Esko's i-cut Suite awarded 2012 Printing Industries of America InterTechâ„¢ Technology Award

Esko's i-cut Suite has been awarded a 2012 Printing Industries of America InterTechâ„¢ Technology Award.

Since 1978 the InterTech Technology Awards sponsored by Printing Industries of America have honoured the development of technologies predicted to have a major impact on the graphic arts and related industries. More than 80% of technologies that receive an award experience continued commercial success in the marketplace.

This is the sixth InterTech award Esko has received in the past ten years. Other recipients include Esko FastVariants (2003), Esko WebCenter (2006), Esko DeskPack 3-dX (2007), Esko Neo (2008), and Esko Studio Toolkit for Shrink Sleeves (2011).

“Esko received, once again, wonderful news from the Printing Industries of America. We are flattered that i-cut Suite was deemed worthy of this prestigious award. We believe our track record of awards accentuates our continuous innovation, supported by our significant R&D investments,” comments Carsten Knudsen, Esko President and CEO. “Yet, we are even more honored that i-cut Suite is being adopted by many large format printers who are finding exceptional productivity and quality gains. Until i-cut Suite, wide format printers either tried to piece together prepress components â€" or did very little at all. i-cut Suite was the first workflow built specifically for wide format shops; not commercial print operations whose jobs are very different.”

“The judges acknowledged that wide format workflows have been, for the most part, missing. Every large format digital printer has different RIPs and capabilities. i-cut Suite provides a unified workflow,” comments Mark Bohan, Vice President, Technology and Research, Printing Industries of America. “In particular, i-cut Suite provides an innovative solution linking the print to the finishing equipment. The judges also were impressed with i-cut’s ability to automate the process, especially important since large format can be a very labor-intensive form of printing.”

Esko i-cut Suite: a workflow that oversees large format, from design to print to cut

i-cut Suite is a collection of software specifically for users of large format digital printers and/or digital finishing systems. Different modules provide companies with essential tools to deliver sign & display products with optimal efficiency and productivity, regardless of the type, source and variety of the incoming job information. It includes i-cut Preflight, a simple PDF preflighting solution for large format digital printing. i-cut Layout interactively builds (nests) and edits sheet layouts, saving printing time and increasing substrate utilization â€" even creating cutting paths, if missing. i-cut Layout creates two complementary files, one for the digital printer and one for the cutting table.

Often, slight distortions between printed graphics and contour cuts may cause unacceptable results. The i-cut Vision Pro control system â€" found on a range of finishing systems â€" offers accurate die-less cutting. It uses a camera to register the size and position of the printed materials. Then, cutting shapes are adapted to the shape of the graphics.

i-cut Automate ties the pieces of the i-cut Suite together, automating the entire prepress production with a conditional workflow system.
Operators can easily monitor the workflow, intervening when necessary. i-cut Automate can also be integrated with MIS, enabling automatic job creation and the submission of job parameters to the workflow via XML data.

Productive results from customers

Leicester based Data Image Group Ltd. in England was an early user of i-cut Suite. “Our company has grown 100%, but we have not increased our headcount in the art department. This all comes down to the power of the workflow. We use i-cut Suite on every job and could not live without it. Before, we created most of our cut lines and ganged artwork on sheets manually. The problem with most art files is that you need a shape surrounding the art. Unfortunately, most client files come with crop marks only, which are useless for our cutting tables. We had to reopen the PDF file in Adobe Illustrator to create the box,” explains Robert Farfort, Director at Data Image Group. “i-cut Layout lets us detect trim boxes, create the cut file, and send it to the cutting table. It has reduced the potential error of damaging a file.”

“Creating cut lines and ganging artwork for print could spend nearly a day for just one job. Now, it takes us only 4-5 minutes. It has hugely transformed what we do with artwork,” adds Farfort. “We have also seen a significant 10-20% savings in materials utilization, depending upon the complexity on job. We also found savings in print time. Printing a sheet on a digital inkjet printer, depending on the device, can take 15 minutes to 1⁄2 hour. By reducing the number of sheets we print on a job â€" for example from 13 to 10 sheets â€" we save 30 to 40 minutes of production time. Of course, that allows us to print more jobs and to drive more profits.”

