Quark Inc.

Whether drum or flatbed, today's high-tech scanning systems are allowing prepress departments to do more, create more—even charge more. Here's a look at some of the new technologies and creative techniques empowering prepress with high-voltage scans. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The scanning market, like those of its prepress counterparts, is continuing to evolve, especially the flatbed component. Interesting, though, how much hype is concentrated around the kings of digital output, such as the thermal platesetter—arguably the most hyped digital output device ever to hit electronic prepress. But what of the content creator—the device that enables color images to be digitized, manipulated, then output?

Developments in variable data are pushing on-demand print production to new levels of customization. What are the hot new technologies to see at the On-Demand Show? The answer, pun intended, varies. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Talk about getting a little too up close and personal: Bitstream's PageFlex, Agfa's Personalizer-X and BARCO Graphics' VIPLine variable data software solutions, VariScript from Varis and Indigo's Yours Truly, Scitex's Darwin and Xeikon's PrintStreamer, EFI's FreeForm and Xerox's DigiPath—all are striking, almost surreal, examples of the power of variable data in printing. Talk about Big Brother. Imagine getting a customized postcard from a travel agency. A picture

Well, now I know I've made it: Starting with this issue, Attila the Editor has granted me Columnist Status. That way I get a page—or less—to rant and rave about topics of interest to prepress professionals every month. So what if it ticks off the key advertisers . . . Having recently attended the Seybold Conference in Boston—thankfully the show has been moved out of New York—I would like to muse about those behemoths of our industry, Adobe and Quark, and what might happen to those of us that rely on their software to earn our daily bread. Thanks to the "keynote addresses" granted to John

Two years ago, Printing Impressions explored the digital asset management and repurposing services of Color Associates. At that time, its top management reported that selling data services and exploring new ways of distributing client information was the future for prepress providers. Were they right? You bet your assets! BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The year is 1997. At Color Associates—a St. Louis-based digital prepress, creative imaging services and display graphics provider—the focus is clear: The time has come to sell, market and fully exploit digital content management and the expanding role of digital communications. The Internet, they reasoned, would play a major role in

BOSTON—With all the hype and hoopla surrounding the return of Seybold to Boston last month, all roads led to the Hynes Center for the latest advancements in digital prepress, digital printing and "repurposing" content for the Internet. From Adobe to Apple, from Markzware to Epson's Stylus 9000 and from Agfa to Creo, Seybold brought the digital movers and shakers back to Boston, where digital file transfer technologies, digital asset management, color proofing, thermal platesetting and every other degree of digital prepress stood on a very warm, very Bostonian, very welcome, familiar platform. Adobe's John Warnock, president, and Charles Geschke, CEO, laid out their

I'm writing this column the day after the conclusion of Seybold Seminars Boston/Publishing '99. Though Seybold is no stranger to controversy, it's been a few years since a product announcement at a Seybold Seminar event created headline news within the publishing industry. But this year, Adobe's top executives, John Warnock and Chuck Geschke, announced their long-rumored "Quark-killer" page layout application and set tongues wagging. Code-named K2, but now called InDesign, the software is clearly going to challenge Quark in the area where it has triumphed: customization through extensibility. Quark championed the concept of allowing third-party software developers to plug their wares into a major

Digital asset management (DAM) solutions are plentiful, ranging wildly in everything from robustness to flexibility to price. But which offering is right for you? That may be the million-dollar question. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The search is on. There are at least 75 DAM technology providers (not a slight on these fine technologists, just a widely tossed about, clever acronym for digital asset management) that are more than happy to visit you, send you materials, access your digital archiving weaknesses, advise you on ways to retool the content management at your operation and probably wash your car if you ask them nice enough. For

Two years ago, Apple was in trouble. Its stock was plummeting. Consumers were flocking to the domain of Bill Gates. Business Week reported the creator of the Mac was in a certain-death spiral. Enter (for a command performance) Steve Jobs. Four straight profitable quarters, several technology announcements and the company is now the Wall Street Journal's most successful technology stock for 1998. Why? Because Apple "Thinks Different," of course! BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO "Think different," the latest ad campaign of the inventor of the Macintosh, symbolizes creativity, innovation and truth. The "Think Different" theme also taps into the core desire that burns in the

Technological strides in areas of digital prepress, plus new moves in digital color printing, will push for strong attention this year. Are commercial printers ready for the next wave of techno-hype? Time will tell. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Tired of hearing about thermal CTP? Bored with PDF discussions? Less than enthralled with the latest digital color proofing claims? Too bad—the next wave of PDF functionality, digital front-end output flexibility, thermal CTP strides and competitive advancements in digital color proofing devices are poised to make 1999 another hot year for digital developments. Still, hearing the tech talk isn't always easy, as many a prepress director

BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Asset management is a field which, in a few years time, the industry might refer to as one that virtually exploded onto the scene and introduced a surplus of young technology providers and tools to a marketplace that was, in many ways, still figuring out exactly what it wanted to do with its digital assets. There are easily more than 75 asset managers currently positioned firmly in the graphic arts. Some cater specifically to digital assets in a variety of commercial prepress departments, some focus strictly on catalog production, some on manipulation of content in large-scale newspapers and others offer