DIGITAL digest

Presstek Committed To Short-run Market

HUDSON, NH—In response to growing demand for short-run color output, Presstek Inc. believes it has developed digital solutions that target this marketplace and provide customers a smarter way to print. That was the primary message expressed by company executives during a pre-Graph Expo press event held at its headquarters last month.

“While market data shows that other areas of the print market are shrinking, short-run color is growing,” noted Ed Marino, Presstek president and CEO. “Whether print service providers choose to address this opportunity with the speed, quality and profitability of a highly automated DI press or with the efficiency and high quality of chemistry-free CTP plate making for conventional offset, Presstek solutions are designed to be the fastest path to the digital future for printing establishments, regardless of their size.”

One solution where the company holds high hopes is the new Presstek 52DI digital offset press, making its North American debut at Graph Expo in Chicago. Capable of printing up to 10,000 iph at 300 lpi, the landscape-oriented (52cm) press accommodates a 20.47x14.76˝ sheet size. Geoff Loftus, Presstek’s general manager for press products, said the 52DI’s sweet spot is the 500 to 5,000 color sheet range—filling a gap between digital copier-based technology and conventional offset.

He added that there are 2,500 active DI presses worldwide, with growth expectations at 10 percent to 15 percent by the end of 2007.

Also on hand for the press event was Presstek customer Grover Daniels, CEO of Boston’s Copy Cop, who installed a DirectPress 5334DI to support his company’s eight retail locations. He noted that the press has helped Copy Cop offer clients higher quality and faster turnarounds.

John O’Rourke, CTP systems marketing director, reported the positive reception being received to Presstek’s new Anthem Pro chemistry-free digital plate.

Anthem Pro is a thermally imaged CTP plate that combines the advantages of chemistry-free operation and the capability of a grained anodized surface. Designed for run lengths up to 100,000 impressions, there is no need for gumming, baking or chemical processing of the plate.

“A truly chemistry-free plate streamlines workflow, eliminates variation in process control, saves time and materials, and protects our environment,” O’Rourke pointed out.

With 1,000 employees, three manufacturing facilities and most recent fiscal year sales of $274.1 million ($296.9 million projected), Marino also revealed that Presstek’s growth plan is centered around strengthening its sales channel in North America, further global market penetration beyond the United States and Europe, as well as continued product line expansion. This will likely include, among others, an even larger format DI press and a new entry-level model. Direct sales currently account for 68 percent of Presstek revenues; dealers, 23 percent; and OEM agreements, 9 percent.

Kodak Sees Color-Accurate, Unified Workflow

ROCHESTER, NY—Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group held a Graph Expo 2006 pre-show briefing for industry editors and analysts to lay out its plans for the exhibition and beyond. Delivering on its Unified Workflow concept, supported by ColorFlow technology, will be the company’s top priority going forward, according to Jim Langley, president of the group and senior vice president of Eastman Kodak.

The keys to continued growth for the company include supporting blended digital and offset production, driving further growth in digital printing and providing the best integrated workflow (enabled by JDF), Langley says.

Kodak’s Unified Workflow is intended to provide an end-to-end digital infrastructure for all printing that integrates business, production, color and data workflows, using software tools, open standards (such as JDF, PDF and ICC) and intelligent (rules-based) automation. It is designed to be a scalable, modular solution.

Business solutions can include a MIS solution such as Kodak Enterprise Management Solution (EMS) software, which is on track for commercial release in the second half of 2007, and production planning systems such as Kodak Upfront 4.0 production planning software.

Production solutions may include a combination such as the Prinergy workflow system, PREPS imposition software and Kodak Link data exchange software. Another component can be customer- facing products such as the InSite prepress production portal, TeamWorks project management software, EyeMedia asset management and Nextreme Web-to-print solution. Also covered are digital printing front ends (DFEs) such as Nexstation IV and Smartboard document software, along with variable data solutions such as Darwin and Printable’s FusionPro.

Given the broad scope of this vision, there are a couple of key points to keep in mind, says Jon Bracken, director of product development, Graphic Communications Group. Unified Workflow builds on existing products because “customers can’t justify throwing out what they have today,” he says. And, it is scalable so Kodak and its customers can add new capabilities over time.

Web-based interactions are becoming a more critical part of client relationships, but Kodak’s data indicates 50 percent of printers have no customer-facing tools, Bracken adds. As a step toward answering that need, the company will show its new Web-to-Unified Print solution as a “technology demonstration” at Graph Expo. It marries the function of a standard Web-to-print solution with Kodak’s Unified Workflow, according to the director of product development. Commercial release is slated for the second quarter of 2007.

ColorFlow is another major initiative being rolled out by Kodak. It is described as a “technology for seamlessly communicating, controlling and confirming color across multiple devices” used in offset and digital printing operations.

The stated goal is to help print providers set achievable color expectations for customers and provide confidence those expectations will be met in the final output. As part of this effort, Kodak Certified Processes will be established that carry a certified mark.

The scope of the program will not be limited to just Kodak manufactured products, notes Doug Goertzen, director of color, Graphic Communications Group. Products that are currently ColorFlow enabled include Kodak Prepare PDF software, Prinergy workflow, Veris and Matchprint Inkjet proofers, InSite with Matchprint Virtual software and Nexpress 2100 and 2500 digital color presses. The list of solutions will continually grow and delivery on the complete vision will take several years, Goertzen says.

