Xerox Corp.

Greg and Scott share the same last name (Scinta). They share the same birthday (they're twin brothers). They share the same business (Smash Graphix in Louisville, KY). And they share the same opinion about wide-format printing (it's great). "It certainly makes our life easier," says President Greg. "Money-wise," Vice President Scott chimes in. The Scinta brothers aren't alone in their thinking. When it comes to wide-format printing, many shops are discovering that the market is wide open. When most people think of wide format, they think of signs. Granted, signage is a common, and profitable, application—but it's hardly the only one. With a little

San Francisco—The theme of this year's DocuWorld was "Explore, Discover, Connect," and attendees were able to do just that at the seminars and hands-on demos held throughout the conference. Even CyberStudio, an area on the show flow that provided links to DocuWorld events occurring simultaneously in Toronto and Sao Paulo, Brazil, gave a glimpse of the power of today's technology. The San Francisco show, itself, was divided into three zones, providing a variety of ways for participants to learn more about the newest technologies and opportunities. The Digital Learning Zone featured information-packed sessions hosted by Xerox and other leading companies, as well

BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Seybold San Francisco may not have the same prepress hardware punch as its East Coast counterpart, but digital file delivery, digital content manipulation, color management and Internet design tools are enough to get the industry pointed in a Golden Gate direction. What to expect? Count on the show emphasizing content manipulation and color management—from creation through output. Be ready to see a variety of software tools to handle everything from creation of files to data storage, archival and retrieval—not to mention unique enhancements to the movement of repurposing digital content for the World Wide Web. Get ready for a hearty serving of alphabet soup—as

BERRYVILLE, VA—Berryville Graphics, reportedly the nation's third-largest book manufacturer, recently obtained its first patent and may soon seek another. The patent was issued for the company's Duratech bookbinding process, an alternative to traditional smythe sewing that provides a "lay-open" quality for easy reading. Duratech uses a pliable cold adhesive, twice-reinforced with hotmelt and pulled into an old-world European-styled spine that has been tested by independent labs for durability. Developed by Berryville engineers for use in conjunction with the company's linked in-line system, the Duratech process takes six-and-a-half minutes from binding to jacketed product, and produces 110 bound books per minute. The Duratech patent is

SAN FRANCISCO—Seybold San Francisco was just what the industry expected: A hearty serving of alphabet soup with discussions on PDF, XML and ICC proliferating the conference halls as well as the trade show floor. Seybold also delivered new launches of color management and digital asset manipulation software, digital file delivery alternatives and Internet design tools, and—what else?—an entertaining keynote from Apple's very own Steve Jobs, jeans and all. Technological wizardry from Adobe Systems, Apple Computer, Bitstream, Creo, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Markzware, Microsoft, Quark (yes, Quark; just Quark, not Adobe's new parent), Pantone, Silicon Graphics, WAM!NET, Xerox, X-Rite and more cast the spotlight

BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The mere mention of color management and the status of color consistency in today's graphic arts industry rarely results in a black-and-white discussion. Color delivery in the entire design and production phase, from digital camera to high-end scanner to digital proofer or on-demand printer, is mission-one critical. What better way to get a read on today's color concerns than to poll the minds of the industry? The question Printing Impressions posed was simple, but comprehensive: Where are we today in color management and color manipulation and what do we, as an industry, need to do to improve our color

For the third year, Printing Impressions has compiled a ranking of the top color on-demand print providers in the nation. The 1998 edition features a few changes. In the past, difficulty in obtaining accurate on-demand sales figures made it more practical to list the top companies alphabetically, without individual ranks. But increased on-demand printing revenues for digital color press users have made an actual Top 50 ranking possible for the first time. This year, rankings were determined by self-reported on-demand sales figures. While there are other companies who would qualify for this listing, we could only include those who responded to our survey. 1)

For SPG Graphics, the signs couldn't be any clearer. Customers wanted quicker turnarounds, but they weren't about to sacrifice quality—or cash—for speed. Their expectations pointed SPG to one sole destination: digital printing. "It was inevitable," explains Beth Coleman-Stout, marketing and digital business manager for the Indianapolis-based company. "Customers were going to continue to expect jobs faster, but they weren't going to change their expectations from a color or quality standpoint." SPG found that color digital printing could meet these demanding expectations for small-quantity runs better than conventional offset. "We felt strongly that we had to get into digital in some way, shape and form,"

Color permeates the world around us—as advertising agencies love to remind us. Live in color, they tell us. Dream in color. And we listen. The nation's infatuation with all things bright and beautiful has not gone unnoticed in the digital printing market, where a variety of devices, many sporting a Xeikon engine, provide colorful output. So where does this leave monochrome machines? As full-color digital printing systems steal the spotlight, will monochrome devices fade to black? Not likely. "The glamour and glitz is in color now," admits Bonnie Robinson, the "B" in B&J Typesetting, a small desktop publishing operation in Boise, ID. "But because

Variable data printing is a remarkable tool—especially in direct marketing environments—for pulling individuals into a subject, a theme, a sales pitch. Imagine the value of producing documents rich in custom-organized, image-intensive designs, fully personalized for each recipient. While the on-demand printing systems at today's digital printing houses and high-end commercial sites are actually delivering these personalized prizes, the real enablers of this growing marketing phenomena are the software packages. As a starting point, let's take a look at EFI's Fiery FreeForm variable data solution. Now available with the Fiery ZX line of color servers, FreeForm enables customers to use their existing workstations (PCs, Macs