HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-09-30, Page 28Computers propel Signal -Star into tech
This is the age of computers, and Signal -
Star Publishing Limited is getting into
computers in'a large way.
The company has hired its own com-
puter manager and. advisor, Bruce
Sinclair, who provides all the technical
knowledge to bring SSP's processes into
the computer age. -
Through Sinclair's efforts and working
with John Buchanan and Lloyd Lounsbury,
SSP is now able to accept input from most
micro computers. This offers'the option of
getting text entered on a customer's micro
computer anywhere and typesetting the
text at SSP without re -keyboarding it.
This capability to transfer the text by
telephone communication is making a
world of difference at SSP.
With SSP's seven newspaper so far-
flung, particularly in the winter months
when transportation between'offices-is so
unpredictable not to mention dangerous,
the capability to transfer text by tele-
phone directly to computers in Goderich is
absolutely ideal.
Telephone communications require a
micro computer, a modem and -a com-
munications program. With these three
elements, it is a simple matter to accept
input through the telephone from almost
any- other micro computer that is also
equipped with a modem and a communi-
cation program.
Simply speaking, the communications
program is activated in Goderich. It is set
with the required parameters to dial the
customer on the telephone. Both parties
must agree on these parameters, but once
this is accomplished, communication is as
simple as asking to receive a file. '
The customer's communication program
will do all the necessary operations to read
the file off diskette and send it over the
phone. The SSP communication program
reads the data and stores it on diskette.
The modem handles the actual translation
from computer code to telephone signals
and back again.
The entire procedure is simple and
quick, taking only a few minutes for two or
three pages of text. '
The diskette received must then be put
,through the conversion program so that it
can be converted into a format that the
PAGE 9
ological age
Jo Shrier and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ruby, at the opening of the new building.
8400 in the Goderich composing room can
use.
This procedure is just a matter of
reading one diskette, converting it
automatically and writing it in a different
format. This information can then be pass:-
ed
ass-ed through typesetting in the normal way,
as a finished product or for further editing.
One of SSP's largest typesetting
customers is the Anglican Church of
Canada whose national newspaper and
many of its diocesan papers are published
in the Goderich plant of SSP. The Anglican
Church is.using the new technology to im-
prove their publications which now can get
last-minute news across the country in
minutes. So are several other SSP
Step by -step photography
Photography plays a major role in- the
production of the modern newspaper. The
process, depends on the ability of the -
camera to make negatives of positives.
Step by step, the: p. ocess can be explain-
ed in layman's terms:
When the finished pasteup pages come
from the :composing room with all com-
ponents in place ... the ads, the stories, the
pictures, the headlines, the outlines ...
these "flats" are taken to the darkroom.
A film the size of the page "flat" is put
in the special camera that is located there.
The "flat" is photographed onto the film,
and the film is developed inside an
automatic film processor.
.At this point, the positive has become a
negative ... where the page was white, the
negative is black (opaque) so that no light
can penetrate: it; where.the:page was -
black, the negative is white ( clear) so that
light can penetrate.
Two broadsheet page negatives are
fastened together with opaque tape, and
any scratches or flaws in the negative are
painted over with an opaque substance.
When you are dealing with a tabloid
paper such `as FOCUS Newsmagazine, four
pages are fastened together.
Incidentally, there is a fairly simple but ,
strict formula to follow for putting pages
together since -it is essential to ensure that
when the paper comes off the press, it has
the pages in numerical order.
The prepared negatives now are laid on
top of a thin sheet of aluminum known as a
plate. These plates cost $2.12 each and are
not reusable. They are coated with a
special substance that will receive the -im-
age from the negative. Without that
coating, there could be no transfer of im-
age to plate.
The plate and negative go into a plate
burner. With the negative held firmly in
place on top of the plate with the aid of a
vacuum pump, the surface of the plate
burner along with the plate and the
negative are flipped upside down over a
very bright arc light. The light burns
through the clear parts of the negative
where the light is intended to penetrate,
and puts the words, the lines, the pictures,
everything, onto the plate.
The plate is then developed through a
special series of chemicals in a plate
developing machine. At this point, it is evi-
dent that exact image of the original
pasteup "flats" has been transferred to the
plate.
It is the plate that goes onto the press. It
is clamped around a cylinder and made
"ready for printing.
Brian Rumig is the company's head
darkroom technician, and is in charge of
the production of top quality negatives and
plates for all SSP publications and
customers.
customers with the communication
facilities required.
"Even though we must do some editing
and considerable diskette manipulation,
the process can be smooth and quick,"
says Bruce Sinclair.
"It saves us the considerable effort and
time delay that would have been involved
if the material were to have been typed by
the customer, mailed to us, typed again by
us into our system, and returned to the
customer by mail for error correction," he
says.
"The old process would require a
substantial time allotment and often risks
were taken in order to speed up the pro-
cess," says Sinclair.
"We now can get reliable, error free text
in minutes instead 01 days," awns
Sinclair.
Another fairly recent addition to SSP's
communication facility is a facsimile
machine - a photocopier with capabilities
to send material over the telephone.
FAX machines are catching on all over
the country, allowing for instance
reproduction of a printed message at a dis-
tant location.
d "The applications are limitless," says
Sinclair. '`It saves time and money, and
ensures that documents arrive where they
are supposed to on time, no delay."
Howard Aitken, a partner in SSP, speaks at the opening.
•