Up Front
[Last Update 01.05.08]
ROLAND ACADEMY
INTER-SCHOOL CHALLENGE (01.05.08)
Illustrating its commitment to education
and developing the next generation of graphic arts professionals,
Roland DG (UK) has recognised the winners of the inaugural Roland
Academy Inter-School Challenge, a design competition for schools
in the Walsall area. Pupils were asked to design eye-catching graphics
inspired by the theme "the regeneration of Walsall." A design submitted
by a team of two schoolchildren aged 13 and 14 from Barr Beacon
Language College was judged to be the best in its use of colour,
image and clarity of message.
The winners, Kirsty Ryan and Stacey Taylor, from Barr
Beacon Language College were presented with digital cameras and
a framed copy of their desig by Roland DG (UK) Product Manager 3D
and Engraving, Peter Kettle, at a ceremony held on the company's
stand at the Sign and Digital UK exhibition at Birmingham's NEC.
The winning design will now be produced in large format and adorn
banners on the perimeter of the construction site of the New Walsall
College that's currently being built. The winning entry will also
be reproduced and framed for display at Barr Beacon Language College.
In total, more than 60 pupils from six schools in the Walsall area,
including Palfrey Girls School and Joseph Leckie Community Technology
College, submitted entries.
The entries were judged by a panel comprised of representatives
from the organisations supporting the initiative: Walsall College,
The Roland Academy, Walsall Education Business Partnership, and
Roland DG (UK). The teams prepared their designs at school before
attending a half-day practical session at the Roland Academy, where
they amended their entries using professional software, prepared
them for printing in the VersaWorks RIP, and outputted them on a
Roland DG large format printer. Pupils and their teachers were also
given a tour of the Roland Academy, giving them the opportunity
to learn more about wide format technologies and applications.
Barr Beacon Language College, Senior Teacher, Claire
Emery, said: "I am extremely proud of our students' professional
attitude throughout this competition, and have to say that this
demonstrates the positive and enthusiastic way they approach a challenge."
Roland DG (UK) Managing Director, Jerry Davies, said:
"We were pleasantly surprised by the overall quality of the
entries. Many were produced using the latest software packages and
wouldn't look out of place in a professional design agency. Roland
DG is committed to supporting education and encouraging talent into
the industry. I hope that the Roland Academy Inter-School Challenge
has also given schoolchildren a chance to experience what a career
in graphic arts can offer."
The Roland Academy is the largest, industry-accredited
sign, engraving and large format education facility in Europe and
operates from Walsall College. It runs a range of courses, which
have been developed by independent industry professionals. These
include programmes on digital printing, engraving, RIPs and Adobe
software packages.
W: www.rolanddg.co.uk
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INX ANNOUNCES
AGREEMENT TO OWN A MAJORITY INTEREST IN MEGAINK DIGITAL A.S. (01.05.08)
Sakata Inx worldwide operations today
announced an agreement with the ownership group of Czech Republic
based, Megaink Digital a.s., taking a majority interest in Megaink
Digital a.s. The company will offer customers a broad spectrum of
digital ink products and services for wide and super-wide format
printing as a member of INX Digital, the digital arm of INX International
Ink Co.
"We are delighted to join forces with an established,
European-based leader in digital ink systems," said INX International
President and CEO Rick Clendenning. "Megaink Digital will strengthen
our ability to service digital printing operations world-wide -
particularly in rapidly growing areas such as Eastern Europe, as
well as the Americas, and in Africa and the Middle East where Mega
Digital has established a strong presence in just six years since
the company was founded."
Andrej Keblusek, Managing Director of Megaink Digital
said, "This joint venture with INX International will be very
beneficial to our rapidly expanding customer base - not only with
additional distribution and support, but with added product development
and related resources available through Sakata Inx."
"Digital users have been highly receptive to
our superior-quality products which are specially designed for virtually
all OEM printers," Avi Bukai, Director of Business Development
added. "We anticipate even more rapid development of new products
to meet emerging marketplace needs."
Clendenning noted: "Megaink Digital's recent
introduction of environmentally friendly BioMG inks - renewable
resource-based inks - signifies further compatibility with our own
'green' product development and sustainability initiatives. Responsible
environmental stewardship has been part of the culture of both our
organizations, and it will continue to play an increased role moving
forward."
Megaink Digital a.s., based in the Czech Republic,
is a world leader in developing and manufacturing of solvent and
renewable resource based (BioMG) inks for wide and super-wide format
digital printing. Established in 2002, Megaink Digital has secured
strong positions in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, as well
as in the Americas.
