Rob van den Braak
The development of quick to produce and environmentally friendly offset plates is progressing fast. In her Verdigris blog Laurel gives the example of Agfa Arkana smart plate technology. A technology which not only uses less chemistry per plate, but a bath can cover 15,000 m2. Read more about these rapid developments in her blog on our articles page via this link.
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To boost its portfolio for finishing of digitally and traditionally printed work, Heidelberg has signed a marketing cooperation agreement with Steinemann Technology. Steinemann is a Swiss manufactuer for spot and relief varnishing systems for paper sizes up to 1080×1450 mm. The agreement include the recently introduced dmax systems for digital foil stamping. All Heidelberg customers now have access to this off-line finishing technology.
More about this agreement in the press release below.
Heidelberg partners with Steinemann for print finishing
Heidelberg and Steinemann Technology, a global supplier of digital and conventional print finishing systems based in St. Gallen, Switzerland, have signed a marketing cooperation agreement. Under the agreement, Heidelberg is to take over lead management for Steinemann’s entire portfolio of print finishing systems in a number of markets, including Germany, France, India, Japan and the USA.
Steinemann’s modular range of print finishing systems currently encompasses the dmax 76 and dmax 106, two professional digital machines for spot and relief varnishing on sheet sizes up to B1, as well as the Colibri 76 and Colibri 108, two conventional, high-speed machines for the full flood varnishing of sheet sizes up to 1080 x 1450mm. Steinemann recently introduced the dfoil, an innovative, high-output and flexible module for digital foil stamping that combines with the dmax systems.
For Heidelberg, the coating systems from Steinemann are the perfect complement to its range of offset and digital printing systems, such as the new Heidelberg Primefire 106, the first industrial digital press for sheet size B1.
‘Co-operating with Steinemann strengthens our position along our customers’ value chain by combining coatings with equipment solutions for both digital and conventional printing as well as finishing,’ says Dr. Ulrich Hermann, head of Heidelberg Digital Business & Services. ‘Our customers get high flexibility as well as options for promptly meeting market demands for premium print finishing and personalization.’
Said Ludwig Allgoewer, head of Print Enhancement at Steinemann Technology, ‘The partnership with Heidelberg gives Steinemann broader access to key markets and a stronger presence in them. Transferring lead management in key markets to Heidelberg underlines our company’s technology leadership in the field of digital coating and foil stamping.’
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Om zijn portfolie voor de afwerking van digitale en traditioneel geprinte opdrachten te completeren, heeft Heidelberg een marketing cooperation agreement afgesloten met Steinemann Technology. Steinemann is de Zwitserse fabrikant van spot- en reliëfvernis systemen voor papierformaten tot 1080 x 1450 mm. Ook de recent geïntroduceerde dmax-systemen voor digital foil stamping, vallen onder de overeenkomst die Heidelberg klanten toegang geeft tot off-line afwerking technieken.
Lees meer over deze overeenkomst in het onderstaande persbericht.
Heidelberg complements its finishing portfolio with Steinemann Technology products
Heidelberg and Steinemann Technology, a global supplier of digital and conventional print finishing systems based in St. Gallen, Switzerland, have signed a marketing cooperation agreement. Under the agreement, Heidelberg is to take over lead management for Steinemann’s entire portfolio of print finishing systems in a number of markets, including Germany, France, India, Japan and the USA.
Steinemann’s modular range of print finishing systems currently encompasses the dmax 76 and dmax 106, two professional digital machines for spot and relief varnishing on sheet sizes up to B1, as well as the Colibri 76 and Colibri 108, two conventional, high-speed machines for the full flood varnishing of sheet sizes up to 1080 x 1450mm. Steinemann recently introduced the dfoil, an innovative, high-output and flexible module for digital foil stamping that combines with the dmax systems.
For Heidelberg, the coating systems from Steinemann are the perfect complement to its range of offset and digital printing systems, such as the new Heidelberg Primefire 106, the first industrial digital press for sheet size B1.
‘Co-operating with Steinemann strengthens our position along our customers’ value chain by combining coatings with equipment solutions for both digital and conventional printing as well as finishing,’ says Dr. Ulrich Hermann, head of Heidelberg Digital Business & Services. ‘Our customers get high flexibility as well as options for promptly meeting market demands for premium print finishing and personalization.’
