There are several key factors to consider if a company is going to commit seriously to soft proofing. The screens used to view proofs need to have the right ISO color standards and need to be calibrated regularly. A fair amount of money should be spent on the right monitor and the right software for the client to view the proof from.

A lot of soft proofing can be done online providing that a business has a good internet connection. Doing it via the computers is also environmentally friendly as it cuts down on paper waste and CO2 emissions like when hard copy proofs are transported from one site to another. However, most people still want a hard copy to view even if only it is a final proof. Fortunately, the costs of hard proofing are coming down in price.

When buying a proofer, the first consideration is size and options like spot color. Digital proofers are now very accurate in measuring color and are used in production of high-quality items like report and accounts documents. It appears that soft and hard proofing can co-exist peacefully together with the former gradually dominating the marketplace.

Proofing is a crucial part of the production cycle, especially where the quality of print is involved because the proof must match the final sheet. Recently, customers have started to demand quicker and cheaper solutions. Printers can continue to deliver traditional hard proofs on cheaper digital machines so that customers can physically see how the printed job will look on paper, or they can go the soft proofing route so that customers can view their jobs online.

In recent years, the trend has been towards soft proofing with publishers using technology to save time and deliver files quickly. However, most customers want to see a hard copy proof but a competitive publisher should be able to provide soft and hard proofing. However, soft proofing is attractive to publishers because of the high output of pages that they produce.

BBC magazines is heading towards soft proofing and moved its pre-press in-house and assembled a team of experts and suppliers to insure an efficient soft proofing set-up. Food and beverage giant Nestle has also gone the soft proofing route with the installation of online production management software. Proof approval time has been cut drastically thanks to the ability to track progress of jobs online, view pieces of work, attach comments, and make approvals online.