Printing & Copying

I have been redesigning the seven newspaper section of the echo, as a part of a tafe assignment. And here is the final 5 page spread that i have designed. Photoshop is used to crop images and to design the seven banner and look for the seven section of the Byron Bay echo. And indesign is used to design the layout/grid of the images and text used through out the documents.

Here is a little teaser photo of one of the new shirts coming out within the week. Got some simple stuff like this and some sweet logo work done by my friend and talented illustrator Mackey Hooker. Stay posted!!

- Matthew

If you want to see the future of digital packaging printing in action, you need go no further than Tulsa, OK. That’s clear from my visit yesterday to Odyssey Digital Printing as part of Xeikon’s pre-Labelexpo Americas 2010 briefing. Odyssey, one of the few digital-only packaging printers and converters in the US, is the home of four Xeikon presses, one DI press and seven large-format inkjet systems. While its primary product is POP displays, it’s doing increasing business in packaging and labels, thanks to the Xeikon units.

Odyssey Digital Printing president John Roberds addresses attendees at the Xeikon briefing.

Odyssey has been on the cutting edge with Xeikon since late 2008 when it installed a Xeikon 3300. Now, the $7-million converter, which credits 60% of its sales to Xeikon-printed product, just installed the new Xeikon 3500 press two weeks ago. That system made its debut at last spring’s IPEX show. (See details on the 3500 below).

“Xeikon is state-of-the-art digital print,” says John Roberds, Odyssey founder and president. “The Xeikon 3500 sets the benchmark for industrial print. With a 20.3 in. width and true 1,200-dpi resolution, the press provides us with the best combination of productivity and imaging quality. Xeikon is a perfect fit for Odyssey’s custom packaging and label applications.”

Examples of Odyssey Digital Printing products.

Some of the customers taking advantage of Odyssey’s digital technology include Titleist (for extremely low runs of custom golfball sleeves), Yankee Candle Co. (for equally short runs of custom labeling), CVS Pharmacy (for shelf/product management strips) and QuikTrip convenience stores. “As much as possible, we’re digitally printing packaging to support other people’s products, not things that may be devalued by the Internet,” explains Roberds.

The Odyssey workflow
The Tulsa converter’s operation is far-reaching. PDFs are received via FTP site; orders via email. Files are preflighted to the Xeikon print templates, and press operators queue the jobs to run on the appropriate Xeikon press. Printed webs are rewound for downstream coating on a Xeikon UCoat and diecutting on either an MGE/Zund i-Cut system for the labels or a Preco 2024 die press for paperboard. Boxes are then run through a Universal folder/gluer and packaged for shipment. The company also provides kitting and fulfillment services.

Operators confer at the controls of Odyssey's new Xeikon 3500 digital press.

The average job at Odyssey is about 300-400 lineal ft by 20 in. wide. The presses run two shifts a day, five days a week. Five dedicated digital-press operators are employed; the least experienced has five years of such work to his credit already. Registration and color density are checked on-the-fly during digital printing, and Roberds says maintenance on the Xeikon systems totals only about 8 hours/week.

With the Xeikon 3500 in production, Odyssey managers feel even better positioned for the challenges ahead. But they’re not stopping now. Roberds and his team will attend Labelexpo Americas later this month to seek out some sophisticated finishing equipment. They’re looking for a web-fed, off-line system that can UV-coat, laminate, spot-coat, rotary die-cut and sheet their printed rolls. That’s a tall order. Any takers?

Xeikon strategy and product developments
A few years ago, when Xeikon saw the commoditization of digital printing appear, it decided to focus on niche and emerging markets, says Michael Ring, president of Xeikon North America. Namely, labels, packaging and POP displays, he explains. Its focus today is on high-volume applications for its equipment in the space between inkjet units and current digital presses, between the Xerox iGEN4 and HP Indigoes and the Kodak Prospers.

Yankee Candle p-s clear-on-clear labels are rewound after printing on the Xeikon 3500 digital press.

Xeikon’s reworked 3000 Series, launching at Labelexpo Americas 2010, reflects this strategy. Four models in the digital label-press line include the completely new Xeikon 3050 and an upgraded replacement for the original Xeikon 3000 called the Xeikon 3030. That entry-level 3030 will debut at the Labelexpo Technology Workshop. The Xeikon 3500 will also be demo’d for the first time in North America at Labelexpo. “Label applications are ideal to take advantage of the flexibility of our technology,” says Filip Weymans, business development mgr. for Labels & Packaging at Xeikon.

The 3000 Series lets converters go from a narrower-width, slower system (3030 with 13 in. at 31.5 fpm) to a highly productive, wider unit (3500 with 20.3 in. at 63 fpm). All models are 5-color with 1,200-dpi resolution. They all print on a wide range of substrates without pre-coating, such as p-s films, paperboards and foils. And all models can run Xeikon’s new QA-I toner, which is FDA-compliant for indirect food contact and direct contact for dry foods.

Xeikon isn’t forgetting prepress and workflow. The 3000 Series works with Xeikon’s X-800 digital front-end, which is equipped with a new Adobe PDF Print Engine. At Labelexpo, the supplier will also be demonstrating Web2Print applications and showing examples of how MIS data can drive both flexo and Xeikon presses while capturing real-time production data and sending it back to the converter’s MIS.

CreateAthon 2010 is right around the corner and this year, Corcoran Printing will be lending some design power to Non Profits in need. No less than three graphic designers will be lending their talents to the 24 hour creative blitz.

