Digital bytes 5-01
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA—California Polytechnic State University now can give is students training on the Indigo TurboStream six-color digital offset press, thanks to a donation from Indigo N.V. Dr. Harvey Levenson, head of the school's Graphic Communication Department, commended the manufacturer for officially joining Cal Poly as a "Partner in Education." (www.indigonet.com)
SPARTANBURG, SC—Altman Printing has been designated a Certified Microsoft Publisher 2002 Service Bureau. The certification process required the company to develop a specialty in outputting and printing electronic document files from the software program. (www.altmanprint.com)
PITTSBURGH—Presstek is helping the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) renew its commitment to being a premier resource to the graphic arts through its Center for Imaging Excellence (CIE). In return, GATF has rededicated the center in the name of Robert Howard. Howard founded Presstek and is associated with the development of dot matrix and laser printers, as well as on-press direct imaging (DI) technology.
To help update the center, Presstek will be installing its Dimension CTP system and has contributed "significant funds" towards updating the facility with the latest prepress technologies.
In addition, Xerox and C.P. Bourg have installed a DocuTech Book Factory system in GATF's training facility. The system features the DocuTech 2000 series digital printer teamed with the C.P. Bourg BBF 2005 perfect binder and BDFX automated bookletmaker. (www.gain.net)
FAIRFIELD, ME—Graphic Color Service (GCS) has installed an Indigo UltraStream 2000 digital offset color press at its headquarters. The company also reports that its Digital Color Service division has opened a third digital photography studio, this one in Portland, ME. In addition, GCS has launched a Website development division called TeamWeb. (www.gcolor.com)
ITASCA, IL—Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. has sold its 400th PictroProof two-page digital color proofer in the U.S. market. The device is based on the manufacturer's proprietary thermal development and transfer technology, which uses CMYK donor material and receiver paper to simulate commercial printing ink and stock. (www.fujifilm.com)
RADEBEUL, GERMANY—Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA) announced it is assuming sole responsibility for the development, marketing, production and servicing of the 74 Karat digital color press. The move is pending official termination of the joint-venture agreement signed in 1998 by KBA and Scitex (now CreoScitex). Karat Digital Press, the 50/50 subsidiary created under that agreement, is to become a wholly owned subsidiary of KBA. (http://www.kba-print.de/en/)
In other news, Print Craft, a New Brighton, MN-based print marketing services provider with 180 employees, has installed a 74 Karat press in its previously all-Heidelberg press facility.
PLYMOUTH, MN—Scoville Press recently upgraded one of its two ImageMaker B2 CTP systems to include thermal imaging. The device, manufactured by Purup-Eskofot, originally was configured with an argon-ion laser. The company reports it installed the four-up imaging systems because their size format fit its half-web presses. (www.scoville.com)
TOTOWA, NJ—Pitman Co. has sold a second Agfa Polaris 100 platemaking machine to Southwest Offset Printers in Los Angeles. The printer also has taken an option for a third Polaris and an Agfa Galileo platesetter. In addition, Southwest reportedly plans to use Agfa N91 CTP plates, supplied by Pitman, exclusively in its operations. The company prints four daily and 28 weekly publications in the Los Angeles market. (www.pitmanco.com)
PITTSBURGH—The Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) has received a donation from Agfa Corp. of an Apogee Series2 PDF production system. The modular system includes new versions of the Apogee Pilot, PDF RIP and PrintDrive components, along with Apogee Create—the desktop tool for use by designers/creatives to generate PDF files. (www.gain.net)
RACINE, WI—Prisma thermal CTP printing plates from Printing Developments Inc. (PDI) have been qualified by ECRM Imaging Systems for use on its DesertCat 88 thermal imaging devices. The DesertCat 88 is an eight-up, external-drum platesetter. Prisma is a bimetal (copper-on-aluminum) plate that requires no pre- or post-bake processes. (www.ecrm.com and www.pdiplates.com)
CAMBRIDGE, MA—Banta Integrated Media reports its B-media enterprise content management software recently was used by XYAN Inc. to cut the total production time for a major catalog project by more than 30 percent. Ferguson Enterprises' 2001 product catalog features more than 40,000 product listings and 10,000 images in its 1,244 pages. All of these elements were entered into the database, then pages were automatically composed in QuarkXPress using a proprietary "page sprayer" pagination engine developed by Banta Integrated Media. (www.banta-im.com and www.xyan.com)
BEDFORD, MA—The Digital Printing Group of CreoScitex, a division of Creo Products, has expanded its Variable Information Partner program. The original list of participating vendors included Atlas, GMC, PageFlex, PrintSoft and Xerox. The new partners are Document Sciences, which supports high-volume applications, and XMPiE, a developer of cross-media personalized marketing solutions. (www.creoscitex.com)
WALTHAM, MA—Harlequin Inc. and Motorola Computer Group have formed a strategic alliance to incorporate Harlequin's RIP technology into Motorola's imaging control boards. The boards are targeted for use in mid-range to high-end copiers, printers, multi-function peripherals, large-format printers and digital printing systems. (www.harlequin.com)
