THE ECONOMY may be bad, but that doesn’t mean the quality of your printed materials has to be. Instead of switching to cheaper paper, this is the time to give your publications more impact by using premium papers. “They help you set your printed communications apart,” notes Laura Shore, of Mohawk Fine Papers.
THERE HAVE been significant developments that make ink-jet a more viable process and now thrust it into the mainstream of the printing industry. The ink-jet market is growing in every direction, from flatbed and wide-format, to label, to transpromo, to commercial web and sheet. Print head manufacturers are accelerating their developments, and new inks are being introduced almost daily. Today’s ink-jet technologies are undergoing a number of significant quality and performance evolutions. These changes will combine with advances in new jettable fluids and inks, with improved materials handling and substrates—all of which are leading to a new generation of cost-effective printing solutions. But many of these solutions are due in the 2009–2011 time frame.
DIGITAL PRINTING has created new opportunities for print producers and print buyers alike. One of the biggest of these opportunities is personalized communication to an individual. Digital printing is the output end of customer relationship management and comprehensive databases. When customer and prospect information is used intelligently and creatively, it engenders larger numbers of calls, clicks and visits. It translates workflow into cash flow. There are 40 primary market segments in which business entities operate, from ad agencies to wholesale food (see list at end of story), and each segment has unique marketing, promotional and communication channels and approaches. The Technology Digital
NEW YORK CITY—August 7, 2007—Printing Industries Alliance, formerly known as the Printing and Imaging Association of New York State, has announced that internationally known lifestyle communicator Martha Stewart has been named the recipient of the 2007 Franklin Award, which recognizes the achievements of outstanding leaders and communicators. The award will be presented during the Association’s Franklin Event on Tuesday evening, September 18, at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York City. A New Host This is the first time the Franklin Event will be hosted by the Printing Industries Alliance. “We are happy to have this opportunity to host the Franklin Event which has been
A digital print job is only as good as the paper used. To ensure you are getting the most out of your digital print jobs, IPG spoke with industry suppliers, who shared some important tips. Identifying Quality Paper Formation, which is the uniformity of fiber distribution, affects a paper’s strength, runnability, consistency in caliper and print performance. Hold a sheet of paper up to the light and observe the uniformity. Paper with poor formation will have an inconsistent, splotchy appearance. Copy paper should be lightweight with a degree of opacity so that it will move through the photocopier rollers easily, and neither curl nor become brittle
International Paper has agreed to sell its Brazilian coated papers business to Stora Enso Oyj for about $415 million. The business includes a coated paper mill and lumber mill in Arapoti, Parana State, Brazil, as well as about 124,000 acres of forestland in Parana. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2006. The move is part of International Paper’s previously announced transformation plan to focus on uncoated papers and industrial and consumer packaging globally. Including this deal, expected proceeds from transformation-related divestitures announced to date are approximately $9.7 billion.
CMP Holdings, a subsidiary of Verso Paper Holdings, has completed the previously announced acquisition of International Paper’s coated and supercalendered papers business for approximately $1.4 billion. The coated and supercalendered business includes four paper mills, located in Jay, Maine; Bucksport, Maine; Quinnesec, Mich.; and Sartell, Minn. Verso Paper Holdings, an affiliate of Apollo Management L.P., is a leading supplier to the North American magazine publishing and catalog markets. The company annually produces approximately 1.7 million tons of coated groundwood, coated freesheet and supercalendered papers and had $1.6 billion in sales in 2005. Its brands include Advocate, Influence, Liberty, Savvy, Trilogy and Velocity. Headquartered
THROUGHOUT HIS years as director of materials management for the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dean Gray has always used a mix of coated and uncoated paper. Recently, at the request of a designer, he switched the annual report—traditionally printed on coated paper—to uncoated paper. The results were pleasing. In fact, by printing on uncoated stock, the in-plant met the PCOM marketing department's goal of softening up the annual report's previously stiff and formal look. "It gives an air of less formality and stiffness," Gray notes. For years, using uncoated paper meant taking risks on quality. That is no longer the
Can in-plants advance the use of environmentally friendly papers? The answer is yes. These days, cost, quality and availability are all on your side. By Tyson Miller The paper industry has come a long way in cleaning up its act in terms of mill discharges into waterways, pollution prevention and energy efficiency. Many of these improvements have occurred as a result of laws and government regulations. Similar improvements in forest preservation, though, have yet to be made. The marketplace, not the government, will drive these changes. For that reason, in-plants can be a potent force for continued environmental improvements in paper. There is
Are you getting the most out of your digital paper? Find out from the experts. By Kristen E. Monte DIGITAL PRINTING delivers a leap in technology—but make sure you don't stumble when it comes to the digital paper you use. In-Plant Graphics spoke with industry suppliers of digital paper to get some important runnability tips. Read on and take note. Identifying Quality Paper: • Quality paper should arrive well packaged and protected, be clean and not dusty when inspected, and feed evenly without major efforts. The paper weight is important because there are usually complex paths in digital presses, and there are
