inREGISTER

Apr 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Katherine O'Brien

Wednesday is InRegister^™ day

Editor's Picks features selected highlights from AMERICAN PRINTER's InRegister^™ newsletter. InRegister is published on alternating Wednesdays. For a free subscription, see www.americanprinter.com. Want to comment on something in this issue? Drop us a line at KOB@americanprinter.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

A passion for printing

Warren Werbitt, president and CEO of Pazazz (Montreal) is the star of a YouTube video that's been making the rounds. Inspired by Steve Delahoyde's film (“Regrets: Boxes”), Werbitt asked a friend to draft a similar script about being a printer.

In “Printing's Alive,” Werbitt's diatribe is peppered with bleeped-out profanities. A melancholy piano soundtrack provides a humorous counterpoint to the cussing. “No, Steve Guttenberg didn't invent the printing press!” rants Werbitt. Describing his love of ink, the printer raves, “I spread it on my toast like Nutella!”

More than 100,000 people have seen the YouTube video. People from some of the largest U.S. and Canadian printers, vendors and industry associations have shared their compliments with Werbitt and the Pazazz team.

Werbitt says the Pazazz employees had some fun promoting print in an unconventional way. “Printing's alive and we want to spread the laughter,” he says. “The message behind the video is simple. We work in an old industry with old ways. It's time we bring printing into the new age and make it fun so we can attract young and creative people.”

See “Printing's Alive” at http://youtube.com/watch?v=VpAuDrs5ocg.

Mr. Cato for President

Kodak's second-order Staccato hybrid FM screening (graphics.kodak.com/staccato) is available in multiple dot sizes. It reportedly eliminates gray-level limitations and abrupt jumps in tone, while improving color and halftone stability.

O'Neil Printing (Phoenix) has created Mr. Cato (short for “Staccato”) to promote the technology's quality benefits. Teaming with marketing firm Rule 29 (Geneva, IL), O'Neil has launched a comprehensive Mr. Cato campaign.

Salespeople are distributing clay models of the screening mascot as well as promotional kits printed with Staccato on Neenah uncoated paper. In addition to a screening primer, the promotional effort includes water bottle labels, flipbooks, memo pads, trade show banners and more.

See www.oneilprint.com/cato.

Can you take a postpress hint?

Jack Rickard's popular Helpful Hints booklet provides some great postpress pointers. For more than 108 years, Rickard Bindery (Chicago) has served publication and job-shop printers of all sizes. The bindery has more folders than you can shake a stick at, plus 12-pocket saddle stitching, attaching, loop stitching, seam, fugitive and remoistenable gluing, rotary scoring and more.

See www.rickardbindery.com.

Follow this paper trail

Often referred to as the bible of the paper, printing and publishing industries, Grade Finders' (Exton, PA) directories offer a comprehensive guide to thousands of paper grades and classifications as well as buying information. Subscriptions include a print edition as well as yearly access to online data for one year. A one-year subscription is $100; users can sign-up for a free two-month trial at www.paperbuyersonline.com.