Pf sep oct 2013

Vol. XV • No.89 • OCTOBER 2013

Rs. 20

On the occasion of a technical lecture on Adhesives and Coatings for Printing and Packaging Industries, Mr. R. S. Bakshi, Forum’s President, presented Appreciation Memento to Mr. Sanjeev Kalra, Product Specialist, Pidilite Industries Ltd., and Mr. D. Ramalingam, Past President, honoured Mr . V. Ganesh Kumar, Heidelberg India, who gave a lecture on ‘Be a Colour Lover’ which was held on Friday, 25th October 2013 (Report will be published in the next issue).

September - October 2013 / Vol. XV, No. 89 Print Forum 1

The PrintingTechnologistsForumREGISTERED No. 149/1989

2, Venu Reddy Street, GuindyChennai 600 032

e.mail:[email protected]

Office-bearers R. S. Bakshi, PresidentMobile 98842 71089P. Chellappan, Vice-President IMobile 93810 01810Rm. Senthilnathan, Vice-President IIMobile 98410 41997M. Venkatesan, Hony. Gen. SecretaryMobile 98842 74908Dr. B. Kumar, Hony. Joint SecretaryMobile 94440 51707R. K. Sridharan, Hony. TreasurerMobile 98416 47690

Committee Members

V. S. Raman, 99403 19704R. Venkatasubramanian, 98402 60413Dr. N. Rajeswari, 99629 29091T. E. Srinivasan, 98403 55284Rajesh Jayaraman, 98407 90945Rakesh Kukillaya, 98840 80478N. R. Kumar, 99401 72067Prof. Dr. Rajendra Kumar Anayath, 99401 15456R. Durai, 93809 60855

Advisory Committee (Past Presidents of THE FORUM)M. S. NagarajanV. SubramanianVipin SachdevDr. N. SankaranarayananR. NarayananD. RamalingamR. Jayaraman

n

All communications about THE FORUM and the Journal are to be addressed to

Hony. General Secretary The Printing Technologists Forum 2, Venu Reddy Street, Guindy, Chennai - 600 032.

From President’s Desk

R S [email protected]

Dear Members

You are aware that there is Global Focus on energy conservation and even a higher emphasis on sourcing our energy requirements from renewable and natural sources. The laudable reason for this mounting pressure is on the subject of going green with the purpose of reducing pollution on mother Earth. Though everyone agrees that this should be done with the least possible delay and steps are being taken to discuss these on an open platform, the will to agree to norms for implementation has been eluding nations across the globe. This is because the desire and willingness to sacrifice is missing. At the heart of the problem are big players that have huge stakes in existing projects that are big money spinners. Those in control do not want to let go, lest they lose out individually, by agreeing to commit themselves for the benefit of the larger community.

The other reason for moving in the direction of Green evolution has been the anxiety over the fact that the current resources are not unlimited and each nation wants to conserve what it has, for later use, when it can fetch a premium, when the other sources are depleted.

However the biggest reason for the push in the direction of Going Green has been the tremendous escalation in costs of the Oil, Petroleum, Coal, Lignite etc due to reasons of greed of nations holding these resources or wanting to lay their hands on these resources, for these are as good as storing Gold, due to escalating prices and creating man-made shortages.

When a situation becomes too expensive for us to bear the burden, we start looking at alternative methods or sources to help achieve the same objectives, with reduction in costs. However this is never revealed as the reason for wanting the change. Our association is also facing a problem of tremendous increase in costs for printing of “PrinT FOruM” Journal and it was decided to have Oct. 2013 (issue no. 89) as the last issue to be printed and thereafter only the digital version to be circulated for the benefit of the members. it will also be a step in the direction of going Green.

However as President of the Forum i am open to suggestions and solutions as always. This idea was discussed with a few close printer friends and one of them was very upset and wanted to know how we can call ourselves “THE PrinTinG TECHnOLOGiSTS FOruM”, when we do not print our own house magazine. The meaning of printing has to be clearly understood and in this context digital printing is also one form of printing. We have moved from hand composing to digital composing, also from writing by hand to using the keyboard for sending letters and emails. From using the computer for preparing layouts. in fact we have moved away from manual to computerised working for almost everything we use in the printing industry. Digital printing is the last in line of all these. Than where is the problem in embracing digital printing when we have embraced all other digital processes prior to printing. in fact it is time that we paid more attention and learn more about this, as the future is more and more digital. .

We take the steps towards going Green without having any idea of the repercussions with the use of the newly adopted Green System on the environment. The new system is normally the use of the internet and the monitors of computers, ipads or the mini displays of mobiles. Another example is the use of Solar Energy from Solar Panels. Solar energy is renewable but the Solar Panel has a life. What happens to the monitors and the display panels after it has lived its life? Whether this is environment friendly or adds more pollution will only be known in the future, disposal of which is already an issue that is attracting the attention of every one. Only the future can tell on our current actions.

Yours truly

2 Print Forum / Vol. XV, No. 89 / September - October 2013

Print ForumRegd. with RNI Under No. 71818/99

Sept. - Oct. 2013Vol. XV / No. 89The Official Journal ofThe Printing Technologists ForumChennai

In this issue . . .

Rs. 120 per annum (Six issues)

Where is Offset today 3

intelpack 2013 5

World’s oldest newspaper goes digital 6

How to identify fake notes 7

Chronicler loses his companion 8

Personalised flexible packaging 9

Colour Management in pressroom 10

The Hindu in full colour in Kochi 12

Lecture on Standardisation 14

india’s 1st Braille lifestyle magazine 18

Origin of tamil newspapers in Penang 19

Mobile technology influences 21

Press parts - OEM vs aftermarket 22

Every letters tells a story 23

ryobi in news 24

iPT news 24

How to get Gen Y into print’s career ladder 25

Changing world of label printing 26

Members Page 28

Our Supporters . . .

Advertisers

Lakshmi Cottage industry 13

Jenat roller industries 17

united Exposures 17

Cover : 2 Heidelberg

3 Welbound Worldwide

4 Technova imaging Systems

n Copyright for all materials published in prinT forum remain with the authors/editors/publishers of the respective magazines books/newspapers from which materials are reproduced.

n The facts set out in prinT forum are from various sources which we believe to be reliable and true to the best of our knowledge. However, we cannot accept no legal liability of any kind for the publication contents, nor for the information contained therein, nor conclusion drawn by any party from it.1

n further it is notified that neither the Editor, publisher or the printer, or the president and his Team of The forum will be responsible for any damage or loss to anybody arising out of any error or omission in prinT forum. members/readers are advised to satisfy themselves about the merits and details of each before taking any decision.

n Articles and materials appearing in the pages of print forum are drawn from a number of sources : books, journals, newspapers and internet - current as well as very old. To many editors of various technical journals and newspapers, the accomplished authors and business leaders who have shared their wisdoms and their words whose articles published in these journals, and their publishers, we owe our debts and gratitude which is difficult to assess or acknowledge. We always acknowledge the sources of every article and materials published in every issue of prinT forum at the end of the articles, with our courtesy.

n ours is a member supported non-profit organisation and our main objective is to spread print-knowledge to all within our limitations and constraints.

Publisher B. G. Kukillaya, Ph: 4228 7300Editor R.S.Bakshi, Ph: 2454 1893

Printer K. Ramachandran, Ph : 24730194

An Appeal to Members

Dear Members,

Due to increasing printing costs, the Printing Technologists Forum, a non-profit association, is compelled to stop publication of the printed edition of PRINT FORUM from Issue No. 90 (November – December 2013 issue).

PRINT FORUM will, however, be published as an e-journal from the November–December 2013 issue, in trend with developing e-technologies, and to keep up with rising need for e-formats. In connection with this, we have decided to send invitations of our technical lectures / meetings by e-mail / SMS to all our members.

So, please send us your email address and your mobile number to [email protected] to receive the journal and invitations.

We look forward to your continued support and patronage in future as always.

President

A Tribute to the Founder of THE FORUM

Mr. V. S. KRISHNAMURTHY

In memory of everlasting Guru, our respectful homage

to THE FORUM’s reverred Founder who attained the

Lotus feet of the Lord on 05-10-2004


Where Is Offset Today?As the total size of the print market continues to shrink, a number of other developments are occurring that are affecting offset printing. one is the surging market for shorter run lengths, which appears to be accelerating. Another is an increased need for differentiation through fragmentation, in areas ranging from packaging to magazines and newspapers to commercial work.

