Special Drupa Coverage — Drupa Foretells Digital Future

There were a couple of surprises on the ink-jet front in the form of sheetfed machines from Dainippon Screen and Fujifilm Corp. capable of printing on coated stocks. Both firms restricted viewing of these machines and said the product names were provisional, which raised some doubt about when and in what final form these technologies will be commercialized. To be fair, HP and Kodak both had their webfed ink-jet presses behind stanchions, and Kodak at times would lower a set of curtains that completely blocked its Concept Press from view.