GATFWORLD back issues from February 2007:
2007 Forecast: Technology, Trends, Tactics
Feb 01, 2007; ... Message from the President The Forecast from GATF, now PIA/GATF, has a long tradition of being a much-anticipated publication because of the breadth and depth of the information included. This is exemplified in the fact that this is the thirtieth Forecast published. In early ...
30 Years . . .
Feb 01, 2007; ... As I began to plan the 2007 PLVGATF Forecast: Technology, Trends, Tactics I realized this would be the thirtieth annual forecast published by GATF, now PIA/GATF. It seemed appropriate to look back at how the Forecast got started and how it has evolved over the last thirty years-and see what had ...
A Brief Reflection on the 20th Anniversary of the GATF Technology Forecast
Feb 01, 2007; ... Forecasting and Predicting A forecast should provide facts and stimulate thinking by including all of the information necessary for good planning and sound decisionmaking. To be successful, the forecaster must be familiar with the industry and understand its technology. This writer's ...
Navigating 2007 Print Markets: A Growing but Slowing Scenario
Feb 01, 2007; ... SECTION 1 The Print and Graphic Communications Industry U.S. Economic and Other Trends How will the economy and print markets perform over the next twelve to twenty-four months? While economic and market outlooks are always subject to many risks and uncertainties it is ...
Is the Industry's "Transition" Over?
Feb 01, 2007; ... A new print business finds prosperity through productivity, automation, ana value. We've been describing print as an industry in transition for so long it almost seems like a permanent condition. It may be surprising to think that in many respects our "transition" is over, but we need to ...
Can You Survive without MIS?
Feb 01, 2007; ... Over the past thirty years the commercial printing industry slowly, and then rapidly, changed from being craft-oriented to being a technology-driven custom manufacturing business. It still takes considerable skill to get the color separations right and for the press operator to match the proof ....
MIS Identified as Printers' Critical Survival Tool
Feb 01, 2007; ... Management Information Systems (MIS) have been identified as the technology-when used with properly implemented products-that is the most important factor in a printer's profitable survival. Profit leader printing companies almost always run their businesses based on information, not on instinct ...
Green Business Practices Can Reduce Red Ink
Feb 01, 2007; ... In recent years a significant increase in the emphasis placed on "environmentally friendly" business practices has occurred throughout the nation. Caused in part hy a national trend towards "eco-friendly" processes that seems to include all segments of society, this trend is likely to continue, ...
Knowledge Forgotten Is Knowledge Lost
Feb 01, 2007; ... So much information, so little time. A lament of graphic communication firms of the future. Having an ability to retrieve, process, manage, disseminate, and-make accessible-electronic files to both their client constituency, as well as their internal organization, will be the ultimate challenge ....
Why Lean Isn't Working in the Print Industry, and What You Should Be Doing About It!
Feb 01, 2007; ... Change does not come easily for the print industry. Actually, strike that. Change does not come easily for most industries. There are a wide variety of reasons why people, companies, and industries do not embrace change. Without a willingness to change, companies get stuck in patterns that ...
Marginal Print Volume Improvements Stimulated by Direct Mail and Digital Growth
Feb 01, 2007; ... Print Markets Direct mail growth and continuing expansion in the use of all types of digital-direct to paper-production printing dominated a still consolidating commercial printing industry that struggled with marginal successes in 2006 to recover volume lost since the early ...
There's No Escape: Catalog Publishers Still Diversifying Their Media Mix to Chase a Fragmented Consumer Base
Feb 01, 2007; ... Many & David. Wine Country Gift Baskets. Mac/PC Connection. Orion Telescopes. OneCall. Barnes & Noble. Despair inc. These are just a handful of the printed catalogs that have arrived in my mailbox in the past week. As I write this, it is late November, and catalogers' holiday ...
