This may be the last time...

With drupa finished for another four years, and the lazy—or at least slightly lazier—days of summer beckoning, it’s my pleasure to introduce our July/August double issue, which is full of some post-drupa reading which will benefit both attendees and those who didn’t manage to get across the pond.

I know it’s always tempting to just press on in the summers, but slowing down can mean a chance to reflect and refocus for the fall. Two articles in particular should help with that reflection, as both take a big picture look (though with lots of practical applications, too) at current industry trends and events.

First up, John Zarwan gives us his own personal “highlight tour” of his drupa favourites and things to look out for—if you didn’t get there, it’s the next best thing, and if you did, it’s worth comparing your own notes to his.

Secondly, summer is also the season for weddings, and Tony Curcio complements John’s piece with a look at one of the most-talked-about marriages of the summer (at least in the printing world...)—I’m speaking, of course, of the marriage of digital and offset technologies. It’s something we’ve been talking a lot about here at Graphic Arts, and we’re delighted to bring you yet another informative look at how you can be a matchmaker between these two seemingly antagonistic mates.

For more specifically focused pieces relating to Tony’s topic, check out John Anderson’s “Dig Deep”, on the importance of good information to variable data printing. As he reminds us, the days of consumers being impressed with merely their names and addresses personalizing their admail are long gone. Without good information, your investment in VDP technologies will not maximize your ROI.

Peter Dulis also digs deeper with his review of Canon’s “Insight Report: Digital Printing Directions”, released in conjunction with drupa. He describes a technology that some thought was “only good for quick and dirty printing”, but which is now a market leader in many segments. I’ll leave it to you to read the article and find out what type of print he’s referring to.

Finally, I must inform all of you that this will be my final issue in the Associate Editor’s chair at Graphic Arts Magazine, as I am relocating in the fall. I hope to pop back in from time to time with some articles, and I can’t wait to see what new heights the magazine will achieve under my successor.

So kick back on the patio or in the pressroom with your summer libation of choice and enjoy this issue until our September edition lands in your mailbox, with more of the breaking news and insightful commentary that you’ve come to expect.

All the best!

It all comes back to flour sacks

After reading Jeanette Clinkunbroomer’s article on lean manufacturing, which starts on page 24, it occurred to me that perhaps the problem with waste in printing—and in so many other areas—isn’t that we waste. Instead, the problem is that we’ve forgotten (or never knew) exactly what waste is.

Which brings me to flour sacks.

My grandmother’s mother died when my grandmother was still a young girl, and she and her siblings often had to figure out for themselves many of the things that their mother would have taught them, had she still been around. I know it was a hard way to grow up, but something in their childhood produced five of the most resourceful people I’ve ever met.

When my grandmother wasn’t much over twelve, if that, her younger sister needed a new dress. Fathers can be clueless about womanly arts in the best of times, and raising five children without a wife does not qualify as the best of times. So my grandmother took what she had—namely, two flour sacks, one in red gingham and one in blue—and made a red dress with blue collar and sleeves for her sister. She couldn’t wait to show her father how thrifty she had been, and I’m sure he was proud—and sure my great aunt looked simply stunning in her new outfit. To her, those flour sacks weren’t waste, they were raw materials for something new.

I know many of you have heard similar stories about your forebears, but they are not only endearing tales. The principle exemplified by my grandmother—that we control how much we waste, that waste is not inevitable—can spur you and your colleagues and employees on to greater productivity and efficiency. Jeanette Clinkunbroomer has further wise words on waste: “waste is not necessarily what is thrown out, but what is not thrown out. It’s all the time, space, activity, and even excess inventory that doesn’t support the bottom line.”

So start looking around and trying to figure out what you waste, what you throw out—either actively or passively—and figure out how it can be repurposed. Think about how the resources—time, money, raw materials—that you aren’t using to their fullest could be used better within your organization or how they could be freed up for others to use. Find out where the flour sacks are, and start turning them into beautiful dresses.

The sun is shining, the scilla, tulips, and daffodils are adding a much-needed touch of cyan, magenta, and yellow to the landscape, and spring is everywhere you look. It’s a season of change and renewal—what better time than now for a change and renewal of our cover?

“It doesn’t look that different,” you might be saying. “The logo’s the same...the fonts look more or less as they did last month...” But have you looked at the cover of your boss’s issue? How about the guys’ in sales? Or the issue that gets delivered to the pressroom?

You’ve probably guessed it by now—it’s our second variable cover! I won’t say it was a breeze (particularly since I’m not the one doing all the variable work) but the second one is certainly a lot more relaxing than the first one. It’s an appropriate cover for this month’s issue, because several of our articles focus on what you can do to personalize your sales pitch to each of your customers. A personalized pitch is a win for both parties—you become irreplaceable to your customer, and the products you’re printing for them in turn generate greater returns for their business.

Mailing and fulfillment were one of the earliest areas to see personalized printing—but we’ve come a long way from a simple unique address label affixed to each of thousands of identical letters or parcels. Jeanette Clinkunbroomer profiles two successful mailing and fulfillment houses and gives us hard data from the Canadian Marketing Association. She also talks about the potential affects of the Do Not Call registry that is scheduled for national implementation in September of this year.

More directly applicable to variable print is another valuable review from Peter Dulis, who tackles the emerging market of high speed digital colour web presses. Peter profiles the HP Inkjet Web Press, Océ’s JetStream 2200, the Xeikon 6000, and Xerox’s 490/980 and describes their target markets. These target markets overlap somewhat but don’t seem to be directly competitive—it will certainly be interesting to watch this market develop, and Peter’s piece is a must-read for anyone looking to invest in this (still unproven, in many ways) technology.

Finally, just to vary things up a little, I’d like to draw your attention to Leo Thibault’s tension-filled piece on lithographic dampening, which appears on page 32. Leo gives a great overview that will inform those unfamiliar with the nuts and bolts of litho and will remind the old hands among our readers of some important tips.

Happy Spring!

“We have to listen to our customers, to understand...it is you who are using the press.”

So said Paul Pirkle, MAN Roland’s Vice President of Commercial Web Sales, as he discussed their new Euroman press at an event in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The Euroman has just had its North American premiere—the first installation is at Hi-Liter/Inland Graphics in Burlington, Wisconsin—and MAN Roland, together with Hi-Liter, MEGTEC, and QuadTech, hosted an event to celebrate and to educate press and purchasers about the Euroman and its features. Representatives from MEGTEC—showcasing their dryer—and QuadTech—showcasing their colour and registration-checking devices—were also on hand for the demonstration and festivities.

The Euroman was a press designed—as Pirkle’s comment indicates—with extensive feedback from customers about what they want from their web presses. Customers were expressing the need for a press that would accomodate shorter run lengths, limited space for expansion (especially as compared to 8-unit presses), and flexibility (in order to run a wide variety of projects on a single press). They also wanted simple operation, gains in makeready time, and an economically competitive product. As MAN Roland North America CEO Vince Lapinski said, and others echoed, too many printers were not using the full capacity of faster-running presses, such as the Lithoman, and were thus not getting the maximum competitive advantage from their press purchase.

