Agfa Corp.

In the past three weeks 12 new companies have reserved booth space at FFTA’s 2009 INFO*FLEX Exhibition.

Pittsburgh, Pa.— The Ben Franklin Honor Society of the Printing Industries of America inducted 12 new members at its annual black-tie dinner and awards ceremony on Friday, November 14 in Las Vegas, Nev., during the Printing Industries of America fall board meeting.   The 2007 Naomi Berber Award recipient, Archer was the chairman of the board of Printing Industry Association of Georgia in 1998 and was named PIAG's 2005 Ben Franklin Award recipient for her tireless involvement and service to her business, the printing industry, and her community.   Dennis Balas co-chaired the research, development, editing, and publishing of the printing industry's consummate resources BRIDG'S and GRACoL 1-6, which brought process controls and proper upstream image preparation to the printing industry. Hirsch has served the industry as president of NAPIM, the founder/first president of Los Angeles Printing Ink Production Club, a past board member of PIASC, and a sponsor for many of PIASC's seminars, conferences, and annual meetings. Tom Saggiomo is president and CEO of Agfa Graphics in Ridgefield Park, N.J. Founder of Lastra America that was acquired by Agfa, Saggiomo was instrumental in the introduction of the computer-to-plate technology to the graphic arts industry. Steven Schnoll is managing director of Schnoll Media Consulting, New Providence, N.J. A highly respected consultant on new technology issues, Schnoll started his print career in the late 60s at Jersey Printing Company.

In both conventional printing and package-printing environments, the term “workflow” denotes the steps in an end-to-end production process designed to yield a specified product. In commercial environments, these steps include trapping, screening, RIPing, imposition, color management, proofing, and platemaking, in addition to other labor-intensive front-end tasks. Package printing adds layers of complexity, due largely to combining graphical and structural information in a single, production-ready file, as well as to handle innumerable matched inks and varnishes, step-and-repeat, and a variety of packaging-specific production challenges. Workflow integration is playing an increasingly important role in decision making for consumer product companies (CPCs) and retailers concerned with

By now, job definition format (JDF) is part of the lexicon of commercial printing, and with good reason. The addition of JDF production language to PDF-based print workflows has been shown to dramatically reduce production time and costs while ensuring consistent, reliable output, even when last-minute changes are required. However, despite these benefits, JDF has not enjoyed the same level of adoption by package printers for a variety of reasons. Its use in the commercial realm has proven that using JDF streamlines production by enabling RIPs, imagesetters, presses, finishing, and other equipment and software to speak a common language and combine JDF-enabled products from

Whether they are political or technological, most revolutions give way to a period of fine-tuning and incremental improvement. Having shown that they can meet the needs of packaging houses for fast, affordable concept and interim proofing, digital inkjet devices up to 44˝ in width now are proving that they also can satisfy the rigorous demands of legal contract proofing for high-end packaging applications. Traditionally, inkjet has had difficulties in reproducing trap and overprint characteristics, fine lines and text, moiré patterns, light pastels, and metallics, and has needed special media and color management tools. Because of these issues, brand-sensitive clients still may specify a

TORONTO, Ontario—The International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress (CIP4) organization and Ryerson University announced a free “JDF Education Event” to be held at Ryerson University in Toronto on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008. This one-day program will covers all aspects of print process automation, CIP4 and the Job Definition Format (JDF), and is hosted by Ryerson University’s School of Graphic Communications Management. This JDF 101 Education Event was “sold out” in 2007, and is back by popular demand. “This year a room full of printers and print buyers came and learned a lot about JDF and saw a live

By Bernd Zipper Faster, very modern, and more efficient: attend drupa and discover the latest technologies and trends in the world of print media. Visitors can experience new innovations first hand at drupa, from May 29 to June 11, 2008 in Düsseldorf. The hottest venue at this year’s event is the drupa innovation parc (“dip” presented by HP), Halls 7.0 and 7.1, located at the north entrance to the Messe Düsseldorf. This state-of-the-art exhibition space will be a showcase for around 160 exhibitors. The defining tools of tomorrow will be presented and only the most innovative solutions in the print and media industry will

The concept of workflow is probably easier to understand than it is to define. Workflow incorporates the many step-by-step decisions and deliverables that are required from the original concept stage through production—in the case of printing, the printed product. Workflow automation is somewhat easier to define. It incorporates a variety of tools—within each workflow segment—that are available to help users maximize efficiencies, drive down costs, and reduce the impact of human error, leading to faster time to market. Most commercial prepress workflows account for basic production steps that include trapping, screening, and imposition, along with color management, proofing, and platemaking. Packaging workflows differ from

SEWICKLEY, Pa.—Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) recently announced the recipients of the 2007 InterTech Technology Awards. For over a quarter of a century, recipients of this prestigious award have not only had a major impact on the graphic communications industry, but they also consistently prove to be successful in the commercial marketplace. The independent panel of judges deliberated over technology submissions ranging from printing presses to software solutions to ancillary services. A recurring theme with 2007 InterTech nominations was green printing, and numerous submissions contained solutions to minimize the environmental impact of printing. Great strides in technology were also demonstrated in

SEWICKLEY, Pa.—Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) announced the recipients of the 2007 InterTech Technology Awards. The independent panel of judges deliberated over technology submissions ranging from printing presses to software solutions to ancillary services. A recurring theme with 2007 InterTech nominations was green printing, and numerous submissions contained solutions to minimize the environmental impact of printing. Great strides in technology were also demonstrated in the form of innovative press design, touchless workflow systems to automate production steps, anti-fraud measures, and new materials and systems that increase productivity. Recipients were recognized from across the entire production workflow. Thirty-one nominations were submitted, and