DALiM Software

Agfa CristalRaster for PostScript-based stochastic screening technology for true photographic quality color reproduction. Write 209, Visit www.agfa.com J ANDERSON & VREELAND Anderson & Vreeland offers Digital prepress workflow systems, including Artwork Systems, RIPit Systems, Agfa Apogee Series and Xitron. Write 210, www.anderson vreeland.com, See Ad p. 8 Artwork Systems NEXUS provides total integration of the Artwork Systems leading front-end, back-end technologies. Write 211, Visit www.artwork systems.com J BETA INDUSTRIES BetaTab data acquisition software effortlessly captures calibration data and images to improve calibration, communication, and collaboration. Write 212, Visit

PDF (portable document format) may be the greatest thing since sliced bread (or at least since PostScript), but it takes more than bread to make a sandwich that will satisfy a hungry customer. TODAY'S SHORTER PRINT runs depend on reliable, high-quality print output, delivered with minimal turnaround. The addition of JDF (job definition format) production language to PDF-based workflows increasingly is seen as a way to dramatically reduce print production time and costs while ensuring consistent, reliable output—even when last minute changes are required. In packaging applications, the benefits of JDF-enhanced or JDF-enabled workflows show up in better customer service; faster time to

Soft proofing technology can do the job, but its success depends largely on good discipline and the printer-client relationship. "SOFT" PROOFING GOES by several names—monitor, virtual, online—and comes in an array of "flavors." No matter what you call it, however, the ultimate goal is as straightforward as it is universal: shrink production cycles, eliminate rework, reduce costs, and move everything faster. Unlike traditional hardcopy proofing, in which handling and transmission of the physical proof increases both cycle time and the potential for error, soft proofing depends on workflows in which color-accurate proofs can be viewed on calibrated computer monitors under controlled lighting conditions.

SANTA FE, N.M.—NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies elected four new members of the board of directors at its spring meeting April 21-23 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The new directors are Gary Dolgins, Chief Executive Officer of Citiplate, Inc.; Patricia Janssen, Senior Vice President of MacDermid Printing Solutions; Robert Stabler, President of Nipson North America, and Wayne Wasulko, President and Founder of RIPit Computer Corporation.   Dolgins' business career spans more than 30 years in sales and marketing with leading graphic communications companies.  Prior to joining Citiplate, he was Principal of The Dolgins Consulting Group and served on the board

JDF offers three prominent features: the ability to carry a print job from concept through completion, to bridge the communication gap between production and MIS, and to do so with most any precondition. JDF IS AN open-standard, job-ticketing language that provides a foundation for users to build next-generation printing environments that encompass both the content and the business aspects of production workflow. The Job Definition Format is a comprehensive, XML-based file format for end-to-end job ticket specifications, combined with a message description standard, and message interchange protocol. JDF was created to develop an open, extensible, XML-based job ticket standard, as well as a mechanism,

Progressive package printers are finding new ways to open new levels of communication with their customers and attract new business. Digital workflows—and the Internet—are helping. ADVANCED DIGITAL WORKFLOWS, sporting Internet collaborative tools, are significant time savers for prepress departments—and are targeting the package printing environment with fervor. Gee Ranasinha, director of marketing at Dalim Software, reports one way a package printing operation can differentiate itself from its competition is by offering its customers the advantages of a more digitized workflow and online collaborative services. One such workflow is the DALiM MiSTRAL PACK, which provides converters a complete view of their entire prepress production. It

New digital proofing technologies streamline a critical process in the prepress workflow. by Marie Alonso, Prepress Editor ALL THE BUZZ in proofing is soft proofing, color calibration, and digital proofing for the packaging environment. And it has been for several years, but with increasing fervor, collaborations, and software enhancements. Companies aspiring to take leading positions in their respective specialties are joining the progressive package-printing leaders in deploying the latest, most sophisticated digital proofing technologies available. Electronics for Imaging (EFI) has truly redefined itself, acquiring Best Color in order to gain a strong hold on the digital proofing market. Today, it is strongly marketing its

Packaging's path to PDF has most commonly involved software add-ons. Will new all-in-one workflows change that? by Jessica Millward, Associate Editor THOUGH COMMERCIAL printers have jumped wholeheartedly on the PDF bandwagon, their packaging brethren have been less enthusiastic. Concerns regarding PDF's suitability for packaging prepress have thus far encouraged hopefuls to add on PDF elements, rather than invest in "one-stop shopping" products. Packaging-specific capabilities bundled within new all-in-one systems, however, should enlist a legion of PDF converts. "When it comes to software solutions, the packaging market has been the orphan of the printing industry," laments Bert van Hoof, VP/engineering, ScenicSoft. Unfortunately, the