Along with these trends, there is a push for cost reduction in printing and an increase in the use of digital print processes in many markets, most notably in the area of book publishing. All of these trends are putting pressure on offset, says roland Ortbach, vice president of sales for the uS-based subsidiary of manroland web systems.

“Offset is still the most cost-effective, versatile, flexible, and reliable printing technology available today, just as it’s been for many years,” he says. “The technology that has evolved over many years still answers the need for 70 to 80 percent of global printing needs. in some markets, it is still very high, and in other markets comparatively lower. Digital printing will capture a portion of the market, and that portion is the part offset was not designed to handle.” Offset was never designed for variable printing, variable format changes, or print on demand, he says. But when it comes to volume, cost to print, inline added value, and flexibility, it is hard to beat offset technology. “The future looks good for offset, as it does for digital and, to some extent, for gravure,” Ortbach says. “There is enough demand for all these technologies for them to do well. i’m confident offset technology will

be the most economic and accessible for years to come.”

Brad Kruchten, president of graphics, Entertainment and Commercial Films, Eastman Kodak, says the majority of printed pages are still offset, and will be for the foreseeable future. “People talk about the growth of digital, but it will still be an offset world,” he reports.

Moreover, as new technologies arrive, they will have to learn to play in the offset market, Kruchten says. “We have such a large infrastructure built in the printing industry, success with new technologies will depend on how well they integrate with offset, as opposed to replacing offset,” he remarks.

“The key example is in variable data and digital printing. We believe if you can leverage the offset infrastructure and place print heads

into an offset press—on the press itself or in postpress or finishing equipment—you then can leverage the benefits and what’s best in offset, and offer variable data printing as well.”

For instance, he adds, a magazine could be printed in offset, with areas having to do with regionalized or personalized information left unprinted for the later addition of variable data.

Meeting Changing NeedsPress makers are responding to evolving needs of printers. “We’ve performance-sized our presses to meet market needs for less emphasis on high volume and more emphasis on makeready, time reduction, flexibility, and waste reduction, and automation, in general,” Ortbach says. “Due to the continuing lack of qualified press operators in many parts of the world, including the uS, we have automated many of the process steps in the press.”

To drive down costs, manroland has continued to find ways to trim waste and increase throughput through the use of smart systems and automation, he adds. And given the overall lower demand for offset technology, the company has developed a digital finishing equipment line for the book publication and commercial markets.

According to Chris Travis, director of technology for Dallas-based KBA, which makes both web and sheet-fed presses, KBA has seen customers acquiring printing press configurations unique to their needs, allowing them to enter specific markets, achieve more competitiveness, and also create new opportunities.

in addition, he says, over the past five years, “We’ve drastically reduced makeready times on press and increased quality control measures. The reason for the reduced makeready time is because sheet-run lengths are being reduced. The quicker you can makeready and be up and running, the better.

Publishing regional and personalized versions of newspapers and magazines will be a major trend in the future of offset printing.

Kodak says its Sonora plates will eliminate the need for 36 million gallons of water, 530,000 gallons of plate chemistry, and 102 million hours of kilowatt energy in 2014.


We’ve taken the makeready steps, and instead of those steps being sequential, we’ve made them simultaneous.”

inline quality control measures have also been drastically improved upon by all press manufacturers in the last five years, Travis says. “For instance, we can now read color inline with our inline camera systems,” he reports. “inline color control is a key feature when looking at new presses. it will reduce makeready time, reduce waste, and maintain quality. no other feature on the press will achieve those key goals.”

Increased Interest in Packagingit’s no secret recent years have witnessed a steadily increasing interest in package printing. “The beauty of packaging is it is something that’s going to continue to be needed, and there’s going to be growth,” Kruchten says. “not huge, but steady growth. People are liking what packaging has to offer in the way of versatility —flexo, corrugated—and in the way of growth.”

Winners and losers will emerge, he adds. The market demands higher quality packages and a wider variety of substrates. “What we know is the

higher the quality of package, the higher the shelf appeal, the higher volume of sales. People are willing to pay for the quality, because there’s a formulaic return between quality packaging and sales volume.”

Ortbach agrees that while print is seeing some share erosion to electronic media, packaging is not one of the areas losing share. “Quite the contrary,” he says. “i think there will be very exciting opportunities and increased demand for packaging, for both high volume and specialty sides of that business. Printers who have fairly recent equipment say, ‘Where else can i use my equipment?’ Those who can modify their equipment at little expense are looking seriously at getting into this market, to make up for shrinking volumes in other markets.”

non-traditional package printers will increase price pressure on the overall market, which will create a need for more competitive equipment, a positive trend for manufacturers, Ortbach says.

Similarly, the need for more product differentiation will drive run lengths down, spurring more emphasis on waste reduction and makeready time. And that, in turn, will also create a need for newer, more competitive equipment.

“in specialty packaging, demand for product differentiation should create a greater demand for more inline added-value finishing equipment, or product enhancement that will require additional equipment,” he says. “i’m thinking of rFiD labels and coating that changes color with date expirations on food packaging, for example.”

What’s Ahead?Compared to electronic media, print will have to differentiate itself in color and ensure the process is as sustainable as possible, says Kodak’s rich rindo, general manager, worldwide graphics and sales development, and VP of graphics, Entertainment and Commercial

Films. “The other part is that the offset printing press itself needs to be sustainable or environmentally friendly,” he adds.

“We are focusing on what we can do to reduce the environmental impact of the prepress process, particularly in the preparation of the plate. We have had a breakthrough in the area of process-free offset plate.

“it’s a plate exposed and taken directly to the offset press, eliminating the processing chemistry, the disposal of the chemistry, and any equipment costs, maintenance, electricity, and water. The product is called Sonora.”

On a worldwide basis, rindo claims Sonora will eliminate the need for 36 million gallons of water, 530,000 gallons of plate chemistry, and 102 million hours of kilowatt energy within the first year. “We do this with the same offset quality and allow the printer to maintain the productivity they have had in the past,” he says.

For his part, Travis envisions an exciting future. “i see things we will be printing that haven’t been dreamt of before,” he observes. “And we’ll be hitting markets that we haven’t approached in the past.”

Concludes Ortbach: “it’s incumbent on offset printers to maintain their equipment well, and exploit it and run it at speeds the equipment was designed for. in so doing, they’re ensuring their continued viability in the industry, and ensuring the continuing funding to explore additional technologies.” n

Courtesy : myprintresource.com

On this auspicious festival of lights, May the glow of joy, Prosperity and

happiness Illuminate Your life and Your home.

Wishing you a Happy Diwali

team@printforum


Packaging in India: Intelpack 2013 Shows Potential for Digital intelpack, india’s main packaging technology show, took place from September 12 to 14.

intelpack, india’s main packaging technology show, took place from September 12 to 14. The show was co-located with two other indian shows on food and drug manufacturing, “Foodtek 2013” and “Pharmapack 2013.” The combined event spread over 14,000 square meters of floor space at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, india. During its three days, over 8,000 visitors saw the offerings of 175 exhibitors, inc luding makers of coding equipment, tray sealing machines, convert ing machines, carton erectors, flow wrap applicators, and form/fill/seal lines. Many media suppliers exhibited as well, such as for flexible packaging films, folding carton board, corrugate, and seal materials. On balance, it looked like a smaller version of Pack Expo in the u.S., with both indian and international exhibitors promoting their technology and materials. Meanwhile the overall indian packaging market has been variously estimated at about $19 billion in annual value, with annual growth of 8% or more, and its food, beverage, and pharmaceuticals industries are quickly modernizing.

Digital printing was part of the intelpack, but it was mainly for coding, marking, and label application, rather than fine color digital printing. in this industrial technology show, there were

thus no color digital presses, and monochrome printing essentially ruled. The booths collectively, though, sent a strong message: india has a young, dynamic market for modern packaging equipment and technology, one where color digital printing will soon augment analog technology for label and package printing and decoration. We know that that change has already started, since small numbers of color digital label and packaging presses already operate in india, from companies such as Durst, Epson, and HP indigo (none were exhibiting at intelpack). With this ongoing change in mind we offer a summary below of several key booths from intelpack where digital migration was evident.

