Earlier this month, west London-based digital newspaper printer Stroma announced it was adding nearly 50 new titles to its production portfolio, increasing its database to an impressive 1,400 newspapers.

Stroma has been part of Océ’s Digital Newspaper Network (DNN) since 2001 and its partnership with the manufacturer and Belgian digital print business Newspaper Abroad is a sign of the not-so burgeoning movement towards digitally printed, colour newspapers.

But while a growing number of printers and manufacturers are banking on a digital future for newspapers, it is publishers that are driving the move. "In our experience, publishers have been extremely positive towards digitally printed newspapers and the possibilities that new technology can offer," says Jon Dyer, sales manager at Newsfax.

The newspaper printer announced last October it was moving into the digital printing arena after purchasing a Kodak Versamark inkjet system, a VL6200 model that went live at its Stratford facility in April.

Targeting run lengths of 50-1,000 newspapers, Newsfax prints UK and foreign titles as a complementary service to its higher-volume offering to other publishers.

Dyer says that digitally printed newspapers targeted at niche readerships will be a growth area for Newsfax and the sector as a whole.

"It is a fantastic opportunity for publishers from all over the world to print small quantities of newspapers in full colour for the London market, without prohibitive costs.

"There are still a number of publishers who send their titles to the UK by air and road. The new digital service will prevent the delays that can be experienced occasionally, such as adverse weather or strikes," he says.

While Newsfax is relatively new to the area, Stroma achieved what it called "its holy grail" when it introduced colour newspaper printing in a £1.3m spend earlier this year.

The company purchased an Océ JetStream 1000 in March and, in so doing, became the first of Océ’s DNN to move to colour printing.

The investment, which also included a Hunkeler reel-to-reel line and two Hunkeler offline finishing lines, has allowed Stroma to cater for an ever-increasing number of titles.

A bitter pill
Stroma managing director Steve Brown says publishers have found rising air freight costs a "bitter pill to swallow" and points out that digital print technology has created new opportunities. "We had a call from an agent saying that one of the Arab royal families was leaving London on their private jet after the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton and they asked if we could provide one or two titles. We printed them and they were on that plane within 20 minutes," he adds.
Mark White, manager of foreign sales at The Mirror Group, who spoke at Stroma’s live printing launch earlier this month, says that digital print technology has helped eliminate some "astronomical" costs involved with newspaper distribution.

"Not only do you have to pay air freight costs, but also handling, taxes and security. And if you only want to ship out a small number of copies, you still have to pay for a minimum quota," he says.

White says that digital print has therefore proven to be an attractive proposition, but challenges remain.

"I feel that turnaround times can still improve and costs still need to become more competitive. If that happens then I see an increasing number of publishers adopting the technology, partnering with companies overseas and reaching their audience in a more cost-effective, efficient way," he adds.

White, like Dyer, identifies a myriad of growth opportunities for digital newspaper in the near future. "It is a way for the publisher to enhance the service by offering the news from their country of origin to their readers while they are visiting London. With the forthcoming Olympics in 2012, I am sure that many international publishers will want their paper to be on sale during the games."

And while there is undoubtedly a mass of potential in the future of digitally printed newspapers, with publishers very much behind the technology, the issue of cost is still likely to stand firm.

"If these come down, then I think in six or seven years we could see an explosion. After all, we have to be as economical and reasonable as possible. It all comes down to the bottom line," concludes White.

30-SECOND BRIEFING
• Digital newspaper printer Stroma has added nearly 50 new titles to its production portfolio, increasing its database to an impressive 1,400 newspapers
• While a growing number of printers and manufacturers are banking on a digital future for newspapers, it is publishers that are driving the move
• Newspaper printer Newsfax announced last October it was moving into the digital printing arena after purchasing a Kodak Versamark inkjet system, a VL6200 model that went live at its Stratford facility in April. The company believes that digitally printed newspapers targeted at niche readerships will be a growth area for Newsfax and the sector as a whole
• Digital technology has created new opportunities for printed newspapers and could cut the high cost of distributing short runs of newspapers internationally and for specific events
• However, turnaround times and production costs are still a negative aspect of digital newspaper printing and likely to remain so for a few years yet