Digital Presses: News
Features
CASE STUDY: The on-demand advantage
Jan 1, 2002 12:00 AM, By AP staff
Despite having to compete against a dozen printers nearby and dozens more just 20 to 30 miles away in Nashville, Copy Solutions (Brentwood, TN) boosted its annual sales by 50 percent last year. Owner John Woodbury has managed such growth by providing customers with rapid delivery of high-quality, digital print-on-demand services, and by keeping his eyes open for new opportunities. Copy Solutions primarily
Digital printing goes mainstream
Nov 1, 2001 12:00 AM, David Davis
As we've seen last year at Drupa and this September at Print 01, digital printing is entering a new era. It has steadily moved from novelty to niche, and is re-entering the mainstream printing industry. Hewlett-Packard (HP) (Palo Alto, CA), Heidelberg (Kennesaw, GA) and Xerox Corp. (Rochester, NY) had the biggest news of the show (see p. 48). Here are other key developments: Scitex Digital Printing
Digital technology marches on
Nov 1, 2001 12:00 AM, BY KATHERINE O'BRIEN Editor | kobrien@primediabusiness.com
Prior to Sept. 11, in spite of the weak economy, Print 01 was attracting good attendance, and exhibitors reported steady and serious buying activity across all product types and sizes, says Regis J. Delmontagne, president of the show's organizer, Graphic Arts Show Co. (GASC) (Reston, VA). After the terrorist attack, the thoughts of everyone [attending the show in Chicago] naturally turned to concern
tips for offset/digital success
Sep 1, 2001 12:00 AM, BY SAMANTHA OLLER Associate editor | soller@primediabusiness.com
As digital-printing technology matures and its cost points recede, printers have begun teaming their conventional offset presses with new digital presses. Their aim: to offer a unique value-added service that can also turn a profit. Transactional printing, newsletters, labels, plastic cards, retail flyers, direct mail and human-resource booklets are the more common applications that benefit from the
PRINT 01: Press trends
Aug 14, 2001 12:00 AM,
The presses exhibited at Print 01 will be well-dressed, to say the least, featuring everything from the highest levels of automation and full CIP3 workflow to automatic color monitoring and more. Being held Sept. 6-13 at McCormick Place (Chicago), Print 01 will showcase technology designed for faster makereadies, shorter runs and tighter turnaround. Attendees can expect to see a variety of hardware,
Selling a digital process
Jun 1, 2001 12:00 AM, By AP Staff
On Demand Technologies (ODT), a 100-percent digital printer, was co-founded six years ago by Tom VanGoethem, a process engineer, and Wynne Jennings, the CFO of a software company. VanGoethem and Jennings were introduced to the just-in-time advantages of digital printing when they worked together at the software company. VanGoethem says the software products' short shelf life compelled management to
CTP gets adopted
May 1, 2001 12:00 AM, MAYU MISHINA Managing editor | mmishina@intertec.com
Smaller printers continue to migrate to CTP, though vendors drop few hints about Print 01 With four months until Print 01, vendors are staying close to the vest about any CTP-related announcements they may make there. Many appear to be in a holding pattern for the time being, refining or commercially releasing the products that they announced last year at Drupa. What manufacturers will say is that
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Quality control for CTP
May 1, 2001 12:00 AM, Mayu Mishina, managing editor
Is it possible to go from a five percent plate remake rate before CTP to "barely one percent" after? Maureen Kouwe at Fetter Printing (Louisville, KY), says it is. In fact, "our remake rate went down from the first day we started doing CTP," she says. Fetters 15-person prepress department currently produces about 3,000 plates a month. The prepress manager attributes the printers CTP success to familiarity
Tapping into knowledge
Feb 1, 2001 12:00 AM, DEBBIE JOHNSON
Kimberly Becker is a big fan of the Morgan Press Printing Guide. "I have practically worn it out; I use it all the time," says Becker, of Kimberly Becker Graphic Design (Ayer, MA).The Morgan Press Printing Guide is a 44-page reference that presents a tremendous amount of valuable information for any print buyer, whether a senior art director or a small-business owner. The reference was created by
NEW PRODUCTS
Feb 1, 2001 12:00 AM, AMERICAN PRINTER STAFF
MANAGEMENT/WORKFLOW TOOL Oce Printing Systems' USA PRISMAaudit has modules that are organized around three phases of document workflow. PRISMAtools allow users to create and revise documents, while PRISMAenterprise and PRISMAaudit manage and distribute documents.PRISMAaudit links components of a document processing operation so users can track, view and reprint any document at any point. Within PRISMAaudit,