W: www.megaink.com
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PrintIT! AWARDS
CEREMONY CONCLUDES ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR (01.05.08)
In conjunction with Polestar, the Stationers'
Hall once again provided the venue for the PrintIT! 2008 awards
ceremony, which marked the third year of the successful educational
initiative. The event saw student Alex Robertson of Bispham High
School & Arts College, Blackpool awarded 'Overall Winner of
PrintIT! 2007/8', as well as an expenses paid educational trip of
a lifetime to St Lucia to see the benefits of Fairtrade. The ceremony
was once again given a celebrity boost by guest speaker, BBC Six
O'clock news presenter and patron of The Fairtrade Foundation, George
Alagiah OBE.
The overall winning entry of PrintIT! 2007/8 was selected
from the eight category winners in a competition that registered
more than 23,000 participating students from over 570 schools. Comments
Martyn Elmy, Chairman of PrintIT!, "Alex's entry stood out
because the design was innovative and had the greatest immediate
visual impact of all the designs that were considered. There was
strong brand identity and the item was also able to convey a message
about Fairtrade. The design concept was also cleverly extended through
a range of other promotional display items."
As well as taking the top prize in the 2007/8 PrintIT!
campaign, Alex Robertson also scooped the category award for 'Best
Table Talker', a printed table-top display which conveys a promotional
message.
"It is a befitting salute to the strength of
our industry that we can all unite to encourage and support our
joint ambition of attracting young people into print, through the
efforts of PrintIT!", continued Terry Watts, Chief Executive,
Proskills UK and one of the final judges. "The fact that PrintIT!
continues to enjoy enormous success is thanks to the unwavering
and charitable support of the UK print industry and I take this
opportunity to thank them for their commitment during year three
of the programme."
Once again, the Fairtrade Foundation provided the
theme of the 2007/8 PrintIT! competition which challenged participating
schools to create a comprehensive 'print-centric' campaign to support
the promotion of Fairtrade products in a typical café. As
last year, the curriculum-mapped competition was extended to Year
10 students (aged 15-16) in their first year of their Product Design
GCSE as well as for GCSE Graphic Products students. The aim of the
project was to introduce students to the unique and stimulating
appeal of print as an absorbing and rewarding career.
Adds Terry Watts, "Today's ceremony typifies
what can be achieved through a fusion of inspiration, hard work
and creative skill. We hope that by inspiring those pupils who have
taken part in the PrintIT! initiative, some of them might join our
industry in the future. Having a talented, youthful and vibrant
workforce is vital to keeping our industry competitive, and judging
by what we have once again seen from PrintIT! entries, it is evident
that creative flair, enthusiasm and talent are in abundance within
our schools." were presented with individual prizes of a digital
camera, as well as a valuable print-related prize for the winning
schools. The students and teacher named overall winners of PrintIT!
2008 were also presented with an educational trip of a lifetime
to St Lucia, where they will visit farmers on the island in order
to see the benefits of Fairtrade; a major printing plant and also
have lunch with the High Commissioner and attend various TV &
radio interviews.
Category Winners:
Best Poster:
Stephen Partington - Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School, Lancashire
Best Table Talker:
Alex Robertson - Bispham High School & Arts College, Blackpool,
Lancashire
Best 'Free' Design:
Billy Joe Poole - Sandwich Technology School, Sandwich, Kent
Best Use of Brand across the Range:
Sarah Edmondson, Katie-Louise Wire, Amy Pearson - Keswick School,
Keswick, Cumbria
Best Understanding of Printing Techniques:
Beth Goddard - Nottingham High School For Girls, Nottinghamshire
Best Use of Materials:
Daniel Carter - Altrincham College of Arts, Altrincham, Cheshire
Best Overall Presentation:
Jack O'Brien, Adam Spivey, Alex Walsham - George Farmer Technology
College, Spalding, Lincolnshire
Best Understanding of Environmental Concerns
Stacey Barry - Aylesbury High School, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
2007/8 Special awards
Best Industry Twinner
The Print Room, Bracknell, Berkshire
Best Teacher
Daniel Currigan, Tiffin Girls' School, Kingston, Surrey
Best Overall School Effort
Beauchamp College
Best PrintIT! Student
Karen Sanders, Queen Elizabeth's Community College, Crediton, Devon
W: www.printit.org.uk
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GET A WORKMATE
WITH ECRM (01.05.08)
Building on WorkMates, the automated PDF
based entry-level workflow solution for small to midsized commercial
printers launched by ECRM last year, the company has now released
the RipMate module upgraded to version 8.0 of the Harlequin Plus
Server Rip. This makes driving any ECRM imaging device fast and
simple, through an easy-to-use user interface. At Drupa, ECRM will
also introduce WorkMates 3.0, an entry-level digital prepress workflow
solution.
