Screen (U.S.A.)

Heidelberg Suprasetter 145, Suprasetter 162 and Suprasetter 190: Heidelberg is adding large-format models to its Suprasetter range to coincide with Drupa 2008. The new systems are used in conjunction with the Speedmaster XL 145 and XL 162, and the Suprasetter 190 can also supply plates for other presses, up to a sheet width of 74.8˝. The platesetters are available with throughput speeds of up to 35 plates per hour (pph), with a resolution of either 2,540 or 2,400 dots per inch (dpi) as required. The six cassettes of the plate loading unit enable up to 600 plates in as many as six different formats

Eastman Kodak Kodak Approval NX thermal halftone proofer supports specialty, corporate and brand colors, including metallics. The system can control density, dot gain and print on actual printing stocks. Matchprint Virtual for InSite proofing software enables SWOP-certified soft proofing on calibrated monitors with consistent and accurate color. PressProof extends monitor proofing to the pressroom utilizing qualified LCD monitors. The Veris ink-jet proofer uses Multi Drop Array technology for true 1,500x1,500 dpi addressability. Color consistency assured by 4D calibration and quality-controlled consumables. ICC compliant. Matchprint Ink-Jet proofing marries drop-on-demand (DOD) imaging with the same software as Veris for color accuracy, enhanced image smoothness, quick calibration

JUSTIFYING NEW equipment on paper is one thing, but real-world verification is far more satisfying. For Jim Sebes that happened not long ago when a customer of the Cuyahoga County Central Services Printing and Reproduction (CSPR) Division asked for a quote on 50,000 single-color, one-sided documents, to be run on the in-plant’s two-color Sakurai press. A local copy shop also made a bid. The customer’s eyes nearly bulged at the result. “They couldn’t believe the price difference,” recalls Sebes, senior printing coordinator for the eight-employee in-plant. It was $1,400 cheaper to print the job on his in-plant’s offset press. This incident only underscored the

THIS WILL be the ink-jet Drupa. No, it will be the green Drupa. Or, maybe the print buyer Drupa. Actually, it will be big enough to be all three, and much more. In case you’re new to the business, Drupa is the largest trade show in the graphic arts industry. Held every four years in Düsseldorf, Germany, it will boast more than 1,800 exhibitors and cover more than 1.8 million square feet of exhibit space in nearly 20 halls when it kicks off on May 29. Putting a label on Drupa is one way to make it more digestible. Another is for

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:

Screen (USA) recently marked the 40th anniversary of its founding. It started out as the first overseas subsidiary of Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. The parent company, with headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, was the outgrowth of a manufacturing concern dating back to the mid-1800s. In 1868, Saigiro Ishida established a copper plate and lithographic printing shop called Ishida Kyokuzan Printing Works. Saigiro Ishida was the great-grandfather of Dainippon Screen’s chairman and CEO, Akira Ishida. By 1946, Dainippon Screen had become a pioneer in wooden process cameras, arc lamps and vacuum printing frames. Today, Dainippon Screen is a leading supplier of CTP and prepress systems. Screen

WHEN SOUTHERN Illinois University Printing/Duplicating Service installed a new Screen FT 3050 imagesetter in 1998, it was a big step forward. Gone were the days of shooting film. After nine years, though, time took its toll on the FT 3050. “It was a good machine. We were happy with it,” remarks Dennis Maze, superintendent of the 22-employee operation, in Carbondale, Ill. “But we had some problems with it a little over a year ago.” Error messages and the need for parts left the machine out of commission for days at a time—once for a full week. “So that’s when we decided to start

Screen (USA) will host a technology open house February 5-7 at its Rolling Meadows, Ill., headquarters. The highlight of the event will be the Truepress 344 four-color direct imaging press, which reportedly made a big splash at Graph Expo. Participants can evaluate the Truepress and ask questions. Demonstrations will be held each morning and afternoon, emphasizing the on-press plate imaging, processless thermal plates and user-friendly automated systems. The Truepress 344 features a Multi Array Laser Diode (MALD) imaging head that simultaneously images all four processless plates at 2,400 dpi. Job changeover times are less than six minutes. In addition, Screen will showcase

A glimpse of the excitement and bustle of Graph Expo, with interviews of some of the in-plant managers in attendance.

DESPITE ALL the talk in the industry of virtual proofing, Ken Johnson still thinks customers prefer a proof they can hold in their hands. “Their eyes gloss over [when proofing] on the computer screen,” says Johnson, director of Printing Services at Ball State University, in Muncie, Ind. His in-plant uses Kodak’s MatchPrint ProofPro software along with Screen USA’s Trueflow workflow. Proofs are printed on a MatchPrint ProofPro 2610 ink-jet printer. But out at Western Growers, in Irvine, Calif., Robert Delgado feels much differently. His in-plant e-mails PDF proofs to customers, and he says they have been satisfied with the arrangement. Proofs always match the