Lyon - With an industrial policy based on technical efficiency and respect for the environment, the choice of a standardization technology for thousands of PDFs, intended for offset or digital printing, was a strategic decision for printing firm Pure Impression. After testing several technologies, the company chose Alwan CMYK Optimizer. The software has had a major impact. Pure Impression has improved quality and productivity, helping it forge stronger relationships with its customers.
 
Pure Impression is a commercial printing works with a printing system that comprises three offset presses and two digital presses: a Komori 52 x 74 cm four color + acrylic varnish, a Komori eight color 72 x 104 cm, a Komori four color 72 x 104 cm + acrylic varnish, an HP Indigo 7500 digital press and an HP Indigo 5000.

The company's core business is professional publishing (magazines, periodicals, reviews, catalogs, books etc), advertising and marketing collateral (brochures, leaflets, booklets, sleeves, flyers, posters etc), institutional texts (municipal newsletters, annual reports etc), business printing (letterheads, business cards, bundles, notebooks, tickets etc), and thanks to digital printing, personalized documents and short-run jobs.
 
Pure Impression has scooped of raft of French and international awards and has twice landed a prize at the Sappi Awards for 'Best European Printer'.
 
Nicolas Dematté, CEO of Pure Impression, comments on the company's implementation of Alwan CMYK Optimizer: "We are an innovative and responsible printer, and our investments are guided by these principles. With several tens of thousands of files processed every year, it's crucial that we eliminate errors in prepress processing and on the presses. This is why our DTP department organized the tests so that we could see which solution worked best for us in terms of quality, flexibility and automation. The main technical objective set was to eliminate set-off in offset and digital, a source of non-compliance and customer complaints. Plus there are obvious economic and ecological benefits linked to the lower ink consumption. After several months of testing it was clear that the Alwan software was best able to meet our requirements. We have been using it for two years now, and our customers have been as impressed with the results as we have."
 
Project Manager Stéphane Ponant describes the evaluation process: "We began by trying color management and ink reduction solutions. However, the results were unsatisfactory and none of the tested systems could meet our stringent quality, flexibility and automation criteria. When we tested CMYK Optimizer, we were struck by its simplicity, performance and speed, and by how easily it could be integrated into our Prinergy workflow.
 
"CMYK Optimizer's dynamic technology automated the processing of customer PDFs and PDF/Xs. Its dynamic technology adapts to files, and makes them compliant with the ISO 12647-2 standard. Plus the reduction in inking allowed us to make cost savings and, more importantly, eliminated set-off issues on offset and digital presses."
 
Ponant concludes: "When Alwan heard that we wanted to go even further with the automation and integration of CMYK Optimizer in our different flows, the company immediately offered to send two engineers to help us. The engineers worked closely with our workflow specialist. Together they have ensured CMYK Optimizer is an integral element of our Prinergy workflow.
 
"The impact of the software has been huge – ISO 12647-2 conformity, ink savings, the elimination of set-off problems. We're delighted with the results, and so are our customers. Alwan did exactly what they promised – we have seen a return on investment in just a few months."