Said Ludwig Allgoewer, head of Print Enhancement at Steinemann Technology, ‘The partnership with Heidelberg gives Steinemann broader access to key markets and a stronger presence in them. Transferring lead management in key markets to Heidelberg underlines our company’s technology leadership in the field of digital coating and foil stamping.’
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Is it possible to produce a 3D model with a normal printer? According to researchers of the North Carolina State Unversity it is. How? Simple, Everything needed is the sheet, a household printer such as an inkjet printer, and infrared light. The printer prints black-inked lines onto the plastic sheet, which, under the heat of the infrared light, bends – but only its inked parts, as the printed lines absorb more energy from the light, which leads to the desired 3D shape. Watch the video on the drupa site.
Source: drupa
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Blokboek.com heeft al een aantal EDP Award Winners in het zonnetje gezet, maar er zijn er meer, maar liefst 31!
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Blokboek.com has highlighted a few of the EDP Award winners, but there are more, as many as 31!
Apart from the marketing value of the Awards, the list also has value as an indication of the most important developments in our industry.
The number of ´print´ awards, a total of 18, shows that digital printing gets a lot of attention, not just from the Awards jury, but also from manufacturers. There is a wide array of options available from object printer to production printers.
Consumables were also popular. Agfa won an award for its UV LED inks and Trotec got one for their laser printer substrate.
Last in the list, but not the least, is the award for Just Normlicht LED Proofstation 20 SP, a new colour viewing system.
Read the complete list on the EDP site via this link.
Misschien geloof je niet in virtual reality en heb je het nog niet gemist, maar nu is er een virtual toetsenbord waarmee je in je virtuele wereld teksten kunt tikken en versturen. Lees meer over deze uitvinding van de Slowaakse ontwerper en softwareontwikkelaar Jonathan Ravas, in het bericht van The Slovak Spectator, te vinden op sms.sk.
Slovak invented keyboard for virtual reality
PunchKeyboard is a virtual keyboard on which users can write thanks to virtual reality drivers without leaving the simulated environment.
Virtual reality still lacks a reliable method for typing text directly in the virtual environment. The recent invention of Slovak designer Jonathan Ravasz, who currently works at the technological incubator Kitchen in Budapest, may however change this.
PunchKeyboard is a virtual keyboard on which users can write thanks to virtual reality drivers without leaving the simulated environment. It should serve as a temporary tool that implements methods from 2D into 3D, the Sme daily reported.
“The passwords and emails are currently always entered outside the virtual reality which disrupts the experience offered by this technology,” Ravasz told Sme. “There is also a possibility to enter the text by voice, but people lose their intimacy. Moreover, in some cases people don’t want to enter their personal data aloud.”
The PunchKeyboard tool resembles the typewriter that can automatically complete words and predict following words in the sentence. The database uses its vocabulary from the social network Reddit. The users, however, can create their own vocabulary.
The PunchKeyboard code can be found at the GitHub website as open source, and people can adapt it to specific purposes.
“I wanted it to become standard solution,” Ravasz said, as quoted by Sme. “I’m currently working on a prototype which could work in the virtual reality also with chatbots.”
The Slovak developer is also working on connecting the keyboard with artificial intelligence Watson by IBM, in order to enable the change of text to speech, Sme reported.
PunchKeyboard is a virtual keyboard on which users can write thanks to virtual reality drivers without leaving the simulated environment.
Virtual reality still lacks a reliable method for typing text directly in the virtual environment. The recent invention of Slovak designer Jonathan Ravasz, who currently works at the technological incubator Kitchen in Budapest, may however change this.
PunchKeyboard is a virtual keyboard on which users can write thanks to virtual reality drivers without leaving the simulated environment. It should serve as a temporary tool that implements methods from 2D into 3D, the Sme daily reported.
“The passwords and emails are currently always entered outside the virtual reality which disrupts the experience offered by this technology,” Ravasz told Sme. “There is also a possibility to enter the text by voice, but people lose their intimacy. Moreover, in some cases people don’t want to enter their personal data aloud.”
The PunchKeyboard tool resembles the typewriter that can automatically complete words and predict following words in the sentence. The database uses its vocabulary from the social network Reddit. The users, however, can create their own vocabulary.
The PunchKeyboard code can be found at the GitHub website as open source, and people can adapt it to specific purposes.
“I wanted it to become standard solution,” Ravasz said, as quoted by Sme. “I’m currently working on a prototype which could work in the virtual reality also with chatbots.”
The Slovak developer is also working on connecting the keyboard with artificial intelligence Watson by IBM, in order to enable the change of text to speech, Sme reported.