The RipMate v8.0 enhancements include: PDFRaster
output of variable page sizes; support for PDF 1.7 and PDF /X-4
compliance; support for MS XPS 1.0; and will run with Macintosh
OSX 10.5 and Vista operating systems.
WorkMates 3.0, with its new GUI, will allow users
to either view all or selected workflows. Users can choose to drop
jobs into automatic flows for complete automation, or manual flows
to create custom impositions to selected output devices. WorkMates
3.0 is a client server package offering users both Macintosh and
PC clients with unlimited client connections. In addition, WorkMates
3.0 includes the latest Harlequin Rip release version 8.0 which
offers PDF Raster output and increased performance from multi-threaded
CPUs.
W: www.ecrm.com
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EPSON ENTERS
NEW MARKETS WITH INKJET LAUNCHES (01.05.08)
Epson hopes to move into new commercial
print sectors with the demonstration at Drupa of a new product using
its with a MicroPiezo TFP (Thin Film Piezo) printhead and by showing
applications developed with its partners such as remote proofing,
textile printing and inkjet CTP. These will be shown alongside Epson's
more traditional large-format offerings, including the new Stylus
Pro GS6000, a 64in-wide printer with an eight-colour ink set, debuting
at Sign and Digital UK.
The Stylus Pro GS6000 has a resolution up to 1440
x 1440 dpi and production speeds of up to 25m²/hour using Epson's
variable-sized ink droplet and MicroWeave half-toning technologies
to deliver fast-drying, scratch-resistant prints that are water
and UV resistant for up to 1.5 years without lamination.
The Stylus Pro GS6000 will be supported by the major
Rip vendors and will cost £29,995 (ex VAT), including auto-take-up-reel
to support heavy rolls up to 30kg, a maintenance and starter-kit.
Visit hall 5, stand A01 or www.epson.co.uk
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CASLON DEBUTS
DIGITAL AND LITHO FINISHING KIT (01.05.08)
Digital and litho print finishing solution
will be debuted by Caslon at Drupa. The company will launch the
HighPrint System for short-run thermography applications alongside
two new card cutters for high speed production of embossed and foiled
business cards. Also showing for the first time at Drupa will be
Caslon's Square Edge spine maker, a finishing solution with both
in-line and standalone capability.
Richard Caslon, managing director
says: "In the present market where specialist finishing, especially
for digital print, is becoming the added value option to ensure
profit, we are developing products for a variety of applications
including foiling, embossing, thermography and slitting."
Visit hall 10, stand E52-9 or www.caslon.co.uk
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SWITCH PRICES
FALL IN RUN-UP TO DRUPA (01.05.08)
Positive Focus has announced special pricing
for the Enfocus Switch product range in the run-up to Drupa. Until
30 June there is ten percent off the product. Prices start at £555
with LightSwitch, handling and filtering files and providing notifications.
FullSwitch costs £1,845 instead of £2,050, while PowerSwitch
is down to £3,690 from £4,100.
Switch 07, the process automation
software introduced by Gradual Software, and now incorporated into
EskoArtwork's Enfocus Business Unit, automates the handling of files
and managing the print workflow. There is a simple calculator for
return on investment at http://www.gradual.com/ROI/roi_main.php.
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KIP BRINGS WIDE-FORMAT
TONER BASED PRINTER TO EUROPE (01.05.08)
KIP UK is using Drupa as the European
launchpad for the KIP Color 80, a wide-format LED tone-based printer.
The system can produce an A0 print in 17 seconds (almost 4 x A0
sheets per minute) and can print onto regular bond paper as well
as a range of more specialised media types all of which are instantly
dry and UV stable.
Visit hall 7A, stand D07 or www.kipuk.com
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DUPLO INCREASES FINISHING
OPTIONS WITH NEW DUETTO/SCC NEARLINE BOOKLETMAKING SYSTEM (17.04.08)
For the first time, Duplo's unique Duetto
nearline bookletmaking system will be available with the company's
SCC slit, cut, crease module to offer two configurations in one
finishing line. The Duetto/SCC bookletmaking line provides litho
and digital printers with a solution to handle both short and long
run booklet production.