Quick Printers: Fewer, but Better
Feb 01, 2007; ... Overview While the actual number of quick and small commercial printing establishments will continue to gradually decline, 2007 again will see increasing total sales from these industry segments. That said, 1 fear the gap between the "haves" and "have-nots" will continue to widen. All ...
Beyond the Bestseller: Book Publishers in a Bind
Feb 01, 2007; ... In late September 2006 Sony finally began shipping its long-awaited electronic paper-based e-book reader-and immediately sold out. The Sony Reader is about the length and width of a large paperback book, is one-half-inch thick, and weighs about nine ounces. ILs key feature is its high-contrast, ...
New Trend in Digital Label Printing
Feb 01, 2007; ... Digital printing has been around now for more than twenty years. In that time commercial printers have used the power of digital printing extensively to create more personalized communications. We all have received personalized letters, postcards, and catalogs in the mail. In the label industry ...
The Evolution of the Newspaper
Feb 01, 2007; ... Throughout 2006 many of the headlines were not just in newspapers; they were about newspapers. All of them laid out a dismal future for newsprint. As recently as December 2006, TNS Media Intelligence reported ad spending was up 4.0% over the same period last year. Yet this growth occurred ...
Growing a Business: Shifting Gears for the Changes Ahead
Feb 01, 2007; ... To gain perspective on the specialty imaging industry's business expansion plans, SGIA surveyed industry professionals on their equipment purchases for the past twelve months (May 2005 to May 2006) and potential investments for the coming twelve months (2006 and beyond). The final results show ...
Wide-Format Inkjet Printing
Feb 01, 2007; ... In the past fifteen years a lot has been written about the potential impact and success of inkjet technology in the U.S. wide-format graphics market. And Web Consulting has played its part by following and analyzing these technologies and applications since 1993· There is no question the market ...
Canada's Printing Industry
Feb 01, 2007; ... International The printing industry in Canada remains one of the most economically important and technologically advanced industrial sectors. It is the fourth largest manufacturing employer with more than 84,000 employees working in 5,834 establishments from coast to coast. In ...
2007 Latin American Forecast
Feb 01, 2007; ... General Overview Sustained economic expansion and mostly stable market conditions provide a favorable situation for graphic arts and converting companies to grow. A preliminary evaluation of Latin America's economy by ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the ...
Evolution of UV Drying in Europe
Feb 01, 2007; ... Impact of UV Curing in the Western European Market In spite of the economy, the ultraviolet (UV) inks and coatings market has been growing during the last few years within the printing industry, while the market suffered initially due to environmental doubts, it has become, more ...
Newspapers Fight for Reader's Interest
Feb 01, 2007; ... Throughout Europe wide coldset and newspaper printers are implementing surprising technologies to increase profitability and refrain from declining results due to less interested readers. This article describes some examples hoir these printers are trying to prepare themselves for sumval in the ...
Integrating the Graphics Workflow Process
Feb 01, 2007; ... SECTION 2 The Print Production Process Workflow If you examine the graphics workflow process, as defined hy the IPA Graphics Workflow Team, you will see its vast number of steps, from creative to premedia to prepress and deliver}'. Each area has the potential to delay a ...
Benefits of Automated Workflow
Feb 01, 2007; ... In the printing industry; workflow is one of those words that has become essential to any serious discussion about quality, time- and cost-efficiencies and, ultimately, customer satisfaction. There hardly may be another word used more frequently, and for good reason. Today, without workflow ...
The Center of the JDF Universe: MIS or Workflow?
Feb 01, 2007; ... JDF (job definition format) is finally starting to come of age. The current CIP4 roster includes 308 members, which points to not only a growing interest, but more importantly a broad recognition of JDF by the printing community. The increasing deployment of JDF-based and/or enabled production ...
Strides in DAM
Feb 01, 2007; ... The increasing bandwidth of the Internet, browser-based client software, cheaper and faster storage and retrieval hardware, and other factors have combined to change the way printers and designers handle their digital assets. Strides in digital asset management (I)AM) technology have affected ...