The Euroman engineers took cues from the Roland Uniset, and also brought in elements from the Rotoman and Lithoman. The Euroman is about 20% cheaper than the Lithoman, according to Lapinski, and run speeds are correspondingly reduced, though the Euroman still clocks a respectible 35,000 rph. Georg Riescher, MAN Roland Worldwide Executive Vice President for Newspaper Production Systems, was also on hand for the festivities, and he emphasized the comprehensive packages and options—everything from Energy Reduction to Maintenance Plus to the Make Ready Package. Each package was described in detail by Euroman Project Manager Oliver Bleisch—check out http://www.manroland.com/PROD/prod1_01_04.htm for more details.

Coincidentally (or so they tell me), the word of the day was “flexibility”. Lapinski and Riescher spoke of being flexible to meet customer demands, and Hi-Liter’s Tom Sikora and Craig C. Faust repeatedly emphasized the gains in format flexibility that HiLiter made with the Euroman purchase. After they had made the purchase, but before the installation, Hi-Liter was already selling jobs for the Euroman, so they were able to run it at full capacity from the moment the installation was completed. The Euroman has also been an agent for growth for Hi-Liter—a company that has gone from 86 employees and $15 million in sales in 2004 to over $37 million in sales and 230+ employees currently.

Through judicious aquisitions on the part of CEO Faust, Hi-Liter has grown from its roots as a printer of coldset web-produced directories to a full-service web, sheetfed, and digital operation, with mailing and fulfillment capabilities in-house. The Euroman’s flexibility enabled VP Sales & Marketing Sikora to sell complete coverage to each of their clients. If they were already doing a directory, he could now suggest that they also do flyers and digests. The Euroman regularly runs formats from slim-jims to digests to catalogs, just to name a few. Sikora repeatedly dubbed himself “production’s worst nightmare”, because of his constant demands for new products and innovations, but if the scene at the factory in Burlington was any indication, production was more than up for the challenge. The pressmen I talked to spoke of under-six-minute plate changes and startup times under ten minutes—it was clear that they enjoyed working with the press.

The Euroman’s position in the middle—both in terms of run length and web size—of MAN Roland’s offerings makes it an excellent choice for the medium-sized printer looking for the ability to diversify offerings without having to purchase several different pieces of equipment. When coupled with offerings from MEGTEC and QuadTech, as well as the comprehensive packages available for those wishing to customize further, the Euroman could very well be the Everyman of the printing world.

Graphics Canada (November 8-10 at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ontario) brought together Canada’s heavy hitters in print and graphic design, as well as many new or smaller niche players just wanting to see what was going on in the industry. It was a great year for designers, as the Design City area held booths just for them, and nearly everyone else could also find at least one or two vendors in the four exhibition halls who were showing something of interest.

It was hard not to feel a sense of deja vu at this year’s show, as Graphics Canada was a mere two months after the Graph Expo show in Chicago, and most of the “new” products at Graphics Canada had already received their North American premiere. Some new/old highlights included Heidelberg’s Anicolor technology (featured in last month’s issue), HP’s Indigo 5500, and the MAN Roland HiPrint and Direct Drive 700-series presses. The Robert E. Thistle booth also featured some c.p. bourg machines that made their appearance at Graph Expo.

Strange, too, was the near-absence of “big iron” at the show—Heidelberg of course had the Anicolor and the Speedmaster set up and running in the “Heidelberg Hall”, and MAN Roland at least had information about the HiPrint and DirectDrive, but some of the other major players in the traditional offset market didn’t even have a booth. Front and centre at this year’s show, instead, were digital presses. HP, Kodak, and Fuji dominated the front hall, and Canon and Xerox made their presence known in Hall 3. Many smaller digital-focused companies were also on hand—particularly equipment resellers, many of whom offered excellent show-only deals to those looking to buy.

Both the big manufacturers and the smaller resellers sold many digital presses before, during, and after the show—staff members from Brantford’s Ball Media are pictured in the following pages with their new iGen. Pinnacle Litho, of Stoney Creek, Ontario, also made a big purchase at the show, snagging an HP Indigo 5500 for their shop. Presses weren’t the only thing generating leads or sales, of course—PDS Pressdown had lots of interest in their new Horizon BQ150 Book Binder, according to PDS’s Ken Warrington.

Another digital hit were homegrown favourites Gandinnovations. North American VP of Sales Cosimo Coffa is pictured in the following pages with their completely Canadian-made Jeti 3148X2, with linear-driven table, resolution up to 1200 dpi, and jet and nozzle replacement technology. Up to 6 nozzles per head can go out without any noticable drop in print quality. It also comes with a 5 year warranty, and white and clear ink options.

Besides digital presses, another theme running through this year’s show was, of course, environmental sustainability. Vendors big and small were all rushing to trumpet their environmental credentials, but it’s vital at trade shows (and anywhere else, for that matter) to evaluate the substance behind the style. Maratek had a small booth just inside Hall 3, but their visual aids made a big impact. They had mason jars of both used solvent and reclaimed solvent (reclaimed using their solvent recycling processes, naturally), and the contrast between the two was huge. One looked drinkable and one looked like it had been dredged from the bottom of Lake Ontario. I’ll let you guess which was which.

An organization that walks the environmental talk is the Forest Stewardship Council, who debuted their FSCXpert program, an educational program and designation for graphic arts professionals committed to responsible forest management. If you are a graphic designer or someone involved in the industry who cares about forests but does not directly supply or print on paper or other forest products, the FSCXpert designation allows you to proclaim your sustainable credentials (and help others become more sustainable) anyway. Find out more at http://www.fsccanada.org/FSCX/default.htm.

And speaking of products from forests, paper merchants were out in full force at the show, with Spicers making a splash in the front hall and xpedx celebrating their arrival in Canada in Hall 3. The Spicer booth had a quique passport idea at their booth. They provided exhibition-goers with a “passport” that got stamped at different stations as attendees made their way through the booth, ensuring that each visitor got the most out of their Spicers experience.

xpedx has opened two stores in Canada (Markham and Brampton), with more on the way. They are aggressively pushing in to the Canadian market, and have not ruled out acquisitions as a way to grow their brand, according to xpedx VP Michael Kearney.

Apart from equipment and consumables, there was much on offer at the show for printers looking to increase their efficiency. Avanti debuted their new Electronic Scheduling Board (a screenshot of which accompanies our Graphics Canada photo montage), which is currently in beta testing with several of their users. The scheduling screen can be projected onto a wall to retain the “whole-shop-knows-what’s-happening” feeling of a traditional, handwritten schedule, but offers many improvements on even existing electronic schedulers, such as being finite capacity capable.

