Boss celebrates 30 years at RM (Rotary) Services
Sawyer, who started as an order clerk before becoming sales director and then managing director in 1997, said: “When I joined I had been working for the original owner on Saturday’s, sweeping the floors and doing a bit of painting. Once I started I knew this was the right company for me. “The biggest change has been digital: I went to Ipex in the mid 80s, was shown my first colour copier and told ‘it will never catch on’. The other big change has been the slow demise of sprocket-fed material for dot-matrix printers. It’s still out there but not as much.” RM (Rotary) Services employs a dozen staff in Havant, Hampshire, and sells equipment including punches, litho blankets, spare parts, consumables and accessories to business forms and label sectors. A third of business is international, with customers in Malaysia, Ghana and Nigeria. “If it punches holes, perforates, cuts paper or labels then we probably do it,” said Sawyer. “I enjoy the varied roles but most of all I like dealing with customers. My children think I’m crazy when I analyse a car parking ticket or a business form to see if it was done with some of our spare parts.”...
read moreBoss celebrates 30 years at RM (Rotary) Services
Sawyer, who started as an order clerk before becoming sales director and then managing director in 1997, said: “When I joined I had been working for the original owner on Saturday’s, sweeping the floors and doing a bit of painting. Once I started I knew this was the right company for me. “The biggest change has been digital: I went to Ipex in the mid 80s, was shown my first colour copier and told ‘it will never catch on’. The other big change has been the slow demise of sprocket-fed material for dot-matrix printers. It’s still out there but not as much.” RM (Rotary) Services employs a dozen staff in Havant, Hampshire, and sells equipment including punches, litho blankets, spare parts, consumables and accessories to business forms and label sectors. A third of business is international, with customers in Malaysia, Ghana and Nigeria. “If it punches holes, perforates, cuts paper or labels then we probably do it,” said Sawyer. “I enjoy the varied roles but most of all I like dealing with customers. My children think I’m crazy when I analyse a car parking ticket or a business form to see if it was done with some of our spare parts.”...
read moreClays prints Morrissey’s ‘classic’ Autobiography
Autobiography covers the 54-year old former Smiths frontman’s life from his birth in Manchester on 22 May 1959 to the present day. Penguin agreed to publish the 480pp title under the respected Classics imprint, ranking it alongside works from the like of Thomas Hardy, Samuel Beckett, William Blake, Robert Burns and William Shakespeare. On its website the publisher noted: “Most pop stars have to be dead before they reach the iconic status the Morrissey has reached in his lifetime.” It added that in 2006 Morrissey was voted the second greatest living British icon after David Attenborough by BBC viewers. Penguin Classics was started in 1946 with the classicist and publisher E.V.Rieu’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey and has since grown to 1,200 titles and spawned two more imprints: Modern Classics and Red Classics....
read moreClays prints Morrissey’s ‘classic’ Autobiography
Autobiography covers the 54-year old former Smiths frontman’s life from his birth in Manchester on 22 May 1959 to the present day. Penguin agreed to publish the 480pp title under the respected Classics imprint, ranking it alongside works from the like of Thomas Hardy, Samuel Beckett, William Blake, Robert Burns and William Shakespeare. On its website the publisher noted: “Most pop stars have to be dead before they reach the iconic status the Morrissey has reached in his lifetime.” It added that in 2006 Morrissey was voted the second greatest living British icon after David Attenborough by BBC viewers. Penguin Classics was started in 1946 with the classicist and publisher E.V.Rieu’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey and has since grown to 1,200 titles and spawned two more imprints: Modern Classics and Red Classics....