Web-To-Print 2.0
Feb 01, 2007; ... It's looking very much like 2007 is going to be "The Year of WebTo-Print." The first ever PIA/GATF Web-To-Print (W2P) Symposium was a great indication of this trend. Held November 2006 in Phoenix, Arizona, the symposium hosted a standing-room only audience of more than 100 people, overwhelmingly ...
Digital Smart Factory: Printers as Smart Manufacturers
Feb 01, 2007; ... We're seeing a major shift in the way printing companies approacli the printing business. There are plenty of great new technology advances you will read about in other articles in this Forecast. But it's just ;is interesting to see an emerging shift in business models for print manufacturers, ...
Digital Photography
Feb 01, 2007; ... PreMedia, PreOutput For the past dozen years, photo technology forecasts have invariably promised greater and greater resolution for digital cameras. Now, resolution is no longer interesting. Inexpensive consumer cameras now offer as much resolution as all but the costliest pro cameras, ...
Color and Brands: Specifying and Reproducing Color in a Digital Color Supply Chain
Feb 01, 2007; ... A brand identity is a corporate signature, a connecting point between a company and the customers who want, need, even love their brands. Whether it's Hewlett-Packard's blue logo, Target's red concentric circles, or the Starbucks Green, it's often true that a significant part of brand identity ...
Optimization and Increased Expectations Will Equate to Further Optimization
Feb 01, 2007; ... In 2006 our industry saw the advent of a new specification for sheetfed printing that promises to virtually revolutionize the print process across multiple segments. The use of specifications and true standards has been cited as being on the rise and with that rise one program has found both a ...
Virtual Proofing-If Man Were Meant to Fly, He'd Have Wings
Feb 01, 2007; ... In the 2006 Forecast, the key barriers to adoption of color-accurate monitors, or virtual proofing, were detailed. This article will provide an update on the status of virtual proofing and address the most important issue-integrating virtual proofing into existing digital workflows. The ...
Trend Toward Chemistry-Free CTP
Feb 01, 2007; ... High quality and profitability, two of the major goals of printers around the world, are not necessarily foregone conclusions that can result from the performances of all new products or technologies. It takes effort, research, foresight, and skill to develop products and technologies that can ...
Media and Output Processes
Feb 01, 2007; ... Statistical Notes: All percentage estimates are rounded to the nearest whole number and may not total 100% as a result of rounding. The symbols > (more than) and < (less than) are used to indicate a value of less or more than 1% which is not measurable to a finite degree. All process ...
Digital Printing Forecast
Feb 01, 2007; ... It used to be that, when you talked about "digital printing," everyone knew what you were talking about-toner-based, full-color digital production presses for commercial print production. When these machines were first introduced, they were represented by the Indigo E-Print, Xeikon, and Agfa ...
Packaging Meets Radio Frequency Identification
Feb 01, 2007; ... Radio frequency identification, or RFID, continues to expand throughout the marketplace though mandates set forth by retail chains such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Albertsons. Though mostly used to track and trace pallets and cartons of products in the supply chains and backrooms of these chains, ...
Large-Format Presses
Feb 01, 2007; ... In the past year, resourceful, forward-thinking printers have been moving into the large-format and super-large-format press market with gusto. Rather than use this size of press for specialty jobs, these printers have found large-format presses-ranging in size from 51-in. to 81-in.-are a ...
What Lies Ahead for Sheetfed Presses
Feb 01, 2007; ... It we look back at the last twenty-five years in regard to advances in sheetfed presses we see a very strong trend. That trend is that just about every advance in presses as well as auxiliary equipment is based on productivity improvement. This is not to say quality is neither important nor ...
Flexo Technology Update 2006
Feb 01, 2007; ... Changes in 2006 The flexographic industry continues to grow and develop, with expanding print quality and the range of products that can still be produced economically in this manner. The differences in markets between Europe and North America continue, but as more production runs ...