Those looking to hire or those looking for a job would have been well-served to stop by the PrintLink booth, where Victoria Gaitskell and Myrna Penney reported an “excellent and busy” show as the matchmakers of the print world. Mary Black Recruiting was also on hand, complete with several stylish hats.

And speaking of personnel, the employees of tomorrow were out in full force each day of the show—students from Ryerson’s GCM program, as well as graphic design students from many local colleges and even some high school students, graced the show with their presence, and probably increased the demand for Spiderman posters by at least a factor of five.

Our booth was hopping at the show, and we even gave away a free blackberry to one lucky subscriber—Mr. Bob Brown from PROforma. (And a special thanks goes out to Heidelberg’s own Brian Ellis, who gracefully and impartially pulled the winning name out of our draw basket.) If you didn’t get a chance to subscribe or renew your free subscription at the show, head on over to www.graphicartsmag.com to do so.

Finally, as you can see from all the photos, there was great excitement and numerous innovations to be seen at Graphics Canada.

This year’s Graphics Canada—from November 8th to 10th at the International Centre near the Pearson Airport in Toronto—is the 44th anniversary of a show that many have come to rely on as a predictor of trends and showcase of new products for the Canadian printing industry.

New this year will be a flexo and converting showcase, a wide-format and sign pavilion, a mailing and fulfillment centre, and the Design City area catering specifically to designers attending the show.

Many companies will also be staging Canadian premieres for new (or new-ish) products—since it only happens every two years, some corporations have had to save up products that premiered in 2006 in order to make a splash at Graphics Canada. A few of the highlights follow.

HP will be showing off their Indigo 5500 (featured in our June issue), as well as two new Designjets—one each for technical and print users—and two Scitex wide-format presses. Heidelberg will premier their Speedmaster SM 52 with Anicolor in Canada—look for more information on that press in my article in this issue. Heidelberg will also be showing off their Speedmaster XL 105-6+LX with Prinect Inpress Control and Stitchmaster ST 450 . Canon Canada debuts their imagePRESS C7000VP digital press. Fuji will be thrilled to premiere the Inca Spyder Q—with a 10-picoliter drop size and fine text resolution down to 4 point type. Canadian success story Gandinnovations will introduce the Jeti3324 Aquajet to the Canadian market at the show. Dekora Album, Agfa, Presstek, ND Graphics, Epson, and Pitney Bowes are also among the many companies looking forward to Graphics Canada as a first Canadian chance to show off new products.

Last month’s issue and this month’s issue feature 100-word descriptions of the highlights and products provided by many of the exhibitors at the show—be sure to look carefully through both issues to get a good idea of what is coming up and which booths are must-sees for you or your employees. It’s always good to go in with a plan so as not to waste time or become completely overwhelmed—neither of which is a nice feeling after leaving a show that won’t come back for another two years.

We hope you enjoy the Graphics Canada preview that we’ve put together in this issue and last issue, and we look forward to seeing you at our booth at the show! Look to our December/January issue for coverage of the show highlights.

AdasTotal Services Inc. #3412

AdasTotal Services Inc. has been a dealer for Adast printing presses and other Adast products since mid 2004. Adast a.s. is the largest manufacturer of printing presses in Middle and Eastern Europe.

AdasTotal Services Inc. will shortly be signing a dealership agreement to distribute the well-known Apos-Maxima paper cutters manufactured in the Czech Republic.

We will be introducing the new MAXIMA MS 80 TSE paper cutter in our booth # 3412.

Advantage Graphic Supplies Ltd. #3921

Established in 1999, Advantage Graphic Supplies Ltd. offers printing supplies and equipment to Canadian and American customers.

We offer Mimaki and Graphtec Printers and Cutters; HP Printers; Seal, GBC , Royal Sovereign and Quikmount Laminators; MultiCam Routers; Onyx, FlexiSign Pro, PhotoPrint, Neon Wizard, and Cadlink Softwares for ripping and cutting; a range of materials such as gmi, Orajet, Ilford, HP, 3M, Avery, InteliCoat; and all original inks such as Mimaki, HP, Graphtec, Staedtler and Inkmate. We are also an authorized service and repair dealer for Mimaki and Graphtec. We offer training on most types of graphic software, and weekend courses are also available.

All Graphic Supplies #2428

All Graphic Supplies is a leading Canadian distributor of Roland wide-format inkjet printers and supplies. We will showcase the new Dgen Teleois Direct-to-Fabric printer and tools such as the Fletcher Terry cutting system, Aurora Graphics, Voodoo Graphics, Roland’s latest XJ Series Printers, Rite Media, and other solutions to enhance the capabilities of graphics professionals and print operations. All Graphics specializes in service, training, on-going support, and supplies for all its products throughout Canada and the Caribbean. Our head office is in Mississauga, Ontario and our branches are located in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Calgary, Alberta, the Maritimes, and Port of Spain Trinidad.

AM Transport #3118

AM Transport is a dedicated team of professionals committed to customer service and satisfaction.

With our fleet of seventeen radio-dispatched trucks equipped with GPS, we are large enough to handle any order and small enough to care about each and every one.

Our radio dispatched fleet is available 24/7. Focusing on the printing, paper, and mailing industries, we have built a well-earned reputation over the past twelve years for reliability at reasonable prices.

Our equipment is meticulously maintained and up to date, including tailgates. We can handle loads up to 30,000 pounds and specialize in orders that other companies refuse.

Announcement Converters #1283

Announcement Converters sells blank envelopes, cards, folders, pouchettes and wedding invitations to trade customers only at wholesale prices. All items are in stock for same day shipment. With no minimum order other then one box of an item, we are capable of supplying your envelope and announcement needs at any order size. If you are looking for an item that is not in stock we also do converting at no additional cost, with low minimums and quick turnarounds. For instance, a standard A-size envelope is typically available in a 1000 envelope minimum order and takes only a week to manufacture. Visit www.AnnouncementConverters.com

Autumn Graphics Ltd. #3348,
Flexo and Converting Showcase

Autumn Graphics Ltd. is an independent, privately owned, Canadian company providing Prepress Production, Plate Production, and Graphics Management Services to Consumer Product Companies, Converters, Printers, and Advertising Agencies.

Autumn Graphics strives to be at the leading edge of technical development in the prepress industry by working with suppliers on trials of new technologies, working internally to develop process improvements and new production methods, proactively promoting continuous improvement initiatives with customers, and being involved in Industry Technical Associations. We respond to the industry needs of tomorrow, today.

Avanti Computer Systems #1012

Toronto-based Avanti Computer Systems will showcase its new “Drag and Drop” Electronic Scheduling Board (ESB) at Graphics Canada. Fully integrated with other Avanti modules, this new module will give Production Planners an easy-to-use, visual method for organizing and managing all jobs in the shop. Users can manage schedules via “drag and drop” functionality, perform “what if” scenarios to manage capacity and reduce job turnaround time, and schedule recurring jobs well into the future. The ESB also provides a real-time graphical view of every open job’s status from design to post-press.