read moreTop 5 UNIQUE Reasons to Attend the 2013 Color Management Conference
You have probably heard by now that the 2013 Color Management Conference, December 7–10, in Phoenix is the event of the year for the latest on achieving predictable brand color. By attending this event, you will have access to the latest in cutting-edge technologies and techniques that can help you build profits. We want to share some of the benefits you may not have heard that really make this event the icing on the cake of 2013! Here are the top 5 unique reasons why you should be in Phoenix for the Color Management Conference: #1 Real-World Color Success Stories Hear from big brand names like Kimberly-Clark, Kohl’s, and American Airlines as representatives discuss managing brand color across diverse media and when it might make sense to offload the responsibility for color management and ultimately a brand’s color integrity to a third-party organization. #2 Renowned Players Big names like Russell Brown! Sven Seger! Dr. Taz Tally! Russell Brown brings his Russell Brown Show to the Color Management Conference with, The Russell Brown Show: Live! You don’t want to miss this Emmy-award winner go on the journey through the history of Adobe Photoshop while providing tips and tricks for Photoshop users of any skill level. Sven Seger, Chief Creative Officer, North America, FutureBrand, takes attendees on a ride discussing the rebranding of the iconic logo for American Airlines. “Finding ways to modernize the brand, while tying its iconic heritage to its human qualities, was a challenging process,” says Seger. You don’t want to miss this though-provoking session. And don’t miss the pre-conference session with Dr. Taz Tally, who’s unique in his own right! He’s a world-renowned photographer, author, consultant, and instructor. This adventure seeker lives life to the fullest in Alaska, often traveling to ski in Utah and whale watch in Hawaii. Discover more adventure with Dr. Tally in his pre-conference photography shoot against a dazzling desert backdrop. #3 Information for All This conference’s three tracks—for designers and brand managers, print production folks, and standards experts (affectionately known as color “geeks”)— focus on specific needs in the color workflow. But did you know attendees can choose sessions from any of these tracks? So if you’re in production, feel free to jump on the Geek Track and learn about the latest ISO 12647 and 15339 standards updates. You’re a brand manager? Join a Production session on new proofing tech. It’s a virtual buffet of knowledge, so why not look at the Session Descriptions and create your own perfect conference for maximum ROI! #4 Hands-On Labs With the nine labs being presented at the Color Management Conference, attendees will get a hands-on experience with the latest in technology and techniques any color enthusiast would need. Labs cover PDF and Acrobat (presented by Adobe Systems Incorporated’s own Dov Issacs) to Proofing and Digital Press Output to G7. #5 Location, Location, Location! Our venue, The Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, AZ, is nothing short of spectacular thanks to luxurious interiors and picturesque desert surroundings, which is where the Pre-conference lab, Update Your Photography and Color Correction Workflow with Lightroom and Photoshop: Capture, Critique and Color Correct High-quality Images with Dr. Taz Tally takes place. Don’t miss out on the 2013 Color Management Conference, December 7–10. Visit our website for more information and to register...
read moreTop 5 UNIQUE Reasons to Attend the 2013 Color Management Conference
You have probably heard by now that the 2013 Color Management Conference, December 7–10, in Phoenix is the event of the year for the latest on achieving predictable brand color. By attending this event, you will have access to the latest in cutting-edge technologies and techniques that can help you build profits. We want to share some of the benefits you may not have heard that really make this event the icing on the cake of 2013! Here are the top 5 unique reasons why you should be in Phoenix for the Color Management Conference: #1 Real-World Color Success Stories Hear from big brand names like Kimberly-Clark, Kohl’s, and American Airlines as representatives discuss managing brand color across diverse media and when it might make sense to offload the responsibility for color management and ultimately a brand’s color integrity to a third-party organization. #2 Renowned Players Big names like Russell Brown! Sven Seger! Dr. Taz Tally! Russell Brown brings his Russell Brown Show to the Color Management Conference with, The Russell Brown Show: Live! You don’t want to miss this Emmy-award winner go on the journey through the history of Adobe Photoshop while providing tips and tricks for Photoshop users of any skill level. Sven Seger, Chief Creative Officer, North America, FutureBrand, takes attendees on a ride discussing the rebranding of the iconic logo for American Airlines. “Finding ways to modernize the brand, while tying its iconic heritage to its human qualities, was a challenging process,” says Seger. You don’t want to miss this though-provoking session. And don’t miss the pre-conference session with Dr. Taz Tally, who’s unique in his own right! He’s a world-renowned photographer, author, consultant, and instructor. This adventure seeker lives life to the fullest in Alaska, often traveling to ski in Utah and whale watch in Hawaii. Discover more adventure with Dr. Tally in his pre-conference photography shoot