Cutter Automation
Feb 01, 2007; ... Postpress and Finishing Postpress automation is a hot topic among graphic arts practitioners these days, particularly in light of the digital advancements that continue to be made in the prepress suite and in the pressroom. The industry is getting its collective mind around the notion ...
Beyond Conventional Wisdom-Rethinking Pallets
Feb 01, 2007; ... "We've always done it that way!" This common phrase is one print management should always weigh when a new procedure or process comes becomes available. Doing something the familiar way has a great deal of merit, especially when it involves how people do their jobs. On the other hand, simply ...
Rebirth of Saddle Stitching
Feb 01, 2007; ... The trends in the industry have changed significantly-we need it now! Deadlines and run lengths are shorter, and customer demands are expected to be met. How can we meet these challenges? In the postpress arena, we are continually challenged by the pre-bindery departments to make up for ...
Information Fulfillment Services Gather Steam
Feb 01, 2007; ... Printing industry market researchers have been reporting the increasing interest by printers large and small to enter information fulfillment services. This is one of a half dozen value-added services that complement and supplement the print services offered by specialty as well as general ...
Intelligent Mail Should Be in the Future for All Printers
Feb 01, 2007; ... The three-decades effort for Federal postal reform finally passed in December 2006, and now opportunities will evolve for printers of all sizes to help their clients take advantage of improved technologies to manage their postal distribution projects more effectively. And buried within the ...
Planning for the Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement (SSTA)
Feb 01, 2007; ... Virtually every state government is facing budget problems and therefore many are looking to the Streamline Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA) to increase sales tax revenues. Originally enacted in the fall of 2005, the SSUTA is currently a voluntary system of assessing, collecting and remitting ...
Ink-Then and Now
Feb 01, 2007; ... Supplies and Materials This year's invitation to write for the 2007 Forecast came with the offer to reflect on previous projections and point to articles that were on the mark and others that, to put it mildly, missed the boat. This is my eighth year of writing for the Forecast ....
Evolving Customer Needs Drive Integral Changes in Technology
Feb 01, 2007; ... The technological advancements made in the printing industry over the last thirty-five years are indeed significant. Whether you print web offset, commercial sheetfed, digital, or flexo, the process is far different today than it was in 1970. And if you examine the technological advancements ...
Energy Curable Litho Inks for Packaging Applications
Feb 01, 2007; ... In recent years, considerable growth has occurred in all areas of energy curable inks, with particular emphasis on packaging. This growth is primarily due to the obvious benefits that energy curable inks have to offer, such as high gloss in-line and the ability to immediately process the package ...
Incremental Steps Will Advance Web Heatset
Feb 01, 2007; ... In recent years web offset printers have seen a number of technical innovations that have helped them achieve new levels in quality and efficiency. Some of these innovations include higher press speeds, wider web presses, more automation, closed-loop systems to control color settings and ...
Looking for Technology
Feb 01, 2007; ... In his hit tune, country singer Waylon Jennings sings about Looking for Love. He observes his searches in singles bars were to no avail, finally realizing that he has been "looking in all the wrong places." Printers often concentrate their technology searches in the prepress area and in the ...
Trends in the Graphic Paper Marketplace
Feb 01, 2007; ... The North American graphic paper market declined 3% in 2005 and is headed for two more years of decline in 2006 and 2007. The available data indicate the market will decline another 0.6% in 2006, led by a large drop in newsprint and smaller declines in uncoated freesheet and coated mechanical ....
Whose Job Is Training and Education? An Open Letter to the Graphic Arts Community
Feb 01, 2007; ... SECTION 3 Supporting the Print Production Process Education and Training Dear Industry Colleague: A year ago, we asserted that "Automation and enhanced productivity set the stage for the kind of contribution that can be made by a smart, disciplined, motivated ...
