by Milt Vine
When Xerox introduced 5090s and then the DocuTech several years ago, many commercial printers embraced the on-demand technology. Due to the relative low cost-compared to a press, anyway-some even established on-demand operations as an independent adjunct to their commercial work. Quick printers, too, picked up on the digital publishing phenomenon, adding 5090s and DocuTechs to their equipment rosters.
In many cases, those who established themselves in black-and-white, on-demand publishing have found that these operations have become their own profit centers, serving a range of industries. Manuals for the software industry, training materials for education and cookbooks for publishers are just a few of the products for which this technology is ideal.
And what do these products have in common? They're all likely candidates for tabbing.
My firm works with a number of on-demand printers for whom we regularly supply blank tabs. According to them, they prefer purchasing tabs from us rather than OEMs for many reasons: We're more familiar with their clients' tabbing needs and, so, will supply the right tabs for projects. We pre-drill the tabs to customer specifications. We package the tabs in cartons, not boxes, which is more convenient for high-volume production. Our prices are competitive. And we'll deliver on short notice.
I raise these points to suggest that printers often overlook post-press houses as a resource for tabs. Your finisher is likely to have access to a much wider range of tabs than an equipment manufacturer. However, regardless of who you choose to supply your tabs for digital publishing, here are some things to consider.
First, textured paper should be avoided, since it has a tendency to jam the machine during production. Also, if you want mylar coating on the tabs, you'll have to preprint the tabs and send them back to the finisher to apply the mylar coating, since it can't be overprinted.
Aside from these restrictions, blank tabs for digital publishing equipment can come in a range of color and stock choices. You can mix colors in a bank of tabs or have a single row of same-colored tabs. Many customers supply us with covers and multiple-up tabs on parent sheets, which we pre-trim and then diecut the tabs.
Another advantage to using finishers to supply tabs is they can pre-drill or punch the tabs for the mechanical binding you'll be using, from a basic three-hole drill configuration to plastic spiral and Wire-O punching.
Some of my customers have complained that, on occasion, when they receive tabs from OEMs, the last page in a group of tabs hasn't been fully cut. In production, the punched holes loosen and fall into the machinery, jamming the equipment and bringing production to a standstill. Finishing houses have drill equipment that can be calibrated to ensure that holes are evenly and completely drilled. My company also routinely fans the stacks of tabs to make sure all punched holes are gone before they're packaged.
Packaging of tabs raises another set of issues. Here's an example: one equipment vendor supplies tabs 250 to a box, whereas we pack them in cartons. You're printing 500 copies of a manual with a dozen tabs in each. That's 6,000 tabs your operators are going to have load into the machine. You can imagine the time and, hence, dollars saved if they can grab a large lift of tabs-we typically pack 17" groups of tabs per carton-rather than having to open and unwrap 24 smaller batches packed in boxes.
A note of caution: If your finisher does supply tabs in cartons, make sure they're packed spine-side down and bubble-wrapped, so the face of the tabs won't be damaged in shipping.
To merge your tabs into your document in the proper order, consult with your finishing house-this can be very complex. For instance, the DocuTech prints text pagesfrom the back of the document to the front. The order and position in which the tab pages are loaded into the tray affects the collating sequence. DocuTechs require tabs to be collated in single-reverse, descending (5,4,3,2,1) order. On the other hand, 5090s require double-reverse collating-two number 5s, two number 4s, two number 3s and so forth-further complicating the process. A finisher who's expert in tabbing can help you determine the right tabs and sequencing for the equipment.
I hope I've given you enough reasons to call your finisher the next time you need tabs for an on-demand, digital publishing project. Bottom line, you should be using us as a resource for more than just the obvious binding and finishing needs. We can make a difference in both your budget and your deadline. But more about that in my next column on partnering.
Milt Vine is president of Seattle Bindery, a post-production house specializing in
index tabbing in addition to providing folding, stitching, perfect binding, scoring ,
perforating and trimming services for the trade. You can reach Milt at 206/682-2558.
© 1996, Seattle Bindery. Reprinted from Northwest Trader, August 1996.