-----First, and foremost, the photoengraver (or color separator) was the Franchise Player on the lithography team who really understood color!
-----Inside every engraving organization were Journeyman color separators, process cameramen, dot-etchers, strippers, film composers, and proofing specialists. These craftsmen understood additive (RGB) color, subtractive (CMY) color, and the dynamic relationship between the two.
-----And most important, they knew how to analyze each picture’s RGB values and ranges and how to transpose each into a unique CMYK separation appropriate to the paper and press it was printed on. The engraver knew about the paper coatings, ink formulations, halftone screen behavior, and the dot-gain characteristics of various screen rulings when they were printed on various paper types. He knew all this and dozens of other interrelated issues.
-----For decades, the engraving trade was a well-oiled and precision-tuned machine that printers relied on to produce their critical pre-press materials.
-----To a photoengraver, color separations did not consist of a single conversion formula. Each paper stock’s highlight/ shadow/dot-gain recipe was taped to the wall above the drum scanner, and each scan for that printer was custom-crafted for that printer’s stock papers. This was what the photoengraving link added to the strength of the production chain. He functioned as the printer’s QC gatekeeper.
-----When the engraver delivered the separation films/plates to the printer, he knew that the separation films would print with clarity and detail simply because he had matched known dot behavior with specified paper characteristics during the separation process. Was this alchemy? No, just a thorough understanding of inks, dots, and papers.
-----So where are these engravers today? Many just faded away. Obviously, a good number of these craftsmen were snapped-up and absorbed into the pre-press departments of the top publishing and printing companies.
-----The larger printing companies saw this coming and made some smart moves to insure quality control within their companies. But there still remains a serious void of true engraving expertise in the general printing industry.
-----The real oversight was that the early software developers didn’t recognize or understand the integral part that engravers played in the printing process. They didn’t bother to ask.
-----Unwittingly, the onslaught of desktop publishing overlooked many of the individual artisans of the trade en route to the desktop publishing “revolution.” As is the case with all revolutionary movements, new rules and guidelines did away with many of the existing printing standards.
-----What we have now, in the place of a balanced compliment of professional standards is an odd assortment of general guidelines centered around desktop printing technology.
-----While at the other end of the publishing spectrum, where real ink-on-paper happens, many of these desktop printing standards simply don’t address printing issues.
-----The new generation of publishers simply need to understand the real world physics of the printing process. The opportunity now exists to link these two worlds together if we simply connect the dots between color science and basic printing physics.
