PRINTING AND PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP QUARTERLY MBO PROGRESS REPORT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 31, 2013
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: March 1, 1990
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
PRINTING AND PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP
QUARTERLY MBO PROGRESS REPORT
OBJECTIVE STATEMENT: Identify Feasibility of Establishing
FBIS Black and White Graphic
Capabilities
(Study - PPG/S08/90)
RESPONSIBLE OFFICER:
QUARTER ENDING:
March 1990
I. ACTIVITY THIS PERIOD:
See attachment
II. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED:
III. PLANS FOR NEXT PERIOD:
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
STAT
OBJECTIVE STATEMENT: Identify Feasibility of Establishing.
FBIS B/W Graphic Capabilities.
(Study PPG/S08/90)
I. ACTIVITY THIS PERIOD:
Benchmark testing began this quarter with several objectives:
(1) Determine which of the two vendors, ECRM, manufacturer of the
Autokon 1000DE, or ImagiTex, manufacturer of the ImagiTex 1850,
will successfully scan and download prescreened halftones into the
Xyvision system. Sales representatives for each company said their
equipment has this capability.
(2) Hive each company scan the halftones we send them and have these
halftones run on the web press at P&PG.
(3) Determine which of the two vendors will allow us to load graphics
via floppy disk into our Xyvision system.
(4) Decide which vendor will be the more user friendly when new people
come on-board here at FBIS. Which scanner will allow the novice to
operate it?
Benchmark testing began with the Autokon 1000DE when
attended the GraphExpo show in Chicago on 17 October 1989. We had arrange
with ECRM,.through their Sales Representative Gene Schultz, to give Ralph a
demonstration of the Autokon 1000DE. Ralph took halftones with him to be
scanned. At the show, Ralph found another company who contended that their
equipment could fill our needs. This company is named ImagiTex. ImagiTex
(recently acquired by Dupont Company) manufactures a scanner called the
ImagiTex 1850. They were not able to give a demonstration of this equipment
due to prior commitments at the show; however, Ralph gave the halftones he
had with him to the ImagiTex Sales Representative, Leslie Staggers. Leslie
sent the halftones to the home office in Nashua, NH to have them scanned
and produce an RC copy for us.
The Autokon 1000DE demonstration was given by Vince Cooper, ECRM Regional
Sales Manager, and Gene Schultz. One of the two new features of the Autokon
1000DE is the ability to put a prescreened photo on the scanner bed in a
vertical position instead of an angled position to accommodate the built-in
screen of the Autokon 1000DE. (The position of the photo on the scanner bed
is what determines whether or not you are going to get a morie effect.) The
other new feature is the ability to output an RC copy of the halftone you
are scanning. The purpose for scanning at this point was just to see
initially what each piece of equipment would produce.
Arrangements were made with to have the ImagiTex RCs giviSTAT
to us at the show run on the web press. Tnis test was to get an idea of
what results to expect from the ImagiTex 1850.
It was not necessary to run web press tests of the ECRM Autokon 1000DE
RCs since we currently have two Autokon Model 2000s here at Reston. We are
somewhat familiar with the quality of the ECRM equipmnet from the test
results which were done in the past on the Autokon 2000.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
We were satisfied enough with the web test results that we wanted to
further explore the ImagiTex 1850 along with the ECRM 1000DE. Arrangements
were made with representatives of both companies to visit their facilities
in Tewksbury, MA and Nashua, NH respectivley on 28 & 29 November and
1 December 1989. Following is a summary of this visit:
WEDNESDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 1989
Travel Day--Depart Dulles airport at 1900 hours, arrive Logan Airport
in Boston at 2007. Arrive Marriott Hotel, Nashua, NH approximately 2230
hours.
THURSDAY, 30 NOVEMBER 1989
ImagiTex Corporation (Nashua, NH)
Attended 1000 hours appointment for a demonstration of the ImagiTex Power
Scan 1850.
