Xerox Corp.

You've already negotiated the best price, but before you ink the deal on that brand new Indigo digital press, get them to throw in one of HP's new, compact, digital projectors. In fact, "what the heck," get them to throw in two—one for the road, use the other in-house. I'm sure that after my good friend Emile Tabassi, sales manager for HP Indigo, reads this he is probably going to be dialing my number. I'm not sure if he is going to salute this as a great promotional idea or ask me why I'm trying to get him fired. After all, although he has been

When PhilL Shirley and Brian Stone founded Copy Concepts in 1991, it appeared that another run-of-the mill copy center would dot the retail landscape outside Dallas. But the business plan crafted by the 21-year-old entrepreneurs focused on creating a distinct niche as a digital pioneer—not competing as a traditional offset printer. Copy Concepts principals (from the left) Phil Shirley and Brian Stone, along with graphic arts dealer Pat Mallams of Bindery Systems, review output of their Standard Hunkeler unwinder, Oce printers and rotary cutter and stacker.From the beginning, Copy Concepts has operated in an ink-free, toner-based world, and it has recognized the need to invest

For me, what once was the most exciting surface in all of printing has resurfaced. Well, actually, it never really went away. But looking back almost 30 years, I can remember that when a customer specified Kromekote it was a special project. And, yes, there was King James and Mark 1, and we were supposed to call these glass-like papers by the generic name: cast-coated. However, no one did, as every printer I knew used Champion's brand name, Kromekote, as the category nomenclature. Time marches on, and new varieties of paper—both domestic and foreign—have paraded through. Couple that with on-press varnishing techniques, aqueous and

BY CHRIS BAUER When operating today's printing gear, especially new, digitally based hardware and software, there are advantages to having contemporaries to bounce ideas off of, or to have someone that you can share information with on best practices. Industry user groups offer just that type of educational and networking opportunity. Several user groups exist in the printing industry, designed to allow users of common equipment or software to network with one another, to receive training, as well as to provide valuable feedback to their vendors. The Heidelberg Digital Imaging Association (HDIA), for example, is an independent organization of printing, publishing and related graphic

Color Meets Its Match GRANDVILLE, MI—Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and, unfortunately, so too is the perception of color. Therefore, to be of practical use, any attempt to define colors objectively must be reconciled with the subjective way in which they are viewed. That's why effective color management is such a desirable, yet often frustrating, goal. The full scope of the challenge was made apparent during a press briefing held recently by X-Rite Inc. at its headquarters here. The event also brought home the point that the printing industry is not alone in facing this challenge. Some industries actually have it worse, since

CPS Corp., a sister company of INX International, has been recognized for its environmental record and has been accepted into the National Environmental Performance Program, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Muller Martini has launched a new digital on-demand finishing division. Andrew J. Fetherman was named manager of the new division. Fetherman was formerly product manager for Muller Martini's press division. That post is now held by Donald Geiger. Kim Graven-Nielsen has been named president and CEO of newly formed Esko-Graphics. The company was created after the merger of Purup-Eskofot and Barco Graphics. Presstek Inc. announced the qualification of its Anthem thermal CTP

NEW YORK CITY—What seemed to strike attendees most at the recent On Demand 2002 conference and exposition was the high volume of traffic in the aisles of the show floor, especially compared to last-year's event. However, it was also readily apparent to all that the square footage of show-floor space was down from the 2001 event. Since final registration numbers were yet to be determined, people were left to speculate about whether attendance really was up or if the crowded conditions were just the result of showgoers being squeezed into a smaller space. The event was kicked off with a keynote presentation by Charles Pesko,

BY MARK SMITH Trade shows probably are not the most accurate indicator of an industry's vitality. When the show is IPEX 2002—the international printing exhibition held in Birmingham, UK—it's even harder to draw any direct conclusions about the North American market because of the show's strong English and broader European flavor. Still, there is an understandable temptation to try to gauge the current state of the market based on the tone of major industry events. The organizers of IPEX report overall attendance at the 2002 show hit 65,451 people, which represents about a 30 percent decline from the final count for IPEX 98. Overseas visitors reportedly

Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. moved into violet imaging CTP technology by previewing three internal-drum systems that feature 30mW laser diodes for exposing photopolymer plates. The Saber Luxel Vx-6000 CTP handles a 29.5x26.4˝ maximum plate size and is offered in manual and semi-automatic configurations. The Saber Luxel V-9600 CTP and Vx-9600 CTP support a 45.7x37.8˝ maximum plate size and initially will be available in a fully automatic configuration. The Vx model supports a slightly larger imaging area and will be offered in manual and semi-automatic configurations in the future. Write in 382 on Reader Service Card Delphax Technologies debuted the Imaggia II series of sheetfed

ROCHESTER, NY—Xerox Corp. has released some interesting findings from the attendee surveys it conducted during two recent industry trade shows. At IPEX 2002 in England, one of the questions asked was what did attendees think was the greatest advantage of digital color printing equipment? Some 33 percent cited fast turnaround as the most important advantage, while 26 percent believed variable information capability was the leading benefit. When asked about the most impressive printing technology they'd seen or heard about at IPEX, respondents gave digital dry ink (toner) presses the top spot, with digital offset and high-speed ink-jet printing systems ranked second and third,