When I saw this print from Fro Design Co., I laughed out loud. It was just so simple, yet so creative! The print is of 21 different business cards, which were created to reflect fictional companies mentioned in popular movies and TV shows. I can identify about half — how many companies can you see?

– Whitney (Marketing Director)

PostNet Far West

3571 Far West Blvd., Austin, TX 78731

(512) 231-1321

tx157@postnet.com

Visit our website!

Printing from your iPad is coming to ios 4.2! Likewise I’m sure this will be on iPhone.

On August 24, 2010, PrintPlace.com was named to the prestigious Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing companies in America.

The 2010 Inc. 500 is a group of companies that are smaller but much faster-growing than last year’s crop. Aggregate revenue is $11.3 billion—down from last year’s $18.4 billion—but median three-year growth is 1,231 percent, substantially up from last year’s 880.5 percent. The companies on this year’s list employ more than 45,000 people.

“Fast growth at any time is a big achievement; fast growth during the past few years is just short of miraculous,” said Inc. editor Jane Berentson. “The Inc. 500 consists of these just-short-of miraculous companies, the ones that through ingenuity and ambition have increased revenue, hired employees, and grown fast in difficult economic times.”

This year, PrintPlace.com placed in the top 100 of the list at #54, a dramatic increase from last year’s debut on the list at #979, and posted a three-year sales growth of 4,168%.

PrintPlace.com Founder & CEO Shawn Petersen commented on the award:  “I am honored to be ranked among the other entrepreneurs on this year’s list and am especially proud to be the only commercial printer to rank among the top 500.  I attribute our phenomenal growth over the past three years to our employees and loyal customers. PrintPlace.com employs a dedicated and conscientious team who work hard to ensure our clients receive the best possible quality and customer service.  Because of this, we are able to offer quality, price and satisfaction guarantees unique in our industry, which is appreciated by our customers.  Without this partnership, our success would not be possible.”

About the Inc.  500 List

The Inc. 500 is an annual ranking of the country’s top 500 fastest-growing, private companies. The Inc. 500 honorees are ranked according to percentage of revenue growth over a three-year period.  Complete results of the Inc. 500, including company profiles and an interactive database, can be found at Inc.com/500.

About PrintPlace.com

PrintPlace.com bridges the gap between online printing and traditional commercial printing.  With over $25,000,000 in sales annually throughout the US via the online channel manufactured in Arlington, TX and Los Angeles, CA, PrintPlace.com also operates a full-service custom and web printing facility in Ft Worth, TX.  PrintPlace.com was honored by SMU/Cox’s Dallas 100 as well as Dallas Business Journal’s Best Places to Work in 2009.   To learn more about PrintPlace.com, visit the website at http://www.printplace.com.

Printing.com (PDC, 36.5p, £16.19m) The AGM statement highlights a cautious outlook. Trading in April and May were slightly softer. A strategic document, ‘Vision 2015’ has been developed for franchisees. An integral part of this strategy is to add ‘web-to-print’ templates to the tools utilised by our network of outlets. We believe that by adding these systems, greater efficiencies can be realised, making the business model more robust and sustainable. Management believe the template based solution will open up new markets, in particular larger businesses and multi-site operators. We believe the market may drop current earnings estimates from 3p. The challenging market conditions encourage us to reduce our recommendation to a SELL with a target price of 30p.

HB Markets Daily Smallcap Newsflash

Being on the front lines, and speaking with publishers across America every day I hear a resounding question, “When do you think this recession is going to end?” I asked my magic eight ball a couple of times, the first time was “the outlook is good” which gave me great optimism. So I decided to make sure the magic 8 ball was right and try it again, this time it said “Very Doubtful”. I was just about to throw the 8 ball out the window, when I thought, “Well 2 out of 3 times isn’t so bad!”  So I shook it one last time and asked it the same question, it said, “Reply hazy. Try again”. The fact of the matter is nobody knows. I say, let the experts speculate on CNN, FOX, and MSNBC, let us not focus on waiting for the recession to end, but rather prospering without doubt. Make this the day that you say, “I will no longer use the recession as an excuse”.

 With that in mind, I called up a client and friend of mine, James Jiskra, to ask how he has prospered not only now, but for the past decade. James Jiskra is the Advertising Director for Vintage Guitar magazine (http://www.vintageguitar.com/) which is also the leading guitar collector, enthusiast, and dealer magazine in the world. For the past 10 years, James has been a large part of the reason why Vintage Guitar has enjoyed such enormous success and the reason they are known as the “guitar experts” magazine. With the quality of advertisers he has created loyalty with, and new advertisers he continues to bring in. Here are three tips James was thoughtful enough to share with me:

• Be proactive. If you find a problem with an ad after it’s already in print, let the advertiser know before they see it and offer an appropriate credit. They’ll appreciate the honesty will take the news much better than if they’d found the mistake themselves. We’ve also noticed that when this happens they’ll often increase their ad size or lengthen frequency.  
• When you get to the office in the morning, read your newest e-mails first.  You’ll save time by not trying to fix something that has already been taken care of. Same goes for voice-mail. Listen to all voice-mails before acting on the first “emergency” call. Sometimes things work themselves out without your intervention.
• This is an old one but, smile when you answer the phone. You really can hear the difference on the other end.

 Think about your relationship with your print salesman, wouldn’t you wanted to be treated the same way? A person that will be proactive, and honest with you, who listens, and  is going to be optimistic and a source of great fuel for you to keep doing what you love. I came across a quote the other day I would like to share with you.  “Live your life like a duck, calm and cool on the surface, but under the water kicking like hell.” Keep kicking, but keep your head positive.