Print on demand (POD) the digital printing technology and business process in which new copies of a book (or other document) are not printed until an order has been received is now being adopted by most publishing houses for:

Maintaining availability POD services can be used to make sure that books remain available when one print run has sold out but another has not yet become available, and to maintain the availability of older titles whose future sales may not be great enough to justify a further conventional print run. This is particularly useful for publishers with large back catalogs of older works, where sales for individual titles may be low, but where cumulative sales may be significant.

Managing uncertainty Print on demand can be used to reduce risk when dealing with "surge" titles that are expected to have large sales but a short sales life (such as celebrity biographies or event tie-ins): these titles represent high profitability but also high risk owing to the danger of inadvertently printing many more copies than are necessary, and the associated costs of maintaining excess inventory or pulping. POD allows a publisher to exploit a short "sales window" with minimized risk exposure by "guessing low" - using cheaper conventional printing to produce enough copies to satisfy a more pessimistic forecast of the title's sales, and then relying on POD to make up the difference.

Niche publications Print on demand is also used to print and reprint "niche" books that may have a high retail price but limited sales opportunities, such as specialist academic works. An academic publisher may be expected to keep these specialist titles in print even though the target market is almost saturated; making further conventional print runs uneconomic.

Variable Formats Print on demand also allows for books to be printed in a variety of formats. This process, known as "Accessible Publishing", allows books to be printed in a variety of larger fonts, special formats for those with vision impairment or reading disabilities, as well as personalized fonts and formats that suit the individuals needs.

Vishal’s Print on Demand Conversion Services With over 5500 titles converted, and the ability to convert 120 titles per day, Vishal is one of the largest POD conversion services providers in the World. As is understood by the Publishing Industry, the quality of a finished Print on Demand product is defined by the quality of the digitization process, not the printing technology. Vishal’s POD services ensure that the digital scans are of the highest possible fidelity, and allow the creation of a new book that is transparent in quality to the original. Our strong association with the leading print-on-demand service providers for publishing companies, Lightning Source, a division of Ingram Book Group, a leading U.S. book wholesaler, has contributed significantly to our success.

POD Conversion Process Our Print on Demand page scanning production is carried out to the highest possible standard. All images are hand-scanned page by page to ensure that any skew in the original printed material is compensated at the scanning time. We have found this is the only approach; since casual scans or ADF scans subsequently needed software rotation; result in a change in the bitmap image dimensions and introduced rotation algorithm disturbances in the text. Our craftsman approach eliminates size and disturbance distortions.

Covers are scanned at 300dpi in 24 bit, color corrected using color matching to standard off-set printed swatches on gloss art paper, blemish removed, retouched, sharpened and resized to the standard client trim size requirement with extended bleeds. The spine is resized and adjusted in width to match the requirements of the paper thickness used in the POD printing process.

The final output is a composite PDF containing the foundation bi-tonal scan with imposed greyscale and color images, and distilled to a standard ready for printing. The cover is a separate file.

Large Font Conversion With over 2000 regular print titles converted to large font books, Vishal is a specialist in conversion of regular books to large print books for the visually impaired.

In conclusion At Vishal, we can provide a tailored, bespoke solution to your POD conversion needs. Market beating costs, the highest quality and speed of service. Vishal can help your organization capture the potential of its assets. With our experience and ethos, Vishal is well placed to be your first destination for all matters digital.