Heidelberg

They're on their third incarnation, and going strong. It's the Heidelberg Digital Imaging Association (HDIA), formerly the Linotype-Hell Users Group, formerly the Hell Users Group. Comprising users of (former) Hell ChromaCom systems and scanners, (former) Linotype imagesetters and systems, and Heidelberg DI presses, the group appeared vibrant and prosperous at its mid-February annual meeting, held near Heidelberg USA headquarters in Atlanta. With all the troubles that have befallen the Scitex Graphic Arts Users Association in recent years, the HDIA has become the largest and most successful of the remaining graphic arts users groups. Attending (and speaking at) the Atlanta meeting, I thought it immediately apparent

The fourth installment of Printing Impressions' year-long CIP3 focus profiles the prepress and press projections of Heidelberg—the founding father of the CIP3 consortium. Now, with Delta Technology's PressGate from Heidelberg Prepress serving as a CIP3 enabling tool for the German press maker, the megasupplier is moving closer to automating the print production process from prepress through postpress. If one company needed to embody the objectives of the CIP3 movement—establish and implement a seamless digital workflow from prepress to postpress—it was Heidelberg. The founder of the CIP3 initiative, Heidelberg is the new name in prepress production, as well as an established goliath in the pressroom and

BOSTON—A city renowned for its historical tea parties, its commons, the Charles, the Pops, the Celtics...and variable image binding. Well, maybe you won't find quite that description in a Frommer's Guide to New England just yet, but that may change if Edinboro Offset has anything to do with it. In the past two years, this commercial printer has doubled in growth, due in part to a determined attitude—and a process it terms "variable image binding." Founded in 1947, Edinboro Offset—whose original owner was one of the first people to own an offset press—maintained its small-to-midsize status printing jobs for a targeted market of

Judging by the success of Buchanan Visual Communications, one would hardly guess that when Dave and Lyn Johnson purchased the company in 1980, they knew little about commercial printing. At the end of that first year, Buchanan's sales totaled $348,000. After 17 years under the Johnsons' ownership, the company reports an estimated $14 million for 1997. And as a recent move into a larger facility indicates, business seems to be getting better all the time. The Johnsons attribute their success to the relationships they've formed with each of their customers. From day one, they have tried to provide quality supported by personalized service. Before

When do you think about your server? Probably not until something goes wrong. When the network is running smoothly, jobs are being routed seamlessly from prepress station to prepress station and performance is consistent— despite the large volume of digital data. The server may be the central player in a prepress environment, but, for all intents and purposes, it's an invisible man—until a network crash demands immediate attention. "Getting the best service from your server inevitably leads to a discussion about performance, because the primary objective in a production environment is to keep the [prep] work moving and the presses running," asserts

The third installment of Printing Impressions' year-long examination of CIP3 puts the spotlight on Screen (USA) and the relationship between Taiga SPACE and CIP3's PPF, and examines the CIP3 perspective of one very satisfied Screen technology user. Ask George Fiel what is so significant about CIP3, and, after arching his eyebrows slightly and looking you squarely in the eye—as if to pose the question: "What planet have you been living on?"—he will give you an answer that is insightful, if not virtually celebratory in nature. So, George, what do you think of CIP3? Go ahead, let us have it. "CIP3 will be universally adopted—it is, without question,

There are certain rules in the commercial printing industry commonly referred to as sacred—meaning, DO NOT TOUCH, DO NOT REINVENT, DO NOT DEGRADE, DO NOT MANGLE. In other words... If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Once upon a time, that was the popular view of sheetfed printing. Today, sheetfed offset presses allow users to print high-quality work more easily than ever before. But with ease, with productivity, comes a high and mighty cost. Competition. Without question, the sheetfed marketplace is demanding greater productivity through the application of technological enhancements, which result in improved print quality, increased equipment flexibility, improved integration of prepress, press

In 1996, millions of textbooks were printed in North America. High-quality, high-circulation news magazines, such as Business Week, Time and Newsweek, reported circulations topping 15 million. In the United States alone, 60 million Bibles were produced that year for distribution throughout the world. With this explosion in commercial web printing and the reduction of profit margins, press operators are exploring new ways to save time and money. For two commercial printers—Quebecor-Hawkins, in Kingsport, TN, and St. Ives, in Hollywood, FL—the solution was a new no-pack printing blanket. A Blanket Solution"We realized that a no-pack printing blanket was just what today's commercial web printers needed,"

"I feel the need...the need for speed." So quipped Tom Cruise's cocky fighter pilot character Maverick in the action flick, Top Gun. Those same sentiments can be echoed by any commercial printer with medium- to large-sized (for purposes of this article, 26˝ and larger) presses. Except, Cruise's Maverick had it easy—just a few competitors to deal with and only one battle necessary to test his meddle. Increasing customer demands, pricing pressures and shorter turnaround times all combine to put sheetfed owners' metal to the test—on a daily basis. "Large-format sheetfed press manufacturers feel the same price pressures as their customers. Continually shorter run

PHOENIX—The people who created "Dryography" are at it again. Imperial Litho & Dryography, based here, says it is the first printer in the United States to offer commercially available 300-line heatset web printing. They've dubbed the process WebElite. "The debut of WebElite is in keeping with our commitment to constantly introduce innovative products to the marketplace, something we've continued to do over the past 39 years," declares Malcolm Marr, CEO. Marr says Imperial developed WebElite by taking the prepress techniques it has advanced over the past five years of manufacturing 300- and 600-line Dryography and combining them with specialized ink, chemistry, blanket and roller configurations. Dryography, a sheetfed