PITTSBURGH—The Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) has announced its InterTech Technology award recipients for 2001. Nine innovative technologies were chosen from 38 submissions. The award winners, alphabetically by company, include: MediaBridge Solutions, Digimarc Corp.MediaBridge Solutions is a suite of software tools that allows printers and publishers to embed a unique and imperceptible digital watermark into virtually any printed material. Digitally watermarked print materials instantly link readers to online information when held in front of a web camera or other image-capture device enabled with MediaBridge software. The software launches a browser that instantly connects the user to relevant information, applications, offers or opportunities to purchase on the
Heidelberg
BY MARK SMITH A first-time buyer recently posted a message on the CTP Production forum seeking recommendations for "CTP systems" to investigate. The quote marks are important because the term itself sparked a divergent thread in which the question of what CTP means was explored. This discussion started with a response suggesting the buyer consider the Rampage solution, since it produces plate-ready files. A rebuff quickly followed, asserting that Rampage was not a "system," meaning a piece of hardware capable of writing an image to a digital plate. That, in turn, led to a series of exchanges about whether CTP refers to any
BY ERIK CAGLE Of all the businesses that are vulnerable to a nocturnal attack by would-be robbers, a commercial printing company seems among the least likely to be targeted. That didn't stop a gang of thieves from conning their way into One Source Digital Solutions and making off with approximately $250,000 in prepress equipment and damaging a press to the tune of $500,000 while trying to steal it. In the process, the robbers bound and gagged the only employee who was on duty, only after asking him specific questions pertaining to the equipment and stealing his pickup truck to aid in the equipment
HAGERSTOWN, MD—Fresh off the installation of a Heidelberg Speedmaster 102-6-P sheetfed press, HBP Inc. has entered the third phase of its multimillion dollar expansion program.HBP has broken ground on a 40,000-square foot addition to its facility here, virtually doubling the company's operating base. The completion of the addition is expected this fall, followed by a…
BY ERIK CAGLE If it is September, this must be Chicago. Change is in the air, and where else but the Windy City is more apropos for taking a reading of this change? It is a special year for the graphic arts industry, as it seems to be in transition. Layoffs have rocked many of the big printers as a swooning economy has touched all. Manufacturers are crossing their fingers in the hope that PRINT 01 is successful; some have gone as far to call this a "make-or-break" show in light of some poorly attended trade shows this year. Manufacturers, suppliers, printers, trade finishers,
BY CAROLINE MILLER When a printer opens up a can of ink, he sees more than just cyan, magenta, yellow, black or a PMS color. He also sees things like trust, quality and technical support, which all help ensure that each batch is as good as the last. It's this combination of product and customer service that is essential for any printer. And the way to develop this winning combination is through a working partnership with an ink supplier. Whether you're a commercial, quick or label printer, a good relationship with an ink supplier helps ensure quality printed products. One true-life example of
For John Zamora, it means being able to launch a new company with $40 million worth of new equipment. BY ERIK CAGLE John Zamora pretty much had it all, but even if he didn't, he surely had enough. At the age of 54, Zamora boasts a happy marriage and three grown children, a stable full of his precious race horses, a reputation as one of the best salesmen in the commercial printing industry and several million dollars in the bank. By most definitions, that stands as a successful career and life—the reward being countless leisure hours at the race track, travel or any
In case you haven't been outside lately, it's August; the temperature is 97° and the humidity is 97 percent. These are the Dog Days of summer. These days are about lethargy, lemonade and lots of air conditioning. Lots of your brother and sister print salespeople just stop working in August. Why not? The boss is at the shore. Some salespeople rationalize that the print buyers seem to have crawled underground. These salespeople say, "Why should I work?" Most of the buyers are backpacking in the mountains or scuba diving in the cool waters of the Caribbean. Well, I aim to do something about all this
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
BY CAROLINE MILLER If there appears to be one technology that is going to steal the show at the eight-day PRINT 01 trade show held at Chicago's McCormick Place, September 6-13, it is going to be the digital imaging (DI) press. "No matter what you think about the DI press, pros or cons, you no longer can ignore the impact of DI technology. We've identified at least a dozen manufacturers that will exhibit a DI press, reports Bill Lamparter of PrintCom Consulting Group. The buzz surrounding color digital presses began last year at DRUPA and not much has changed since the German show.
