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BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor It’s been more than a decade since the first high-volume, modern digital color printing systems were introduced. Heidelberg and Presstek teamed up to launch the digital offset (GTO DI, in this case) product category in 1991. A few years later, the Indigo EPrint and Agfa/Xeikon Chromapress ushered in the era of the all-digital production color printing systems. In the future, though, 2004 may be looked back upon as a key transition period in the maturation of digital printing as a business segment—both on the vendor and user side. No fundamentally new technologies were unveiled, but all the vendors

In the not-so-distant past, it was easy to look at small- and medium-format sheetfed offset presses (29˝ and smaller) as the less-coordinated sibling to large-format units. While small-format machines could print with similar quality, they lacked some of the automated features and bells and whistles of their larger counterparts. Today’s generation of smaller-format presses refuse to be overshadowed—most features offered on large-format presses are now available on smaller machines. “For the past few years, equipment manufacturers of sheetfed presses have been adding the same automation that can be found on their larger 40˝ presses to their mid-size and smaller sheetfed presses,” says Thomas Goecke,

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Scientists have challenged its veracity, but the "boiling frog" legend endures. Here's a short version: Drop a frog into a pot of boiling water and it will immediately jump up. Place a frog into a pot of temperate water, then slowly turn up the heat, and it will stay in the pot until it is overcome. Admittedly, the dire consequences of this cautionary tale are overblown when it's applied to the current status of digital printing. Nonetheless, it does give one a visceral sense for how the slow pace of a change can mask its magnitude over time

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Not to get philosophical, but if a word comes to mean everything, there's a danger of it ending up to mean nothing. The digital revolution was already on its way to making "workflow" a catch-all term in prepress, when the rise of CIM (computer-integrated manufacturing) extended its use to the entire print production process. As a result, an ever wider array of products now can be called digital workflow solutions. For the purposes of this article, the definition is being limited to the evolution of what used to be called prepress systems. Vendors have responded to this trend with

By Mark Michelson Editor-in-Chief Don't chalk up the sprint-speed pace of buying activity reported by many Graph Expo and Converting Expo 2004 exhibitors to the Chicago Marathon that just happened to coincide with the opening day of the show. More likely, credit the desire for printers to make capital expenditures again to signs that the U.S. economy and graphic arts industry are finally rebounding, as well as the fact that Graph Expo provided U.S. printers with the first chance to see state-of-the-art Drupa introductions in action. Perhaps nowhere was this more apparent than within the booths of traditional sheetfed and web offset press

By Mark Michelson Editor-in-Chief The rain may have made it a bit more difficult for visitors to maneuver between the 17 halls during the first week of the 14-day Drupa 2004 trade exhibition in Düsseldorf, Germany, last month, but that surely didn't dampen the spirits of the reported 394,000-plus attendees. Nor did it keep the 1,862 equipment, software and consumables exhibitors representing 52 nations from showcasing their latest R&D and product development efforts. And while there may not have been any one "blockbuster" piece of equipment or technology that everyone at the show was buzzing about, there surely was an assortment of new product

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor The line of demarcation between a copier and printer was the first to fall. Now it's not uncommon for devices with similar capabilities to be called printers or presses, depending on who's doing the naming. And, markedly different machines—such as all-digital and digital offset systems—may be labeled as digital presses, or the ubiquitous production systems. The upshot is that it has become very difficult to neatly define what products should be included in an update on the state-of-the-art in digital printing. Therefore, what follows is a look at some, if not all, of the recent major developments in the

WESTAMPTON, NJ—MBO America President and CEO Hans Max and Vice President Hartmut Sohn welcomed 11 Chinese visitors for finishing equipment demonstrations and dialog at the MBO America headquarters here recently. Arranged by US-China Enterprises' New York branch, the guests represented five different printing companies and associations from China. COLUMBUS, GA—Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG) has dedicated its printing plate manufacturing facility here as the Edward E. Barr Building. Barr was KPG's first chairman and served on the board of the company until 2003. He retired in 2002 as chairman of Sun Chemical Group, following a 40-year career with the company. Quad/Tech has added two sales

by chris bauer Managing Editor It's no longer necessary to buy a behemoth press to get all of the big automated features that come along with them. Small- and medium-format (up to 23x29˝) sheetfed presses also boast a bevy of bells and whistles. "The main features required by today's press buyer (are based on) automation," notes Mike Dighton, vice president of Hamada of America. "Auto plate loading, blanket washers, color consoles, including CIP3/4, are almost always asked for by our customers. The automation carries into prepress, as well." Hamada's new Impulse 452P is a 14x20˝ perfector. The Impulse runs at 13,000 iph and will

Bridging the Digital Divide BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Trade shows are supposed to be a forum for presenting solutions to meet the needs of attendees. What many people took away from workflow displays at GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO, however, was a bag full of questions . . . and maybe the odd poster or two, a foam sword, canisters of M&Ms, etc. That doesn't mean attendees weren't looking to buy. Exhibitors were more ardent than usual about the quality of the leads they were getting, and they claimed to also be pleased with the quantity. "Turned the corner" was a popular