Eastman Kodak

When Seybold closed the doors to its 1999 San Francisco expo last month, three technology trends stood dominant: the Internet, PDF and the quest for the all-digital workflow. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO If one potent word could sum up the energy, enthusiasm and very direction of Seybold San Francisco, held for the final time this century at the Moscone Center last month, it could easily be: Internet. The Internet, the World Wide Web. Seybold San Francisco was a virtual debutante's ball for the global gateway that is the Internet. New companies emerged as major players for the commercial printing market—all gearing to harness the

Wide-format's color proofing media and general-use consumables are expanding the gloss, durability, consistency and color parameters of their imposing output engines. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Whether the intent is outdoor signage or to generate a contract proof, wide-format imaging is only as effective as the media on which the image is output. Naturally, as with every hot new technology, the output engine gets all the hype—which vendors are manufacturing which output devices, what are the output speeds and color consistencies of wide-format printers currently on the market, and what are the price points of these elite output engines? Output, output, output. What about the

What's the latest technological perks to thermal platesetting? What is the hot news on thermal consumables? What recent thermal purchases are fueling CTP? What's the current talk on thermal? Here are hot bytes on the hottest developments. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Thermal innovator Creo Products and Heidelberg Prepress report the installation of the 1,000th CTP system at Holland, MI-based Steketee-Van Huis. SVH recently took delivery of its new Trendsetter Spectrum 3244 digital halftone proofing system. The installation of the thermal Spectrum marks the 1,000th digital CTP system implemented by Creo and Heidelberg. Of the 1,000 installs, roughly 900 have been thermal. At Steketee-Van Huis, the Trendsetter Spectrum

Riding high on its belief of embracing technological innovation, The Hennegan Company, a four-generation heatset web and sheetfed commercial printer founded in 1886, meets modern-day quality demands by leaping into thermal CTP and cutting-edge digital proofing. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Sixty minutes. That may not sound like much time, but when those 60 minutes are spent, in seclusion, dissecting a select grouping of printed samples produced at the century old Florence, KY-based Hennegan Company, now in its fourth generation, each minute amounts to time very well spent. It only takes one hour of concentrated scrutiny to detect the meticulous care that must

Whether drum or flatbed, today's high-tech scanning systems are allowing prepress departments to do more, create more—even charge more. Here's a look at some of the new technologies and creative techniques empowering prepress with high-voltage scans. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The scanning market, like those of its prepress counterparts, is continuing to evolve, especially the flatbed component. Interesting, though, how much hype is concentrated around the kings of digital output, such as the thermal platesetter—arguably the most hyped digital output device ever to hit electronic prepress. But what of the content creator—the device that enables color images to be digitized, manipulated, then output?

Adobe. Agfa. BARCO Graphics. EFI. Epson. IBM. Indigo. Heidelberg. PageFlex. Scitex. Splash. Varis. Xeikon. Xerox. The movers and shakers of on-demand got together recently in the Big Apple to promote everything from variable-data software to wide-format output to the latest initiatives in PDF functionality, servers and digital cameras. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Between the digital prepress performances of Seybold Boston and Seybold San Francisco, the greats of the on-demand digital printing industry hit the Big Apple with the latest in digital color presses, variable data software, digital cameras—everything and anything designed to boost the short-run performance standards of the on-demand digital printing market.

Anderson Lithograph's recent investments—which include a new eight-color MAN Roland web press, plus ongoing digital prepress and pressroom quality enhancements (Hint: Harris & Bruno's chambered doctor blade system)—are strengthening this high-end printer's profit and productivity margins. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO A LOOK at Anderson Lithograph, strictly from an equipment purchase standpoint, presents an interesting case study in the calculated risks and productivity merits associated with making the leap to new equipment investments. Anderson Lithograph, a high-end commercial printer situated in star-studded Los Angeles, is no stranger to leading, even bleeding, edge technology investments. As of last month, Anderson Lithograph became a part

"I don't know your company. I don't know your product. I don't know you. Now what was it you wanted to see me about?" That's my best recollection of the caption on a cartoon published by McGraw-Hill many years ago showing a crusty purchasing agent addressing a perspiring young salesman. I've never forgotten it. I can't think of a better illustration of the value of a brand. These days we hear a lot about "branding," the value of a "brand." In the world of sports, for example, we recognize personalities such as Michael Jordan or John Madden as "brands." I glanced at the title of a

From creative design to full-service prepress to both traditional offset and digital printing, Kreber Enterprises has capitalized on a regional niche, serving the dominant furniture industry of High Point, NC—to the tune of $32 million a year. It's difficult to get a handle on exactly what Kreber Enterprises is. It doesn't fit into any single category. But that doesn't keep Howard Smith, president of the High Point, NC-based company, from trying. "We're a turnkey solution to the graphic arts industry," Smith explains nonchalantly. Turnkey, meaning Kreber does it all—from creative design to a photographic studio that's bigger than most warehouses, to a full-service

BY PINCUS JASPERT The world's largest graphic communications supplier, Heidelberg, will be 150 years old in the Year 2000. As such, "anniversaries offer a chance to reflect," Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG Chairman and CEO Harmut Mehdorn told some 60 of the world's leading industry trade magazine editors at an international press briefing held recently in Heidelberg, Germany. The phenomenal growth of the Heidelberg group over the past three years has not only involved going public, but also brought the acquisition of key industry suppliers into the Heidelberg fold, as well as partnerships with such companies as Kodak Polychrome Graphics. With the nature of the business in constant