Printing Industries of America has announced the recipients of the 2011 InterTech Technology Awards. The innovative technologies receiving this award are expected to have a major impact on the graphic communications industry.
Steve Schmuger, graphic services manager for Miami-Dade County’s General Services Administration, can summarize one of his most important job responsibilities into three words: feeding the organism. Schmuger envisions the shop’s workflow as a dynamic, vital entity. “It can do more and more things for you, but you must keep feeding it—that is, investing in technology and adding more components,” he asserts.
CHEMISTRY DEFINITELY has its place: in science fairs, laboratories and love. However, more and more in-plants are displacing chemistry in favor of greener, cleaner workflows. Platemaking is one of the areas getting the enviro-overhaul. Here, five in-plants recount their transitions to chemistry-free computer-to-plate (CTP). And despite our best efforts to document the bad along with the good, these in-plants claim to have had very few reservations—and even fewer regrets.
A GOOD PRODUCTION workflow is one of the main factors in meeting deadlines and profitability. Historically, the answer to creating an effective workflow has been to throw people at it. Not only is that expensive, but with the increasing complexity of the tools and processes required, it demands very skilled operators. And finding and training these operators can be a big challenge in itself. Now, automating everything is not always practical. For example, any process that requires some subjective decision making is not usually suited to automation; however, we should be using technology to replace many of those predetermined and repetitive tasks. That is
GHENT, BELGIUM—August 18, 2008—The world’s graphic arts experts have come together to release v4 of the Ghent Workgroup specifications (http://www.gwg.org/GWGversion4.phtml) for automated workflow efficiency in the range of application and output environments. v4 of the specifications supports Adobe Acrobat 9 - which itself includes Universal Proof of Preflight developed by the Ghent Workgroup. Heading the list of additional enhancements to v4 is a check for missing glyphs, one of the leading causes of preflight and page production frustration. GWG’s specifications have become the international benchmark for PDF quality assurance. The free specifications are utilized by designers, prepress and printers all over
GHENT BELGIUM—July 21, 2008—Access to the comprehensive, best practice workflow specifications and resources are now easier than ever for printers, prepress professionals and designers as The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) unveils its newly streamlined, fast website, www.gwg.org. In addition the GWG, the international cross-section of PDF and print experts known for creating, testing, and releasing specifications and best practices that have been proven to make it easier for users to ensure PDF document quality across workflows around the world; announces newly elected officers to its executive committee. The www.gwg.org Website The latest version of the website has been completely revamped to address the expanding population
The Xerox Production Systems Group presented Partner of the Year awards to 16 business partners for their continued contributions to Xerox, its customers and the printing industry. Rochester Software Associates was presented with the 2007 Production Systems Group Software Partner of the Year Award for providing customers in vertical markets, such as healthcare and education, with solutions that improve and enhance print production workflows. Additional Software Partner of the Year Awards were presented to: • Atlas Software - Variable Information Partner of the Year • Avanti Computer Systems - Business Management / MIS Partner of the Year • Elixir - Data Transformation Partner of
AS ALTERNATIVE media threaten print volumes, in-plants must take another look at their business models and adapt to the changing business climate. Revenue growth will depend on cost reduction through new workflow efficiencies, as well as new revenue sources from value-added services. Although hardware improvements will certainly play a role in advancing these objectives, the software driving these devices—along with other workflow solutions—will allow printers to differentiate themselves. Research indicates a growing divide between service providers that are growing their businesses and those that see their businesses in decline. Those who “get it” understand that continued growth depends on a three-pronged approach:
Artwork Systems Group is investigating claims made by Markzware in a lawsuit filed in the federal district court in Santa Ana, Calif. The suit contends Enfocus products infringe Markzware’s U.S. patent. The lawsuit, which focuses on two Enfocus software products (PitStop Professional and PitStop Server) reportedly came as a surprise to Enfocus, whose leading PDF preflighting products have been on the U.S. market for many years. Said Artwork Systems Group CEO, Peter Denoo, “Artwork Systems and Enfocus respect the intellectual property rights of third parties, and are currently conducting a full investigation into what appear to be unsupportable allegations made by Markzware. We do
Markzware has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Federal Court against Enfocus Software, Artwork Systems Group N.V. and Artwork Systems N.V. The lawsuit alleges that products manufactured and sold by the defendants infringe upon the Markzware U.S. Patent No. 5,963,641 for a “Device and method for examining, verifying, correcting and approving electronic documents prior to printing, transmission or recording.” Markzware preflight products for digital documents include FlightCheck Professional, FlightCheck Designer, FlightCheck Studio, FlightCheck Workflow and FlightCheck Online. The complaint seeks monetary and injunctive relief from all three defendants. “The preflighting described in the ’641 patent and owned by Markzware has been used without our consent,” explains Patrick
