Consumables-General - Plates

Using knowledge of how humans see color, along with data from instruments such as densitometers and spectrophotometers, color can be mapped just like DNA. THE CONCEPT OF color management is fascinating, and more than a little controversial. To those of you that took exception to the suggestion in last month's story (Proofing By the Numbers, August 2003) that color management was easy enough for a college student, I humbly concede. There is a wider body of knowledge, and more tools available for controlling color than ever before. Even so, that does not make the theory of color any easier to understand. Color management can

Dunwoody College of Technology proves that matching a color proof to the press isn't purely academic. LAST FALL, DUNWOODY College of Technology instructor Pete Rivard and his students set out on a mission. Armed with a new color halftone proofer, spectrophotometers, and color management (CM) software Rivard set out to prove just how close a proof can match a press—in this case a narrow-web flexo press, running UV inks on pressure-sensitive label and paper stocks. Rivard's experiment is meaningful for a number of reasons. First, he showed that yes, it is possible to define a set of conditions under which a proof can match

As Adobe celebrates 10 years of Acrobat, pP takes a look at how PDF is used in packaging. TEN YEARS AGO on June 16, Adobe Systems launched the first commercial release of Acrobat, and with it delivered the Portable Document Format (PDF). For years before, the company had used the program internally for mundane things like annotating memos and printing corporate phonebooks. Today, you can't be in the graphic communications business without touching something PDF every day. Just how did this software—originally designed as an office tool—become so ubiquitous in the graphic arts industry? You might call it a brand loyalty thing. Because, according

VALIDATION OF AN idea comes with commitment. Creo (Bedford, Mass.) and Esko-Graphics (Vandalia, Ohio) are only two of the companies that demonstrated their commitment to packaging and flexo digital plating at CMM in April. Both announced enhancements to their flexo CTP devices. With several hundred machines out there now, and the assumption that CTP technology is here to stay, each company has focused on speed, automation, and improved sleeve, or in-the-round, imaging capabilities. I had the opportunity to get a close-up as Creo unveiled its next generation ThermoFlex. The result of more than 18 months of engineering, the machine design seems to consider every

Input J Agfa Packaging Solutions The AgfaScan XY-15 Plus is an oversized A3 format CCD flatbed scanner designed for high-productivity scanning. A hand-selected, premium 8,000-element CCD allows the system to achieve a maximum density of 4.1 and resolution of up to 15,000 pixels per inch. Visit www.agfa.com Artwork Systems ArtPro®, PackFlow™, LabelFlow™, FlexoCal™, and Hybrid Screening. System platforms include Macintosh and Windows NT. Support multiple output devices. Visit www.artwork-systems.com J Creo Creo offers everything you need to deliver high-impact packaging: from creative software tools, superior scanners, and scalable production workflow solutions, to proofing options and proven, reliable output devices. Now you can go

Two packaging printers share their ideas on preflighting electronic design files. IT WAS A printer by the name of Ben Franklin who once quipped "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Farsighted and wise as he was, Ben could never have imagined how true those words would ring for his twenty-first century inky-fingered brethren. Preflighting—the process of reviewing and repairing incoming electronic files from agencies and designers—is good medicine for avoiding costly and time-consuming problems further down the road in the production process. Whether you use off-the-shelf preflighting software, or have developed your own procedures, the extent to which you examine

Software modeling can provide significant timesavings when moving from concept to final design selection. LAST TIME I checked my list of top-10 packaging business buzzwords, the term "value-add" had slipped the ranks. Along with other feel-good phrases like "total quality" and "solutions provider," it's getting squeezed out to the jargon fringe by new favorites like "commodity," "consolidation," and "supply-chain optimization." Maybe those terms weigh in heavier during times of economic uncertainty, but I find it refreshing that there are still links in the packaging supply chain where there is opportunity to add value. Where? In the rendering, or visualization, of new packaging designs.

In just a few short years, the use of digital cameras has moved to the forefront in commercial and creative photography. by Terri McConnell, Prepress Editor OKAY, WHO DIDN'T get a digital camera for Christmas? In a report released last June, market analysts at Dataquest, Inc. stated that U.S. digital camera shipments were on track to reach 8.3 million units by the end of the holiday season, a 30 percent increase from 2001. By 2006, the company predicts that every other American family will be recording their future memories and marking their milestones with a digital camera. Datacomm Research Co., who also tracks, analyzes,

There's some new tools for connectivity and commerce in the world of computer-aided design and manufacturing for packaging. "WHAT'S NEW IN CAD/CAM?" I recently asked this question to Don Skenderian, the man in charge of the most widely used packaging CAD program in the universe. Expecting a more technically oriented, CAD-specific response, I was surprised to get an answer right out of our telecommuted, Internet-age lexicon. He said: "Connectivity." Skenderian—and every other product development director I interviewed for this article—believes that the most important work going on in computer-assisted design and diemaking is collecting, collating, and communicating CAD data to other processes in

Though available for years, options are just now being used to improve prepress workflow. Like most businesses in the current economy, convertors are constantly looking to increase their cost-effectiveness through new technology. One often-overlooked stage that printers have begun to explore in an effort to improve workflow, and therefore costs, is the prepress facet of the industry. Improvements in prepress workflow and/or data transmission have been available for quite a while now, but converters have been slow to take advantage of these opportunities. "The tools for improvement are there," says David Zwang, IPA operational TEAM consultant leader and founder of Zwang & Company,