Circular Letter No. 420

March 12, 1997

TO: Printing and Publishing Officials of the Federal Government

SUBJECT: Digital Issues

The Government Printing Office (GPO) recognizes the tremendous challenges you face in finding the fastest and most economical methods to deliver information to your customers despite diminishing human and financial resources. The application of technology can effectively respond to these challenges, and we would like to assist you. The digital revolution has created amazing changes in the printing industry over the past few years. Using new technologies, the printing industry now has the ability to meet many demands that only a few years ago were impossible. There is a problem, however, in that we often place restrictions in our specifications for printing that prevent the use of these newer technologies. We frequently supply camera copy when digital copy is available, require the creation and return of negatives, and ignore many of the newer proofing methods that are available. Cost savings, better service, and improved turnaround time are often forfeited because of these possibly unnecessary restrictions. We would like to help keep you informed of some of the more important issues being generated by the printing industry's conversion to all-digital workflows.

Negative Requirements: When you request that negatives be returned or used on your work, you prevent printers from using computer-to-plate (CTP), digital presses, laser-imaging systems, or other new technologies. The steps involved in using negatives in the printing process can be expensive and time consuming when compared to the newer digital production methods. In addition, the cost to store and maintain negatives at your site can be extremely high, and on many jobs the negatives are never used again. By only requiring negatives when they are absolutely needed, you allow printers more options regarding how to meet your needs. This can result in faster delivery schedules and reduced costs. Our goal at GPO is to allow the traditional printing processes and the newer technologies to compete for your work side-by-side on the basis of cost, turnaround time, and quality. We do not want to exclude any process or method of production that might better meet your needs, assist you in fulfilling your mission, or help you save much-needed funds. If you do not need or want negatives, be careful that you do not ask for them out of habit or by merely copying an old request form. If you indicate on your Standard Form 1 that negatives are to be returned, you are telling us that you want negatives to be created and used in the production of your job. The time and effort spent in reviewing your printing requirements to determine if you really want or need negatives will provide real benefits.

Digital Deliverables: Once a decision is made that negatives are unnecessary, you must decide what, if anything, you want returned. "Digital deliverable" is the term used when the Government requests that material be returned in an electronic format. Digital deliverables may be word processing, desktop publishing, PostScript, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Portable Document Format (PDF), or other files returned on a disk, cartridge, or via telecommunication. These files contain all of the changes made prior to printing, and can be easily stored and easily updated for the next printing. They are not prone to the damage that can occur to originals and negatives when stored for long periods of time, and they take up almost no space. Making changes to a digital file is much easier and more cost effective than modifying negatives. The best digital deliverable is usually a file from the original application in which the copy was created. If your document was originally created using only WordPerfect 6.0, you would request a WordPerfect 6.0 diskette back. If it was created in PageMaker, you would request a PageMaker file back, possibly on the same medium on which it was submitted (e.g., Zip drive, Syquest cartridge, etc.). If your document is going to be published electronically, you may want PostScript or PDF files which provide an exact image of the product as it was printed. These files cannot be readily updated, but are very useful when documents are going to be published on a Web page, CD-ROM, etc. HTML files may also be useful when publishing on the Internet. Most contracts can be structured to give you back any type of file you want on any media (disk, cartridge, etc.) that you request. The experience and expertise that GPO and its printing contractors have developed in dealing with all of these different file types may prove invaluable to you in your printing, publishing, and reinvention efforts. If you have questions on the creation and use of any of these file types, please contact your GPO Account Representative who can put you in touch with one of our experts.

Digital Copy: "Digital copy" is the term used when Government-furnished material is supplied in an electronic format as opposed to traditional manuscript, camera copy, transparencies, or negatives. It may be from a word processing, graphics, or desktop publishing program and may be on a disk, cartridge, or CD-ROM, or be telecommunicated. GPO Publication 300.6 contains detailed information on how to correctly supply digital copy. The advantages to supplying digital copy are many. Each time a product is output and photographically reproduced, as it is in the printing process, there is image degradation. This degradation can be prevented by supplying the printer with the original digital files. By supplying digital copy, you are optimizing the flow of work through a printer's plant. You are enabling them to go directly to plate or press, bypassing many of the steps involved in the traditional printing process. This can translate into improved turnaround times, better quality, and reduced costs.

The depository libraries, and Government publishers in general, are rapidly moving toward requiring publications in electronic formats. When you provide digital files, it helps all parties achieve the goal of providing information to the public in an electronic format. When camera copy is supplied, the information must be re-keyed or scanned before it can be published electronically. Almost all Government information today originates in a digital format of some type. By supplying these digital originals you are providing an advantage to the printer in processing your jobs, and you are establishing the groundwork for publishing the document electronically. Give serious consideration to furnishing digital copy, and talk to your GPO Account Representative about the many ways we can assist you in making your documents available electronically.

Digital Proofs: Many of the traditional proofing methods require the creation of negatives. These include Dylux, bluelines, Matchprints, and Cromalins. Make sure you do not inadvertently require negatives by requesting proofs that can only be made from negatives (unless that is your intent). There is a whole new universe of proofing methods available to complement the new digital printing technologies. Digital proofs from laser-imaging, dye-sublimation, inkjet, or other devices may provide significant savings in both cost and time. Digital and traditional methods can often be combined on the same order with very effective results. Selecting the proper proofing method for your particular job can be complicated. There are many tradeoffs among costs, color matching, and expectations of what can be achieved on press with the various methods. Your GPO Account Representative can help you determine which type of proof best meets your needs and budget. We have found that when digital copy is supplied, the proofing process takes on even greater significance. We strongly recommend that you always request a proof when you supply digital copy.

We are presenting these issues to help keep you informed of what is happening in the printing industry and to request that you take a close look at your printing requirements as they are submitted or as they come up for renewal. Is digital copy available? Are there advantages to supplying it? Would a digital deliverable be preferable to requesting negatives? Are the requested proofing methods appropriate to the product? Have alternatives been considered? Will the document also be published or distributed electronically? By considering these questions and modifying our specifications accordingly, we hope to allow our printing contractors to have more options when they bid on Government contracts. They will then be in a better position to respond to the challenges you present to them.

We expect that the end result of these efforts will be better quality, reduced costs, improved turnaround time, and possibly even entirely new ways of meeting your needs. We would like to assist you in positioning yourself to function more effectively as our industry moves to an all-digital future. Open and continuous communication among you, the GPO, and our printing contractors is necessary to both facilitate the transition to, and allow you to realize the benefits of, this rapidly evolving digital era.

Sincerely,

ROBERT G. COX
Superintendent,
Departmental Account Representative Division

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Page #CIR420   March 21, 1997