Those in attendance for ImagiTex were:
Gary A. Rogers, Vice President, U.S. Sales
Leslie Staggers, District Sales Manager
Paul DePasquale, System Consultant
Eric D. Schlesinger, Eng. Mgr., Sys. & Applications
Michael A. Clesceri, Senior System Consultant,
Lee Alnes, Product Marketing Manager
The demonstration started with Paul DePasquale introducing Ralph and I
to the ImagiTex 1850. Paul went over the primary functions of the Scanner
and Power Station. Paul was given what we thought were excellent examples
of the kinds of materials we would have to have the ability to reproduce.
The copy was of poor quality for scanning purposes. The scannable copy was
Xerox copies of halftones. It was explained to us that we can scan two ways
on the ImagiTex 1850, either as Contone or Line art. The Model 1850 has a
built-in automatic densitometer. Paul elected to scan these two halftones
as Line art. He explained that for the type of work we do (copy coming from
magazines, newspapers, etc., materials that had already been screened, we
would get the best results by scanning as Line art). They were output onto
RC paper using a Linotronic 300 Imagesetter. We were impressed with the
results of the scan.
Gary Rogers explained the storage capabilities of the Power Station.
The ImagiTex Optical Archiving System uses a 5 1/4", 800 MByte optical
cartridge (400 MByte each side). This translates into about 800 (4" x 5")
photographs. Gary mentioned that in the near future he expects to see
erasable disks. Gary gave us a brief history of ImagiTex, where it is
today, and where they hope to be in the future.
A round-table discussion with all in attendance was then held. Ralph
gave a briefing of where FBIS Prepress Composition is and where he would
like to see it in the near future. He explained our support functions of
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
JPRS as well as Daily Reports. It was explained that in the near future we
would like to have the capabilities of accepting graphics (via floppy
disks) from Independent Contractors (ICs) and loading them into Xyvision.
Also, in the long-term we would like to be able to support the FBIS/TV
Center by capturing an image on the TV screen and moving it onto Xyvision.
The ImagiTex people responded positively to both of these projects. They
explained that there is currently the technology to accomplish our goals.
Ralph was given literature on a particular company that had the technology
that would allow you to capture images off the TV screen. We were supplied
with 3 floppy disks by Joe Lewis of SAIC that we wanted ImagiTex to load
into their system. The disks were TIFF and Postscript software. The
ImagiTex representatives explained that they were loading new software into
the system at this time. However, they would copy our disks and at a later
date load them onto a disk and send them to us. Also, we are going to do
some further testing of halftones, whereas we will send them the
pre-screened photos and they will scan them and put them on a optical
cartridge and then take them to Xyvision in Wakefield, MA. and load them
onto a mag tape and mail the tape to us to load into our Xyvision system.
Also, FBIS will send one graphic (halftones for each of two weeks to test
the output on the FBIS Xyvision system.
FRIDAY, 1 DECEMBER 1989
ECRM Corporation (Tewksbury, MA)
We attended a 1000 hours appointment for a demonstration of the Autokon
1000DE.
Those in attendance for ECRM were:
Paul Markham, Vice Pres., Product Marketing
Gene Schultz, District Sales Representative
Anita Clemens, Senior Applications Specialist
Both Ralph and I agreed that ECRM was a little less than professional
in their presentation. Despite Paul Markham's statement that they had
"very little" turn-over of personnel in the company, we found ourselves
dealing with two people, Gene Schultz and Anita Clemens, who had a total of
six months service with ECRM. We explained what our needs and goals were.
had (as per request by Gene Schultz) sent to Anita ClemeSTAT
in advance, some halftones to be scanned. Anita produced the halftones very
quickly, since they had already been scanned. We explained that we are
going to take these halftones back to the printing plant and test run them
on the web press. We gave Anita the same two Xerox halftones that we used
for the ImagiTex demonstration. We took note of the fact that Anita had to
make several scans, and also had to ask the assistance of a co-worker
before she produced the results to us. The Autokon 1000DE can interface
with a front-end system using a Scsi (small computer systems interface).
The Autokon 1000DE was connected to a MacII computer. ECRM did not offer to
demonstrate this to us. The primary difference between the Autokon 2000
(P&PG has two) and the Autokon 1000DE is the ability to rescreen a halftone
and output on film or RC paper. It would take a skilled person with the
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
knowledge of how to read halftone dots to scan a photo on the Autokon
1000DE.
