I went on the tour of the Guardian Print Centre because I was interested to see how a modern paper is produced. I did a similar thing at the FT years ago when they were using hot metal plates and wanted to see exactly how much the process had changed.
Back then it was all done manually. You’d have typesetter who was given a proof on paper and would transfer on to linotype machine. Then you’d have a compositor banging down the type itself on the stone.
Now it’s all computerised. I was amazed there was such a small crew of people. There only seemed to be about six or seven people. Because it’s all so much quicker, the team can afford to wait until the last minute if there’s a big story or if they need to put in the football results.
I was fascinated by how all the print data is etched onto a polymerised aluminium plate using laser technology. Maybe that’s not so incredible if you’re younger, but to me who can remember computers arriving, it seems pretty amazing.
The plates are manually sorted and placed onto drums – they’re bent and fitted onto the right place. Then we went into the main control room where one of the people on our tour got to press the button and start the presses.
For 10-15 minutes they were taking sample papers to check for quality. When the first come through they scan them electronically to tell how much ink is needed. The colours are quite basic on the first run as the machines warm up. It takes 10-15 minutes to get a proper depth of colour. The crew make manual adjustments on the computer.
The print run is something like a quarter of a million. There are other printing presses in Manchester and Northern Ireland. The whole run takes two to three hours and they’re usually done by 2am.They create different editions depending on the news agenda. During the EU referendum they printed five different editions, running the presses until 5am.
The print speed is phenomenal. The papers are going through at a rate of something like nine metres a second, so they print around 80,000 copies per hour.
I’m a teacher, so when I’m at work I don’t have time to read the paper. Now we get the weekend edition. I’m still getting through it by Wednesday. So we read more online in the week, which is one of the reasons why we took out a membership.
I hope people will always want newspapers, but things are changing. It’s like books – they are much more pleasant to read but Kindles are far more convenient. I think people will always want something they can physically pick up and put down at leisure, but things seem to be moving online. It don’t think it will happen overnight – it’ll be a gradual change.
All production lines are fascinating but the tour made me look more closely at the paper I read. I look at how it’s produced and I think it’s amazing. I shall appreciate it a lot more in the future.
Guardian Member Mike Scott is a physics teacher who has been working in state comprehensives in West London since the 1980s. He likes walking, reading, film, theatre, current affairs, science, DIY and working on his allotment.
This tour took place on 27 July. To find out about more upcoming events sign up to become a Guardian Member.