Emma Lawton, graphic arts designer, heard she had Parkinson´s when she was 29. It is unacceptable for a designer to not be able to write even your own name. Through the BBC programme The Big Life Fix Emma was introduced to Haiyan Zhang, Research Innovation Director at Microsoft. Zhang took on the challenge to find a way for Emma to write again without being hindered by tremors.
Zhang developed a wristband, much like a watch, which is capable of reducing the tremors. The watch provokes tremors in the wrist which are being picked up by the brain. Because the brain focuses on the tremors in the wrist it “forgets” the tremors in the hand. The result is that the hand can write without being hindered by tremors. Zhang named the innovation for the person she made it for: the Emma Watch.
The Emma Watch is currently only a prototype, but research is underway about what it would mean for Parkinson´s patients on a wider scale. It is not a cure, but if it can help patients we can only hope that the Emma Watch will be brought to market.
A whopping 13 million Dutch people read door-to-door advertising. Of course they also do this digitally, but the door-to-door paper version remains popular. Compared to last year the digital folder is gaining popularity, but 55% of Dutch people only the paper version only. These are the results from the NOM Folder Monitor 2017 based on research by Gfk. Door-to-door advertising is as powerful as ever.
It still pays to advertise with door-to-door paper folders since they are being read very well. But they are not only being read, people who read them do something with them: they make a purchase. Results of the research show that the folder is the most important way of getting people to make a purchase. 43% of households decide what they buy based on the folder – paper as well as digital.
Canon Europe heeft de bezoekers van FESPA Digital 2016 geïnspireerd met de nieuwste printtoepassingen. Eén van de hoogtepunten tijdens deze internationale vakbeurs, die van 8 tot met 12 mei in Hamburg plaatsvond, was de Europese introductie van de Océ Colorado 1640 roll-to-roll productieprinter. Bovendien markeerde de tiende verjaardag van de Océ Arizona-serie een decennium van innovatie op het gebied van grootformaatprinters.
De Océ Colorado 1640 heeft de Canon UVgel-printtechnologie als basis en was één van de meest opvallende digitale innovaties. Talrijke bezoekers waren aanwezig tijdens de demonstraties, die elk uur plaatsvonden. Producenten van signage en graphics uit Europa, Afrika, Noord-Afrika en het Midden-Oosten, plaatsten verschillende orders voor de Océ Colorado 1640. Terwijl de 6.000ste installatie van een Océ Arizona bij Technipub in Frankrijk werd gevierd, ontving Canon Europe erg veel opdrachten voor modellen uit de Océ Arizona-serie, zowel van bestaande klanten die hun productiecapaciteit willen opschalen, als van grafische bedrijven die voor de eerste keer investeerden in Canon’s flatbed-oplossingen.
“We hadden al verwacht dat deze FESPA voor Canon een mijlpaal zou zijn, maar we waren verrast door de reacties uit de markt op de Océ Colorado. Deze productieprinter bevestigt Canon’s reputatie als innovator in de grootformaatsector. Halverwege FESPA 2017 hadden we elk doel, dat we onszelf hadden gesteld, gerealiseerd: voor alle modellen binnen ons volledige aanbod”, vertelt Mark Lawn, Director van de Graphic & Communications Group van Canon Europe. “Binnen twee maanden na de introductie van de Océ Colorado 1640 ontvingen we ruim 100 opdrachten van klanten in 17 landen. Dit benadrukt het belang van een uitgekiende mix van productiviteit, kwaliteit en flexibiliteit in printmedia en COO. Producenten van signage en grafische opdrachten komen naar FESPA, om te kijken hoe zij hun mogelijkheden kunnen vergroten met een onderscheidend aanbod. Dit komt volledig overeen met onze filosofie waarbij we Print Service Providers ondersteunen bij het realiseren van groei, met behulp van nieuwe toepassingen.”
In technologisch opzicht was de introductie van de Océ Colorado 1640 voor Canon het hoogtepunt van FESPA 2017. Daarnaast toonde zij haar volledige portfolio van technologische oplossingen. “Ook hebben we onze inzichten gedeeld over belangrijke ontwikkelingen in specifieke sectoren in de markt voor grootformaatprinters. Zo helpen we klanten toegang te krijgen tot nieuwe omzetkanalen en hun onderneming te laten groeien”, aldus Lawn. “Wij laten PSP’s zien welke tientallen mogelijkheden er zijn, door deze inzichten samen te brengen met advies, technologische innovaties en voorbeelden van printtoepassingen. Zo komen de nieuwe toepassingen in beeld, die hen kunnen ondersteunen bij verdere groei. De reacties die we hierover ontvingen geven aan, dat onze geïntegreerde cosmeticacampagne en onze twee nieuwe gedrukte ‘Think’-gidsen – Think Personal en Think Décor – heel goed zijn ontvangen.”