The discussion then turned to our hopes of having ICs supplying us
with graphics via floppy disk to load into Xyvision. Anita said they have
the software to read a floppy disk into a PC. We then produced the three
disks we brought with us to read into their system. Anita first explained
that she was not computer literate. After several tries she sought the help
from someone in another office. The surprising thing to us was that no one
came to assist Anita, even though they knew she was giving a demonstration.
Anita never was able to load our floppy disks onto their PC. She then
attempted to demonstrate how to scan line art or a halftone on the Autokon
1000DE and put it on a floppy disk so we could try to load it onto our PC.
I received a call on Monday, 4 December from Gene Schultz explaining that
Anita used the wrong program and we would probably not be successful when
we try to load the graphic into our PC. We have not yet tried to load the
disk. Gene Schultz could not identify any customer(s) interfacing Xyvision
with an Autokon 1000DE when asked. Gene sought the assistance of an office
employee who said she would get a list for us. She failed to return.
Mr. Markham advised that we produce RC film output and then use the
"paste-up" procedure for stripping graphics into text. He did not feel
that total digitized graphics was the way to go.
II. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED:
ImagiTex 1850
1. After further questioning Paul DePasquale about the two ways to
scan a halftone, he admitted it would be best to scan our material
as line art for the type of work we are trying to reproduce. This
means, what you see is what you get. It would be similar to making
a Xerox copy. You would be very limited in the ability to enhance
the halftone.
2. We asked the ImagiTex representatives if they were aware of anyone
currently using their equipment that might already interface with a
Xyvision system. They said they knew of no one. They said they have
a customer in Richmond, VA that will be using their equipment with
Xyvision in the near future. During a meeting with Xyvision
representatives Ben Snieder and Peter Goldenberg in February 1990,
we asked them the same question and they said they could give us
the names of at least 10 customers interfacing with ImagiTex
equipment. They suggested one customer in particular they thought
would be very cooperative with us. Her name is Elsie Nichols. Elsie
is the composition supervisor at TVSM. TVSM produces Cable Tv
Guides. Elsie spent a year doing a study looking for equipment that
would reproduce halftones (already screened photos). TVSM purchased
the ImagiTex equipment through Autologic Inc. who acted as the OEM
(Original Equipment Manufacturer). Elsie said "biggest mistake
ever made," "we have been battling with Autologic for a year,"
"the ImagiTex is great for scanning a continuous tone photo, but
you will get a moire effect scanning a halftone."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
3. Elsie also discovered that when scanning a halftone on the ImagiTex
and down-loading into an APS6, the overall size of the halftone
would change. This is due to the differences in the dpi on the
ImagiTex and the APS6 typesetter. The dpi on the APS6 is 1016 and
the dpi on the ImagiTex is 1132.
4. We supplied ImagiTex with two floppy disks to load into their
ImagiTex 1850. They were in TIFF and Postscript format. We were
told their computers were down and could not load them. To this
day, we have not received a satisfactory answer as to why they
cannot load these disks.
5. Arrangements were made with the ImagiTex representatives to send
them halftones that were going to be used in a "live JPRS job." I
was to send Michael Clesceri, Senior System Consultant for ImagiTex
the halftones and he was to put them onto a magnetic tape and send
the tape to Xyvision in Wakefield, MA. Michael told me he has done
this "at least 50 times with Xyvision." Ellen Damaso of Xyvision
received the tape and successfully read the graphics into their
Xyvision system. Ellen added the necessary programming to the mag
tape that would allow us to load the graphics into our Xyvision
system. Upon receiving the tape, we discovered that we could not
load the tape. We contacted Xyvision, who put us in touch with
Diane DiNicola, Manager of Sales Support Operations. Diane
instructed us over the phone to no avail on how to load the mag
tape onto our Xyvision system. The bottom line is that after
numerous tries Diane discovered that we did not have the proper
software to accomplish this task. We currently have 2.03 software.
It takes 2.1 software to be able to load graphics from a magnetic
tape onto our Xyvision system.
6. It was also discovered that if the ImagiTex 1850s glass is ever
broken, the entire machine would have to be shipped to Nashua, NH
to have it calibrated. This procedure cannot be done at the
customers location.
