The Rise and Rise of Print Finishing

Dr. Horst-Dieter Branser is a trained letterpress, offset, and gravure printer. After graduating from the College of Printing Technology in Leipzig, Germany, he acquired experience as a vocational technical school teacher and as a contributor to developmental aid projects in Africa. As an instructor at the Technical College, he also conducted scientific work, earning his undergraduate and doctoral degrees in the field of print finishing. He held management positions both as a student and in printing businesses. He has been working as a journalist since 1991. As technical editor and later editor-in-chief of the German publication “Druckwelt,” for Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (Hanover) and Druck Medien Verlag (Waiblingen) publishers, his work focused on describing the economic aspects of technological developments in the print and finishing sectors. Branser transferred in 2000 to Deutscher Drucker (Ostfildern), where he served as editor for the areas of print finishing, label and packaging printing, as well as digital printing. Since retiring in 2006, he has been working as a freelance journalist from his office in Leipzig.