BIRMINHAM, UK—Technology innovators in prepress, press and postpress turned their collective attention to England recently as IPEX drew global crowds to this industrial city. Heidelberg rolled out the Speedmaster 74 DI, Screen jumped into the digital press ring with TruePress, Kodak Polychrome Graphics touted Kodak Approval XP4, Scitex marketed its Lotem family of platesetters, and Agfa Div., Bayer Corp., put the spotlight on Thermostar P970 and P971 for 830nm and 1,064nm thermal CTP, respectively. Technology highlights turned to new innovations in color management, thermal CTP, digital offset presses, variable data software enhancements, digital color proofing innovations, new scanning systems, large-format printing solutions, imagesetters and
Heidelberg
BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The latest installment of Printing Impressions' year-long report on CIP3 initiatives visits Vancouver, Canada-based thermal imaging innovator Creo Products, recently awarded a GATF InterTech Award for PrintLink, Creo's digital ink key preset software that boosts operational efficiency by bringing CIP3 into the picture. Beyond its role as a thermal imaging technology innovator, Creo is a member of the CIP3 consortium that developed the industry standard for exchanging information between print production devices. At Creo, CIP3 is PrintLink. How does PrintLink link? PrintLink generates CIP3-compliant Print Production Format (PPF) files during platemaking that define ink coverage on a plate precisely. PrintLink delivers these files via
As the commercial printing segment absorbs more digital presses, the promise of digital links—such as Agfa's PrintCast—adds profit potential to the on-demand investment. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO One year ago, PrintCast was launched. It was to be a digital link, a worldwide facilitator of distribute-and-print capabilities. Agfa had a vision for PrintCast: a distribute-and-print network with a hub operation based in Agfa's Wilmington, MA, facility that would digitally—via ISDN—link all Chromapress installations. The objective was clear. The PrintCast hub, the nerve center of the distribute-and-print network, would consist of dedicated facilities, personnel and equipment—all connected by high-speed ISDN links to Chromapress customer locations interested
How profitable are digital press investments? Not very—if on-demand postpress support is lacking. Finish-on-demand is just as important as its glamorous partner, as any on-demand printer can well attest. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The finishing component of on-demand digital printing is every bit as important as is the high-tech print engine that drives the most elite of digital presses. If the finishing finesse is missing, despite the best performance power of the finest digital color press, a digital print job is not only at risk of not being on-demand, but not being on time. As more traditional offset commercial printers and short-run shops go
The teeming class of digital color presses seems to be on the verge of a graduation of sorts. Xeikon celebrated the shipment of its 1,000th digital color press earlier this year, a DCP/32D. Indigo reports well over 1,000 E-Print shipments globally. Xerox boasts more than 4,000 DocuColor 40 units installed worldwide. Heidelberg's Quickmaster DI continues to flood the market. All this is happening just as Agfa's variable printing Chromapress and the Scitex/KBA-Planeta Karat continue to push the technology forward. But that doesn't mean new classmates, like Screen's recently launched TruePress and the Quickmaster's big brother, the new Speedmaster 74 DI, aren't ready to
How profitable are digital press investments? Not very—if on-demand postpress support is lacking. Finish-on-demand is just as important as its glamorous partner, as any on-demand printer can well attest. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The finishing component of on-demand digital printing is every bit as important as is the high-tech print engine that drives the most elite of digital presses. If the finishing finesse is missing, despite the best performance power of the finest digital color press, a digital print job is not only at risk of not being on-demand, but not being on time. As more traditional offset commercial printers and short-run shops go
When John E. Spenlinhauer Jr. passed away, the competition said Spencer Press was finished. John E. Spenlinhauer III proved the competition wrong. BY JERRY JANDA In May of 1972, Spencer Press, then a sheetfed operation, took its first step into the world of web offset with the installation of a Heidelberg Harris M-1000A press. For John E. Spenlinhauer III—chairman, CEO and the driving force behind Spencer's equipment investments—it was a pivotal moment. He realized his Hingham, MA-based company needed web equipment to remain in business. "There was not a full-size web in the metropolitan Boston area," Spenlinhauer says, "and there was a lot of
As visitors enter the lobby of Westland Printers, they're stunned by a riot of color. The commercial custom printer displays samples of its work on two full walls. There's no missing the fact that Westland prints sophisticated multicolor brochures, many of which feature diecut and embossed covers produced on-site. Despite the complexity of the work, when Westland Printers accepts jobs these days, it's with the understanding that they'll be out the door within a week. Typically, the Burtonsville, MD, family-owned printer has between seven and 10 working days to turn a job around. And, points out company President Barbara Westland, that type of delivery is
In the commercial printing market, one technology no longer fits all. Methods for putting ink on paper have multiplied like rabbits. Today's print buyers can choose the method that precisely matches their needs for volume, quality and turnaround. That leaves printers looking for new business strategies. RPL Graphics believes it has found one. This Northern California printer, with annual sales topping $4.6 million, has transformed itself in the last few years and now offers a mix of services aimed at filling every need a customer might have. Company ProfileName: RPL GraphicsLocation: Dublin, CAEmployees: 31Annual Sales: $4.6 millionFamily-owned RPL has 31 employees in three plants
SOUTH BEND, IN—Six weeks prior to its official opening and less than a year after groundbreaking ceremonies, Bowne & Co.'s South Bend manufacturing facility printed more than a half-million merger documents. The new facility, which became fully operational on Aug. 4, represents a 25 percent increase in web press capacity for Bowne, and is budgeted to produce the print component for roughly $100 million in sales. Bowne, as a whole, recorded fiscal year 1997 revenues of $716 million. The South Bend plant, strategically located to serve the Midwestern market, is expected to handle overflow mutual fund and financial printing from Bowne sites around the
