DIGITAL digest

PIA/GATF Acts on Digital Print Initiatives

SEWICKLEY, PA—PIA/GATF kicked off the new year by implementing its previously announced plan to transition the Digital Printing Council (DPC) into a core member service. DPC provides tools and publications designed to help digital printing operations become more productive and efficient, as well as increase sales.

Association members are being given the option of joining the council at complimentary or premier ($295 per year) levels of membership. Included in the base level are the "Digital Printing Report" monthly newsletter, "Digital Impact" quarterly business/management newsletter, "Designing 4 Digital Online" monthly how-to articles and a copy of the executive summary from the "Marketing 4 Digital" (M4D) market research study.

Among the added benefits that come with premier membership are a complete set of the M4D market research reports for 24 industry verticals, the "Designing 4 Digital Package" of multimedia materials for teaching customers about the process, copies of two (per year) case studies written exclusively for DPC members and access to a range of white papers.

Further details are available on the council's Website, which still can be accessed via www.digitalprintingcouncil.com.

The association, in conjunction with DPC sponsors, is also moving forward with its declaration of 2006 as "The Year of Digital Print." Activities planned for the year reportedly include a series of unique publications, reports, workshops and conferences, all focused on the impact of digital printing.

PPML/VDX Gets ISO Stamp of Approval

RESTON, VA—PPML/VDX has now been published as an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standard data format for representing graphical page content in variable data printing applications. The standard communicates color page data in a compact form that is independent of the production workflow and output device, thereby enabling open exchange of files.

The workflow flexibility afforded by the standard permits having portions of the same job produced by different print providers, to facilitate distribution or for other considerations. Even in this scenario, output color quality will remain consistent across all runs, according to the developers.

More information about the standard, formally known as "ISO 16612-1, Graphic technology—Variable printing data exchange—Part 1: Using PPML 2.1 and PDF 1.4 (PPML/VDX-2005)," is available from NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies on its Website at www.npes.org/standards.

digital bytes

ROCHESTER, NY—Rochester Institute of Technology's Printing Applications Laboratory (PAL) has added a seven-color HP Indigo press ws4050 and Indigo press 5000 to its arsenal. These machines are seen as integral to PAL's expansion into the Worldwide Media Center for evaluating media used on HP Indigo digital presses.

RAPID CITY, SD—Fenske Media has purchased a Kodak Versamark VX5000 continuous ink-jet color printing system to drive high-volume production of direct response communications.

ROCHESTER, NY—Eastman Kodak and Danka Office Imaging have expanded their long-standing sales alliance. The intent is to enable Saint Petersburg, FL-based Danka to increase its sales of Digimaster black-and-white production printers in the corporate, print-for-pay and government markets, as well as support Kodak's efforts to sell Nexpress color press systems in those markets.