Adobe Systems

Xerox Sees Future In Black-and-White ROCHESTER, NY—Based on its market analysis, Xerox Corp. believes there is $18 billion in annual print sales worldwide that potentially could migrate from offset to digital production. The nature of the applications, substrates used and other job requirements make this work suited to digital production, asserts Valerie Blauvelt, vice president of integrated marketing. "Our goal is to capture 10 percent of that opportunity." Xerox has identified a "mid production" market and technology category that fills a gap in price, performance and capability, adds Mark Waxenberg, vice president and general manager, Production Solutions Business Unit. In response, the company has

Last summer I wrote a column for Printing Impressions called "Whatever Happened to Cross-Media Publishing?" In it I explored the 10-year history of the concept of cross-media publishing (sometimes called "media-independent publishing"). It sure sounded great in the early '90s: a single publishing system, a unified publishing workflow, encompassing both print and electronic (mostly online) media. But, I noted, "the majority of what we find in print today does not appear on the Web; and very little of what's on the Web ever makes it to print." Trying to figure out why the cross-media dream had not been realized I noted that what works best

In May 1998, William Davis, then new chairman and CEO of RR Donnelley—one of the largest printing companies in the world—said, "In this game, manufacturing discipline will win. The craftsman who has to leave his thumbprint on every page will lose." He continued: "We are a decade behind in manufacturing best practices." His comments reflect the modern challenge of the graphic arts. Traditionally the manufacture of print has been craft-oriented, from design through to print. Designers made their reputations by creating unusual print pieces, with beautiful typography, tough-to-match colors, and unusual trim and bind requirements. Printers made their reputations by dealing under deadline with these

Adobe Introduces New Application Platform SAN JOSE, CA—Adobe Systems recently unveiled its new Adobe Creative Suite. The Premium Edition combines upgrades of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and GoLive to "CS" versions, incorporates Acrobat 6.0 Professional and introduces the Version Cue file version manager. A Standard Edition includes everything but GoLive CS and Acrobat 6.0 Professional. In a related move, the company is eliminating the print publishing, digital video and Web software "collections" it previously offered. Each medium is still represented in the feature upgrades, with a fair number being print related. Adobe Photoshop CS is said to increase user control with a redesigned

Bridging the Digital Divide BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Trade shows are supposed to be a forum for presenting solutions to meet the needs of attendees. What many people took away from workflow displays at GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO, however, was a bag full of questions . . . and maybe the odd poster or two, a foam sword, canisters of M&Ms, etc. That doesn't mean attendees weren't looking to buy. Exhibitors were more ardent than usual about the quality of the leads they were getting, and they claimed to also be pleased with the quantity. "Turned the corner" was a popular

System Enables Printers to be Self-Calibrating WEBSTER, NY—Printed colors have been one of the toughest things to get consistently right because there are so many variables in the production process, whether it is digital or traditional offset. Scientists at Xerox Corp.'s Webster research center now claim to have invented and patented an ultra-fast, low-cost spectrophotometer that they expect to streamline and simplify color printing. The spectrophotometer is said to cost less than one-sixth the price of current models. It can be embedded inside a digital printer to take color measurements on each passing page in a few milliseconds. As the paper moves at

Because you will be reading words in mid-February that I wrote at the end of December, you'll know if my passion of the moment came to reality. Did my Philadelphia Eagles get to, and win, the Super Bowl? Is Donovan McNabb, the Eagles talented quarterback, a hero? But wait a minute. We have matured past all that. We now realize that football players and movie stars are not heroes, but just highly talented and entertaining people. The true heroes are fire fighters, police, soldiers and all those brave individuals who risk their lives to save others and protect our freedoms. And rightly so; September

RIDGEFIELD PARK, NJ—Agfa recently concluded a three-day Apogee user conference in Ghent, Belgium. This was the third time Apogee users (185 from 21 countries) gathered to discuss workflow issues and solutions. Technology partners Adobe Systems, Enfocus, Hewlett-Packard and ScenicSoft joined Agfa to provide insights into the next generation of workflow automation, which the company says is essential to printing business growth. Jean-François Cuillerier, of Quebecor World, a co-developer of Agfa Delano, emphasized the positive results of automation at the printer. "We are in control," he noted. "There is less stress in the plant and less confusion. We have more predictability, and our customers

Dateline—Monday, March 25, 2002, VUE/Point conference, Washington, DC. I always wanted to do that; it sounds so important. I feel like a crack AP reporter breaking a red-hot story. You probably think the time I spent attending the VUE/Point conference went to my head. Perhaps, but you have to admit it added a little drama to this month's column. And adding some drama was my intention because I believe that Adobe's PDF Transit is going to be a key component of tomorrow's print shop, and tomorrow's print shop is already here. So, for me, this was a must write and, for all of you,

BIRMINGHAM, UK—In times like these, it's hard to look beyond day-to-day events and challenges in running a business. But, American printers would be well advised to pause a moment and consider a spring trip to the U.K. for IPEX 2002: the global technology event for print, publishing and media. The event, which only comes around once every four years, is scheduled to take place at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) from April 9-17, 2002. In terms of scope and ancillary benefits, national trade shows can't provide the same experience of a major international event. Based on commitments made to date, IPEX 2002 is