Avanti specializes in integrated Print MIS solutions for Sheet-fed, Web, Digital, Large Format, and Binderies. To arrange a demonstration of Avanti’s ESB, contact Michele at mtooheyreed@avantisystems.com or visit booth 1012.

CDN Print Plastic #4124

If you’re looking to add another dimension to your existing business, come see us at CDN Print Plastic. We can help you capitalize on the plastic card phenomenon. A plastic card is more than a credit card or a gimmick. A plastic card is a multi-faceted opportunity. Don’t pass the opportunity up. If you want to understand how thermal card printers can help your business grow, come see us at CDN Print Plastic.

Die Supply Guys #3352

The Die Supply Guys are distributors of die-making and die-cutting supplies, and machinery. We will be displaying a wide range of components and materials for the production of steel rule dies. We will have many samples from our new line of automatic steel rule processors as well as samples from our Co2 laser die cutting machines. For the die-cutting companies, we have a large selection of matrix materials, make-ready supplies and tools to support their industry. We also carry a large selection of components such as thin plates and stripping pins for the Bobst and other automated presses.

Duroflex Specialty Papers Inc. #3040

Established in 1999, Duroflex Specialty Papers Inc. has seen enormous growth and is still expanding as a Paper Merchant. Duroflex provides a full line of paper products and supplies to the printing industry from Newfoundland to British Columbia. Duroflex delivers unmatched value in combination with innovative solutions, putting its customers ahead of the competitive curve.

Factor Forms Limited #2528

Now with three production facilities in Canada, Factor Forms is Canada’s largest trade-only business forms supplier. We continue to add to our broad line of short-run business form products. Our expanded product lines keep the competition out of your accounts as you can offer more than just commercial printing. If you are not supplying your customer’s business forms, someone else is calling on your account. Stop by to see new offerings as we continue to grow together into the 21st century.

Fujifilm Canada #1280

Premiering in Canada at Fujifilm Canada’s booth, the Inca Spyder 320Q flatbed UV printer features a 10 picoliter drop size printhead for fine detail work. The Fujifilm Acuity flatbed UV printer’s grayscale printhead has 6-30 picoliter drop sizes, perfect for lenticular printing or point of purchase applications. New plate technologies include the LP-NV2, a violet plate for high-def screening applications, and LH-PL, a no-bake long run (600,000+ impressions) thermal plate. Pro-T processless technology will also be exhibited. Fujifilm will showcase Metrix and Rampage workflow! (v10.5) integration alongside the latest (Adobe Print Ready) Trueflow workflow software from Screen. The iGen3-printed variable-cover October issue of Graphic Arts Magazine will be displayed; additionally, Terminal Van Gogh and Fujifilm will feature a live Web-to-Print application on the iGen3 digital press. Come by for a booth tour and get your picture on the front cover of your favourite industry magazine.

GMF #3552

GMF is a packaging prepress and platemaking company servicing the North American markets. Our services include both digital and analogue workflows for separations, colour managed contract proofs, photopolymer plates and corrugated plate mounting. GMF is a long time supporter and user of “Opaltone”, a high quality licensed process that improves both overall print quality and reduces print/prepress costs. In addition to the leading edge products and services listed above, GMF is proud to introduce Final Print Assurance, a browser-based colour management tool that allows real time analysis of established colour standards that have been quantified between End Users, Designers, Prepress, and Converters. FPA allows multiple viewers, at any location, to view, collaborate, and annotate both the Contract proof and Press Pull in a seamless environment, offering affordable, real-time accurate & true Colour measurement to the masses.

Our quality is what separates us from our competition.

GTI—Graphic Technology Inc. #1281

GTI Graphic Technology Inc. provides standard lighting systems for colour viewing and colour communication, which are vital to accurate colour management workflow. Graphiclite® color viewing systems are tested and certified accurate to the ISO 3664 industry standard for critical color evaluation.

We will also present the Soft-View digital dimming system for monitor to hard copy comparison and the newly re-designed PDV “e” series of Professional Desktop Viewers. GTI has also developed the innovative MCVE/SP Press Console Soft-Proof/Viewing System which enables effective soft-proofing right on the press console.

Heidelberg - Hall 4

The Heidelberg Hall will be showcasing over 20,000 square feet of complete solutions for the graphic arts industry. During this event several Canadian premieres will be introduced including the Speedmaster XL 105-6+LX with Prinect Inpress Control, Speedmaster 52-4+L with Anicolor technology, Stitchmaster ST 450 and the Kama TS74. In order to offer our customers complete commercial print solutions we are also demonstrating the complete Prinect workflow, Suprasetter A52/A74, Printmaster QM 46-2, Printmaster PM 74-4P, Stahlfolder B20, Stahlfolder TH82, Polar 78 X and Polar 115 XT Cutting System 2. A complete portfolio of selected consumable products which will allow a customer to obtain “Peak Performance” will be demonstrated live on Heidelberg equipment. In addition, Heidelberg offers a wide range systemservice offerings, spare parts, remarketed equipment, online shop and financial services, along with extensive training programs provided by the Print Media Academy.

HP #1200

HP will be showcasing its broad portfolio of graphic arts solutions at Graphics Canada. Among the wide range of printers and presses at the HP booth will be two new Designjets launched earlier this year—the Designjet T1100 MFP for CAD and GIS technical applications and the Designjet Z6100, featuring DreamColor technology for breakthrough colour accuracy. A new addition to the Indigo family, the Indigo 5500 for offset quality commercial printing, will be on display alongside the Indigo press S2000 for industrial printing. The HP Scitex XL1500 and the HP Scitex TJ8500 wide format presses are sure to impress as well with their ability to produce brilliant banners, flags, billboards and more.

J&J Manufacturing #1263

J&J Manufacturing is the producer of “Jay-Line” Promotional Products. We are a trade only supplier! Visit us and find out how to increase your profits selling fridge magnets, buttons, mouse pads, sticky note pads, specialty note pads, calendars, bookmarks, rulers, key tags, custom candy products, and hundreds of other Promotional Products.

Become a Jay-Line Distributor - membership is Free!

We will be distributing free catalogues and samples.

Jasdi Magnetics #3815

Jasdi Magnetics manufactures and distributes magnetic rolls and sheets to every provice in Canada, every day. Our products can be used as vehicle signs, menu boards, fridge magnets, and business cards. We also have pre-die-cut pieces for note pads, calendars, and shelving. We manufacture 1/2” and 1” magnetic stripping which is used for display panels and numerous other applications. One of our most popular products is our Magnetic Paper for Digital and Offset printing. Our warehouse in British Columbia can ship within one day of purchase order receipt for most orders. We welcome your requests for quotes and sample packages.

Konica Minolta #3840

This year at Graphics Canada we will be displaying our award winning bizhub PRO C6500 colour and our 1050e black and white production units. These devices are capable of printing 200 page saddlestitch-booklets, 600 page perfect bound books (glue binding), production envelopes, and can perform 6 different folds in-line with your print job. Other exciting features include nested folds, glossy or matte colour finishes, and feed technologies designed to feed even the most stubborn papers.