Condot Systems Pvt.Ltd:Established in 1994, Condot Systems Pvt. Ltd. caters to package coding and variable data printing (VDP) requirements in the indian market. With 80 packaging and VDP applications serving more than 2,000 production lines, the company boasts of its customer base and over 5,000 system installations in india, as well as elsewhere in Asia Pacific and Africa. The company is a distributor for thermal inkjet (TiJ) based coders, specifically ones based on Hewlett Packard TiJ technology; its suppliers include HS Automatic (Denmark), Collins ink Corporation (u.S.), and

General Technology (Japan).

A Condot representative shared that the products mainly are used for numbering, bar coding in the packaging industry, and also for variable data printing in mail applications, printing onto A3 and A4 pages. He also noted that TiJ technology has two benefits that indian customers especially appreciate, (1) its ability to print both scannable code and very small alphanumeric fonts and (2) the environment friendliness of water-based TiJ inks.

Control Print:Control Print Limited is an indian coding equipment manufacturer, with two manufacturing facilities in india (nalagarh and Vasai) and 11 regional offices across the country. With a product range that includes CiJ printers, large character inkjet printers, thermal transfer overprinters & electrophotographic digital printers, the company provides solutions to its various cl ients in industries such as automotive, chemicals, metals, and building materials industries, as well as the food, beverage, and other fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) categories.

Like Condot, Control Print also functions as a distributor for coding equipment made by overseas partners. The products displayed during the show include Alpha Jet C, a CiJ printer which is designed and manufactured with German technology from KBA-Metronic. The company is also represents the laser coders of Macsa (Spain), such as the K-1000 for product coding. Control Print appears to be a substantial


company and a true manufacturer in its own right, a maker at least of large character inkjet printers such as the P200 and nP200, as well as possibly other coder categories such as hot roll coders.

Videojet Technologies India Pvt.Ltd:Videojet Technologies, likely the world’s biggest manufacturer of CiJ coders, has direct presence in india through Videojet Technologies (i) Pvt. Ltd. (Videojet india). Videojet india has its corporate office in navi Mumbai and regional offices at Delhi, Chennai, and Kolkata and access to major remote locations of india.

On display during the show were two small character ink jet printers, the Videojet 1510 & 8510 along with a CiJ printer, Videojet 2360. A screen installed at the booth showed videos of other products including the Wolke m600, the TiJ printer often used in pharmaceuticals packaging in Europe, and one that attracted a lot of attention from intelpack visitors. The company representative informed that CiJ is their main focus right now, based on indian market demand. He noted, though, that there is growing understanding and acceptance TiJ coding technology. Videojet will also participate in th Pack Plus show in Delhi in October, and will display there both CiJ and TiJ coding technology.

InfoTrends’ overall opinion:intelpack 2013 occurred at an opportune time, in support of a growing market, one spurred by a several factors, including a modernizing retail sector, increasing Foreign Direct investment (FDi), and key partnerships between indian and overseas enterprises. Digital printing in packaging in india is well established now for coding. infoTrends foresees that india will also transition to color digital printing for packaging and labels as well. n

Courtesy : http://www.topix.com

Lloyd's List to stop printing paper, the world's oldest newspaper goes digital only

THE world's longest running newspaper will cease printing and go digital only, it was announced yesterday.

Lloyd’s List, that began life as just a notice pinned to the wall of a London coffee house in 1734, has since inception been considered the bible for the shipping industry on the comings and goings of vessels.

But the publication, known as The List, will print its last publication this December after a survey found it had only 25 customers still wanting its print edition.

instead, readers and subscribers had moved to its suite of digital offerings including a website and apps for smart phones and tablets.

"it is a natural part of our evolution," e d i t o r r i c h a r d M e a d e s a i d yesterday. Mr Meade said while nostalgia weighed on the company’s shoulders customers were paying for premium and were no longer content to wait by the mailbox for information.

But he said little had changed in its 279-year history but instead of reading it at just Lloyds Coffee

House as they did in the 18th century they could now read it digitally in any coffee shop in the world.

"We're a 300-year-old newspaper and shipping is a fairly conservative industry so you wear that weight and go online-only with some trepidation," he said.

"[But] the overwhelming majority of our customers choose the capabilities of digital over print. The digital approach offers new avenues and opportunities to innovate an up-to-the-minute service that offers in-depth news and information on every aspect of shipping."

The FTSE 250 company informa has published the list since 1998 and has 16,624 paying subscribers, its unique content valued in the industry.

it is not the first industry-based publication to quit print over digital in the uK. in March the weekly second hand car classifieds publication Auto Trader ceased print publications. A number of other business publications now receive the bulk of their revenue from digital products. n

Courtesy : http://www.news.com.au


LeTTeRS To The edIToR

Members/Readers of PRINT FORUM are encouraged to write Letters to the Editor whenever an idea occurs to them. Letters for this page should be kept short and to the point.

We reserve the right to edit any material submitted for this department. Names will be omitted on request but must be signed in full to each letter sent to us. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. n

Editor

Fake notes have no exchange value. These means that if you go to the bank and deposit any forged notes, they would sign it and send it for further verification without giving you any exchange money. Fake notes is a growing menace in the country. So it is very important to check for the genuineness of all notes you receive-specially the larger denominations.

We have put together all the signs and authentication marks (through which you will be able to judge the authenticity of notes:

1. The floral design marked by number one in the picture above is actually ‘500’ written half way. if you move the note against light you will be able to see the complete ‘500’ written on it.

2. When viewed against light, this empty place has a hidden picture of Mahatma Gandhi, multi-directional lines and ‘500’ written on it.

3. The colour of this ‘500’ appears green as such, but if you tilt the note to a certain angle, it would turn blue.

4. The ground, on which the number of the note is printed, g l o w s w h e n e x p o s e d t o ultraviolet light.

5. This thread which appears broken is actually complete and can be looked at from behind when put against light.

How to identify fake Rs 500 currency notes

in addition to this, you will be able to see ‘Bharat’ ‘rBi’ and ‘500’ written on it.

6. The ‘panch sau rupiye’ written in the middle as well as the ‘reserve Bank of india’ written on the top of the note, are written in raised ink and can thus be felt by hand.

7. under the vertical floral design marked by number 7, you will find ‘500’ written when held against light.

8. Behind Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait, you will find ‘rBi’ and ‘500’ written, if you look with the help of a magnifying glass.

9. if you touch the note a little above the Ashoka emblem, you will be able to feel a small circle, although you won’t be able to see it.

10. right on the center bottom, on the back side of the note, the year the printing appears and you would be able to see it clearly.

11. On the back side of the note, you will be able to identify ‘500’ entangled in the floral design. it would appear when looking at the note against light.

With these signs and markings you cannot miss out a fake note coming to you. it is for our own good to check every note that comes to us so as too help ourselves and our country weed out this evil. n

Courtesy :www.business-standard.com

it is very important to check for the genuineness of all notes you receive-specially the larger denominations

A press operation without the costs of a real press console

Sinapse, recently introduced its TouchConsole interface for printing simulators, which provides users with the experience of press operation without the costs and constraints of a real press console.

The technology functions in the same way as a real press - the operator lays the print sample sheet or signature on to the console above the corresponding ink keys, and then makes adjustments. As the ink keys and water settings are adjusted on the console, the changes are shown in the simulated output displayed just above them.

The hardware is flexible and so can be used to run different simulators. interfaces are currently available for Sheetfed Heidelberg SM and Heatset GOSS M600. n

Courtesy : http://www.paperandprint.com

TouchConsole for Sheetfed Simulator with Heidelberg-SM type interface.


Valli Muthiah, wife of S. Muthiah, (Forum’s Patron Member) passed away on Tuesday, 18th September 2013.

in the passing of Valli Muthiah, Chennai has lost a feisty personality who was full of life.

Wife of the city’s best-known chronicler — S. Muthiah, she nevertheless had her own identity. Born in 1950 in Kandanur, she graduated with a degree in chemistry from Seethalakshmi Achi College, Pallathur, and worked at Central Electro Chemical research institute and later, Central Leather research institute.

She married Muthiah in 1969. Later, when daughters ranjani and Parvathy had grown up, she qualified as a company secretary and took to a career again.

Calling at the Muthiah residence was a double delight for one picked up nuggets of history from him and mouthwatering Chettinad delicacies from her.

Hers was a busy life, but with enough time for the problems of everyone, all of which she made her own and worked hard to find solutions for.

