Graphic Arts

BY CAROLINE MILLER When you page through Donald Duncanson's long list of industry accomplishments, it's hard to imagine he ever thought of himself as an underachiever. At age 61, Duncanson is the co-founder and chairman of Dynacolor Graphics, a successful, $9.6 million commercial printing operation in Miami. He also is the founder of the Graphics of Americas trade show. A longtime member and past chairman of NAPL's board of directors, as well a member of several of the association's board committees, he also serves on the board of the Graphic Arts Show Co. and Graphic Arts Research & Education Foundation, and is a member

BY MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ Over the last quarter century Specifications for Web Offset Publications, or SWOP (www.swop.org), has become a major factor in the success of the publication industry in the United States and a widely recognized acronym around the world. This has been accomplished in a diverse business and technical environment by means of reasonable specifications put forth by a group of dedicated volunteers. These volunteers understand that the printing industry is a manufacturing business which, like other manufacturers, can streamline its production process when the input of information is standardized. SWOP specifications help everyone in the production chain—from advertisers to prepress

Line & Tone, Target MergeNEW YORK—A little more than a year since it acquired Finley Digital Photographics, Line & Tone, based here, announced that it is merging with Target Graphics, of Boonton, NJ. Target Graphics and its art creation subsidiary, MediaLogix, are now wholly owned subsidiaries of Line & Tone. The transaction will see Line & Tone move its Parsippany and Mahwah, NJ, operations into Target's Boonton facility. Quad/Graphics Expanding PlantsPEWAUKEE, WI—Gammerler, a manufacturer of in-line finishing systems, announced it has been chosen by Quad/Graphics, headquartered here, to supply overhead conveying systems for Quad plant expansions in Martinsburg, WV, Saratoga Springs, NY, as well

TOKYO—Following 17 years of research and development, Elcorsy announced it has sold the first production model of its ELCO 400 press, based on Elcography technology. This "electrocoagulation" process is said to turn liquid ink into gel with electric fields generated by small wires located across from the imaging cylinder. The press was installed by Toyo Ink, a technology partner of Elcorsy, and reportedly will be used to print instant newspapers at popular music shows and international sporting events, as well as personalized color schoolbooks. (www.elcorsy.com) RESTON, VA—The Committee for Graphic Arts Technologies Standards (CGATS) has defined an open, variable-data exchange standard, called

An alphabetical guide to some of the major graphic arts industry organizations, including addresses, telephone/fax numbers, Web addresses and key contacts.

BY MARK SMITH Digital photography spans two worlds, requiring users to meld near equal parts of artistic flare and technological prowess. This dichotomy has impacted the adoption of the process almost as greatly as advances in the technology. As a result, the business picture has been complicated. When the first digital cameras were introduced, there was a school of thought that said these devices were most akin to scanners and should be approached as such. The logical conclusion was that digital photography should be a prepress process. However, the experiences of early adopters soon revealed that the photographer's "eye" still was required to get

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA—California Polytechnic State University now can give is students training on the Indigo TurboStream six-color digital offset press, thanks to a donation from Indigo N.V. Dr. Harvey Levenson, head of the school's Graphic Communication Department, commended the manufacturer for officially joining Cal Poly as a "Partner in Education." (www.indigonet.com) SPARTANBURG, SC—Altman Printing has been designated a Certified Microsoft Publisher 2002 Service Bureau. The certification process required the company to develop a specialty in outputting and printing electronic document files from the software program. (www.altmanprint.com) PITTSBURGH—Presstek is helping the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) renew its commitment to

BY MARK SMITH Since the dawn of the digital age in the graphic arts, remote proofing has seemed to be a logical way to more efficiently communicate with print clients. At that point, the Internet was still just the domain of computer geeks and researchers, and terms such as e-production and ASP wouldn't be coined for years. Yet, some prepress pioneers were trying to find effective ways to build electronic bridges to their client sites. The cost of maintaining a digital pipeline to customers had traditionally been a significant barrier to adoption of remote proofing. Given the rate at which high-speed Internet access is

CAMBRIDGE, MA—Pageflex Inc. and Xerox Corp. have entered into an agreement that gives Xerox the right to resell Pageflex's Mpower and Persona variable-data software on a non-exclusive, worldwide basis. Pageflex software also will be incorporated into a soon-to-be-announced solution from Xerox for the personalized and customized printing market. (www.pageflexinc.com and www.xerox.com) FAYETTEVILLE, AR—University of Arkansas Printing Services has added a new digital Xerox 6180 Book Factory system to its facility. Consisting of a digital printer and several binding units, the system was chosen by Rich Bundsgaard, director of printing services, after he researched a variety of alternatives. The university is

Digital Ins and Outs Tech Alert is the yearly conference at which the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) presents the results of its latest original research studies. At the recently held 2001 conference, studies presented in the digital arena included "Digital Imaging Press Print Attributes," "Digital Photography" and "Remote Proofing—State-of-the-Art Report." According to Dr. Richard M. Adams, study presenter and a GATF research scientist, the digital imaging press study wasn't intended to be a "shoot out," whereby output from competing devices is compared to determine the "winner." Still, manufacturers of the presses in question were asked to print press sheets from a digital