Among the other introductions Kodak planned to make at the show are Kodak Violet Print photo-polymer plates for high-quality CTP applications and Staccato DX screening for digital printing.

Pieces of Acrobat 8 Benefit Printers

SAN JOSE, CA—Adobe Systems has unveiled Acrobat 8 Professional software for design and print professionals. Printers stand to benefit from some of the broader focused enhancements, such as the ability to apply color space conversions on an image basis or to an entire file.

A new Package feature enables disparate job elements to be combined into what appears like a single document, while preserving the contents as individual files that can even have different page sizes, orientations, etc. This means marketing programs, trade show materials and other projects with a mix of formats can now be transferred as a single file.

Other upgrades are specifically targeted to printing applications.

Acrobat 8 implements JDF for controlling and automating PDF file creation. This enables print providers to create document templates for customers that use JDF data to direct the proper creation, preflighting and outputting of files.

Further, the latest version adds capabilities for automated correcting of files as part of the preflighting process. Pre-sets have been built-in for the proper creation and validation of PDF/x and PDF/A.

Adobe also introduced Acrobat Connect software for real-time, interactive Web conferencing and collaboration.

digital bytes

SEWICKLEY, PA—PIA/GATF (Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation) has appointed Julie Shaffer the new director of the Digital Printing Council (DPC). Shaffer, who has been with the association since 2000, is taking over the helm of the DPC from Joanne Vinyard, who will continue to work in the industry.

The council is a premier program and core service of PIA/GATF, providing informative tools and publications that are designed to help firms be more productive, efficient and generate more sales with new digital technologies. For more information, visit www.digitalprintingcouncil.com.

BOULDER, CO—AFP Color Consortium, an open standards initiative for the digital printing industry, has reached a major milestone, IBM reports. A majority of the consortium’s membership has approved IBM’s proposal to fully open up development of the Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) architecture.

The 28-company standards body previously agreed to publish key color components of the architecture. Under the new agreement, high-speed black-and-white printing will also be included in the open standards initiative. More information is available at www.afpcolor.org.

RIDGEFIELD PARK, NJ—Agfa Graphics recently has logged a couple CTP system placements in newspaper operations. The Salisbury Post of Salisbury, NC, is adding an Agfa Advantage X violet platesetter as a complement to its existing Agfa Advantage DL platesetter and Arkitex workflow. The Advocate, a daily newspaper in Barton Rouge, LA, owned by Capital City Press, is installing a complete system that includes two Advantage DL platesetters driven by the Arkitex workflow system.

ROCHESTER, NY—Kodak also continues to see strong demand in the newspaper sector for its Kodak Trendsetter News 70 thermal platesetters. Athens Newspapers in Athens, GA, part of Morris Communications Co., and Findlay Publishing of Findlay, OH, each purchased a pair of the platesetters fronted by a Kodak Prinergy Evo workflow system and using Kodak thermal digital plates. Also adding matched sets of the platesetters are Courier Publishing of Grants Pass, OR, and Gannett River States Publishing in Monroe, LA.

NEW YORK CITY—Graphic Systems Group (GSG), a large production agency in Manhattan, has implemented a MediaBeacon R3volution digital asset management system to manage an estimated one million internal and client files.

RESTON, VA—To facilitate communication among its members and other interested parties, the International Color Consortium (ICC) has launched a new open user forum on color management at www.color.org/icc_users.html. “The goal of this listserv is to provide a forum where ICC color users and vendors can meet one another to swap advice, answer questions and trade color war stories about their use of ICC profiles and workflows,” says William Li, ICC chair.

LIVONIA, MI—Looking to implement a more open, PDF-based workflow, Valassis has installed a PRiNTEMPO system from Dalim Software. It worked with The Oldham Group, a Dalim Authorized Reseller.

BROOKFIELD, WI—National Graphics has been issued U.S. Patent Number 7,083,340 B2, titled “Systematic Lenticular Lens Selection in a Digital Printing Environment.” This patent is for a method and apparatus for determining a lenticular lens resolution for use in digital printing. The company says it is offering to license the patent to select digital printers, giving them the opportunity to provide high-quality digital lenticular printing.

ROUND ROCK, TX—Quad/Graphics has selected a combination of Dell printers (models 5210n, 5310n, 5110n color and 1815dn) to standardize its desktop printing infrastructure. It also is purchasing Dell PowerEdge 2850 servers, OptiPlex GX620 desktops and Precision 380 workstations for its Sussex, WI, headquarters, nine domestic plants and 14 sales offices.

ROCHESTER, NY—Students in the Rochester Institute of Technology’s School of Print Media are now set to benefit from a donation by Dalim Software of an entire suite of its software solutions, including the DALiM MiSTRAL project management system, TWiST production automation software and DiALOGUE online softproofing. System installation and training was provided by Blanchard Systems, a Dalim reseller.

ROCHESTER, NY—Xerox Corporation scientists have developed a font with characters just 1⁄100 th of an inch high for security applications in digital printing. The new MicroText Specialty Imaging Font is designed to help make it harder to forge documents with personal information, such as birth certificates, personal identification papers and checks.