Truprint Media, Margate, has announced details of an upgrade to its pre-press department with new software and hardware provided by Prepress UK, the pre-press specialists based in Brighton. The upgrade follows previous enhancements installed by the same supplier back in 2014.

That investment has served the business well, but this summer their studio equipment was starting to show its age with problems on their graphic design Macs, with an early version of Enfocus PitStop Server for pre-flighting, and a nearly full NAS storage system.

After a remote pre-press audit Prepress UK were able to recommend moving their Adobe Creative Suite applications to new custom built, high-specification PC’s along with a new file and pre-flighting server, with double the RAID storage, running the latest Enfocus PitStop Server 2020.

During a review of their processes by Andrew Aldridge, Technical Manager of Prepress UK, unnecessary steps were identified and eliminated providing an additional boost to productivity.

Truprint Media Managing Director Anthony Underwood, commenting on the new solution, said: “We are delighted to be working with Andrew and Nic at Prepress UK again. It’s vital to the smooth running of our business to have our systems audited by professionals, who are then also able to update our pre-press equipment to the very latest technology.”

Commenting on the work undertaken, Andrew Aldridge said: “While the printing industry has long had a love affair with Apple computer equipment, there’s no doubt that since all the required applications are available for Windows 10 you can achieve greater performance, and so greater longevity from your investment, for less with a Windows platform.

“With regards custom building all our PC platforms, it's been Prepress UK’s policy for many years now that saving a few pounds on PC hardware is a false economy. You invest tens of thousands in CtP or hundreds of thousands in printing presses, why would you connect those devices with a £500 off-the-shelf PC with cheap components? For a few pounds more we buy high-end branded components and build platforms specifically tailored for our industry, with built in RAID drives, the latest PCIe solid-state system disks, fast RAM, tenth generation Intel Core processors, all combined with a 12 month on-site warranty at no additional cost, along with an additional 12 months parts only and, in the case of hard disks, a minimum of three, and usually five, year warranty.

“We've provided similar upgrades to a number of other customers around the country this summer. I would strongly urge printers to conduct their own systems audit. How old are the various components, and are there any elements of the system causing a bottleneck? We are happy helping people recover from a disaster, but wouldn’t it be better for your business if we could be helping you to avoid one?”

Commenting on the system improvements Anthony Underwood added: “With a highly competitive marketplace, speed improvements and reliability of a pre-press system are essential! With the new system productivity has been greatly increased. It gives me peace of mind knowing that our pre-press is fully up to date, faster and with plenty of storage, with a secure back-up in place to keep clients artwork accessible for as long as is needed.”

About Truprint Media

The business was established back in 1982 as Truprint Litho. Rebranded as Truprint Media, this highly experienced team of printers and graphic designers provides a total design to delivery print service for customers in Kent and beyond. The business has a great reputation and is well known for its friendly service; swift, creative ideas; speedy quotations incorporating affordable pricing; quality printing; and fast delivery.

Work focus incorporates the typical range of commercial printing, including full colour stationery, leaflets, brochures, newsletters, point-of-sale print, calendars, directories, folders and so much more. The company prints via conventional offset litho for medium to long runs and digitally for short runs, and offers an extensive range of specialist finishing, utilising state-of-the-art file to print technology and both on-line and hard copy proofing. The company is run by a team of directors: Managing Director Anthony Underwood and Works Director Martin Gibson The company employs a total of 24 employees across pre-press, printing, and post-press.

About Prepress UK

Prepress UK is an independent developer and supplier of printing hardware and software. The company is able to provide significant experience and a professional and reliable approach to solving print production problems. Based in Brighton, UK, the company provides specialised software solutions backed by an unparalleled personal service from initial enquiry through to post-sales support. Prepress UK develops and supplies cost-effective device-independent prepress workflows; CIP3 pre-press and press integration systems; JDF press reporting systems, as well as colour management expertise.