And there was her broad view

The chronicler loses his companionon religion. Visiting temples in Chettinad and observing rituals were as important as lighting candles at the altar for St. Antony every Tuesday at St. Mary’s Co-Cathedral, Armenian Street. At Christmas, she made the best cakes in town.

She was enormously proud of her husband’s work and was his support, being most importantly his window to the world. At the same time, she was his equal in every way, never in awe of his fame.

Muthiah was to acknowledge her role in his life in Bishwanath Ghosh’s ‘Tamarind City’: ‘Fortunately, i have a young and energetic wife… who manages the home as well as the finances. She makes sure i don’t have to worry about anything other than my work.’

May Muthiah have the strength to rise above his loss and regale us with several more stories of Madras that is Chennai. That would be the best tribute to her and she would expect it of him. n

Courtesy : www.thehindu.com

The President and Members of THE FORUM convey their deepest condolence to the bereaved members of the family. May her noble soul rest in peace.

ITRI, Komori Exhibit 7-in-1 Precision Roll-to-Roll Printing Technology at FPD International 2013

One of the most closely-watched exhibits at FPD International 2013 in Yokohama during October 23-25 was the joint announcement by Taiwan’s ITRI and Japan’s Komori International of a completely new fine-line printing technology.

The technology replaces the need of seven different pieces of equipment with a single direct-printing station. It enables printing of less than 10µm fine metal lines and enhances material utilization from 10% to 90%.

On the first day, ITRI and Komori’s joint booth was flooded by numerous interested international visitors, including material and display corporations, manufacturers, and suppliers such as Beijing Oriental Electronics, JDI, NEG, Asahi Glass, Toray, Tokki, Hirano and Applied Materials. They came for inquiry and were amazed by ITRI’s ultra fine-line printing technology. Dr. C.T. Liu, Vice President and General Director of Electronics and Optoelectronics Research Laboratories, ITRI, noted that these world-famous enterprises have expressed their interest in working jointly on the production, facility, material development, or fine-line printing, ultra-thin substrates, and metal-mash associated with the roll-to-roll technology.

Existing screen printing techniques can achieve line widths of about 60-80µm in mass production, while lithography and etching make it possible to reach 30-50µm. With the Komori-ITRI’s innovative roll-to-roll design, precision printing technology in touch panel production breaks through these barriers to 10µm or less. This approach replaces the expensive photolithography process and eliminates seven machines needed for conventional sputtering, resist-coating, baking, exposure, developing, etching, and stripping. Instead, a single process of direct printing of fine metal lines on ultra-thin substrates enables high-efficiency mass production of touch panels for smart-handheld devices.

Dr. Liu added that when the technology first debuted at Touch Taiwan in August this year, many vendors desired to apply it to their production lines. Now with Komori and ITRI working together for the past two months, printing of fine lines has taken a significant leap from 20µm to less than 10µm, on various substrate widths ranging from 300mm to 500mm. The overall printing process uses a “full version” design that dramatically improves material utilization, with mass production expected to come next year. n

Courtesy : www.itri.org.tw

The price of success

is hard work, dedication

to the job at hand, and

the determination that

whether we win or lose,

we have applied the best

of ourselves to the task

at hand.

Vince Lombardi


Leading potato producer Branston r e c e n t l y l a u n c h e d i t s n e w nationwide ‘Pic on a Pack’ initiative, an opportunity for consumers of prepared potatoes to have their photos printed on to packs of Parmentier Potatoes in Tesco’s fresh&easy range of ready meals.

This first of a kind competition has been made possible due to the introduction of cutting edge, digital print technology used by Shere Print to produce flexible packaging. The complete digital workflow used by the company offers a fast turnaround design to print process. The advantages of digital printing have made the personalisation of flexible packaging possible as various designs can be printed consecutively without any need for changeovers or plates.

Mark Wilcox, Branston technical manager, said, ‘The ‘Pic on a Pack’ initiative is a way of getting people talking about our great products in a category that is hard to generate any noise. Tesco was very keen to embrace the project and saw the benefits in linking directly with its customers. We have worked

closely with the Shere Print team at ultimate Packaging to deliver the first digitally printed, personalised lidding film in produce. using digital print has made the project possible as each impression can be different, there are no plates involved at all! Digitally printed personalised labels have been around for some time but personalised flexible packaging is a new and exciting opportunity.’

Part of ultimate Packaging, Shere Print has recently been accredited with iSO9001, iSO14001 and BrC Safety Standard, which means the company can now digitally print food packaging for all food brands and retailers; a major accolade for the company and a first for the uK marketplace.

Chris Tonge, Shere Print sales and marketing director, said, ‘The past year has seen the business commit a great deal of skill, hard work and investment to develop digital print technology to produce flexible packaging for the food sector. i am proud and excited to say that following detailed audits and independent testing, we now have the capability to produce digitally

printed food contact packaging for brands and retailers, which confirms our status as a market leader. The use of our Smart Digital Workflow ensures we can deliver files to the digital press quickly and accurately, streamlining the process from design to finished pack.

The ‘Pic on a Pack’project is a key example of what can be achieved when using digital print to produce flexible packaging.’

The Smart Digital Workflow used by Shere Print and its sister company Sharp iris, a design, photography and 3D visualisation company, has been enhanced with the installation of the HP indigo WS6600 press and the use of Esko software packages. The Shere Print and Sharp iris teams will also support HP and Esko with 3D visuals and digitally printed samples at Labelexpo Europe this month.

The companies agreed that the show provides the perfect platformto demonstrate how the Grimsbybased group has used skill,experience and smart investment to lead the industry utilising 3D visualisation and digitally printed, flexible food packaging. n

Courtesy : www.dipmag.com

Personalised flexible packaging becomes a reality

Branston worked with Shere Print to take advantage of digital printing for Tesco’s Parmentier Potatoes packaging

Your work is going to fill a

large part of your life, and

the only way to be truly

satisfied is to do what you

believe is great work. And

the only way to do great work

is to love what you do. If you

haven't found it yet, keep

looking. Don't settle. As with

all matters of the heart,

you'll know when you

find it.

Steve Jobs


Colour management in the pressroom

Colour management, colour profiles, targets, rendering intents, Lab values, spectrophotometers. As a printer, some of these words may seem alien, but please, read on. The following article is not only intended for those involved in pre-press, it is also for you, the printer.

The nature of the subject requires some reference to pre-press but in essence, it has been written from a pressroom perspective. it compares two similar sized printing companies which differ in their approach to colour management.

Managing colour Colour management describes a series of activities involving technologies that manage the pre-press and printing workflow. it exists in order to achieve a printed appearance that matches the customer’s expectation. These activities start in the pressroom, are continued in prepress and then return to the pressroom for the final print production.

To illustrate these activities, we will begin by focusing on colour appearance and consider these aspects (1) when the colour is just a solid or linework, and (2) when the colour contains halftone or tint areas which may also overlap other colours.

Solid colour The appearance of a solid colour depends upon the characteristics of an ink in combination with other settings on a printing system, such as type of plate, mounting tape, anilox volume, substrate, etc.

Here is a basic scenario. You need to print a green solid colour. How much is prepress involved in this? The answer is: very little.

Sure, the platemaking department may provide a plate which defines the solid area to be printed, and pre-press may be involved in producing a visually correct rendition of the solid colour through a proofing system.

Pre-press may also suggest that the proof colour is only indicative and the actual printed colour may differ dependent on the aforementioned settings in the pressroom.

Pre-press would only really become involved in making adjustments if the green solid ink overprinted or was in any way connected to another colour.

So what form of colour management occurs in the pressroom when a solid colour needs to be printed?

Let ’s compare the di f fer ing philosophies of Printer A and Printer B.

Printing solids

Printer AFirstly, the correct ink is formulated for the respective colour. Printer A is aware that the colour recipe or formula will only be guaranteed to be correct for a particular volume anilox roller, substrate, plate and tape, that will be used in final production.

Actually, Printer A has more than one anilox roller with the same volume and linescreen. Such specifications were calculated in order to have an ideal volume for printing solids and increases the possibility of greater consistency. He knows the rollers will deliver a fairly identical result when printing.

Printer Bin this scenario, ink is formulated or purchased without a clear reference to the actual components which will be used in production. Printer B accepts the fact that the ink colour

may not initially be an exact match on press, but he has other anilox rollers with different volumes and linescreen, and he can load more ink or reduce the ink quantity until the desired result is reached.

