Digital Finishing : Find Your (In, Off, Near) Line

This, of course, is the driving force behind how printers situate their finishing equipment with digital presses. The in-line, off-line or near-line debate is anything but a debate, but it is interesting to note the configurations and the rationale behind them, as they vary from printer to printer.

Take Bookmasters, a full-service provider to the publishing community based in Ashland, OH. Ray Sevin, president of manufacturing services and a 30-year veteran of the company, points out that his firm relies on offset and digital printing, with the average digital press run ranging between 200 and 500 copies. All runs under 1,000 are produced digitally, with offset handling quantities in excess.