Did You Say ‘No Charge?’

WHO SAYS nothing good is free? A number of industry suppliers offer excellent educational materials for printers at no cost.

IPG asked around and collected a list of these complimentary publications, along with information on how you can order them.

Among the leaders in producing free educational materials has been EFI. Its “ABC’s” series of books are a treasure for knowledge-starved in-plant managers. Among its titles:

• “ABC’s of Proofing”

• “ABC’s of Print MIS”

• “ABC’s of VDP”

• “ABC’s of Workflow”

The latest, “ABC’s of Design for Digital Printing Guide,” is a 46-page, full-color book, which, like all EFI titles, is available for free download at www.efi.com/promo/abcseries.

Mohawk Paper Mills also offers several free books for printers. “Mohawk Digital Basics 3.0” is a complete guide to digital printing authored by industry guru Frank Romano. It is available for free download.

Also available, as PDFs or in print form:

• “The Naked Truth about Printing on Uncoated Papers.”

• “Sense and Sustainability,” a practical guide to printing on recycled papers.

Hard copy books can be ordered from Mohawk via the sample request form at www.mohawkpaper.com or by calling (800) THE MILL.

To give your offset press operators a quick way to diagnose press problems that may come up, Flint Ink offers wall poster trouble-shooting guides. They list problems, causes and solutions for a variety of sheetfed offset printing issues. Also available: a primer on UV technology.

To request either item, e-mail info@flintgrp.com.

To further enhance your offset knowledge, Heidelberg makes an informational CD available through its Print Media Academy entitled “Introduction to Printing Technology.” It features modules on printing industry trends, offset presses, perfecting technology, inline coating, digital press controls, color measurement and more. In-plants can request a copy by e-mailing Vickie Meyer at vickie.meyer@heidelberg.com.

Heidelberg recently launched a free program for small businesses called Heidelberg Printers Advantage (see story, page 50). It’s a resource for information and business solutions tailored to the needs of small printers. In-plants can ask Heidelberg questions online and receive special offers. Visit www.printersadvantage.com for details.

Another free Heidelberg resource is its magazine, Heidelberg News. To subscribe, visit www.heidelberg-news.com.

Marketing Tips for the Taking

Agfa also offers a free publication called INTERFACE. It regularly includes a marketing column, along with advice on how to organize open houses, what makes direct mail effective and how you can promote your capabilities to print buyers. Also free are white papers on topics like JDF and CTP technology benchmarking. Sign up and download here: www.agfa.com/en/gs/knowledge_training.

Kodak Business Development Services has several free white papers available, including “Kodak’s Roadmap to Color” and “Production Workflow Solutions for Monochrome and Process Color Printing.” They can be found at bds.kodak.com.

The Electronic Document Systems Foundation (EDSF) has published a number of white papers and publications on topics of interest to the in-plant market. Examples include “The Next Generation of the In-plant Print Center” and “Trends in Marketing, Production & Distribution of Variable Data Printing.” To browse the list of available papers and download them, visit edsf.org/research.cfm.

And finally, for those aspiring printers not yet old enough to work (i.e. children), MAN Roland has published an illustrated booklet entitled “What is Printing?” It describes the process in an easy-to-understand way using cartoons. To request a copy, call (630) 920-2000.