An advanced hybrid solution based on Duplo’s
System 5000, the Duetto incorporates The DSF-2000 sheet feeder,
up to three DC-10/60 collators, DBM-500 bookletmaker and DBM-500T
trimmer. The Duetto was the first system to handle both set-by-set
and sheet-by-sheet output with equal ease – creating the first
system of its kind to address both digital and offset printing requirements.
Incorporating the SCC module in between Duplo’s sheetfeeder
and the DBM-500 enables the bookletmaker to accept sheets directly
from a digital press and output a finished book.
By extending the Duetto line with the SCC unit, Duplo
is essentially offering printers the flexibility of using two separate
production workflows combined in one finishing line. Workflow A
comprises a DC10/60 suction collating tower, the DBM500 bookletmaker
and DBM-500T trimmer to produce longer book runs at speeds up to
5,000 booklets an hour. Workflow B consists of Duplo’s DSF-2000
sheet feeder (with optional barcode reader), the SCC unit and a
DBM-500 bookletmaker and trimmer, which is ideal for the production
of shorter run, multiple jobs on digitally printed stocks.
Designed principally for the production colour digital
market, the SCC-equipped bookletmaking system takes care of two
common issues associated with colour digital output.
First, the SCC unit side-slits and trims the head
and foot of each sheet. This provides an accurate full bleed trim
which is registered by a CCD camera to the image, rather than to
the physical dimensions of the sheet – this means that ‘image
drift’ can be corrected. Second, the SCC module can crease
the cover and innermost sheets of the booklet, or all the sheets
in the booklet so that image cracking on the fold-line is prevented.
For jobs where colour and black and white output is
to be combined, the sheet feeder is equipped with two feed trays,
so that one can be loaded with oversize colour output from one digital
press and the other with finished-size black and white output from
a different device.
The coloured sheets are fed through the slitting,
cutting and creasing units, while the finished-size black and white
sheets are transported via a by-pass unit to the accumulation section
of the bookletmaker. There the entire set is re-integrated, with
the coloured sheets now the same format as the black and white sheets,
ready to be stitched, folded and trimmed. This feature-rich solution
is controlled by an MS Windows based software to allow for a clear
and precise overview of the complete finishing line and simplify
operation.
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FUJIFILM LAUNCHES XMF C-FIT
(17.04.08)
XMF C-Fit from Fujifilm is an intelligent
image optimisation software which automates the process of analysing
and improving RGB images that arrive from various sources. Incorporating
a number of Fujifilm image processing algorithms, XMF C-Fit includes
face recognition and skin smoothing, light source recognition, exposure
and white balance adjustment, and sharpness enhancement, to create
an RGB Digital Master.
XMF C-Fit's colour appearance matching technology
maps the colour gamut of the RGB Digital Master to the maximum gamut
potential of the profiled target device. It also enables users to
convert RGB files to CMYK without changing or losing the feel of
RGB images, ensuring the best possible colour conversion from original
to printed image.
Simple to use, XMF C-Fit is a ‘hot folder’
based workflow with a ‘drag and drop’ operation. The
core technology supporting many of the features in XMF C-Fit is
Fujifilm’s image processing technology, Image Intelligence.
This technology originated in Fujifilm’s minilab systems and
is now being used in many other Fujifilm products. It includes a
dynamic colour management system that actively changes the output
target settings such as paper, ink and printing format to simulate
the finished product.
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KIP FORMS PRINTER PARTNERSHIPS
(17.04.08)
Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK)
has formed a strategic partnership with KIP UK to enable Konica
Minolta to offer a comprehensive document imaging range that now
includes wide-format KIP printers.
Commenting on the partnership agreement, Grainger
Hill, director of KIP UK said: "This strategic partnership between
Konica Minolta and KIP is to the mutual benefit of both companies
and customers. The KIP range of HDP printers have been designed
to deliver unrivalled performance and value to meet the ever increasing
demand for fast, high quality and cost effective wide format document
reproduction."
Toshiba TEC has also teamed up with KIP to provide
wide-format document imaging solutions in the UK for architectural,
construction and engineering sectors. The first offering is the
colour capable KIP3000 wide-format MFP.
As with all KIP systems, the KIP3000 can be bought
as an entry level system that is upgradeable to provide additional
functionality for monochrome and colour scanning, printing and copying.
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