On top of this, he can also adjust the ink by introducing other colours into the mix until the desired result is finally reached ... at least for this time.

Printer B has invested in a wider inventory of rollers and, as a consequence, allows additional time for production changes.

halftone coloursWhen halftones are involved, prepress has a greater involvement in the production workflow. Here, not only are the standard CMYK colour separations considered, but also any spot colours containing halftones.

These spot colours may also interact in some way with the CMYK colours. The final appearance of colours depends both on the characteristics of the ink for a particular print

Accurate formulation of ink for each press condition is necessary to achieve accurate colour reproduction


condition and the pre-press settings used. if colours are overlapping, pre-press will determine the percentage of coverage for each colour. Pre-press tools are instrumental in applying the correct dot percentage that will appear on the plate through the calculations, colour conversions and different operations.

When generating the file for output to plate, pre-press will aim to replicate the result achieved when the original test form was printed during the press characterisation stage.

Once the plate is made and mounted, the printer must do the same; replicate the original print condition. This is a basic example of colour management in the pressroom.

Again, two differing examples of what may actually happen in the pressroom when separations or colours with halftones are used in production.

Printing halftones

Printer AFollowing the same principle as used for solid colours, all of the anilox rollers that are used for separations and halftones have identical specifications (albeit a higher line screen and lower volume compared to those used for solids and lineworks). The inks used for separations are also formulated at the same low volume that was determined for the reproduction of tonal values according to printer’s request.

As Printer A has invested in identical anilox rollers, he also has the possibility to measure and in the process, manage their quality. When new rollers are purchased, it is easy to print a reference step-wedge and establish whether they will produce identical results, within agreed and accepted tolerances. Tonal value reproduction for the most typical line screens are also known, managed and maintained.

Printer A has already requested his pre-press provider to add a series

of colour patches to every job as he wants to monitor the consistency of the print results. it took a bit of getting used to, actually taking the time to measure and act upon the readings where necessary, but now they are invaluable. He in turn is able to feedback a constant flow of colour information to the pre-press department via the prints. This helps ensure the colour profile that was calculated after fingerprinting is maintained.

in this instance, there is a mutually beneficial exchange of information between printer and pre-press.

Printer BAs previously cited, the anilox rollers used to print the separations are not the same. in fact, it is common knowledge that in the pressroom of Printer B, the yellow requires more volume and magenta sometimes needs to be reduced in volume. Cyan sometimes needs to be adjusted and the black ink is closer to grey in order to avoid dirty printing.

There are actually six anilox rollers available for separations, with four different volumes. There is no room for control patches and running

targets: the cost of substrate is too high to allow for such sophistication and he saves money by using a reduced plate size.

Anyway, there is not enough time delay production and measure those values. All in all, the separation inks are always the same so pre-press should only be concerned with ensuring that the dot gain compensation is correct for every job.

Whenever the printed result of a colour does not satisfy Printer B, he may change the anilox roller on press, or/and adjust ink viscosity and dilution until the target result is reached ... at least for this time.

Sometimes, corrections on press are not enough. Perhaps he feels that the magenta plate is incorrect and needs to be re-made, perhaps with ess dot-gain. The repro company supplying the plate does not know or understand the reason for this, it just remakes the plate because it is a large printer who it does a lot of work for.

never mind. As printer B has invested in a wider inventory of anilox rollers, he has come to accept

Characterisation charts assist in initial press fingerprints and ongoing press colour management


that on occasions, he utilises his printing press as a kind of proofing device during production.

in summary Who are you Printer A or B? if your production resembles printer A, congratulations. if your production resembles printer B, some basic changes would result in cost savings and increased efficiency

Colour management begins in the pressroom before a plate is mounted or a print is made. To begin with, it should encompass a thorough system review and analysis. This will assist in the decision-making process when choosing anilox engravings, plate, mounting tape, substrate: in fact all elements involved in the final production process.

Print characterisation should at least include the recording of tonal value reproduction when using a range of plate linescreens. The resultant information helps establish the parameters that can be both achieved and adhered to. Print characterisation also establishes what is achievable from each inking roller in the press department.

The iSO norm 12647-6:2012 contains reference to dot gain values that can be used for this operation. Once these parameters are known, they can be used to check consistency, to determine maintenance and to provide information via useful numbers about the condition of each component within the print configuration.

Of course you could use your press as an elaborate proofing device – add this colour, try this, change that. But you should consider printing by numbers instead. You are more likely to match previous results and achieve increased, managed productivity and consistency. n

Courtesy : www.flexotechmag.com

The Hindu now in full colour from Kochi

A new production facility that can simultaneously run up to 24 pages in colour now prints editions of The Hindu and BusinessLine from Kochi. The Diamond Spirit equipment made by Mitsubishi Heavy industries was formally operationalised on Saturday night.

The world-class system can handle 75,000 copies an hour in broadsheet size, making for faster and better printing.

This press, with Japanese shaftless technology, incorporates features such as closed loop ink density control with automatic pre-settings. it can print four-page wide super panorama image – a feature that could offer advertisers also a new option. it features automatic colour register control from Qi Press Controls, The netherlands. A modern Ferag mailroom system complements the printing unit.

The Kochi edition of The Hindu, launched in 2000, was being printed from the newspaper’s premises at Vyttila in Kochi City — from where the editorial, advertising, circulation and administrative divisions of the Group will continue to function.

The new printing site is at Vettickal, near Mulanthuruthy, 20 km away in Ernakulam district.

The new location is expected to improve connectivity with the larger region that the edition serves, and thus help ease the supply and distribution process.

This is the third printing unit of Kasturi & Sons Limited in Kerala. The others are in Thiruvananthapuram a n d M a l a p p u r a m , s e r v i n g respectively the southern and northern parts of the State.

The press in Kochi has been operationalised a day after The Hindu, founded in 1878, turned 135 on September 20. n


The Hindu’s new printing press at Mulanthuruthy, near Kochi.

Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.

Vince Lombardi

Success is the result of perfection,

hard work, learning from failure,

loyalty, and persistence.

Colin Powell


With Best Compliments from

LakshmiCottageIndustry

Manufacturers of all sizes and varieties of

EnvELopES

WEddIng CaRdS

vISITIng CaRdS

FILES (Flat & Lever)

Distributors

STyLuS X and uvXvisiting Cards

Dealers

papERS & BoaRdS

114 (Old no.120)Swamy naicken StreetChintadripetChennai 600 002

pHonE

2345 2020, 2345 2021

MoBILE98401 32133

E-MaIL

[email protected]

N. VENKATESAN, partner(Patron Member of The Forum)

n

n

4/6


Standardisation is the order of the day in any field of human activity. needless to say in Printing it is not taken up seriously by most of us in india. Be it Offset, Flexo, Gravure, Letterpress, or Screen printing, often it is hit or miss. However with digital presses the standardization is mostly built in as long as they are in a closed loop and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations on consumables and the work practices. Even within this if there is a small variation or incompatibility it is any body’s guess about the outcome. it is not that difficult to find reasons as to why this continues to be the practice. Till recently whatever the printer was delivering was accepted by customers and this could be one of the main reason for such an attitude coupled with lack

FORUM’s Technical Lecture

Standardisation for PrintingGiven below is the extract of a two day lecture presented by our President, Mr. R. S. Bakshi, Managing Director, Colour Dot (Madras) Pvt Ltd., Chennai.

of knowledge. Things are changing and end users have become smarter and are well informed. They are now demanding the matching of colours with the swatches they provide in the designs and this also is not a problem as matching colours is an additional revenue for the printer and all he needs to do is to ensure that he prints an additional colour to do this.

The problem becomes visible when the end user demands the matching of pantone or special colours in the designs, with the use of the standard process colour inks that are being used for multicolour printing. Some of the end users are so demanding that they want an exact colour match with no Delta Error in the shade despite changes in raw materials. Trying to achieve this will only

put the printer into a spin that will surely put a hole in his pocket. The better way would be to ascertain the limitation of the press and the print capability and know the colour shades that can be possible with the substrate & inks being used and accepting to do things within this limit.

Many do not want to put blinds on their capability by sticking to the standard way of doing things and would prefer to have flexibility in getting around to doing what they do best. But the fact remains that having control over whatever one does will reduce press down time, wastage and a faster turnaround, without the axe of rejection looming large after the printing is over.

