's Print Tips, visit www.bostonprintbuyers.com