Agfa Graphics

You gotta love America. Only here could Bill Gates be watching almost idly as the Justice Department prepares to dismantle his empire just as changes in information technology were about to do it for him. Ironically, while Microsoft is about to be broken up into two or three pieces, just about every other industry seems to be moving toward larger and larger conglomerates in search of so-called synergies. That the payoffs are few and far between doesn't seem to dampen anyone's enthusiasm—and certainly not that of the investment bankers and corporate lawyers that put these deals together. Of course, this has been going on for some

Welcome to the fifth annual Printing Impressions ranking of the 50 print vendors at the top of the color on-demand printing market. The rankings were determined by 1999 annual sales figures, as reported by the companies themselves. 1. XYAN.COMKing of Prussia, PA(610) 992-7100Total Annual Sales: $62,500,000% of Sales From On-demand: 60Principal Officer: Alan BelyeaPlants: 47Employees: 735 Year Founded: 1994Digital Printing Devices: Canon CLC 1000 (2); Xerox DocuColor 12 (34); Xerox DocuColor 40 (8); Xerox DocuColor 70 (1); Xerox DocuColor 100 (1); Xerox DocuTech 135 (5); Xerox DocuTech 6180 (16)Capabilities/Servicess: Digital file transfer; Distribute and print; Distribution and fulfillment; Internet server; Large-format output 2. BPS

The flood gates are open—digital presses for commercial printers are no longer one size fits all. There are enough devices to tempt the commercial printing community. From the zealous prepress provider to the comprehensive of one-stop printing operations: Specialization is the new mandate for the digital press in on-demand printing, variable or not. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Quick. What is a prime directive of the best of the best commercial printers when it comes to exploring new digital technologies for print? Be receptive to embrace emerging digital printing technologies? Be proactive with contemporary and unique marketing initiatives to promote new digital

Digital prepress houses are recognizing the need to diversify and invest in additional value-added services. Topping the list, for some, is on-demand digital printing. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO In February 1994, William Staar found himself on the cover of Printing Impressions magazine. At that time, Staar was a strategic influence in his family's $7.3 million digital prepress firm. The company, Noral Color, which has since been purchased by a larger graphic arts service provider, was co-founded by Staar's father, Norman Staar. In 1994, William Staar represented a new breed of commercial printing executive. He was powered by the intrinsic desire to modernize. He was

The robotic scanner of yesteryear is long gone. Today's higher optical resolutions, advanced color user interfaces, fully integrated ICC-compatible software and faster scanning speeds are helping the prepress workflow scream. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Does it seem like the scanning market is standing in the conservative corner of digital prepress? Sure, glamorous, big-name PDF workflows are topics of industry discussion and intrinsic analysis, digital halftone proofing and digital platesetting devices duke it out for the time, attention and dollars of prepress executives and print production professionals—but what about the scanning market? Does anything scan-dalous ever happen to these image manipulators? As of

Blue laser diode platesetters (that actually emit energy in the violet spectrum) will be in vogue this year. Who will be the customer of choice for these technologically advanced units? What consumables (silver-based or negative-working conventional plates, for instance) will support a "true blue" 2000? Read on. . . BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Blame Sony. For that matter, blame Pioneer. (Or, depending on where you sit on the issue, thank them.) These two major Japanese suppliers are feeding the race to develop the perfect blue-laser-based, gallium-nitride disk player, both trailing the current leader, Nichia Chemical Industries. Why should you care? Blue

Is a digital proofer on your shopping list? Which digital proofing devices will you buy this year? What will be the improved range of spot colors accurately produced by these devices? Who's talking stochastic? Find out—today. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Happy new year. Need a new digital proofer? What an interesting time to shop for proofing expertise. (Sorry. No after-Christmas clearance on these items!) Expanding color gamuts, open front ends, new media selections, pigment-based inks, digital halftone and ink-jet devices, multi-setting proofers, spot color surprises—it seems every flavor of digital proofer is pushing to better mimic press conditions, deliver stable, accurate color and provide

Being able to run a 20˝ (or smaller) sheetfed offset press without a broad operator learning curve tops commercial printer demands of press manufacturers. BY ERIK CAGLE Commercial Printers have felt the pinch recently, with the amount of skilled press operators seemingly dwindling each year. Rather than choosing from a long list of prospects to operate their presses, many employers are faced with few options. As a result of the tight employment market, printers seek equipment that doesn't require lengthy operator training sessions—one of several issues facing not only those who buy small-format (20˝ and under) presses, but also those who manufacture them. While

Well, now that we've gotten over the millennium bug, or at least the hangover that accompanies the usual New Year's Eve festivities, we can hopefully focus our attention on the coming year. What will the new year/decade/century/millennium bring? Probably a lot of the same headaches the preceding one(s) bestowed upon us. That is, we can still expect to receive files that are missing fonts, images and other elements that are necessary to print. Of course, pricing and turnaround will continue to be the two legs of the stool expected to flex, while demands on quality remain as rigid as ever. Last year was

As the new millennium approaches, e-commerce, PDF workflows, thermal CTP, digital proofing, computerized business management, and digitally equipped, automated printing and finishing technologies played starring roles at GRAPH EXPO 99. The rise of competitive e-commerce networks, PDF workflows, thermal computer-to-plate output devices, digital proofing systems, fully automated printing presses, new press control systems and quick-makeready finishing systems were on display by more than 600 exhibitors at GRAPH EXPO 99 in Chicago. What were the show stoppers? * E-commerce solutions—Internet-based, business-to-business solutions such as Noosh, Impresse, Collabria, 58k.com, PrintNation.com, Printable.com, PaperExchange.com and GraphicsResourceCenter.com, targeting the print procurement, supply purchasing and overall industry education needs of commercial printing,