putting it all together
Once all the individual components of the paper are prepared, the graphic designers in the pre-press department prepare it to go to print.

artist
The pre-press department looks after the production of pages, ads, advertising and editorial layouts. When advertising copy comes into the office it's passed on to a designer who uses Adobe InDesign (a professional page layout program) to turn the rough layout into a completed ad. These ads are created entirely electronically; all artwork is scanned or lifted from clip art disks, copy is typed in and the elements positioned according to the wishes of the client.

 Editorially, pages are created on screen with InDesign also. Stories are lifted from our custom editorial database and placed on the pages electronically. Ads and photos are imported onto the page so they can be sent as completed pages. All this is done automatically.


ctp
When these pages have been proof read and corrected they are processed into PDF files which are then automatically processed into our Computer To Plate system.

 The computer to plate system then organises the pages into 'signatures' so the pages will be on the correct plate. The electronic signatures are then sent directly to a platesetter which exposes the plate and feeds it directly into a processor from which a completed plate will emerge.