ECRM (Autokon 1000DE)
1. ECRM representatives informed us that they currently have no one
interfacing an Autokon 1000DE with Xyvision.
2. We would need an experienced person who can read halftone dots. It
would take a considerable amount of time to teach someone the
skills of reading and adjusting the size of halftone dots. Many
people rotated from P&PG to the Reston facility are apprentices.
Apprentices are normally on a one year rotation and do not have the
skills to read halftone dot structure.
3. Need a film processor and chemicals for the processor. Currently
there is no room for a processor in Prepress Compositon at Reston.
4. Anita Clemens, Senior Applications Specialist, tried to load our
two test floppy disks into a computer using their programming. She
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
W ?
was not able to do this. No one from ECRM could explain to us why
they were unsuccessful in doing so.
5. Anita Clemens was also observed (even with her knowledge of the
Autokon 1000) scanning the pictures we gave her at least four times
to get satisfactory results.
6. Paul Markham, Vice President of Product Marketing said "paste-up
is the way to go."
7. Recently found out that ECRM will not sell a service contract
directly to a Government Agency.
CONCLUSION:
As stated previously, it was our intention to have the above named
vendors scan material supplied by us and have the results tested on the web
press in P&PG. However, due to the problems we encountered with the
ImagiTex and the Autokon 1000DE, we saw no point in continued testing of
this equipment. Both ImagiTex and ECRM recognized the problems we have
encountered and admit that they are not prepared to solve them at this
point. I-recommend that P&PG continue to keep in touch with ImagiTex and
ECRM, and to continue searching the scanner market to find a company that
might possibly be willing to work with us to solve our particular problems.
III. PLANS FOR NEXT PERIOD:
I have been reassigned to Headquarters Composition on the 3rd shift.
STAT This MBO scanner project will be given to someone
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
Office: DA/OL/P&PG (PPG/S08/90)
Objective Statement: Incorporation of FBIS Black and White Graphics
Responsible Officer:
0 ? Scheduled Activity STAT
X ? Activity Actually Completed
Activities Planned
Quarter 1
Quarter 2
Quarter 3
Quarter 4
OCT
NOV
DEC
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
1. Determine and document functional
requirements for B&W scanner, in-
cluding front end compatibility,
scanning speed and resolution
requirements.
X
0
2. Survey marketplace to determine
vendors who have a reasonable
chance of meeting requirements.
X
0
3. Prepare, run and record results of
benchmark test for those vendors
identified in market survey.
X
0
4. Prepare final report with recommend-
ation and funding requirements.
0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
?
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
Office: DDA/01./P&PG (PPG/S0/4/90)
Objective Statement: TriAntify y of Establishing FBIS B/W Graphic Capabilities
Responsible Officers X ? Actual
Activities Planned
Quarter 1
Quarter 2
Quarter 3
Quarter 4
OCT
NOV
DEC
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
,
1. Determine and document
functional reqs. for B&W
scanner, including front
end compatibility, scanning
speed and resolution reqs.
'
2. Survey marketplace to
determine vendors who have
a reasonable chance of
meeting reqs.
3. Prepare, run and record
results of benchmark test
for those vendors
identified in market survey
4. Prepare final report with
recommendations and
funding reqs.
0
0
.
0
0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
IIP IIP
PRINTING AND PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP
QUARTERLY MBO PROGRESS REPORT
OBJECTIVE STATEMENT: Identify Feasibility of Establishing
FBIS B/W Graphic Capabilities.
(Study PPG/S08/90)
RESPONSIBLE OFFICER:
QUARTER ENDING: December 1989
I. ACTIVITY THIS PERIOD:
It is the long-range plan of Production Group (JPRS)
to supply Prepress Composition with electronic data
that incorporates both text and graphics (graphics
herein after referred to as line art or halftones).
The line art and halftones will be supplied either by
floppy disk or "hard copy," which will have to be
scanned. JPRS would like to supply Prepress
Composition with pre-screened halftones clipped out
of newspapers, magazines, books, etc. for scanning.
There are several problems using our current equipment.
