Offset

EFI™ (Nasdaq: EFII), a world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, today announced that customer Bradford & Bigelow has added the EFI Monarch Planner and latest EFI PrintFlow® modules to its existing EFI Monarch workflow, to bring even more streamlined production and greater cost savings.


J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings has had a lasting effect on the fantasy genre. Best known are the fantasy races other authors have used again and again. One of the other effects has been the ubiquitous use of reference material (maps, glossaries, etc). Fantasy, especially epic fantasy, loves its reference material the way a research paper loves its citations (of reference material). I won’t say it’s difficult to find a fantasy novel that doesn’t have reference material, but it does seem to be something that many authors do, given the chance.

The map is not the territory, but this collection gets closer than most. Earth Platinum, published at the end of February in an edition limited to 31 copies, is the world’s largest atlas. The book is 1.8 m (6 ft) high and 1.4 m (4.5 ft) wide. When opened, it spans 2.8 m (9 ft). It contains 128 pages of maps, flags and panoramic photographs, and weighs 150 kg (over 300 lb). It’s the kind of book you can’t read alone: it takes two persons to turn over the gigantic pages. 

Resolute Forest Products (NYSE: ABH) (TSX: ABH) and National Envelope today announced a unique partnership that will provide customers with an expanded portfolio of solutions, including folio-size sheets using Resolute’s innovative, high-yield, sustainable paper. This alliance is an integral part of both companies’ continued emphasis on providing customers with industry-leading eco-friendly solutions. Resolute recently launched Align™, its family of high-opacity, high-bulk, environmentally responsible papers that can be used as alternatives to chemical pulp coated and uncoated freesheet in most commercial printing applications. When compared to traditional offset papers, Align grades deliver a smaller environmental footprint and greater cost savings to customers.

An energized Publishing Business Conference and Expo, Book Business and Publishing Executive magazines’ annual event at the Times Square Marriott Marquis, March 19-21, was grounded in optimism and realism, and primed for a promising future in the digital age for book manufacturing and print-based book production.

Addressing the overflow audience at the Marriott's Astor Ballroom, our very own Joan of Arc at the ramparts, Editorial Director Noelle Skodzinski—fully armed with the arguments of comon sense and history to support her—sounded a much-needed balancing and defiant keynote to prevailing “stiff upper lip” scenarios about the decline of the publishing industry. She reminded us, paraphrasing from both Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the Encyclopedia Britannica blog’s notice that it had discontinued its venerable print edition, that publishing is not dead, change is okay, and that the future is alive with new opportunities in our pursuit of continued success and excellence in the publishing business.

HP announced new digital press solutions that offer greater flexibility and higher productivity to help print service providers (PSPs) and publishers meet growing market demand for customized, shorter-run and personalized publications. The solutions, which HP will showcase May 3-16 at the drupa tradeshow, Düsseldorf, Germany, include:

—  HP T360 and T410 Color Inkjet Web Presses, offering faster monochrome speeds (244 meters/800 feet per minute),(1) and an HP T230 Color Inkjet Web Press offering faster color speeds (122 meters/400 feet per minute),(2) for higher-volume book manufacturing.

—  The HP Indigo W7250 Digital Press, a high-volume, roll-fed device offering 33 percent faster throughput(3) for one-off and short- to medium-run production of high-end color textbooks, journals, manuals and trade books.

—  The HP Indigo 10000 Digital Press – the first offset-quality digital press in a B2 size format (750 x 530 millimeters [mm] / 29.5 x 20.9 inches) suitable for printing a very broad range of publishing applications, including book signatures. Available next year, it offers HP Indigo’s unparalleled print quality and extensive media flexibility.

—  The HP Indigo 7600 Digital Press, a sheet-fed press offering greater versatility and productivity, improved automation(4) and exclusive special effects for book cover printing.

To survive and thrive as the book industry's digital revolution pushes forward, and as better inventory management drives the shift toward smaller print runs, the smarter printers are doing everything they can to ensure they'll be a part of that ongoing transformation. This includes incorporating newer technologies with an ever sharper focus on customer support and service. Book Business spoke with executives from Quad/Graphics, BookMasters, Sheridan Books, Walsworth and Thomson-Shore, and asked about their outlooks for their businesses. The general consensus: They're ready for what the next year (and the years to come) have in store for them.

While the glitter and flash of ebooks, e-readers and tablets get all the mainstream media attention—and pundits predict the end of printed books—traditional printed volumes still represent enormous opportunity for print providers. According to Caslon & Company, monochrome books will account for up to 85 billion pages through 2016 and color books are expected to make up some 15 billion pages in the same period. Little wonder that savvy print providers are adding capabilities, technology and workflows to carve out a presence in this burgeoning market.

Nashville, TN - Open Road Integrated Media, a digital publisher and multimedia content company, has selected Ingram Publisher Services and Lightning Source, Ingram Content Group companies, to distribute print versions of a group of its e-books. The program will begin in March 2012. "As a digital company, we have not distributed print editions of our e-books. Working with Ingram Publisher Services and Lightning Source allows us to stay focused on publishing our e-books," said Christopher Davis, Chief Operating Officer, Open Road Integrated Media.

R.J. Julia, widely considered to be one of the most vibrant and successful small independent bookstores in the country, is installing an Espresso Book Machine (EBM)  on March 1. The EBM brings a revolutionary book-publishing technology to one of the most respected independent booksellers in the world.

The EBM is the only digital-to-print at retail solution on the market. Within minutes, the EBM can produce a bookstore quality paperback with color cover, in any standard trim size, at point of sale.