DIGITAL digest

Canon 'Taking Control To the Next Level'

LAS VEGAS—The bright light city was host to more than 800 customers, vendors and media for Canon's Digital Solutions Forum 2004, an annual showcase and customer conference, which opened with the debut of a "New Day" advertising campaign and the introduction of 14 new products.

Unveiled was an assortment of new digital multifunction hardware, platform technologies and related software solutions, covering black-and-white and color print engines, networking and workflow capabilities, improved security features and a greater integration of Canon's MEAP (Multifunctional Embedded Application Platform) technology.

The company also announced its agreement with Ribstone Systems to develop the first vertical market applications using MEAP. Ribstone will develop new versions of MEAP software—including Image Printer, Scan-to-Print and Capture System—optimized for processing legal documents.

"Unlike others in the marketplace, we offer customers other ways to do business," contends Kinya Uchida, president and CEO of Canon Americas. "Canon customers face each new day with confidence."

"For us to announce this many products at once is a strong statement," adds Dennis Amorosano, director and general manager of the Integrated Solutions Div. "It really drives a competitive stance for us."

Announced were 14 new imageRUNNER models spanning mid- to production-level volume, and black-and-white and color technologies. Each of the new black-and-white imageRUNNER is equipped with Canon's third-generation imagePlatform (iP) controller architecture, designed to efficiently control device functionality.

The imageRUNNER 2270 (22 ppm), 2870 (28 ppm), 3570 (35 ppm) and 4570 (45 ppm) feature MEAP technology as standard. Basic models also are available, including the imageRUNNER 2230 (22 ppm), 2830 (28 ppm) and 3530 (35 ppm).

The 55 ppm imageRUNNER 5570 and the 65 ppm 6570 offer customized, Internet-enabled capabilities for high-volume environments. Targeting increased output, the 80 ppm imageRUNNER 8070, 90 ppm 9070 (a replacement for the 8500), 85 ppm imageRUNNER 85+ and 105 ppm imageRUNNER 105+ are designed to meet the productivity and budget requirements of mid-sized workgroups up to large corporate enterprises. With the exception of the 85+, each of these new black-and-white devices is equipped with MEAP technology.

Canon also unveiled the color-enabled imageRUNNER C5800. It operates at 58 ppm for black-and-white output and 16 ppm for office color, and incorporates Canon's Amorophorous Silicon (A-Si) drum technology.

The ColorPASS Z500E print controller brings color graphic printing solutions to its CLC 1100 Series devices. It features "Spot On" and "Auto Trapping" tools for color management and print accuracy.

The vendor also introduced a number of new software solutions, including Virtual Mailbox for document access and eCopy ShareScan OP (Open Platform) 2.0 for dealing with hard-copy documents.

Specifically geared for professional printing applications is imageWARE Publishing Manager Pro, a desktop publishing tool that enables integration of different document types into a single file.

—Kristen Monte

Variable Data Takes Center Stage

PHOENIX—An exceptional conference should challenge the minds of attendees to concepts and ideas that may be foreign to their current business model. By that standard, the third annual "PIA/GATF Variable Data Printing Conference," held here November 7-10, was an exceptional event.

Some 260 people jammed the sessions to learn from speakers and fellow industry providers on methods and processes to reshape a company into a new graphic communications business model.

The graphic arts marketplace is no longer for the timid or weak, stated Frank McPherson of Toronto-based Custom Data Imaging, during the opening session keynote. McPherson spoke in very provocative terms about what it takes to be in the new marketing services business. His stimulating presentation clearly set the conference tone for the balance of the event and gave everyone in the audience a reality check.

The program continued with a panel of six 'wise men': M.J. Anderson, David Davis, Frank Kanonik, John Leininger, Bill Marchiony and Noel Ward, who discussed and fielded questions from the audience on current trends and concerns within the world of personalization. The message was indelibly clear—new talents are required to master the art of variable information, the solution sell is different and so are the people that understand the one-to-one concept.