What is StandarisationS t a n d a r d i s a t i o n i s t h e implementation of a set of parameters that the printer has finalized as best for the level of quality he wants in print.

Why StandardiseWithout this the end print result will control you. With standardization you will be in control of the printed result. Which would you prefer?

how to StandardiseDefine a set of processes and parameters that should be followed. Then set up a procedure to implement the parameters along with a method of measuring each of the parameter. Keep comparing if the parameters are within close tolerance or way out. if way out then recheck if the press conditions and all other things are as required. if not then bring these into control so that the print result is as required. Comparing is


the only way of knowing if the press is running with/without control.

Once the specs or parameters have been finalized it is important to prepare a control strip that contain these specs and use this in the preparation of the film/plate/block/cylinder and measure the same each time to ensure that the values in the control strip is as required. This will slowly become a practice to ascertain the level of consistency in our process. The same control strip used in printing will show, on measurement if the printing is within the required specs. The measurement will also show if the variance is in the film/plate/block/print and this will mean that the point at which the variance has been noticed has to be looked into. it is important that there is no variance in the use or processing of the control strip or the system will fail. So it is important that the persons responsible for maintaining the Quality Control are experienced and capable, without which the system will not take off.

Having decided on the control strip, implementation becomes a reality. This is then explained to the team and each one is made to understand the reason for using these parameters so that they implement the set standards diligently. The implementation process has also to ensure that the parameters set are measureable and these measurements are taken on a regular basis and recorded, for comparison by the supervisors/ managers.

it is also important to understand that the parameters selected are based on the present condition of the press and that these conditions do

not remain constant and that these will keep changing / shifting. Hence there has to be a system of ensuring that conditions are recorded and changes affecting the conditions and its implications are also recorded from time to time or at regular intervals. A comparison of these will tell if the controls are producing the desired results. if not then there is something wrong and the method of recording needs to be checked and corrected when required.

Let us look at some of the parameters that affect the print quality and an understanding of each of these is required to ascertain the parameters that should be measured to maintain a control on the printed sheet. The aim points and tolerance levels should be clearly mentioned.

1. The Printing PressThe register accuracy of the press depends on various factors and the printer should be aware of this and the adjustments available on the press to bring the print into register in case of mis-register. if there is a variation in tolerance and the accuracy, then this fact has to be carefully considered before purchasing the unit, because this will be single factor in creating the maximum problem for the printer. Other than this the following also needs to be understood:

i. Thickness and type of substrate that can be used on the press without problem.

ii. The thickness and the type of plate used on the press including the packing/DSA (Double Side Adhesive) tape required, if any, for transferring the ink on to the substrate.

iii. The ink transfer process that enables the ink to be collected from the tray and transfers to the substrate, via the plate, uniformly over the entire surface area of the substrate.

iv. The ink drying process that dries the ink printed on the first station before the 2nd station lays ink on the first layer.

v. The conversion requirement that dic tates the layout requirement of a job.

vi. The method of measuring the parameters and the sheet on which the information is to be recorded so as to provide easy comparison between the result of different jobs.

vii. Cylinder Accuracy- Tolerances, Concentricity & Alignments.

viii.Type of gears used and the circular pitch of the gear.

2. Plate i. Type ii. Surface Quality iii. Thickness, Hardness and

Packing required. iv. Accuracy of mounting the plate v. Capacity to hold minimum dot,

line thickness and resolution.

3. Packing/dSA tape i. Type ii. Suitability for Print iii. Adhesive type and strength iv. Hardness

4. Plate Mounting/ Printing Cylinders or SleevesThe plate is exposed to form the print image and has a layout confirming to the conversion process required after the printing is over.


The planning for the conversion process has to be taken into account even before the printing can start. This will ensure that the image is in the correct position while printing and retains the correct position after the conversion process is over.

in some printing presses the mounting of the plate requires the help of a mounting machine or a punching unit so that the plate can be punched and placed accurately on pins to hold in position accurately.

in some case small bits of plates are used on a mounting unit to locate these bits accurately in the required position. These mounting units use high resolution camera to enlarge and show the mounting accuracy on a monitor in an enlarged image. The viewing of the enlarged image helps in positioning the plate bits very accurately, with reference to other colours.

5. SubstrateThese come in a wide variety of

i. whites, greys and colours. ii. in glossy, plain, smooth or

rough surfaces. iii. non-aborbant or absorbant

types. iv. Coated, laminated or different

finishes such as filter papers v. Thick, thin very thin vi. rigid, flexible or wavy vii. Straight or warped.Each has a different effect on the printed colour depending on the process used for printing and the type of ink used and the clarity of the printed image.

6. Ink- Paste or Liquid i. Type ii. Viscosity iii. Density iv. Colour Shade v. Transfer Characteristic/Water

Balance vi. Surface Tension

7. Anilox rolls (for flexo printing only) i. Type of construction of the roll

body

ii. Type of ceramic coating

iii. Porosity of ceramic coating

iv. Hardness of ceramic coating

v. Surface tension of the ceramic coating

vi. Laser engraving type

vii. Surface finish

viii. Cell Volume

Metering of Ink for Transfer

This is normally associated with liquid inks. The liquid ink has to be metered to ensure that the correct quantity of ink is being allowed to transfer to the substrate. The quantity or volume of ink transferred is a combined result of the anilox used, its engraving and the method of metering adopted.

Another factor that is taken into consideration is the viscosity of the inks used. Everything being same the viscosity of the ink will make a difference in the print colour depth.

The process of standardization is not difficult. it takes a little effort to specify the parameters and ensure that these are maintained. Once the specs are maintained any variation can be easily found out by comparing the specs used earlier and checking with the specs being used for the current. it will show which specs has changed. When this becomes standard, experienced persons can tell the difference by looking at the printed sheet and they will know what has to be modified to go back to the standard.

The most important part of this process is that you have control of the process and if it is desired to have a slightly different print result one knows whether to alter the specs of the ink or plate or anilox, etc and to what extent. So this builds flexibility in the process with full control over it.

Benefits of Standardisationno one will want to implement anything or measure anything if there is no benefit. So some tangible benefit has to be there, as an incentive to take all this trouble. They could be savings in terms of material, time and money. Above all it would draw more quality customers. n

FT’s Lamont sees ‘seismic changes’ in newsrooms“Seismic changes” are taking place in newsrooms, the managing editor of The Financial Times said on the second day of the World Association of Newspapersand News Publishers expo in Bangalore.

Striking an upbeat note in an overview of an industry in a painful transition phase, James Lamont said rules for the newspaper world are changing, and FT was “retooling” its journalists.

Lamont described India as a “print journalist’s paradise,” noting that vernacular newspapers are thriving here.

The WAN-IFRA Expo and Publish Asia 2013 kicked off Wednesday with a keynote address by Tomas Brunegard, president of the World Association of Newspapersand News Publishers.

Brunegard, from Sweden, spoke about the future of news media and its challenges in a time of uncertainty.

The 21st annual Publish Asia summit was inaugurated by Brunegard, World Editors Forum President Erik Bjerager, outgoing WAN-IFRA President Jacob Mathew,Thomas Jacob, chief operating off icer at WAN-IFRA and Magdoom Mohamed, managing director of WAN-IFRA South Asia.

The WAN-IFRA expo was inaugurated by D.D. Purkayastha, Brunegard and Bjerager.

The event features over 600 participants from 25 countries and 65 exhibitors.

A plethora of topics have been discussed so far. Some of the more prominent ones were the changing trends in newsrooms, data journalism, the trend and growth potential of digital media advertising and the overhauling of newsroom practices. n

Courtesy : www.deccanherald.com


JENAT ROLLER INDUSTRIES(Rubber, PU & ebonite Rollers Manufacturer)

TARGeT INdUSTRIeS

head office & FactoryPlot No. 36, Krishna Industrial Estate, Vanagaram, Mettukuppam, Chennai-600 095

Tel: 044-6538 1000 • Mobile: 94443 53699, 94444 40288 • E-mail: [email protected]

Branch Office# 1776, PKN Road, Sivakasi (Lakshmi Eng. Works)Phone: 04562-221357 • Mobile: 94431 27920

Offset Printing n Computer Forms Printing n Plastic IndustriesFlexo Graphic Printing n Gravure Printing n Lamination

Plywood Industries n Conveyor Industries n Paper Industries

6/6


A dream come trueAnushka (28) always knew what it felt like to hold a magazine in her hands, but never had the opportunity to read one. Being visually-challenged, she was accustomed to someone reading aloud to her, but she longed to experience the joy of reading. now, she can. As she flips through the pages of White Print, said to be india's first English lifestyle magazine in Braille, there's a sense of accomplishment on her face. Like Anushka, numerous others with visual impairment are thankful to upasana Makati who came up with White Print.

