The CoreXalance Team was recently privileged enough to take a tour of Caxton & CTP Publishers and Printers. Mr Riaan Kruger, who was our tour guide, took us from the Pre-Press area to the Press Room and then finally to the Mail Room.
It was so interesting to see how printing has changed over the years, and yet how some things have still stayed the same. The amount of work that goes into to printing just one newspaper is astounding (and to think we get morning newspapers and evening newspapers, when this is in fact a 24 hour hive of activity).
The Pre-Press area is where the plates (templates/negatives) for the newspapers are made and a test print is done. This area even has special lighting due the light sensitivity of the whole process.
The Press Room is where the plates are put onto huge rollers. The rollers roll the plates through the ink; the four colours are ‘collected’ individually and then only does the printing start. The most fascinating part was when Mr Kruger explained how water is used in between the template for the white bits on the newspaper. Water is also used to separate the colours and this all happens at an amazing speed.
As we walked from one area to the next it was like being inside a mechanical alien, with a twisted metal spine moving from one end to another.
From there we moved onto the Mail Room. We watched, in fascination, as the newspapers were printed and how as one roll of paper was finished, and in mid-motion, a new roll was pasted onto the old roll and printing continued without any delay.
Newspapers were cut, folded, inserts inserted (and there are two types! Pre-inserts and fixed inserts), packed, stacked and wrapped in plastic (plastic wraps colour coded of course). It is at this stage that any old paper gets recycled to make things like egg cartons.
We learned about the good, the bad and the ugly side of newspaper printing; how technology has changed the industry and how certain trades seize to exist. However, it is still clear that the industry is busy, news is ever changing and newspapers do still need to be printed. The whole process, from journalist to delivery, is an epic journey and I for one have a new found respect for newspapers.
Thank you to Mr Riaan Kruger for your time and the wonderful stories. And thank you to Betsie Els at The Citizen for organising this tour for us.
Written By; Rosanne Areington