AGAT in 2007
Feb 01, 2007; ... Founded in 1987, the Association of Graphic Arts Trainers (AGAT) is a professional association chartered to promote development of and networking among trainers working throughout the printing and publishing process. AGAT members are trainers who work for printers that are active in a range of ...
Voices from the Academy: Graphics Educators Speak Out About the Place, Pace, and Progress of Degree Programs
Feb 01, 2007; ... In November 2006, WhatTheyThink (WTT) devoted a full week of editorial coverage to education and training in cooperation with the Printing and Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF), the industry's leading source of financial assistance for students pursuing careers in the field. Since 1956, the ...
GAERF's New Mission Focuses on Workforce Development
Feb 01, 2007; ... "The coming year will be a watershed for the Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation (GAERF®)," says GAERF Chairman Randolph W. Camp, CEO of Walton Media Services in Monroe, Georgia. "This will be the first full year in which our resources will be devoted explicitly and exclusively to ...
E-Learning Update
Feb 01, 2007; ... What an interesting year this has been for e-learning. What do you want to learn? From previous articles you all know to go to any search engine, Google being my favorite, and type in anything you want to learn. Up come multiple pages and variations of your topic. Nothing new, you say.. .well, ...
Evolution and Development of JDF
Feb 01, 2007; ... Standards and Specifications Automated workflows, reducing the touch points in the workflow, and computer-integrated manufacturing are just some of the methods for improvement being discussed in many printing facilities. The ability to automate many of the parts of the workflow is ...
The Standards Outlook for 2007
Feb 01, 2007; ... As we look at the standards outlook for 2007 we will review the ongoing standards work, not by committee but by major functional areas. We will also show the relationships between several of these areas and how the whole is becoming greater than the sum of the individual parts. It is ...
SWOP and GRACoL Raise the Bar for Proofing Systems
Feb 01, 2007; ... Background Specifications for Web Offset Publications (SWOP) was initiated in 1975 as a response to the printing industry's need for uniform specifications and tolerances to ensure consistency and quality of material in publications. Looking back, we can see that SWOP has been a major ...
SWOP AND GRACoL Proofing Certification to the Numbers
Feb 01, 2007; ... Following the demonstration this summer at the IPA Technical Conference that vendors could make proofs solely "to the numbers" that were also close visual matches, the Print Properties Working Group of IDEAlliance determined that in the future all SWOP and GRACoL proofing certification would ...
G7(TM); The Proof-to-Press Process!
Feb 01, 2007; ... In 2004, IDEAlliance (International Digital Enterprise Alliance) began efforts to define specifications for proofing and commercial printing. The effort was guided, in part, by one of its co-chairs, Anthony Bellacicco, vice president and director of prepress services, Foote Cone & Belding, ...
UK Puts Fogra and G7 Color Calibration Methods to the Test
Feb 01, 2007; ... Two different methods of implementing the ISO 12647-2 standard printing conditions came under the microscope at a UK color testing day organized by the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) on July 20 at Heidelberg UK's London showroom. Led by Technical Standards Committee Chairman Peter ...
SNAP for 2007
Feb 01, 2007; ... Background Specifications for Newsprint Advertising Production (SNAP) is a specification for coldset prepress and printing processes and materials. It was first published in 1984 and updated and republished in 1987, 1989,1994,2000, and 2005. As with SWOP and GRACoL, SNAP is not a ...
DISC-Specifications and Best Practices for Digital Photography
Feb 01, 2007; ... Background Since 2003, a revolution has occurred in magazine publication imaging. Photographers have, for the most part, replaced film-based images with digital images from digital cameras to take advantage of the quality that is possible with digital cameras. Many popular magazines ...
Environmental Update 2007
Feb 01, 2007; ... Environmental The mid-term elections will bring changes to the government's effect on environmental, health and safety issues. Over the last six years, because the administration and Congress have both been essentially Republican-controlled, compromise and consensus law-making were never ...