Also on display will be Konica Minolta’s own award-winning software PrintGroove. This affordable web submission software steamlines print job submissions and ticketing for your Print Shop or Central Reproduction Department. Rotating presentations on this exciting new product will be performed at the show, so be sure to visit and learn how your business workflows can be improved.

LithoTel Software Design # 3248

Join the makeready revolution! ColorLinx Preset provides exceptionally accurate ink key presetting on press. Satisfied customers report an average savings of 50% in makeready time. LithoTel can help you with straightforward technology to produce great looking print, efficiently and profitably. Now that’s an ROI to smile about!

Magnum Magnetics #2208

Magnum Magnetics is introducing MessageMag thin magnetic sheeting for offset, flexo, Indigo, and iGen presses. MessageMag is the newest addition to our line of printable magnetic sheeting products which also includes screen printing and inkjet options. We will have videos documenting the printing process on various presses as well as post-printing magnetization. Our magnetic sheeting is available in thicknesses ranging from .17 mm to 1.52 mm. Magnum flexible magnetic sheeting conforms to certified toy safety standards for heavy metals content.

MAN Roland #3640

MAN Roland does it all for Canadian printers, with a full range of advanced technology and services for the Canadian printer. Visitors to booth 3640 will be able to get first-hand information on the entire range of MAN Roland sheetfed and web presses, including the new ROLAND 700 HiPrint, ROLAND 700 DirectDrive, and EUROMAN. MAN Roland’s service, support, and supply capabilities will also be on the agenda. So too will be the availability of MBO finishing systems and Ryobi presses from MAN Roland Canada. The exhibit will be a valuable resource for Canadian printers who want to improve their competitive advantage.

Millenium Printing Inc. #1094

Intelligence we have, perfection we chase...

Customer satisfaction is our satisfaction.

Millenium Printing Inc. (MPI) has been working together with our clients for over 12 years, and customer satisfaction has always been our number one priority. Confidentiality, team spirit, intelligence, innovation, and improvement are some of the key words in our day-to-day operations.

We are in the process of installing the latest Mitsubishi Tandem Diamond 3000TP 8-colour with in-line Aqueous coating. This 40-inch, fully automated press is the first one Canada and is the only press in the industry that enables one-pass printing of both sides without tumbling the sheet after fully printing one side. We use both PCs and Macs, for maximum versatility.

Out-source your printing needs to us—we are your one stop shop, covering the gamut from prepress to finishing.

ND Graphics #2001

ND Graphics is showcasing the Mimaki JF-1631 and the Gerber M3000 at the Graphics Canada Trade Show. Called the “flatbed of the future,” Mimaki’s large-format, flatbed , UV-curable inkjet printer works on a range of uncoated substrates and materials, sign graphics, POP displays and transparent media. The Gerber M3000 flatbed cutter uses automatic cutting technology for a variety of materials. This automation, combined with its accurate positioning, makes it a powerful and reliable finishing tool.

Newtec Systems Inc. #2427

RealVue3D is the world’s first 3D visual simulation software for print media, created to streamline the communication and sales process. RealVue3D provides an innovative way to design, present, and approve jobs via a unique 3D document viewer.

The FloorWindo(r) is an unique ultra-slim poster display that is placed flat on the floor without using too much surface area.

The DeskWindo(r) raises the FloorWindo(r) idea to the surface of counters and desks.

PromoDek(r) is an easy-to-use modular floor display system that is effortlessly assembled and updated in minutes.

Easy Show is a modular system which provides users with an innovative method of creating and separating spaces through the dynamic use of banners.

Wave2 offers the most advanced, flexible and scalable, web-to-print publishing platform in the industry. It is the first solution that is integrated with Adobe InDesign Server.

Norprint #3917

Norprint will be showcasing their wide range of specialized products, including conventional fridge magnets, plastic cards, dry-erase boards, door-hangers, and rulers. They will also introduce a revolutionary new magnet—Magnesheet‚–¢. This lightweight, 14-point magnet material has over twice the holding power of magnetic paper. It was designed to address the need for lightweight, cost effective, yet functional magnets.

Norprint have also developed Magnesheet‚–¢ into a patent-pending card design, Snap-Card‚–¢ that offers unique advertising and direct mail opportunities. As a business card or postcard and printed with variable data, it has a unique “snap and see” feature ideal for contests and marketing. See us at booth 3917.

PDS—Pressdown #3202

PDS—Pressdown will demonstrate its complete portfolio of pressroom equipment at booth 3202. Highlighting the prepress area will be our CTP solution, the ECO 1630IIIR from Mitsubishi, providing Silver Digi technology for presses up to 16 5/16” x 22.83”. Moving on to the press, attendees will see the Ryobi 3302 working with the ECO 1630. New technology in the print finishing arena will include Digital Business Card Slitters and Digital Cutters, along with Graphic Whizard Numbering Units and Creasers, a Morgana Docufold, and Horizon Perfect Binding and Taping.

Optium #3451

Optium is a packaging prepress company based in Toronto, Ontario owned by PLM Group. We are the distinguished supplier to a high profile complement of converters and consumer packaging goods companies. Our mission is to be pre-media’s premium brand by delivering innovative business solutions with excellent service. We emphasize quality, speed to market, technology, and a discerning understanding of our clients’ work in an environment that values both leading technology and experienced talent.

Point One Graphics #1201

Our 17 year legacy in pre-press and printing, as well as an award for being one of Canada’s fastest growing companies attests to our commitment to our customers - we’re serious about printing!

Point One Graphic Inc. Man Roland WEB press features are: 16-page capability, 5 printing units and perfing, remoistenable gluing, folding & sheeting all in-line, it completes PointOne Graphic Inc. full service capabilities.

PointOne Graphic Inc. climate controlled pressroom boasts six late model Heidelberg presses including an 8 colour perfector printing two sides at 10,000 sheets per hour, 6 colour presses with in-line aqueous coating and a XL 6 colour Heidelberg, 7 colour Heidelberg with in-line UV, and 4 colour GTO

PointOne Graphic Inc. 70,000 square foot building also houses a state-of-the-art prepress department & full bindery.

PointOne Graphics holds FSC chain-of-custody certification. The FSC logo identifies products that contain wood from responsibly managed forests independently certified in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council A.C. PointOne Graphics Inc is also ISO certified 9001-2000

PowerQuote Software #2613

PowerQuote Software will be demonstrating the industry’s first cross-platform estimating system designed to run on Windows XP, Vista, and Universal Binary on Mac OS X. Modules are available for offset printing, digital printing, and accounts receivable. All systems include email or written quotes, easy tracking of file processing charges, instant recall of jobs for reorders, job tickets, and more. The digital printing estimating has the flexibility to use a price grid, cost-per-click or budgeted hourly rate methods. Your purchase includes a full year of phone/email support and free updates during that time. See www.macestimating.com for more info.

