Peaceful co-existence is a term left over from the Cold War, but it could easily be applied to the situation developing in today's quick and small commercial print shops. According to a recent Quick Printing magazine survey, 89 percent of respondents own at least one small-format offset press. Many own more than one. At the same time, 71 percent also have a digital production monochrome copier/printer and 54 percent have a digital color production copier/printer with speeds of 50 cpm or more. In other words, digital and offset are not an "either/or" proposition.

　　The leading vendors have recognized this situation and lately have been very vocal in their support for an integrated workflow that involves both digital and offset devices. This new take on things comes after Xerox's brief foray into DI offset and Heidelberg's fling with digital presses. It didn't take long for both giants to realize they couldn't be all things to all printers and to retire to their respective corners of the market to concentrate on what they do best. Granted, digital is making significant inroads in the printing industry and there are more and more strictly digital shops. However, offset isn't going to disappear any time soon.

　　Who Owns What

　　According to the survey, 21 percent of respondents own only one small-format offset press while 27 percent own two, 24 percent own three, nine percent own four, and eight percent own more than four. AB Dick accounted for the most placements with 26 percent reporting owning one, 13 percent owning two, six percent owning three, and four percent owning four or more. Ryobi was next in popularity with 30 percent owning a single Ryobi press, nine percent owning two, and three percent owning three or more. Rounding out the top three brands was Heidelberg with 22 percent reporting having one Heidelberg press, eight percent owning two, and four percent owning three or more. Some 10 percent of respondents reported owning a single Hamada press while five percent said they have more than one.

　　Only two percent of printers reported owning a Komori or Shinohara press. So, accounting for multiple placements, 48 　　percent of printers own at least one AB Dick, 42 percent own at least one Ryobi, 34 percent own at least one Heidelberg, and 16 percent own at least one Hamada.

　　The ever-interesting "other" category turned up some surprises. There were four respondents who reported owing Multi presses and four who said they owned a Toko press. Surprisingly, three printers said they still run an old Chief. Said one, "It's still printing good." One respondent said that his shop has "ten letterpresses from 10X15" to 17X22"."

　　What Color Is It?

　　Of those printers who own at least one small-format offset press, 59 percent have a single-color press. Of those, 33 percent have only one, 16 percent have two, and nine percent have three or more. Some 79 percent have at least one two-color offset press. Of those, 33 percent have only one, 35 percent have two, and 11 percent have three or more two-color offset presses. Only 15 percent reported having a four-color, small-format offset press and only three percent of those had more than one. Some 11 percent of respondents reported having an offset press with more than four towers.

　　What Else Have You Got?

　　The survey found that 22 percent of respondents also have a larger format offset press. Only seven percent said they have a direct image (DI) offset press. Of those, 43 percent were Heidelberg, 24 percent Ryobi, and five percent KPG. In the "other" category, it was evident that there was some confusion about what constitutes a direct image offset press. Only one printer listed what is actually a DI press, an Omni-Adast.

　　Others listed offerings from HP/Indigo, Xerox, Duplo, and Xante - all of which are digital printers not DI presses. I guess the confusion is understandable since digital color printer vendors have been touting their machines as "digital presses" to make them sound more robust and sturdy. For the record, a direct image press produces a static image using four plates (CMYK) that are imaged on press.

　　In any case, 71 percent of those surveyed said that they also own a monochrome production copier/printer and 54 percent said they also have a digital color production copier/printer with speeds of 50 cpm or more.

　　One or More Colors

　　Some 35 percent of printers said that single-color offset accounts for 15 percent of sales or less while 27 percent said it accounts for between 15 and 30 percent of sales and 30 percent said it makes up between 30 and 75 percent of sales. Only eight percent said it accounts for 75 percent or more of sales.

　　As far as multi-color offset sales, 30 percent of respondents said multi-color offset brings in 15 percent or less of sales. Some 29 percent say it accounts for between 15 and 30 percent and 20 percent say it makes up between 30 and 50 percent of total sales. Thirteen percent say multi-color accounts for between 50 and 75 percent of sales and eight percent say it brings in 75 percent or more in sales.

　　What's On The Plate?

　　When it comes to plates, there obviously is a wide difference in approaches. While printers report that 75 percent or more of their offset jobs are produced using polyester plates, another 41 percent say that only 15 percent or less of jobs are produced using polyester plates. There doesn't seem to be a lot of middle ground. Only six percent say polyester us used for between 30 and 50 percent of offset jobs and only eight percent say it is used for between 50 and 75 percent of offset work.

　　The same division can be seen in metal plates. While 56 percent say they account for 15 percent or less of offset jobs, some 27 percent say the make up more than 75 percent of offset jobs. In the middle are nine percent who say metal is used for 15 to 30 percent of offset work, four percent say it is used for 30 to 50 percent, and three percent who say it is used for between 50 and 75 percent of offset jobs.

　　The conventional wisdom is that traditional film has largely been replaced by CTP in making plates. While CTP has made great inroads in our industry, film is not quite dead yet. Some 32 percent of printers make plates using traditional film, while 47 percent use CTP. Another 20 percent report using both technologies.

　　The Color of Money

　　A whopping 79 percent of those printers surveyed say that they are seeing increased demand for four-color work. Here again there is a large split in the group that does offer four-color. Some 37 percent produce it in-house on offset presses while 48 percent turn it out on a digital copier/printer. There obviously are some printers who not only produce four-color work in-house, but also broker it out since another 36 percent of those responding say they do broker out.

　　No matter how it is produced, 36 percent of printers say that short-run offset color work is very profitable. Another 50 percent say it is somewhat profitable, while 14 percent say it is not profitable.

　　Finally, we come to buying plans. While the installed base of offset equipment is huge, it isn't growing as fast as it once was. Only 17 percent of printers say they have purchased an offset press in the past year. Of those, the majority say they bought a used press. Only 20 percent say they plan to buy a press in the next 12 months, while 16 percent say they will buy one in the next 18 months. Again, more say they are looking to buy a used press than are looking for a new one.

　　As far as the inroads CTP is making, with an already significant market penetration, most printers are not looking at buying a new CTP device any time soon - probably because they already have one. However, 34 percent say they plan to purchase a new CTP device in the next year or two. Some will be upgrading existing equipment, but it's pretty safe to say that many will finally be taking the plunge for the first time.

　　When all is said and done, offset is going to have to get used to sharing the stage with digital and vice-versa. Meanwhile, as CTP prepress and press technology improves and high-end digital capabilities become more affordable, the print shop of tomorrow will continue to find applications for both technologies.