against a dazzling desert backdrop. #3 Information for All This conference’s three tracks—for designers and brand managers, print production folks, and standards experts (affectionately known as color “geeks”)— focus on specific needs in the color workflow. But did you know attendees can choose sessions from any of these tracks? So if you’re in production, feel free to jump on the Geek Track and learn about the latest ISO 12647 and 15339 standards updates. You’re a brand manager? Join a Production session on new proofing tech. It’s a virtual buffet of knowledge, so why not look at the Session Descriptions and create your own perfect conference for maximum ROI! #4 Hands-On Labs With the nine labs being presented at the Color Management Conference, attendees will get a hands-on experience with the latest in technology and techniques any color enthusiast would need. Labs cover PDF and Acrobat (presented by Adobe Systems Incorporated’s own Dov Issacs) to Proofing and Digital Press Output to G7. #5 Location, Location, Location! Our venue, The Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, AZ, is nothing short of spectacular thanks to luxurious interiors and picturesque desert surroundings, which is where the Pre-conference lab, Update Your Photography and Color Correction Workflow with Lightroom and Photoshop: Capture, Critique and Color Correct High-quality Images with Dr. Taz Tally takes place. Don’t miss out on the 2013 Color Management Conference, December 7–10. Visit our website for more information and to register...
read moreLumeJet beta site Altaimage buys first S200
Managing director Rob King said the technology was targeted at photobooks but his company in London’s Docklands was using it for short-run print for bids and tenders because it offered “eye-popping” quality. A “good” finance package from LumeJet sealed the deal, he said, although he would not reveal details. The S200 photonic digital printer is LumeJet’s first commercial offering. The inkless technology works in a similar way to an inkjet using light, rather than ink, to make dots less than 0.005mm on silver halide-based media. It has a maximum print size of 1,000x305mm. “The LumeJet S200 is a unique new printer and we’re looking forward to building a market for its amazing output,” said King. “It’s not high volume or super fast but it’s ideal for bespoke work in runs of one to 10 or so with amazing ‘wow factor’ around the boardroom table. That’s its niche.” His business had no big problems in the test phase, but the kit ran better at constant temperatures. Producing a high-value book could add about 50p/page to costs, putting £40 on an 80-page copy, which was why “the public must be made aware of the great quality – it’s better than an Indigo”. King said the kit arrived with a swatch of 20 papers and he would like capacity to run more. He suggested the 12″ depth of the kit could benefit from being twice as deep, while the ability to reverse print would cut the need to mount everything on boards. The LumeJet S200 arrived at Altaimage’s Canary Wharf premises at the end of July and has been running since the beginning of August. The photonic technology is a little different from Altaimage’s other, more conventional ink or toner printers, he said. “The print quality is fabulous, quite unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Fantastic photographs, eye-popping colours, sharp text and line art. Any agency using iPads for client presentations should get the prints made on it. It’s the hard-copy equivalent of a retina screen.”...
read moreLumeJet beta site Altaimage buys first S200
Managing director Rob King said the technology was targeted at photobooks but his company in London’s Docklands was using it for short-run print for bids and tenders because it offered “eye-popping” quality. A “good” finance package from LumeJet sealed the deal, he said, although he would not reveal details. The S200 photonic digital printer is LumeJet’s first commercial offering. The inkless technology works in a similar way to an inkjet using light, rather than ink, to make dots less than 0.005mm on silver halide-based media. It has a maximum print size of 1,000x305mm. “The LumeJet S200 is a unique new printer and we’re looking forward to building a market for its amazing output,” said King. “It’s not high volume or super fast but it’s ideal for bespoke work in runs of one to 10 or so with amazing ‘wow factor’ around the boardroom table. That’s its niche.” His business had no big problems in the test phase, but the kit ran better at constant temperatures. Producing a high-value book could add about 50p/page to costs, putting £40 on an 80-page copy, which was why “the public must be made aware of the great quality – it’s better than an Indigo”. King said the kit arrived with a swatch of 20 papers and he would like capacity to run more. He suggested the 12″ depth of the kit could benefit from being twice as deep, while the ability to reverse print would cut the need to mount everything on boards. The LumeJet S200 arrived at Altaimage’s Canary Wharf premises at the end of July and has been running since the beginning of August. The photonic technology is a little different from Altaimage’s other, more conventional ink or toner printers, he said. “The print quality is fabulous, quite unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Fantastic photographs, eye-popping colours, sharp text and line art. Any agency using iPads for client presentations should get the prints made on it. It’s the hard-copy equivalent of a retina screen.”...