The Autokon 2000 has a "built-in" 45 degree angled
screen. This means that if the halftone you are going
scan is at a 45 degree angle, you are going to create a
moire effect. In order to avoid the moire effect you
would have to align both screens when scanning.
Turning the halftone to a 45 degree angle creates an
additional problem. When the halftone is down-loaded
to the Xyvision at a 45 degree angle, the graphic has
to be rotated, which is very time consuming and would
use a great deal of the Xyvj.sion systems resources.
In the preliminary study it was found that the scanner
market is very big. There appears to be many vendors
with many different models. However, most of these are
Desk Top Publishing scanners with OCR capability only,
or they can scan halftones but do not support front-end
composition systems. Thus far we have been able to
find only four manufacturers of high-resolution, flat-
bed scanners that will reproduce halftones and line
art. The four are: Fuji, DS America, ImagiTex 1850
and the ECRM/Autokon 1000. Of the four, it appears
that only ImagiTex 1850 and ECRM/Autokon 1000 will fit
JPRS needs. Fuji and DS America currently to not
interface with a front-end composition system and they
are primarily designed to scan text and continuous
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
STAT
tone photos. Both ImagiTex 1850 and Autokon 1000 offer
resolutions up to 2032 dots/inch, with 256 gray levels/
sample (8 bits/pixel) and both appear to have
reasonable scanning times for both line art and
halftones (times vary according to what is being
scanned), however there are many differences between
the two machines which have to be carefully explored.
The Autokon 1000 is a Laser Scanner, whereas the
ImagiTex 1850 is a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device)
Scanner. It should be noted that both ECRM and
Imagitex already offer a communication interface to the
Xyvision systems.
Another feature we are particularly interested in with
the ImagiTex 1850 is the Power Station 940. After
scanning a halftone it could be sent to the Power
Station 940 for manipulation. It may also enable us to
connect a PC to the Power Station and be able to accept
floppy disks containing graphics from JPRS Independent
Contractors (ICs).
To date, halftone samples taken from various
publications and of various quality have been supplied
by JPRS. While attending the GraphExpo 89 Show in
Chicago, (C/PPC) was given a
demonstration or tne Autokon 1000. ECRM scanned the
sample halftones supplied by JPRS. The responsible
officer has only made phone contact with an
ECRM/Autokon Sales Representative to date. Ralph was
unable to get a demonstration of the ImagiText scanner,
although he did supply the Sales Representative with
samples to scan. Ralph and the responsible officer met
with the ImagiTex sales rep in their Rosslyn, Va.,
office on 1 November. Both Ralph and I were impressed
with the results of the halftones they scanned. They
do not however have a machine on site. We supplied'
P&PG these halftones and asked if they could shoot them
at the end of one of their jobs and run on the Web
press. We have not seen the results of this test.
II. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED:
None.
III. PLANS FOR NEXT PERIOD:
We plan to visit ImagiTex Company in Nashua, New
Hampshire for a demonstration and benchmark test of the
ImagiTex 1850 and to discuss further with their
technicians the capabilities of their equipment. While
in this area we will also visit the ECRM Company
located in Tewksbury, Mass., for further testing of the
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
1111 IIP
Autokon 1000 and a courtesy visit to Xyvision is
planned to discuss interface capabilities of their
equipment with ImagiTex and ECRM equipment.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5
Office: DDA/OL/P&PG
Objective Statement: (PPG/S08/90) 0 ? Scheduled
Responsible Officer: Identify Feasibility of Establishing FBIS B/W Graphic CapabilitiesX--Adual STAT
Activities Planned i,
Quarter 1
Quarter 2
Quarter 3
Quarter 4
OCT
NOV
DEC
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
I
1. Determine and document
functional reqs. for B&W
scanner, including front
end compatibility, scanning
speed and resolution reqs.
X
0
2. ' Survey marketplace to
determine vendors who have
a reasonable chance of
meeting reqs.
.X
0
3. Prepare, run and record
results of benchmark test
for those vendors
identified in market survey
0
I
4. Prepare final report with
recommendations and
funding reqs.
t
0
1
1
1 .
nprlacsifiRd in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/07/31 : CIA-RDP12-00036R000100170008-5