"i studied journalism and got a job in a Pr company. i wasn't satisfied with what i was doing and decided to start something new. i couldn't recall any newsletter or magazine that was being published specifically for the visuallychallenged.

After doing some research i found that they were eagerly waiting for a newsletter that they could read on their own. That's how we started White Print," says 24-year-old upasana.

Varied subjectsThe magazine covers topics such as food, politics, music and gadget reviews. Besides a political column by Barkha Dutt, “our readers really enjoy the success stories we publish, which they feel are inspiring. They love the short stories and interviews too," says upasana. There are also sections that encourage feedback from readers. A team of six works on the project, apart from freelancers.

The 64-page magazine is priced at rs. 30 and has been receiving subscription orders from all over the country. "We initially thought of free circulation, but then one of our readers told us, 'We are done with people’s sympathy. We work and earn an income, we can definitely pay rs. 300 or so a year,"

says upasana, who works with the national Association of the Blind in Mumbai to convert text into Braille.

White Print is text heavy and doesn't have pictures. Even the advertisements are in the form of text. "Since advertisements are all about colour, image and grandeur, it's difficult to convince sponsors to give an ad in a Braille magazine. raymond was the first to place an ad with us,” says the young entrepreneur. Another problem she faces is reaching the magazine to subscribers in small towns and villages. "Since these areas can be accessed only by registered post, it takes a while for readers to receive their copies. Some of them become restless and we are flooded with anxious calls,” she says, adding that it's good to know that people can’t wait to get their copy.

Newspapers tooWhile White Print came into existence earlier this year, reliance Drishti, a fortnightly Hindi newspaper in Braille, has been in production since March 2012. Funded by reliance Foundation, this newspaper was started by Swagat Thorat, a former journalist, who in 2008 launched Sparshdnyan, a Marathi newspaper, widely circulated in Maharashtra. “We publish around 900 copies of reliance Drishti fortnightly, which are gifted to organisations for the visuallychallenged. Every copy is read by at least 80 people,” says Thorat.

reliance Drishti is available throughout the country and Thorat soon plans to bring it out in the regional languages as well. it enjoys a sizeable readership abroad and is currently being sent to 18 countries.

“Our newspaper has content that you and i like to read every morning. We want to acquaint our readers with current issues. Our content is diverse and includes politics, sports, science and technology, music, movies and food. We don’t want to restrict ourselves to issues that concern the visually-challenged,” says Thorat.

When he launched Sparshdnyan five years ago, Thorat invested more than rs. 4,00,000 in a Braille printing machine and renting an office space in Mumbai. The reliance Drishti and Sparshdnyan team is the same and has six members.

W i t h t h e d e m a n d f o r s u c h newspapers on the rise Thorat says, “i dream of a day when the visually-challenged get their own daily. i hope one of the media houses comes forward to launch one, if not i hope to start one in a few years.”. n


Upasana Makati who pioneered White Print, said to be the country’s first lifestyle Braille magazine in English

Magnifying print with technology

Electronic or video magnifiers are versatile tools to access print information for a lot of people with low vision. Recent developments in this technology include the introduction of more portable options and devices that can read out the text as well as display it visually.

The advantages of this technology over traditional optical magnifiers include:

• Enhanced contrast of the text to be read.• Ability to view more of the text at one time.• Versatile settings of brightness, contrast

and colours to suit individual preferences.• Lines and markers to focus on the text you

wish to read. n

Courtesy : http://www.visionaustralia.org


The origins of Tamil newspapers in Penang

In the news: Dr Torsten Tschacher, in Penang recently with his wife Dr Deepra Dandekar, showing a digital recopy of one of the early Tamil newspapers called Penang Gnanacharian Daily News, which he obtained from the National University of Singapore library. – CHAN BOON KAI / The Star

penang was the birthplace of a number of Tamil newspapers during the British colonial days, says a German researcher.

LOnG before Malaysia’s oldest Tamil newspaper Tamil nesan was established in 1924, the promotion of Tamil literary work in the country could be traced back to the Straits Settlements in late 19th and early 20th centuries of the British colonial era.

And, Penang, which was part of the Settlements, had played a pivotal role in the birth of several Tamil newspapers that were largely initiated by Penang-born Muslim Tamils of South indian descent, and later on by the Hindu Tamils.

This chapter of the local Tamil newspapers’ development was recently highlighted during a Penang Story Lecture at Wawasan Open university in George Town – not by a local historian, but by German lecturer Dr Torsten Tschacher.

He presented a paper titled For The Promotion Of Tamil On This island: Penang Muslims And Tamil Vernacular Publications Across The Bay Of Bengal, 1880-1914.

A day earlier, the 37-year-old academician, who speaks, reads and writes in fairly good Tamil, had given a similar lecture in Western-accented Tamil at Dewan Makam noordin in Kapitan Keling Mosque in George Town.

“i started learning Tamil formally in Germany in 1998,” said Dr Tschacher, a lecturer in Tamil language and culture at the Centre for Modern indian Studies in university of Gottingen back home.

He was in town with his wife Dr Deepra Dandekar, 39, who hails from Pune, north india. She is a post-doctoral researcher in Heidelberg university, Germany.

“Over the last few years, i began researching on Tamil newspapers in Singapore and Penang during the Straits Settlements era to find out how different it was from the print scene in india,” explained Dr Tschacher.in an interview before the talk at Wawasan Open university, Dr Tschacher spoke with interest and authority on the fledgling local Tamil print industry.He noted that the individuals involved in it then were interlinked with other parts of the Straits Settlements – the British-controlled territories that also comprised Malacca and Singapore – and South-East Asia.He said many readers actively engaged with the newspapers from different locations through letters published as well as donations sought by those publications.“For example, there was a list of indian Muslim donors from as far as Saigon (Vietnam) who supported the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan War that appeared in the Penang Gnanacharian on Oct 10, 1913.“The Penang authors and editors also maintained links with their counterparts across the Bay of Bengal, by publishing articles from each other’s newspapers, as well as by reflecting them in short stanzas for poem prefaces.“Letters from Penang and Singapore readers sometimes found their way

into newspapers in india and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and vice versa,” he said.Dr Tschacher said among the newspapers that had engaged in open “debate” was the Muslim nesan from Kandy, Sri Lanka, and Penang’s Vidya Vicharini, which was believed to be the first Tamil newspaper out of the northern state that was published in 1883.Vidya Vicharini, he said, was published by V. Ghulam Kadir navalar, a well-known poet who returned to india in 1890 but kept in touch with the people of Penang.“This association was reflective in several poetry books found in Singapore and Penang in which he had penned the sirappu paayiram (preface),” he said.

ownership and contentThe first Tamil newspaper in Singapore, he said, was believed to be the Singai Varthamani published by C.K. Makhdoom Sahib in 1875. Dr Tschacher said the locals back then ventured into publishing vernacular papers in a bid to shift the focus from the colonial gaze and issues to Asian concerns.interestingly, in Singapore and Penang, the vast majority of literary work and newspapers in Tamil were produced by Muslims, at least


up to World War i (1914-1918), he revealed.“This was rather unusual because, when you look at india, while the Muslims there printed some texts and published a few newspapers, most of the printing/publishing business back then was in the hands of Christians and Hindus,” he said.The newspapers in Singapore and Penang, he added, were ordinary secular publications run by Muslims, with islamic topics receiving special coverage.“But at the same time there were topics that were important to the Hindu community, such as temple management and the Hindu Association of Penang.“interestingly, the people freely wrote to these newspapers on internal troubles in their community or organisations despite the fact that the owners and editors were Muslims. And those letters were published.”Dr Tschacher said the early Tamil newspapers, which had between two and four broadsheet pages per edition, generally contained six sections – announcements, an editorial, news, articles from other papers, letters and advertisements.The main topics concerned the newspaper itself and its relation to the readers, local community news, religious matters as well as world events and the locals’ reactions towards them such as the Ottoman and British Empire wars and the situation in india.“Only in the late 1920s and early 1930s that some of the more successful Tamil dailies could afford to increase their pages to 12 due to revenue from advertisements.“The Tamil movie industry indirectly helped as the local cinemas would often place ads to promote the latest screenings,” he said.