Ad-vantage Signs and Graphics, based in Burlington, Canada, has noticed similar results. “We’ve only used i-cut Suite for several weeks, but already are experiencing much faster production. Our graphic designer said in some instances it is 75% faster than our previous way of handling PDF files and imposition,” notes Jeff Beaton, Vice President of Ad-vantage Signs and Graphics.

If Ad-Vantage was running multiples for foam core, the file sizes got so large just for editing that it took hours just to download them. i-cut Layout offers different resolutions. “With Illustrator we were transferring 1.5GB file sizes, and were losing a lot of time just waiting. With i-cut Suite, it’s 10 MBs. We get a screen preview, so we aren’t waiting for the files to keep reloading,” says Bradley Cousins, Ad-Vantage graphic designer.

“Just this week we received a job requiring us to print 30,000 2’x5’ decals with a lot of different artwork. If we didn’t have i-cut Layout to import the files and create the layout, it would have taken days to do it. Especially having to figure out the math of how many could fit on a sheet â€" all that is done automatically in i-cut Layout,” remarks Beaton.

“As print buyers have become more cost-efficient and reactive to marketplace changes, run sizes have become smaller, there is more versioning, and more pressure on quick turnaround times,” concludes Steve Bennett, Esko Vice President, Digital Finishing Business. “Before, the wait time from digital wide format printers would likely cause production backlogs, but printer speeds have caught up. Often, the production logjam is now on the pre-production workflow. In order to stay profitable, it is important to keep the digital presses running. With i-cut Suite, Esko offers ways to combat these delays, offering tremendous opportunities for productivity advantages to exceed demand. We feel confident that i-cut Suite will hold up to the expectations of an InterTech Award recipient.”

Cross Media's free seminar programme proving to be a hit

The organiser of Cross Media 2012 has reported that there is already a high volume of interest in its six free seminar theatres.  Placing a heavy emphasis on its education programme, the theatres will address challenges and opportunities in cross media campaign through presentations and panel discussions of top-level speakers from global brands.

The Cross Media theatre, sponsored by Xerox and XMPIE, will provide visitors with a fresh approach to integrating digital and traditional marketing channels to drive customer engagement and increase revenues. Split across two days, the seminars will be home to key note speakers from major companies and household names such as Crew Clothing, Expedia, Financial Times, Justgiving, Microsoft, Sony, MTV and the Guardian.

On day one, visitors will have the chance to listen to seminars from industry experts about data management across multiple channels to support integrated strategies â€" a topic that is still proving to be high on marketers’ agendas. A number of presentations will look at the fast evolving cross media landscape and the skills involved delivering these campaigns, as well as the technology available and being introduced to maximise outcome and return on marketing investment (ROMI).

Jacob Aizikowitz, President at XMPIE, a Xerox company, will kick off the seminar programme on day one with 1:1 Multichannel Communications: The New Meaning of the 'M' in MSP. He comments, “Marketing has changed from the cost-effectiveness of using mass media for reaching huge audiences, to the results-effectiveness of engaging individuals in a 1:1 dialogue across multiple communication channels. Realising that this entails combining the physical (i.e. print) world with the virtual world, and making the right investments in technology, people and possibly partnerships or acquisitions, is the key to strong, lasting results for advertisers, communicators and service providers, who aspire to lead and succeed in this digital and social age.”

Day two’s visitors to the Cross Media theatre will hear all about engagement with customers throughout the marketing lifecycle and developing attribution models in order to measure the effectiveness of marketing channels and driving future strategy. In addition, Adobe will give a presentation on attribution modelling for a cross media campaign to determine ROI and justify investment.

For more information, please visit www.crossmedialive.com.

Nominations invited for FESPA 2013 Hall of Fame

FESPA is inviting printers, manufacturers, suppliers and print buyers and end users to nominate print solution providers into the FESPA Hall of Fame 2013. The Hall of Fame, seen first at FESPA Digital 2012, is the ‘who’s who’ of leading printers across the global print community. This initiative will culminate at the FESPA 2013 event in London (25-29 June 2013), where the overall Global Printer of the Year will be announced, alongside the top five printers in each country.

