The company’s acquisition of PrintLeader, which has a client base of around 800 commercial and in-plant printers in North America, follows a string of acquisitions in 2012 enabling the company to bolster its MIS, ERP and web-to-print reach. As part of the deal, PrintLeader’s MIS products will be absorbed into EFI’s browser-based application PrintSmith Vision, launched in 2011 to provide users with a suite of estimating, quoting, order tracking, scheduling and data collection tools. “We are very pleased to have printLEADER join the EFI family and our expanding portfolio of business automation technologies,” said Marc Olin, senior vice president and general manager of EFI Productivity Software. “We also welcome PrintLeader’s customers to our global client base. They will see additional opportunities through the combination of EFI’s and PrintLeader’s technical innovations.” PrintLeader founder and president John Fleming said that the company’s acquisition by EFI would enable it to offer its customers a “more robust and feature-rich suite of software products and high-value, web-to-print storefront solutions”....

Launched eight years ago and re-launched just last year, Easy Living, which is printed by Wyndeham Roche, is the latest publication to move to an online only model with the July edition set to be its last in print. Condé Nast cited challenging newsstand conditions and increasing reliance on “multi-bagged” offerings as the reason for its decision. The tablet and app editions of the title will also be suspended from July although its website, which grew in unique users by 466% in the first quarter of 2013, will continue. The move puts around 30 jobs at risk, with a consultation currently underway. A final decision on the future of the print edition and details relating to subscriptions, which account for around a third of its circulation, will be made following the consultation, the publisher said. Condé Nast Britain managing director Nicholas Coleridge said: “It is a sad decision to have to take, but we see few encouraging signs in this part of the market. “Easy Living‘s print edition has a significant loyal fan base and subscriber base whom we will be reluctant to disappoint, and a particularly talented editorial and publishing staff. However, our digital reach far outweighs that of print, and Easy Living is thriving online.”...

Launched eight years ago and re-launched just last year, Easy Living, which is printed by Wyndeham Roche, is the latest publication to move to an online only model with the July edition set to be its last in print. Condé Nast cited challenging newsstand conditions and increasing reliance on “multi-bagged” offerings as the reason for its decision. The tablet and app editions of the title will also be suspended from July although its website, which grew in unique users by 466% in the first quarter of 2013, will continue. The move puts around 30 jobs at risk, with a consultation currently underway. A final decision on the future of the print edition and details relating to subscriptions, which account for around a third of its circulation, will be made following the consultation, the publisher said. Condé Nast Britain managing director Nicholas Coleridge said: “It is a sad decision to have to take, but we see few encouraging signs in this part of the market. “Easy Living‘s print edition has a significant loyal fan base and subscriber base whom we will be reluctant to disappoint, and a particularly talented editorial and publishing staff. However, our digital reach far outweighs that of print, and Easy Living is thriving online.”...

Showcase Creative claimed it was the UK’s only firm that could make such plush products in tiny numbers but at affordable prices. The folders are targeted at firms compiling tender bids, training literature or high-end operating manuals. Managing director Paul Batey said the product range included paper-over-board printed ring binders, slip cases and tabbed dividers in leather or velvet textured finishes. Variable data enabled personalisation of each folder. “We used to work in graphic design and clients needed presentation folders. But they were hard to buy, prohibitively expensive and available in their thousands,” said Batey who is targeting agencies or building firms tendering for work. “Graphic designers often need one-off print jobs for items that were only available in expensive, large quantities. They had to settle for PVC folders, which look bad. We are supporting the industry and taking a nice chunk of the market.” Batey, his brother Jack and friend Andy Weakes, switched to print seven years ago. They run tailored pieces of kit such as a foiler and riveter and an HP Z5200 inkjet at their base in Camberley, Surrey, with five sales and production staff. Typical runs go from 10 to 50 and substrates include self-adhesive coated paper and photo-quality inkjet paper. Showcase Creative offer effects such as velvet laminate to give the folders an extra lavish feel, said Batey....

The Independent Magazine accompanies the Saturday edition of the newspaper, while The New Review is sold as part of the Sunday newspaper. The first issues of both titles were published on 4 and 5 May respectively and were printed by Polestar’s Petty site in Leeds. Independent Print operations director Andrew Brown said: “We have always enjoyed an excellent relationship with Polestar and are happy to be extending that relationship further with the printing of two of our weekend magazines.” Polestar sales director David Gray said: “Time-sensitive newspaper supplements are core to our business and fit perfectly on the large presses at Polestar Petty.”...