Presstek #3630

Under new leadership this year, Presstek, a leading manufacturer and marketer of digital offset printing solutions, will showcase the latest developments in its product line to help printers cost effectively meet increasing customer demand for high-quality, shorter print runs and faster turnaround while providing improved profit margins. Presstek’s product line enables print service providers to leverage and expand business opportunities in the fast-growing, short-run color print market and address the needs of the rapidly converging traditional and digital commercial print world.

PrintLink #1040

PrintLink is North America’s leading professional placement firm serving the graphic communications industry, with permanent placement for senior and middle management, hands-on, and IT-related positions. We offer a high standard of professionalism, personal attention, and confidentiality to both employers and job-seekers. We are constantly investigating new directions in the industry to provide new expertise for new technologies. Visit us at booth #1040.

www.printlink.com

Prisco #3100

Go Green With Prisco! We will have two distinct areas showcasing our consumables and equipment to reduce environmental impact. Our products include:

• Floclear

• Low VOC Coatings

• Low VOC Blanket and Roller Wash

• Prepac and Baldwin Impact Systems

• Improving Heatset Web Printing РNew Webfount N Series

• Prisco UV and Aqueous Coatings

• UV Printing Solutions

• Contitech HC Printing/Coating Blankets

This is the first time that any of our products will be shown in Canada. Priscotech specializes in Process Control Equipment, Water Management Systems, Coating Recirculation Systems, and Pressroom Humidification.

Prism Graphics #3830

We will feature many exciting Horizon products at our booth.

The Horizon SPF200A/FC200A booklet maker features high productivity, quick, fully-automated changeover, and user-friendly operation. All necessary settings can be changed automatically through a Colour Touch Screen. A reject function allows non stop production. Maximum production speed is 4,500 books per hour.

The Horizon AFC544AKT computer controlled Cross Folder with LCD touch screen is engineered for quality folding in minimum space. Its maximum sheet size is 21.1 x 29.5”, and it folds up to 35,000 sheets per hour.

Finally, the Horizon BQ270 features quality perfect binding and advanced binding features, an LCD touch screen, fully automated set up, side gluing, and cover scoring.

RENZ #3216

RENZ is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of loose -leaf binding systems.

Renz manufacturers punching and binding equipment for Ring-Wire* comb binding , plastic spiral or “coil” binding, and plastic comb binding.

We also manufacture the Ring-Wire* , plastic comb, and plastic spiral materials.

Please visit our website www.renz.com to view all of our product offerings.

Unisource Canada, Inc. #3730, Hall 3

We offer solutions for Paper, Graphic Arts Supplies and Wide Format Printing. Our solutions include Speedy Dry Ink Additive, Agfa’s digital plates (including the :Azura chemical-free CTP Plate, the new long run :Energy Elite No Bake Thermal CTP plate, and the :Amigo mid range low-chem thermal plate), FlintGroup’s conventional sheetfed, hybrid and UV inks, Kelstar coatings, and Day International Blankets & Varn Press Chemistry. Our wide format printers include Colorspan’s 5460UV and Canon’s iPF9000 (Aqueous). Our wide-format inks & media include photopaper, films, vinyls, and fabrics from Kodak, Avery, Neschen, and Phototex.

Value-Rite #2309

Value-Rite delivers the best value in toner, inkjet ink and media. New products include compatible Eco Sol ink for Roland & Mutoh inkjet printers. We also provide compatible HP inkjet cartridges and toners. We’ll demonstrate the new Epson 1400 Dye Sublimation printer for custom imprinting and new transfer papers for non-oil copiers and laser printers. Special show prices for Xerox, Canon, HP and Epson supplies. www.valuerite.com.

Vistek #1289

Vistek can help you and your clients get better results with digital photography. As Canada’s source for professional imaging equipment, we provide digital photography systems for such major printers as Quebecor, St. Joseph’s, and Transcontinental, as well as for many of your top clients who go to print regularly. See Phase One digital camera backs for the ultimate in digital quality photography as well as lighting and other studio needs.

West Star/Star Web Printing #3154

West Star/Star Web Printing offers you both Sheet-Fed and Heat-Set Web Printing, plus complete in-house Bindery. We have the latest technology under one roof, including 3 Web Presses (up to a 48 page web press), 5 Sheet-Fed Presses, and up to a 12-colour Perfector with Roll-To-Sheet.

In our bindery department, we have cutters, folders, stitchers, perfect binders, die cutting, gluing, and inkjetting. We have the latest technology in prepress, and all our technology is accompanied by excellent prices and service.

xpedx #3817

New to the Canadian market, xpedx will learn about Canadian printers’ wants and needs. We will also share our long-term strategy for helping printers create efficiencies, and increase productivity, to generate profitable growth.

xpedx will focus on the current offering of paper and printing supplies available through our merchant division and retail stores, explaining how these two operating models enable xpedx to service every type of printer regardless of size or specialty. xpedx will discuss its offering to the design community and will provide details about the company’s environmental commitment via FSC and PEFC chain of custody certification.

Tired of “playing the piano,” as Heidelberg’s Jeff Polley puts it, with the ink keys on your press to ensure even colour? Frustrated with the high percentage of waste on short-run offset jobs? If you answered yes to either of these questions, and are looking for a reliable short-run-ready offset press, Heidelberg Canada hopes that you will stop by their booth at Graphics Canada to witness the Canadian premiere of their Speedmaster SM 52 with Anicolor inking units.

The Anicolor is a short inking system (with dampening, so as to retain the advantages of wet offset printing) which uses an ink chamber, instead of the conventional ink zones. The precise, laser-engraved Anilox roller—a version of which is already in use in coating units—means that ink distribution across the sheet is uniform, eliminating the frustrating time that a press operator would normally spend adjusting ink levels in the different fountains. The form roller and plate cylinder are the same size as the Anilox roller, which also makes for greater efficiency. Sheet waste is also significantly lower than that of a conventional press, down to as little as 20 sheets on most jobs.

Correct and even ink coverage becomes a joy instead of a burden with the Anicolor. There are no zonal adjustments. However ink density changes are possible by changing ink temperature.

Although the Anicolor is approximately 15% more expensive than a conventional SM 52, it is up to 25% more efficient due to quick ink unit response, fewer waste sheets at the beginning of each job, resulting in faster makeready. At a recent demonstration at Heidelberg’s Mississauga headquarters, three 250-sheet jobs went from start to finish in less than 35 minutes. Packagers and label printers—for whom consistent colour is paramount—could stand to benefit immensely from Anicolor technology, as could shops worried about the departure of short static runs to digital suppliers. The breakeven for the Anicolor is rated at 500 sheets, but can be as low as 250.

Heidelberg premiered the Anicolor at Ipex in 2006, but has saved the Canadian premiere for Graphics Canada 2007. There are about 50 machines produced, mostly installed in Europe, and 4 in the U.S. at TaylorCorp. Comparable machines include the 20-inch waterless KBA Genius with Anilox.

