For the first time in its 113-year history, full-color pages rolled off the presses at The Times-Independent this week. Staff members at The Times watched with excitement as the first sections containing four-color photographs and advertisements were printed late Tuesday afternoon.

“The transition to four-color printing is a true milestone for the newspaper,” which has served the Moab community since 1896, said publisher, Zane Taylor.

“The newest press unit is a Goss universal offset built by the same manufacturer of the original two units installed here in 1974,” Taylor said.

“Four-color printing provides new opportunities for the newspaper and for our advertisers,” Taylor said.

The unit, manufactured in the U.S., was in service in Australia doing two weekly runs of 18,000 impressions, Taylor said. It was refurbished in New Zealand and purchased by The Times earlier this year. It took several months for the unit to make its way, first by ship, then by train and truck from New Zealand to Moab.

“The price of the unit made the time right to refinance a loan we already had for the computer-to-plate system,” Taylor said. “Our hope is that the lower payment and increased revenue from color advertising will help us avoid continuing losses in difficult economic times.”

Currently, the printing press consists of three “community” units, a folder and the color unit. The third community unit, manufactured by Orient in India, was added to the two original Goss units in 2000, Taylor said.

At full capacity, The Times is now capable of printing a 12-page section with full color in front and back, or 24 pages in tabloid with color on four pages. Future upgrades are planned, Taylor said.

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