FESPA is encouraging the print industry to start nominating colleagues, who they feel deserve to be recognised and rewarded for their excellence.

The Hall of Fame aims to highlight worthy individuals from all over the world who their peers hold up as inspirational role models. Printers can be nominated for having pioneered a new approach or technology, or demonstrated innovation in other ways. They may simply stand out on print skill or service for a leading stance on sustainability, or have made some other significant contribution to the industry.

FESPA Managing Director Neil Felton comments, “The initial Hall of Fame at FESPA Digital 2012 was extremely well received and we’re thrilled to continue to celebrate the amazing and inspiring work of printers around the world. We want to encourage the print community to nominate colleagues and industry peers they admire, to help celebrate the exceptional work that they do every day.”

Nominees who receive several votes will be inaugurated into the FESPA Hall of Fame offering a host of benefits as part of an exclusive group. With the chance to network with like-minded innovative entrepreneurs, nominees also receive VIP invitations to FESPA global events as well as discounted conference or summit delegate places, in addition to potentially gaining positive media coverage for their business.

Nominations will run until 21st January 2013, the global community will then be able to vote for their favourite ‘print hero’ until May 31st 2013. The five winners and top five nominees per country will be announced at FESPA 2013 on June 26th 2013 at an Awards Gala Dinner.

Making a nomination is simple. Printers, manufacturers, agencies, brands or suppliers wanting to nominate, simply visit www.fespa.com/halloffame.

Canon upgrades large format printer range

Canon has upgraded its large format printer range with the launch of two new imagePROGRAF devices with optional MFP capabilities which will deliver more efficient printing and scanning of large format technical documents for design and engineering professionals.

The two new 36-inch devices - the imagePROGRAF iPF760 and iPF765 â€" introduce a number of features designed to save time and streamline workflow, including a horizontal stacking basket for A1 plots to ensure prints stay organised and flat once they have been printed, and improved printing management. Specifically for the imagePROGRAF iPF765, which replaces the imagePROGRAF iPF755, a 250 GB hard drive (of which 32 GB is dedicated file-processing memory) streamlines workflow in a networked environment, or where large-sized documents with complex imagery are required.

Developed for use by professionals in a variety of different markets including Computer-Aided Design (CAD); Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC); Geographical Information System (GIS) and other technical document professional areas, the imagePROGRAF iPF760 and iPF765 produce large technical documents and posters in colour. Both machines include software utilities for users in the retail signage industry, as well as general office environments. It can print technical documents at up to 2400 x 1200 dots-per-inch (dpi).

“Building on the success of the imagePROGRAF range, Canon has upgraded and enhanced the features of its current models to enable customers to continue to grow in the CAD, GIS and AEC markets,” said Yuichi Miyano, Director of Large Format Solutions, Canon Europe. “By listening to the feedback from customers, Canon has fine-tuned its systems â€" by increasing memory and integrating the flatbed stacker - to enhance user productivity and efficiency. High quality, large format prints can now be simply, quickly and continuously produced in an office of any size, without interruption and without occupying substantial office space.”

A simple interface and advanced administrative mode makes the ENERGY STAR-certified imagePROGRAF iPF760 and iPF765 easy to use and secure, while the small footprint enables them to fit inconspicuously into the office. Audio notification of low ink and cartridge replacement simplifies maintenance, while a reserve ink supply in sub-ink tanks enables replacement without stopping a print job. An enhanced accounting function logs all printer activity, recording the client ID, ink and media consumption, media type, output size, and provides close control over all operating costs.

In addition, customers can seamlessly integrate scanning technology into their operations with the imagePROGRAF MFP solution, made possible by Canon’s new scanner stand, designed for simple installation and supported by improved software for enhanced usability.

The Canon imagePROGRAF models are available in the UK and Ireland from 1st September through Authorised Canon Partners.