No Anicolors have yet been installed in Canada—your shop could be the first!

It’s pretty easy to tell other people what to do. Looking in from the outside and offering suggestions is a universal human trait, exhibited by everyone from backseat drivers to magazine editors. The more difficult task, of course, is to offer specifics—moving beyond “hey, was that really the best lane?” to “okay, you need to exit on ramp 36A in 5.4 kilometres” and getting past “variable data is a growing field” to “if you want these results, you need this press, this workflow, and a new staff member in your IT department.”

Giving driving directions is of course much easier than advising print providers on how best to run their businesses; the variables in this industry are many, even if you’re only running traditional offset. With drupa approaching and manufacturers clamoring for coverage of their new products, it gets even harder, in some ways, to offer substantiative advice as to the benefits of press A vs press B or the best way to go about creating a variable data component of your business. But more options are also a good thing, and the announcements surrounding drupa give us extra chances to highlight, in this and following issues, some of the new tools of the trade that we think are well-suited to helping our readers grow their businesses.

Jeanette Clinkunbroomer discourses this month on “Printing the Big Picture”—her look at wide-format and signage printing. She talks with business owners—to see which tools they are using—as well as wide-format providers—to see which tools they would like you to use. And speaking of new tools, HP unveiled several new products and improvements to existing products at their pre-drupa showcase in Israel, including the new latex inks that Jeanette mentions at the end of her article. Slated to go head-to-head with solvent-based inks, latex inks might be just the tool for those of you wishing to bring an environmentally-conscious angle to your signage business. And, continuing on the variable theme of last month’s interview, Gail Nickel-Kailing speaks to Kevin Lanuke of Blitzprint to find out the direction that his company is going. Her questions and his comments should be just the tools you need to begin your own journey into relevance marketing and variable printing.

It’s a digital world at Hewlett Packard, and their recent pre-drupa event in Israel revealed (for those who didn’t know already) their desire to add more digital colour to your world.

Journalists and analysts converged on Tel Aviv for an information-packed four days in which HP executives revealed their hopes for the company’s future, and the innovations that drive their plan to become, in VP Steve Nigro’s words, “the world’s leader in digital graphic arts.”

There was a lot of talk about the somewhat nebulous-sounding “Print 2.0”. Cursed with the fate of most slogans, the words “Print 2.0” themselves can’t fully explain HP’s overarching strategy. Fortunately, all of the executives on hand were well-versed in fleshing out the headline and explaining what HP is doing and plans to do. “Print 2.0”, according to Steve Nigro, is “about making it easier to print from the web, extending digital content creation and publishing platforms, and delivering next-generation digital printing platforms.”

So what does that mean to printers on the ground? Basically, Print 2.0 is a more consumer-involved and proactive version of printing. Rather than waiting for customers—trade or consumer—to come to them, HP is encouraging digitally-equipped printers to go out and position themselves in their markets as providing digitally-produced pages that are more intrinsically valuable than their analogue counterparts. This increased value could be due to such traits as their variable content, their short run length, or their tailored-to-the-consumer specificity.

Photobooks—perhaps the most talked-about print product since Gutenberg’s Bible—are of course one such example of high-value digital pages that weren’t possible with analog technology. And while photobooks are a boon for print providers astute or fortunate enough to have contracts with the Wal-Marts and Shoppers Drug Marts of the world, there are still opportunities for smaller or less-well-connected printers to carve out their own piece of the digital page pie. According to HP’s internal estimates, digitally-produced pages account for only 2% of the global pages produced in 2007. In terms of dollar value, though, digital accounted for 16%. By building skills in marketing, variable content production, and actively seeking more pages, rather than waiting for customers to come to them, print providers can capitalize on all the resources that digital presses and printers can offer.

HP Canada’s Danny Ionescu was also quick to point out that HP isn’t just pushing printers and presses on anyone who will buy them. He spoke of readiness assessments that HP carries out with print providers looking to purchase an HP machine, and assured me that HP will decline to make a sale if they feel that the provider is not ready to fully take advantage of the opportunities that digital offers.

HP is looking to digitize the entire print process, from creation to consumption, and they have both hardware and software currently available or coming soon that will help with that digitization. The (literally) largest announcement made in Tel Aviv was of a new, four-colour Inkjet Web Press, which is slated for release sometime in 2009. With the inkjet web press, HP is looking to create a market for a “distribute-then-print” model—newspapers are one possible market—that distributes content to local centres where it is then combined with local content, personalized, and printed.

The web will be up to 762 mm or 30 inches wide, allowing for 2600 8.5 x 11 letter-sized impressions per minute (400 ft/minute x 30 ft wide). The size of web also means that a conventional broadsheet is possible to produce—a limitation that has felled other inkjet providers who have attempted something similar in the past. Quality is up to 600 x 600 dpi, and a duplex print engine configuration will set providers back less than $2.5 million (USD).

The colour inkjet web is HP’s attempt to create a new market segment, and is a bold move into the offset-dominated newspaper territory. In order for the inkjet offset to be successful, print providers will need to buy into the notion of a more personalized newspaper than has previously been possible, and will need the software and technical know-how to make such personalization—or at least localization—viable. HP is of course also planning to provide logistical and software support to any vendors who purchase the press—through their “Capture” business development program—and asserted at the event that the press was in fact developed in response to requests from customers.

As the press is still in development, we were unable to see anything beyond digrams and conceptual drawings, but they have promised more information at this year’s drupa.

Also on the hardware side of things, HP announced more advances in its Indigo line of digital offset presses, adding features to the 3500 and 5500 that they launched a year ago and introduced the higher-efficiency Indigo 7000 press. The 7000 is targeted at printers producing over 1 million A4-equivalent pages per month—those in the 500,000 to one million range are still best to stick with the 5500. The 7000 uses 25% less electricity per page, as compared to the 5500, and has an onboard oil recycling system, which is also now available on the 3500 and 5500. The rated speed of the 7000 is 120 ppm in 4-colour and 240 ppm in 1- or 2-colour, and HP estimates the breakeven of an 8 page brochure to be 1808 pages (when compared to an A3 offset) or 1095 pages (as compared to a B2 offset).

Concurrent with the Indigo 7000 was the announcement of the WS6000 label press, which is optimized for longer jobs (greater than 1000 linear metres), and the W7200 commercial web press. With four-colour speeds up to 30 linear metres/minute, a broad substrate range, and optional in-line converting, the WS6000 is also a significant improvement over the WS4500.

Indigo is also moving slowly into inline finishing, with an inline UV coater option now available for the 5500 and 7000. The 5500 can also have a ganged feeder, which raises the number of discrete feeder trays to 7 (from the existing 4), and has a new 18 pt substrate option geared towards folding carton applications.

Not to worry if you just purchased a 5500 and are interested in some of the new options—they are all compatible with exisiting 5500 machines.