Naast de grote verkoopsuccessen van de Océ Colorado, Océ Arizona, Océ ProCut en imagePROGRAF, trokken de DreamLabo foto-productieprinter, en de losblad imagePRESS digitale productieprinters, de aandacht. Het grote aantal opdrachten voor deze twee series is een illustratie van de behoefte van PSP’s om nieuwe omzetkanalen te ontwikkelen, door hun aanbod te verbreden met alternatieve varianten en producten.
Océ Colorado 1640 wint technologie award van EDP
Tijdens FESPA 2017 ontving de Océ Colorado 1640 een prestigieuze technologie award van de European Digital Press associatie (EDP) in de categorie ‘Roll-to-roll Printers up to 170 cm’. “Alle huidige printtechnologieën hebben hun voordelen, maar ook hun beperkingen. De Océ Colorado 1640 staat garant voor productiviteit en een uitstekende printkwaliteit op een breed scala aan printmedia. Met een uniek machineconcept, dat tegen lagere kosten voor meer snelheid en meer prints zorgt, is dit een gamechanger in het 1,6 meter segment. Deze printer laat zien in welke richting we waarschijnlijk gaan als het gaat om nauwkeuriger printen in inkjet”, aldus het juryrapport.
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Mondi, the international packaging and paper Group, hosted a press conference on 5 May at the interpack 2017 trade fair in Düsseldorf at which trends in the packaging industry and the focus on growing its packaging business were discussed.
Peter J Oswald, who takes over as CEO of the Mondi Group on 11 May, expressed his confidence in the future of Mondi. He explained that Mondi is well positioned to face increasing consumer expectations despite rapid global change and strong competition in the sector. “We have the right strategy, people and partnerships – especially with our customers – to be successful,” he said. Mr Oswald also confirmed that Mondi will continue to grow through value-enhancing investment in its existing operations and evaluate further potential acquisitions of complementary businesses.
Mr Oswald explained that he sees the packaging industry as part of the solution to some of the challenges facing the world today, such as food waste and changing demographics. “We can help reduce food waste by creating smaller portion sizes and barrier solutions that extend food shelf-life; we can offer more convenient packaging solutions to better suit the needs of our ageing population and the growing number of single households; and we try hard to reduce the materials used in packaging and lower CO2 emissions through lighter-weight solutions,” explained Peter Oswald.
As an example of the latter, he highlighted a new Mondi product launched this week at interpack: Power(8)Box, an innovative eight-corner box with dual-material construction that can pack up to 20 kg of goods using less packaging material. He also mentioned SKOG for food, a biodegradable bag made of Mondi FSC® certified kraft paper and double-side coated with Mondi’s Sustainex® barrier to keep food products fresh and allow thermo-sealing protection; and ProVantage Baywhite, Mondi’s premium-quality white top kraftliner for shelf-ready packaging that offers excellent printing and branding possibilities.
Georg Kasperkovitz, CEO of Mondi Consumer Packaging, was the second speaker at the press conference. He elaborated on current trends in consumer packaging and how Mondi continuously addresses them by developing new, innovative solutions – meeting not only the needs of industry customers but also those of the packaging end-users. “New lifestyles have brought new habits into our daily lives, and companies like Mondi are adapting to those trends by offering products that are more convenient to use,” Mr Kasperkovitz stated.
Mr Kasperkovitz discussed how important it is for Mondi’s consumer products customers to differentiate their products at the point of sale. “Packaging plays a key role in consumer buying decisions and brand loyalty, and can thus determine the success or failure of a product,” he said. He mentioned several Mondi solutions that have helped customers succeed through distinctive and appealing packaging. PaperPack is a packaging solution with an attractive natural look and feel and a window for product visibility, chosen by a Norwegian snack producer for a new product launch. BarrierPack is a high-barrier laminate created via collaboration between multiple Mondi plants to provide a one-shop solution for a major coffee capsule customer. Mondi also designed a reclosable SpoutedPouch with a window for a German pet food customer looking for premium packaging to launch of a new range of birdseed.
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