For more information, please visit www.canon.co.uk/largeformat.

[photo shows Canon imagePROGRAF iPF765]

Océ Arizona 318 GL UV flatbed unveiled at Sign & Digital UK

On stand E10, Océ’s Arizona 318 GL UV flatbed printer is being shown in the UK for the first time at Sign & Digital UK 2012.

Océ, part of the Canon Group, is demonstrating latest developments in the Océ Arizona family, the world’s best-selling UV flatbed printers for the display graphics market, which includes the newest model unveiled in February.  The Océ Arizona 318 GL system is a highly-capable introductory UV flatbed model that offers smaller print producers an entrance to the world of high-quality UV flatbed printing. Pricing starts from £75,000.

In 2010, Océ Arizona Series platform printers captured 43 percent of new installations in the mid-range UV flatbed market. Since the first shipment of an Océ Arizona Series printer in 2007, nearly 3,000 systems built on this platform have been shipped to date.

In addition to the new model, Océ will be showing the Arizona 360 GT and the Océ ColorWave 600 poster printer, which incorporates Océ CrystalPoint technology that uses toner pearls. Océ Imaging Supplies will also have a significant presence. Océ will also be showing the new ONYX Thrive workflow software, a scalable print production solution based on Adobe PDF Print Engine technology.

Océ will also be partnering Zünd Plotting Systems (UK) Ltd, the UK distributor for Zünd Systems Technik AG, the Swiss manufacturer of digital flatbed cutters. The two companies will be displaying the Zünd G3 L2500 digital cutting system. 

Océ and its partners will use the event to demonstrate latest labour-saving innovations, designed to reduce waste and increase productivity. There will also be online access to the popular Océ Media Guide, which provides detailed advice and guidance.

Dominic Fahy, Océ UK’s Business Group Director, Display Graphics and Imaging Supplies, comments, “Sign & Digital UK is an important platform for us to demonstrate world-leading technologies and commitment to this all-important sector as we continue to grow market share. But our continued success is also recognition of the excellent teamwork within our company. This, together with the full backing of Canon, is helping us to deliver exceptional performance for our customers and the industry in general.”

Picking up on PixelBlaster

One of the key highlights for me at the FESPA Digital show in Barcelona was PixelBlaster, a genuine end-to-end system that covers pre-flight to production for wide format printing. We first touched...

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Druckerei Hanemann Advances Operation from Alphagraph Prinance MIS to EFI Pace System

EFI announced today that printing company Druckerei Hanemann in Weil am Rhein-Ötlingen (Germany) has decided to replace its Alphagraph Prinance system with the EFI Pace management system. The full-service, twelve employee-strong printing company has been supplying printed goods and promotional items of all kinds to its customers for more than 25 years.

"I decided in favour of EFI Pace because it is an integrated system. You only need to enter data once from price quote all the way through to delivery note and invoice, and it functions quickly and reliably," said managing director Fabian Berger."I am looking forward to improved integration of our Fiery® controllers and web-to-print shop with EFI Pace. Eliminating manual input and direct digital transfer of data minimises errors and streamlines the work process.As print runs are becoming ever shorter, quote requests are increasing, and delivery times are getting ever shorter, we need to work faster and faster and avoid sources of error. Pace was an easy decision because as a leading player in the workflow arena, EFI have a strong offering that we will be able to work with for many years, and which benefits from EFI's established support organisation in Germany."

An important advantage is the browser-based nature of EFI Pace. Every employee can access Pace from his or her PC or Mac workstation without needing any other software.Berger values being able to work from anywhere and at any time, from any computer with an internet connection.EFI Pace makes access considerably faster and easier. For example, during conversations with customers he can easily call up his calculations on the iPad and see exactly how much room there is for negotiation.

EFI Pace can also be installed on hosted servers at an internet provider, saving expensive server and IT systems.

Solutions from Alphagraph such as Prinance will still be developed, supported and sold to existing customers by EFI. Alphagraph customers on maintenance are eligible for special price discounts on new EFI systems.

For more information on EFI Pace, visit www.efi.com