The afternoon breakout sessions and roundtable discussions were where most of the education and networking took place. Knowledgeable thought leaders like Kate Dunn, DIG; Frank Kanonik, ProSource Printing; M.J. Anderson, Trekk Cross Media; Bill Marchiony, XpressCopy.com; and Pat Veverica, Raine Consulting, led track sessions for beginners, experienced providers, and sales and marketing professionals. In addition, a panel discussion concerning sales compensation was based on the recently completed Digital Print Council study. The highlight of the day's activities was a Sponsor Fair where 24 industry vendors showcased products that continue to drive personalization forward.

The next day started with an eye-popping keynote from Steve Nathan, of the Borgata Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. He illustrated how the Borgata's effective use of variable data printing drove it from being the new kid on the block to the most profitable casino in Atlantic City. This was followed by a high-powered application of variable information from Fenkse Media and its customer, Service Corp. of America (SCA). They illustrated how, by utilizing a database from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, SCA could drive attendance to local luncheons focused on how vets could best use their government benefits to purchase prepaid funeral coverage.

The afternoon continued with a host of additional breakout sessions led by such notables as David Davis, Interquest; John Rafner, Nice Lines; and Noel Ward, On Demand Journal. Topics ranged from database basics to sophisticated composition software to mailing basics. Pat Veverica moderated one of the most highly acclaimed roundtable sessions on marketing variable data printing.

The night ended with the awarding of the first ever "VDP Bloopie" award to Jill Whitaker, from Sigler Printing and Publishing, for her outstanding recovery of a near disaster. A scheduled 6x9˝ BRC morphed into an 11x17˝ diecut nightmare. The judges realized how her smart problem-solving efforts averted a calamity and won praise from her customer.

The program ended on November 10 with a case study presented by Hogue Printing and eNeighborhoods for a nationally distributed real estate magazine. Hogue worked with the Banta Corp. and six other vendors to personalize the front cover with satellite images of each subscriber's real estate office. This challenging project combined the leading-edge technology of personalization with the traditional magazine and mailing world.

The final general session featured a new twist—inviting previous case study presenters back to get a 12-month update on the status of their personalization campaigns. One printer had lost the business to a university in-plant, while another had fended off a competitor through savvy salesmanship. The audience was most interested in the lessons learned by the latter company about how to reinforce their value add and expertise, while combating the perception that variable data printing is easy.

Next year's conference will be in a new Phoenix location. Mark your calendars for November 6-9, 2005.

—Steven Schnoll

Acrobat 7.0 Is Lucky Number For Print

SAN JOSE, CA—Print professionals, both at the creative stage and in production, are a key target market for the recently announced version 7.0 upgrade to the Adobe Acrobat product family from Adobe Systems Inc. This is particularly true of the Acrobat 7.0 Professional and Reader combination.

A key new feature of the pair is the ability of Acrobat 7.0 Professional users to "turn on" mark-up tools in the free Adobe Reader 7.0 software. This enables users of all versions to add comments, notes and highlights to PDF files in a collaborative workflow, including job proofing and approval.

As an extension of this capability, preflight results can be converted to "comments" within the document for review by Reader users. Enhancements to the preflight capabilities of the full version are said to include a new interface, improved profile generator, deeper checking of files and password protection of profiles when sharing with other users.

The Professional version also offers new tools to prevent and fix errors in print production. Users now can flatten live transparencies, convert color spaces to CMYK, fix stroke weight (hairline) problems and create trap presets for PostScript printing, all within Acrobat.

In addition, tools for rich black detection and previewing of ink coverage, along with color separations, help ensure the accuracy of final output. The upgrade also adds the ability to change the size of PDF pages, or "media box," without altering objects on the page.

The upgrade extends Acrobat's support of industry specifications, such as PDF-X 2003 and JDF (Job Definition Format). Users can create JDF-compliant product definitions to ensure accurate job submission to production workflows.

Version 7.0 applications for Windows (2000 and XP) and Mac OSX (10.2.8 and 10.3) platforms were expected to ship by the end of 2004. (www.adobe.com)