EFI

By Erik Cagle What I don't understand could fill a book. Or at least a column. For our intent, a column will suffice. The following subjects continue to confound and amaze me. Well...they don't, really, but it helps to make the prose airtight and concise. Who needs a crock of rambling, waffling and fence walking that does nothing but take up space and make the reader yearn for Beetle Bailey and the funny pages? Not me, and certainly not you, gentle reader. Without further delay, a couple of issues affecting the industry and housing availability in the Philadelphia region. BARBARIANS AT THE C DRIVE: Can someone tell

Motheral Printing Chairman Dies FORTH WORTH, TX—Carl Motheral, 76, chairman of Motheral Printing, died of a heart attack in January. Motheral was part of the second generation to run the family-owned printing business that his father and mother, Fitzhugh and Ella Motheral, started in 1934. He joined what was then a small family business in 1950. Mr. Motheral ran the business along with his brothers Foist and Wesley, and retained the title of chairman when he retired four years ago. His son, Jim, succeeded him as president. Tom Basore to Retire From WOA ALEXANDRIA, VA—Thomas "Tom" Basore, executive director of the Web Offset Association (WOA) and

The broader trend toward convergence in the digital printing segment also is evident at the product level. Black-and-white and color printing systems are being enhanced and expanded to meet the needs of corporate and commercial users alike. The trend is reflected in the capabilities and features of the latest product introductions from leading vendors. To expand its market, Heidelberg introduced the Digimaster 9110m network imaging system that uses magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) toner and prints special fonts and characters. It said to enable data centers and transactional printing environments to also do print-on-demand work with normal toner by simply changing developer stations. The

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

Efforts Undertaken to Stimulate Digital Printing Business CHICAGO—Digital printing equipment might as well carry a warning label—"Customer education required!"—given how often that need is cited as the reason for the slower than expected development of the market segment. Several new programs recently have been introduced by industry groups and companies to try to fill the void. "Designing4Digital" is a new customer education program launched at Graph Expo last month by the Digital Printing Council (DPC) of Printing Industries of America (PIA). This multimedia "outreach toolkit" reportedly is designed to help printers educate their customers about the benefits and techniques of digital printing, thereby

The show must go on. The spirit behind that old saying resonated through the halls of McCormick Place during the later days of PRINT 01. The show remained open for its entire scheduled run, even though the level of activity did drop significantly after Tuesday morning. The mood and topics of conversation though, understandably, turned away from graphic arts industry issues to the horror of the terrorist attacks. "Prior to September 11th, in spite of the weak economy, PRINT 01 was attracting good attendance, and exhibitors reported steady and serious buying activity across all product types and sizes," reported Regis J. Delmontagne, president of

With NexPress 2100 unveiled, Heidelberg ready for the Xerox challenge, Indigo and Xeikon bolstered, Screen showing intent, Presstek enabling on-press imaging for Adast, Ryobi, Sakurai and soon Didde—and more manufacturers, not the least of which is MAN Roland, targeting full-production digital—there is a new zest to digital printing. It ain't just about on-demand any more . . . BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Say goodbye to on-demand digital printing—at least the on-demand part. It is now June 2000, the much hyped DRUPA 2000 is over and the digital production color press is an emerging force to be taken very seriously by even the most

Digital printing is finally well beyond concept acceptance, as On Demand proved last month. New moves in on-press imaging and color server technologies—and the Internet—are delivering on the promise of digital printing. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Given the impossible-to-ignore high velocity of the Internet as it targets multiple areas of the print production process lately, it is no surprise that the Internet is also targeting the time-sensitive profit center that is on-demand digital printing. True to current form, the dotcom emphasis at On Demand in New York was staggering, but not surprising—new online solutions for on-demand document fulfillment, new Internet tools for

BOSTON—As the new year began, the war of words between Waltham, MA-based Harlequin and Foster City, CA-based Electronics for Imaging (EFI), heated up. On the same day that Harlequin filed a lawsuit in United States District Court here claiming that EFI has violated a federal law that governs false advertising, the U.S. District Court in San Francisco ruled in EFI's favor in its patent infringement lawsuit against Harlequin. The San Francisco court ruled for EFI on all 17 issues raised by Harlequin. EFI officials say the San Francisco court's rulings pave the way for EFI to fully press its infringement case against Harlequin.

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