GENT, BELGIUM—Esko and the three principal shareholders of Artwork Systems have agreed to merge their operations.The resulting company has estimated 2007 revenues in excess of EUR 180 million and a workforce of nearly 1,000 professionals. The move consolidates the market leadership of both companies in packaging and printing pre-production products and services in Europe, the…
Companies to consolidate their global market position in pre-production products and services for packaging and printing GENT, BELGUIM—August 2, 2007—Esko and the three principal shareholders of Artwork Systems (Euronext Brussels: ARTS) today have reached an agreement whereby Esko and Artwork Systems will combine their operations. The resulting new entity, with estimated 2007 revenues in excess of EUR 180 million and a combined workforce of close to 1,000 professionals, consolidates the market leadership of both companies in packaging and printing pre-production products and services in Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. On August 2, the three principal shareholders of Artwork Systems Group NV signed an
SEWICKLEY, PA—The PIA/GATF revealed the winners of the 2007 InterTech technology awards. Eleven of the 31 nominations were chosen to receive the prestigious awards. They are: Energy Elite dual layer “no bake” plate by Agfa Graphics; UV printing blanket refurbishment by Enviro Image Solutions; Fujifilm C-Fit image intelligence software; Kodak Traceless system by Eastman Kodak; font emulation in the Harlequin RIP, Global Graphics Software; Heidelberg Anicolor inking unit, Heidelberg USA; Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105, Heidelberg USA; KBA Sensoric infeed system from KBA North America; Roland 700 DirectDrive from MAN Roland; the DeskPack 3-dx by Esko and the Oce VarioPrint 6250 digital printer by Oce North
SEWICKLEY, PA—The Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation has selected 11 technologies to receive 2006 PIA/GATF InterTech Technology awards. The winners will receive the Lucite InterTech stars during the competition’s annual luncheon at the fall administrative meetings, held November 9-12 in Milwaukee. The 2006 InterTech recipients, in alphabetical order with the technology listed first, include: Adobe PDF print engine, Adobe Systems; Microsystems Microcip software module, C&P Microsystems; Dalim Mistral, Dalim Software; WebCenter, Esko-Graphics; Magnum ink formulation dispenser, GFI Innovations; Zero-slip nip enhancement, Goss International Americas; KBA Genius 52 UV sheetfed offset press, KBA North America; InlineFoiler, MAN Roland; DeskDirect, PrintSoft; Liberty sheetfed inks, Sun Chemical;
SEWICKLEY, PA—The Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation has selected 11 technologies to receive 2006 PIA/GATF InterTech Technology awards. The winners, selected from among 35 nominations, addressed issues such as touchless workflows, package printing and Web-to-print technologies. The winners will receive the Lucite InterTech stars during the competition’s annual luncheon at the fall administrative meetings, held November 9-12 in Milwaukee. The 2006 InterTech recipients, in alphabetical order with the technology listed first, include: Adobe PDF print engine, Adobe Systems; Microsystems Microcip software module, C&P Microsystems; Dalim Mistral, Dalim Software; WebCenter, Esko-Graphics; Magnum Ink formulation dispenser, GFI Innovations; Zero-slip nip enhancement, Goss International Americas; KBA Genius
BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor "Workflow" used to be an easy, concise way to reference the digital equivalent of conventional prepress. It spanned the processes from when a file came in the door until the plate went out to the pressroom. Over time, usage of the term has been extended to encompass so much of the print production process that it now is in danger of applying to everything and effectively defining nothing. Workflow already has been—or is in the process of being—extended: * back to the customer, initially in the form of preflighting and remote proofing solutions, but increasingly including production portals
BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Industry vendors continue to weave a convoluted web of interconnecting technologies and business relationships. Imagine, for a moment, if all of such connections between exhibitors at PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05 had been represented physically by running strings between their booths. The result likely would have rivaled the work of even the most industrious spider. Quiet a few new strands would have been added just at the show, particularly in the areas of interfacing offset and digital workflows and marketing of new plate technologies. Though not expressly sold as JDF (Job Definition Format) solutions, that technology generally
BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Printers in growing numbers are having second thoughts about their computer-to-plate (CTP) systems. First-time buyers are still the dominant force in the market today, but the aging installed base is rapidly driving up the percentage of shops looking to invest in a second, or even third, generation of technology. By the end of 2004, the installed base of CTP devices in North America had reached nearly 12,000 units, including metal and non-metal systems, according to a new plate market study recently published by PRIMIR (the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization). Completed by State Street Consultants in
BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Few things are as fundamental to the color offset printing process as screening. Add to that the experience built up with conventional screening, general resistance to change and some technical issues, and it's easy to understand the industry's caution when it comes to alternative screening solutions. The category of enhanced screening technologies now has been expanded to include what are referred to as "hybrid" systems, along with true stochastic or frequency modulated (FM) screening. Hybrid technology claims to combine the benefits of conventional, or AM (amplitude modulated), and FM screening. One group of specialty screening solutions that won't