ATTRACTING INTEREST: THE STATE OF FOD
Feb 1, 2001 12:00 AM, DON PIONTEK
AS ON-DEMAND FINISHING BECOMES AN ESTABLISHED PART OF POSTPRESS OPERATIONS, DIGITAL LANGUAGE STANDARDS, HEAVY-IRON PLAYERS AND MORE EMERGE INTO THE ARENAThe last time we looked at the finishing end of the print-on-demand (POD) market, it was just after Drupa 2000. The blockbuster print show in Dusseldorf, Germany, featured digital print systems from Heidelberg, Xerox, Oce, Xeikon, Karat Digital Press,
SELLING THE WOW (NOT THE HOW)
Oct 1, 2000 12:00 AM, KATHERINE O'BRIEN
Digital printing requires educated customers, smart salespeople and creative applicationsDozens of digital presses were shown or announced at Drupa (see related stories in the July and August 2000 issues). On the dynamic side (typically used for runs from 1 to 2,000), Canon, IBM, Indigo, Scitex Digital, Xerox and Xeikon showed new or improved machines. Xerox and Heidelberg also previewed their respective
Color output solutions
Sep 1, 2000 12:00 AM, AMERICAN PRINTER STAFF
The demand for fast, economical, short-run printing is at an all-time high. Quick, commercial, and in-plant printers, as well as service bureaus, ad agencies, and others, require products that get the job done with quick turn-around time and cost saving benefits. XANTE[R] provides printing solutions that meet these demands while providing the highest quality and satisfaction. XANTE CORPORATION offers
Increase your sales with short-run, four-color process labels
Sep 1, 2000 12:00 AM, AMERICAN PRINTER STAFF
Label Art offers short-run, four-color process labels. Previously, running a small-quantity, four-color process order was simply not cost effective. In fact, one might even say it was prohibitive, but not any more. With new advances in technology and print quality, Label Art is able to produce affordable four-color process labels in quantities as small as 1,000.Label Art's inexpensive, four-color
AJ IMAGES GOES DIGITAL
Sep 1, 2000 12:00 AM, AMERICAN PRINTER STAFF
AJ Images (Roselle, NJ), a printer specializing in corporate and federal contract work, is implementing a complete digital workflow with the installation of an Agfa Sherpa 43 proofer, Agfa Galileo platesetter and six-color MAN Roland 700. Once the press is in operation, the printer plans to add MAN Roland's PECOM ServerNet software, which will link prepress data from the Galileo to the press for automatic
MANAGING A MIXED PLATFORM
Jul 1, 2000 12:00 AM, DAVID L. ZWANG
An integrated solution can provide maximum flexibility.Over the years, mixed platform management issues have both fascinated and frustrated me. Early on, I was a techno nerd. I started in the graphic arts in the 1960s and got involved with computers in the late 1970s. Initially, using a computer was an emotional, almost religious experience, but it soon became just a tool.Which platform is best for
DEMANDING FOD
Jul 1, 2000 12:00 AM, DON PIONTEK
New digital presses are driving finish-on-demand developments.Do you POD (print on-demand) or FOD? Look for these acronyms to become part of your daily language as the market for digital printing and "on-demand" finishing accelerates. Industry experts say that digital printing now accounts for 25 percent of the total print marketplace. That number is growing almost exponentially as new technologies
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY DOMINATES
Jul 1, 2000 12:00 AM, KATHERINE O'BRIEN
Drupa highlights include computer-to-plate and direct imaging presses.Drupa had it all: cheerleaders, violinists, circus performers, stilt walkers, opera singers, soccer stars, scooters and a theme song played twice daily at a soaring decibel level seldom achieved outside the deck of an aircraft carrier. While these distractions will soon be distant memories, the digital technology that dominated
UP CLOSE & PERSONAL
Jan 1, 2000 12:00 AM, Mayu Mishina
In an era of mass marketing, it's a breath of fresh air to open a mailer and find that it's personally tailored. "Imelda," it might read, "we know you like pricey shoes that cost $220 even on sale. Guess what? Your favorite department store is having a one-day sale--and those very expensive boots you've been eyeing will be marked down to only $219.99!"If you were Mrs. Marcos, you might rush off to
DIGITAL PRINTING: MEETING THE DEMAND
Apr 1, 1999 12:00 AM, AMERICAN PRINTER STAFF
When it comes to producing and distributing information in today's fast-paced global marketplace, businesses can't afford to think small. Strategy Manufacturing, Inc. of Hayward, CA has made it their business to think big as a provider of on-demand turnkey digital printing and manufacturing applications.Specializing in just-in-time printing, packaging and distribution of information for the software
