Eastman Kodak, Graphic Communications Group

FIRST PLACE Collotype Labels, Mile End South, South Australia Graham Beck Brut Blanc de Blancs Press: Komori, Tahara, Roland, Heidelberg Cylinders: Kodak Dies: Rulecut, Triforme Substrate: CPI Ink/Coating/Adhesive: Flint Group SECOND PLACE Collotype Labels, Mile End South, South Australia Ondine Press: Gallus Plates/Screens/Cylinders: Winner, Gallus Dies: Kocher + Beck Substrate: Avery Dennison Ink: Flint Group THIRD PLACE Collotype Labels, Mile End South, South Australia Delicato Family Vineyards Press: Nilpeter Plates: Fuji Dies: Kocher + Beck Substrate: Avery Dennison Ink/Coating/Adhesive: UV Sicpa

FIRST PLACE Hammer Packaging, Rochester, N.Y. Propel Press: Mitsubishi Plates: Kodak Ink/Coating/ Adhesive: Flint Ink, Sun Chemical SECOND PLACE Hammer Packaging, Rochester, N.Y. Gatorade Endurance Press: Heidelberg Plates: Kodak Ink/Coating: Flint Ink, Sun Chemical THIRD PLACE Fort Dearborn Co., Elk Grove Village, Ill. Newman’s Own Organic Traditional Herb Press: Mitsubishi Plates: Kodak Ink: INX

FIRST PLACE Bert Co., Los Angeles, Calif. Logitech NuLOOQ SECOND PLACE Rex Corporation, Jacksonville, Fla. 2005 Cigar Association of America Annual Meeting Carton Press: KBA Plates: Kodak Dies: Atlas Die Ink/Coating/Adhesive: Wikoff THIRD PLACE Boutwell, Owens & Co., Inc., Fitzhburg, Mass. DMI-Sudden Sun Therapy Press: Mitsubishi Plates: Agfa Dies: WR Sharples Ink/Coating/Adhesive: Wikoff

Century Systems, Inc. Distributor of barcode printers, scanning equipment, thermal ribbons, labels and tags, printing accessories, and label design and printing software. Write 859, Visit www.century systems.com Degrava Systems The Degrava DP8500 was engineered with in-plant printers and converters in mind for an affordable, simple solution that provides a logical bridge between traditional presses and high-end digital systems. Features include automatic color registration, no complex maintenance or cleaning procedures, digital quality and flexibility, and more. Write 860, Visit www.degrava.com Jetrion Jetrion provides digital printing and inkjet expertise, with digital ink, hardware, and integrated solutions for digital printing. Write 861, Visit www.jetrion.com J KODAK The

Agfa Offers the Thermostar P970–ideal for VLF applications–and the Thermostar P971 thermal imaging plate. Write 160, Visit www.agfa.com J ANDERSON & VREELAND Offers digital prepress systems and conventional photopolymer processors and plate mounters. Platemaking materials include a range of solvent and water-wash sheet photopolymer, liquid photopolymer, rubber compounds, matrix and accessories. Write 161, Visit www.anderson vreeland.com, See Ad p. 8 J BETA INDUSTRIES The Betaflex 334 Flexo Plate Analyzer eliminates bad plates early in production cycle. Measures flexo plates, negatives, proofs, prints for true dot area, ruling, dot quality. Write 162, Visit www.beta screen.com, See Ad p. 7 BPS Printing Systems Offers state-of-the-art

The Flexographic Prepress Platemakers Association (FPPA) convened its ninth annual convention last month in Amelia Island, Fla. During the three-day conference, presenters from the supplier and provider communities shared their insights on a variety of topics. Following a keynote address by Bill Raaths, CEO of Great Northern Corp., sessions included “The Effect of Simultaneous Imaging and Direct UV Main Exposure on Digital Plates and Sleeves” by Ian Hole of Esko-Graphics; “Remote Digital Proofing: Contract Color and Content Proofing at Remote Sites” by Deborah Hutcheson of Agfa Corp.; “Forensically Invisible Brand Protection Packaging” by Kevin Harrell, Creo/Kodak; “In-the-Round Production Technology” by Dan Rosen of Flint

With digital assets representing a large investment by brand owners, organization and management are of critical importance. WHAT'S IN A package? Prior to the addition of cereal, hand cream, aspirin, or bug spray, the essential elements of a package or label include text; graphics; regulatory information; photos; CMYK, RGB, and 3D images; templates; line art; logos; layouts; and PDFs—to name just a few. The process of making that package involves every stage in the packaging supply chain, from engineering to marketing and legal to purchasing and production. Factor in additional legal requirements and regulatory information for food, pharmaceuticals, and other regulated industries, version

Industry experts lend their advice on the best ways to approach remote proofing for packaging. IT HAS BEEN observed that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, except that she did it backwards and in high heels. It's the same with proofing (Fred) and remote proofing (Ginger). Throw in the complex proofing requirements of packaging printers and a straightforward series of dance steps becomes an intricate high-wire act, in which the accurate long-distance reproduction of graphics, text, placement, and structure—as well as the matching of special brand or logo colors—can make or break an important job. Like commercial printers, packaging printers can save

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

PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05 drew an international audience to the Windy City for a week of new technology demonstrations. THE STATISTICS ARE in from the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC). PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05, held last month in Chicago, was a big success by many of the reported metrics. Attendance was in the neighborhood of 62,000. The number of exhibitors, 954, was up from the 893 at the last PRINT show in 2001. The international flavor of the show was demonstrated by the more than 7,200 international attendees from 99 countries, up from 75 in 2001. Clearly, the show had the