PI's 40th--We've Come A Long Way, Baby!

Prepress
Then: The print buyer supplied the mechanicals, which were shot on camera. Strippers took the resulting film and worked their magic on light tables. Finished products were printed on a letterpress.

Now: Desktop publishing has changed everything. Print buyers supply a disk—or even the film. Scanners have replaced cameras, imagesetters have replaced light tables. Computer experts knowledgeable in Quark, PageMaker, PhotoShop and other prolific programs preflight customer files and output to film. In some cases, the prepress employee can send files directly to plate or press.