Pairing the right products can easily give you "fill-in-the-blanks" automation. The correct team of automation software can have you up and running right after install and have you on your way to a very fast return on investment. One set of products that provides a large set of customizable tools right out of the box is Enfocus SWITCH 10 with the Callas PDFToolbox 5 plug-ins. Although together both products have hundreds of features and ways to customize automated workflows, the fill-in-the-blanks automation that is available is what will get you hooked right away.
For many printers, perfect binding is now a key component of their business. If you have a perfect-bound job to complete, or are looking at purchasing a perfect-bind machine, you should understand the basics.
If you want to increase your sales and grow your business you need to develop the ability and skill to ask for a variety of things.
Whether an event has 50, 500 or 5000 attendees, its success ultimately relies on the planner's ability to view the event both through a telescope and through a microscope. They must be able to see the big picture and at the same time focus on the most minute details. In addition, they must be able to harness the use of their right-brain creativity, often working with a "beer budget" to put on a "champagne" event, as well as their left-brain analytical skills, to ensure the event is "in the black" at the end of the day.
There are bright spots in the print industry despite sales woes of traditional offset printing. The large-format inkjet business is unquestionably one of the bright spots, and a great business opportunity for commercial printers, repro houses, quick printers and graphic arts firms. The profit margin can be excellent if you produce good work, develop your customer account base, and deliver the goods reliably.
There is more to paper than meets the average eye. For something that is so common, it can have a great affect on how colour is perceived on printed products. Paper has many forms and attributes and can influence how consumers respond to your printing services. It could be considered your modern canvas for print.
When it comes to networking opportunities, trade shows provide one of the best venues. Here is the one place where everyone in your industry congregates for a few short days and is focused on one thing – business.
This issue begins a new feature profiling printers of distinction; those unique individuals who quietly go about their business, day in and day out, and continue to thrive in these tough economic times. They are our industry's unheralded role models. We salute them!
This month's Product Profile is all about bindery and finishing equipment; more specifically, short-run book binding equipment. In the uncertainty of today's publishing environment, trending shows that fewer books are being printed on the first run, and in many cases, fewer books are being printed overall. In light of this, many publishers are opting for printing on digital equipment, as opposed to traditional offset equipment. Additionally, the quality of digitally printed books continues to rise and a greater number of printers are offering digital book printing services. According to Xerox, 80 percent of digitally printed books have print runs of less than 500 copies and 25 percent are less than 100 copies. Digital books have an average page extent of approximately 300 pages and therefore usually require perfect binding.
The 2011 version of GRAPH EXPO, the printing industry's annual showcase for the Americas, is set for Sunday, September 11 to Wednesday, September 14 at Chicago's world-class McCormick Place. Trust me – you'll need more than the entire four days to visit the over 450 exhibitors and special feature areas, and take in some of the more than 34 co-located conferences, user groups and special events – not to mention the over 50 seminars covering just about every conceivable aspect of printing and graphic arts. Those "in the know" will come one day earlier, on September 10, to attend the always-popular EXECUTIVE OUTLOOK conference where the 2011 MUST SEE'em technologies and products – the best of the "Best in Show"— will first be revealed.
Well, it's back to work – though I suspect most people reading this have never stopped working! Hopefully however, you have had some well-deserved R&R over the summer. September signals one of the biggest events in our industry – Graph Expo. The 2011 version of the printing industry's annual showcase for the Americas is set for Sept. 11 – 14 at Chicago's McCormick Place. We'll be there visiting the more than 450 exhibitors, feature areas, conferences, special events and seminars. Please stop by and visit our booth. And don't miss our preview of selected exhibitors starting on page 17. I wish we could include everyone, but you can still visit www.graphexpo.com for more information. Enjoy the show!