Moving towards the software side of things, HP is not alone in offering data solutions to their vendors, and they have partnered with several other providers to offer solutions with their SmartStream workflow. Refusing to reinvent the wheel, as one executive put it, is key to their strategy with SmartStream. If they saw someone who was doing what they wanted to do, and doing it well, they partnered. Creo, EskoArtwork, and Heidelberg Prinect are just a few of the partners who participate in HP’s a la carte workflow solutions for their vendors.

Environmental benefits were also a much-talked-about feature of HP’s plans, though it would be surprising if that were not the case, as environmental considerations are on the lips of everyone in the industry these days.

Many of the so-called environmental benefits of digital presses are merely increased efficiencies, and not true footprint reduction. For example, digitally-printed pages are often described as reducing the number of pages printed, since one personalized digital page is more effective than a mass-produced advertising circular. But the increased effectiveness of digital pages doesn’t necessarily translate into fewer pages printed—it could just as easily mean the same number of high-impact personalized pages, distributed to a larger number of people. But HP did have a number of genuine environmental advances to trumpet, the most prominent of which was their new latex ink. Dr. Ross Allen, a senior technology specialist with HP, explained the latex inks as a scratch, smudge, and water-resistant competitor to solvent inks. They will be available on many of HP’s wide-format inkjet machines, and will require no special ventilation—an economic as well as environmental boon.

The above are only the highlights of HP’s pre-drupa announcements, and I encourage all readers who are going to drupa to check out HP’s booth and dive deeper into the advances that HP is making towards a digital world.

Graph Expo 2007 (a sold-out show, I might add) was larger than last year’s show and was of course full of fabulous events and informative booths. But for most of the major players, the theme seemed to be “wait and see.” With drupa coming up in the first half of 2008, it only makes sense to delay major announcements for another 8 months in order to get the worldwide coverage that drupa will afford.

But even without big announcements by the big players, this year’s Graph Expo showcased many items sure to amuse and excite printers, particularly those interested in digital print or workflow systems. The following pages contain a sampling of the highlights, as well as some pictures for those who didn’t make it out to the show.

JDF-compatible? Really now?

“Automated workflow,” “Lights-out automation,” “JDF-compliant/compatible,” and other such workflow-related phrases permeated the show like ink spilled on uncoated paper. For those of you still hesitant to implement an automated workflow system, companies from Avanti to Xerox (and nearly every letter in between) are promising a solution tailored to your business. If you’re shopping for a workflow solution (or even just a workflow please-make-it-a-bit-simpler), find out what service you get with your purchase. Service is important with any purchase, but with workflow automation, it can make the difference between a smooth-running, well-integrated company and one where each department still doesn’t know the names of the others’ software.

Proofing me softly...

Coincident with the emphasis on workflow is the emergence of soft proofs as a viable form of proofing, especially in the early proof stages, when clients are looking for accuracy and placement rather than specific colours and margins. Proof-it online (distributed by xpedx—see the screenshot accompanying this article) offers a JDF workflow-compatible proofing solution with an easy-to-use (even for non-techies!) dashboard that is entirely web-hosted—meaning neither you nor your client need install any software. You purchase a per-proof subscription, and the program time and date stamps each proof as it’s read by your client, so you no longer need to worry whether a proof got there, or was read, or which version is the most current one.

FFEI was also showing RealVue 3D at the show—an excellent proofing tool which simulates the format (complete with page-turning) of the final product. This product would be excellent for designers in particular, as you can present your concept to a client without having to print a physical proof of the idea.

The fastiron district

Big iron is still big in the industry, and MAN Roland, Heidelberg, and Komori all made their presence known at the show with machines that cut makeready times and drive up the digital/offset breakeven point. MAN Roland chose Graph Expo to premiere its new 700-series Direct Drive and Hi-Print in North America (check out our archives—specifically our April issue—for more on these two presses), and Heidelberg’s booth was by far the biggest (and certainly one of the busiest) at the show. Heidelberg also promised some major announcements coming up at drupa—watch these pages for a possible preview next spring.

Environomics

Everyone’s talking about the environment, but not everyone is doing something about it. Digital printer manufacturers are touting their lower waste (if you’re not making plates, that’s a lot of material saved right there!), but solvent-based printers emit VOCs at high rates, diminishing the environmental benefit of no plates. (For more on VOCs, see the second half of Larry Miller’s article on Solvent Printers and Air Quality in this issue.) Environmental initiatives exist at most major companies, but none has so far emerged as the one true “green” choice for printers looking for a consistently eco-concious supplier.

Digital World

Variable print is of course on everyone’s lips, but—at both the Executive Outlook the day before the show and in my conversations at the show—most vendors acknowledge that few business are equipped to take full advantage of variable possibilities. It takes more than a spreadsheet with names and addresses to do true 1:1 print, so if you’re in the market for variable, find a supplier who will work with you in creating a usable database. It’s a lot of work—just ask Fuji and Terminal VanGogh, our partners on this month’s variable cover!

DI presses also got coverage at this year’s Expo, with HP premiering their Indigo 3500 and 5500 in North America.

What am I adding again?

In addition to the buzz about workflow, there was of course the ubiquitous discussion of Value-Add and the transition from printing to nebulous-sounding businesses such as “media consulting.” It is important for printers to realize the business potential of actively reaching out to current and potential clients to craft a media campaign of which print is a part rather than merely providing a print product to clients who seek you out. Unfortunately, such a transition is overwhelming, and printers are often not equipped to expand their business, with the result that many are squeezed when other industries—such as advertising and graphic design—use the low upfront cost of a digital printer to hone in on the print market. The show winners in my mind are those businesses that offer their clients tangible help rather than merely platitudes. For example, HP offers business consultants, Logo Works (an online business profiling tool), and, to certain accounts, “Premier Account Management”, both of which help clients to succeed in what HP terms “Print 2.0”. Xerox offers their Profit Accelerator pricing tools and Business Planning tools, as well as the analysts to get such packages up and running. And both companies offer usergroups—Dscoop for HP and Premier Partners for Xerox—to exchange best practices on their flagship products.

The Marketplace

Print growth in developed markets (ie North America and Europe) is expected just to keep pace with economic growth, while the so-called “BRIC” countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and other developing countries) are forecast to experience phenomenal growth in almost all print spheres in the next five to ten years. The Executive Outlook the day before the show provided a summary—complete with new studies by PIRA International—of printing trends, and Evan Cambray of Spicer’s talked specifically about the Canadian print market at the Pan-America breakfast on the 10th. Packaging is forecast to be one of the biggest growth areas in all markets—print may be squeezed by digital media in advertising and other domains, but you still need a box for your cereal!

In summary, Graph Expo 2007 was a show of many little innovations, with companies both big and small introducing small improvements to existing devices or new products that strove to integrate seamlessly into an established workflow. It was certainly not a bang, but perhaps not a whimper either; it was a show of small innovations presaging (we hope!) bigger ones.