read moreRoland launches wide-format rental scheme
The rental scheme is aimed at printers who either aren’t ready to commit to purchasing a device, are struggling to secure finance or simply have a short-term requirement for extra production capacity. Included in the rental programme are Roland’s VersaCamm SP-i and VS-i series of printer/cutters, the VersaART RE-640 printer and the VersaUV LEF-12 and LEF-20 desktop UV promotional product printers. Roland DG UK is financing the rental scheme directly. Customers will be required to pay a three-month deposit upfront and then make monthly rental payments via direct debit. The deposit will be refunded at the end of the rental provided the machine is in good working order, while customers will also have the option to buy the machine at market value once the rental period is over. Customers taking out two- or three-year rental agreements will be able to cancel after 12 and 18 months respectively, with one month’s written notice; there will be no early termination charges according to Roland. Roland gave an example three-year rental cost for its £8,499 VersaCamm SP-300i as £341.25, or £11.22 per day. The rental cost includes one set of inks, VersaWorks RIP software, training at the Roland Academy and a full RolandCare Silver warranty. James Johnson, business manager, RolandCare and Roland Rentals, said: “This is a very comprehensive package and one we believe will give the new entrant to wide-format printing everything they need to quickly see a return on their investment. “At Roland, we are consistently trying to find new ways to work with customers to ensure they can take advantage of all our wide format technology has to offer. This programme could open up a whole world of possibilities for many smaller, ambitious businesses and we are looking forward to introducing the many benefits of Roland’s technology to them.”...
read moreRevamped paper range targets expanding high-speed inkjet market
The five papers in its family will now come under the ‘Crown Letsgo’ brand, and range from Letsgo Eco targeted at transactional printing and the multi-purpose Letsgo Universal, through to Letsgo Bright Silk aimed at publishers and retailers. Grammages range from 70gsm to 170gsm. The Dutch papermaker has two paper machines at its Velsen site near Amsterdam, with the capacity to make 220,000 tonnes per annum. Its flexible setup means it can make smaller volumes with different types of coating. Around 10% of its current output is inkjet papers, mainly used in transactional printing, and it also makes label base papers and laser papers. Ad Sies, sales and business development manager for digital, said demand was growing as inkjet printing expands into new areas: “We introduced our new silk grade at Drupa last year and it has proved very popular. We subsequently introduced Letsgo Bright Silk because retailers wanted a brighter paper. “There is a real need for this type of paper in colour inkjet printing – we expect to see growth in retail and publishing applications,” Sies said. The firm’s papers are approved to work with equipment from all the major suppliers of high-speed inkjet kit, including Canon, HP, Kodak, Ricoh, Screen and Xerox. Through its Letsgo Develop initiative Crown Van Gelder aims to speed up the development of new papers. “Inkjet is hugely complex, technologically and it needs good paper,” Sies explained. “If you have a dialogue with the equipment manufacturer you can really shorten the time to market.” It also works directly with print customers to help them develop their businesses. “We are redefining fit-for-purpose, it doesn’t just have to be the inkjet equivalent to the laser or offset paper that was used in the past – let’s redefine it,” Sies added. Crown Van Gelder is also investigating the potential to expand its label grades following the recent explosion in inkjet label printing devices. The €160m (£135m) business employs 285 staff. It deals directly with major customers and its papers are also sold via Paperlinx. Technical details about its inkjet paper range can be viewed on the Crown Van Gelder website....
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