Wiring Up

Be prepared to spend as much time as needed at the company to assure yourself the software can do what you need. Take along some of your recent projects and have the company staff recreate the work while you are there.

The Costs

Because there are so many software options, the software and hardware costs of establishing a prepress system range widely. A single well-equipped Macintosh workstation with a package and label design software suite can cost $20,000. Add in the cost of peripherals such as scanners and color proofers and the cost escalates rapidly. When the system contains three or more workstations, you may want to add an image server and networking capabilities. A networked system with three workstations, a scanner, an inkjet proofer and image server can run $100,000 or more.