Specialty Printing

Commercial printer equipment installations and other news from Printing Impressions’ January 2015 edition.

HP today announced it has completed its most successful year in the graphic arts industry to date, building on increased sales activity, leads and interest from its first announcement of new-platform technologies in March, through the debut of those solutions at drupa in May, to subsequent fulfillment of sales in the months following the show.

SO, YOU think you know Illinois like the back of your hand? Frankly, why would anyone have extensive knowledge about the backs of their hands? Are we really so bereft of meaningful activity that we would stare at our hands for prolonged periods, studying their contours? OK, stay focused. First, some things you may not know about Illinois. It’s more than da Bears, da Bulls and da Cubs (sorry Ozzie, no one cares about da White Sox). Not only was it Abe Lincoln’s and Ulysses S. Grant’s mailing address, it’s also where Barack Obama sleeps when not on the campaign trail. Among the

WASHINGTON, DC—January 28, 2008—Membership in the organization that is promoting the marketing and promotional power of print continues to grow. Jet, Inc. and Lake County Press have joined The Print Council as full members. Jeff Norby, Jet’s President, will also serve on the Marketing Steering Committee to the Print Council’s Board. “Jet joined the Council because we are quite aware and concerned that print has become somewhat marginalized or commoditized in the eyes of both clients and suppliers,” he says. The Print Council is working to turn that perception around. “We believe in the value of print as a very important component in a

Open House Offers Cash Grab CHATSWORTH, CA—Impress Communications recently hosted an open house at its new facility here, which included a drawing to participate in a $50K Cash Grab Money Booth. Winners of the drawing had a chance to “test their skills” and grab as many airborne bills as they could in 15 seconds. Snatching cash was the perfect way to cap off the open house, which featured a variety of presentations, including: Web 2.0—The Current Era of the Web, Lighting for Digital Photography, Going Green/FSC Certification and Beyond, Single Message Marketing Strategies, and Specialty Printing Techniques. The staff at Impress offered Komori

The 2012 Printing Impressions 400 list of the largest printing companies in the United States and Canada as ranked by annual sales.

IT MAY be telling that, with a few exceptions, the presses in operation around the show floor of Graph Expo and Converting Expo 2006 were of the digital variety. Offset units were conspicuous in their absence. Digital presses largely have become part of the commercial printing mainstream, rather than being a specialty product segment or market niche. The exhibition’s Wide Format Pavilion showed ongoing interest in that segment, but adding a wide, large, superwide or grand format digital system still is seen as a way to diversify rather than being standard equipment. Hewlett-Packard shared results from an InfoTrends study that surveyed a sampling

PRINTING, AS a craft and industry, is remarkable for the fundamental changes it has absorbed, particularly in the last 100 years or so. As a consequence, printers have become more segmented by process—sheetfed and web offset, gravure, flexo, etc.—as well as application—general commercial, labels, packaging, plastics and more. Digital technology is creating further segmentation while also increasing the potential for confusion. It’s become necessary to talk of print-for-pay versus personal and workgroup printing, along with in-plants and CRDs. Added to this are new designations such as industrial printing, transpromo and even direct marketing firm. Such diversity in the process and industry matters when it

Paul LeFebvre is nothing if not brutally honest. He made some fatal business mistakes in the past and paid the ultimate price, suffering through the bankruptcy of his Des Plaines, IL-based company, LeFebvre Intergraphics. Closing down the shop in 1996 was a bitter pill to swallow for the past inductee into the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame. The company was growing out of control. He had purchased large quantities of paper and kept stocking up on it, but the value soon plummeted from $7 million to $4 million as prices fell. People in strategic positions at the company weren’t making the

Having emerged from the recent election with the first popular vote majority since 1988 and firmer control of Congress, George W. Bush is pushing ahead with some of the programs he championed during the recent campaign. Top of the list is a restructuring of the nation's creaking Social Security scheme, followed by reforms of America's tax and tort systems. All three reforms, however, will face stiff opposition from powerful, and entrenched, interest groups. The crisis in Iraq continues to sap Mr. Bush's political capital, as the Iraqi elections look less and less likely to quell the insurgency. America's economy will remain strong, despite widening deficits