Penang publicationsAnother Tamil newspaper in Penang before 1887 was the Vijaya Kedanan by publisher S.P.S.K. Kader Sahib, who also produced the

Malay newspaper Tanjung Penegeri (1894-1895). Dr Tschacher said, however, the majority of the Tamil newspapers in Penang started after 1887, following the implementation of the Book registration Ordinance, which took effect from Jan 1, 1887.under the rule, every book or newspaper that was published in the Straits Settlements had to be registered with the authorities, and three copies of each newspaper had to be submitted daily to the government, of which one copy was sent to London.“The others were kept in local libraries. A majority of them are still available at the London British Library and the national Library in Singapore,” he revealed.Dr Tschacher said there were 34 Tamil publications registered in the Straits Settlements between 1887 and 1914, nine of which were from Penang.H e n o t e d t h a t t h e P e n a n g Gnanacharian, which was published between 1912 and 1913, was a Tamil weekly that eventually became a daily. it was later replaced by Janopakari, which was published in 1914.He sa id most o f the Tami l publications in Penang were published by their respective authors, who also compiled articles that were translated from the English and Malay press.Although those publications were printed in large printing presses locally, their market was relatively small because of low print runs, for example, the Hindu nasen (1887) only printed 150 copies fortnightly while Janopakari had some 600 copies daily, he added.“They were sold at low prices, between 10 cents and 20 cents per newspaper, and between 12 cents and 50 cents per book.”Dr Tschacher said that apart from newspapers, poetry books written by Tamil Muslims also made up some of Penang’s rich Tamil literature. “For example, Kosha Marican, in his 1895 poetry book titled The Penang

Orchavam Thiru Alangara Sinthoo, talks about an annual procession at the Penang nagore Dargah, and describes the different fruit stalls and merchants in Penang’s Little india enclave.”“i hope to come up with a book on my findings by 2015,” said Dr Tschacher.That will be some history – one that heralds an industry that now produces as many as six Tamil dailies locally. n

Courtesy : www.thestar.com

Do-it-yourself publishing is now only a click awayWriting a book is only half the battle won. The other half leaves you at the mercy of literary agents, traditional publishers, distributors, reviewers and marketers. But writers need lose no heart because there’s respite at hand, courtesy the phenomenon of self-publishing. Let’s look at top publishing solutions that can help you package and market your words to the widest possible audience.

CreateSpace : It’s a platform for new writers that allows bringing out a book at a reasonable fee for designing, formatting, printing and publishing. One can also publish books for free. It makes your book available for sale through Amazon.com.

Lulu : It has enabled people in more than 225 countries to self-publish nearly two million publications via print, e-readers and tablet devices. It’s available in six languages. The book is published for free, but distribution is limited to their site. However, one can get full distribution for a resonable fee.

Smashwords : It converts word files into ebook formats and distributes them globally to ebook etailers. They pay 85 per cent of the net profit to the authors for each book sold. The author also retains all rights and complete control of the book, its sampling, pricing, and promotion. Authors can even publish it elsewhere, if they like. Smashwords publishes the ebook for free. It provides the ebook a page on their website, and sells it there for free. It generates income through commissions from the sales of written works.

Aventine Press : It publishes the book with a few tweaks in the terms and conditions. They generally take pricing decisions based on the finished page count. They claim to be the fastest in layout, design and formatting among publishing companies, and in most cases the book is ready in three months. n

Courtesy : www.hindustantinmes.com


Mobile technology influencing the way we read, write

As the face of media changes, journalists and the public are adapting, both consciously and unconsciously, to new mobile technologies and multimedia news platforms.

Earlier this week, Jacqueline Morino of Poynter published an article exploring the way that tablets, specifically, are affecting how journalists approach their work. Tablets differ from other digital media in their affect on journalism. With, for example, social media sites, information must be condensed and word limits are constrained, necessitating a short and snappy transmitting of messages. Tablets, however, give freedom for longer, more in-depth stories and, crucially, give the opportunity to include multimedia in long-form articles.

As Morino explains, sites such as The Atavist highlight the increasing interest in and the scope for multimedia long-form journalism. She notes that although seamless design and integration is key to The Atavist’s success, "the story comes first … ratliffe [Evan ratliffe, co-founder, CEO and editor of the site] said multimedia elements aren’t added unless a good argument can be made for why they enhance the storytelling."

While Jon Bernstein writing for Press Gazette in May was not wrong when he argued that iPhones (and other mobile devices) haven’t particularly affected the way

journalists write in terms of the writing style itself, the merging of text and multimedia could be seen as a new form of journalism altogether. reports such as ‘Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek’, which won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing, represents an impressive development in the nature of long-form reporting. Criticisms of the piece, however, certainly have some grounding and raise important questions about the nature of long-form journalism and whether multimedia can become a distraction from the text itself.

These changes in the ways articles are formed and presented are inseparable from the changes in the ways that readers consume the information presented to them. Much study is going into how we focus on what we read and see; Linda Stone coined the term "continued partial attention," which describes how many of us use our attention today. "it is motivated by the desire to be a LiVE node on the network. Another way of saying this is that we want to connect and be connect." This mode of attention focus influences, and is influenced by, the way that we read and compute information. Mario García, the newspaper and magazine designer and media consultant who is speaking at WAn-iFrA’s Tablet & App Summit as well as the newsroom Summit during World Publishing Expo next week, argues that this "continued partial attention" is "at the core of what we need to understand" when designing for mobile user’s and today’s "easily distracted readers."

research has been carried out to better understand how we read; Poynter's various Eyetrack Studies over the past 20+ years have shown that we are scanner readers. Photos and images attract our attention first, and our eyes then travel to dominant headlines, then to teasers

and cut lines, and we look at text last of all. And it’s not just the order in which we look at different types of information, but the amount of time we give to it – with text being read the least and photos or images being looked at the most. García believes this is "at the heart of […] the way we need to look at information processing today."

There is evidence to prove that reading text on paper as opposed to text on a screen "still boasts unique advantages," and it appears that a lot of people prefer reading on paper when they want to get into a text, and "understand it with clarity." However, in terms of our daily consumption of news, which we access online throughout the day, the development of multimedia long form journalism cleverly taps into our rapid scanning reading method, merging developed and informative text with images and video, which both focus our attention and reinforce the message of the article. n

Courtesy : blog.wan-ifra.org

X a n t e h a s announced the l a t e s t r e l e a se o f the i r d ig i ta l workflow software, i Q u e u e 8 . 1

Ultimate. iQueue 8.1 features a multi-user workflow designed specifically for digital color print systems. It automates complex prepress tasks; helps eliminate costly errors and dramatically increases shop production and print quality.

iQueue 8.1's intuitive interface and advanced features make it easy to manage multiple digital files, make independent CMYK adjustments, match critical spot colors, set screen values, apply imposition, estimate job costs, edit and import text / images, and share digital files between iQueue workstations.

iQueue 8.1 also offers a new Variable Data Manager, QR Code Generator, custom Hot Folders, Email-to-iQueue file posting and the PDF-out feature which allows users to export PDF formatted files for output on non-Xante devices.n

Courtesy : myprintresource.com


Press Parts - OEM vs Aftermarket

if you have the luxury of working in a printing plant that uses only OEM parts, my hats off to you. it says a lot about where you work. For the rest of us that use aftermarket parts, i thought i would list the pros and cons of each since we have seen the pitfalls of both. Even though you may not be the decision maker, i thought some of you would appreciate some of the pitfalls of each.

oeM PARTS

ProsGood Qual i ty - Your press manufacturer will provide the exact part you need, designed to do precisely what you need. Plug and play.

Warranty - if the part doesn't work, a manufacturer will stand behind the product and usually back it up with some sort of warranty. We have had this happen a couple of times.

Exact Parts - Finding parts is a no brainer. The press manufacturer will have the exact part and you do not need to choose between different brands or types.

ConsMore Expensive - Manufactured in Germany? Then that's the price you pay for German engineering. Manufactured in China? i guess you get what you paid for.

One Source - There is no choice where to buy the part. You have one choice and you pay the price you are given. i am certain that press manufacturers abuse this market like any others. Just like buying the printer for your computer and then finding out the replacement cartridge costs more than the actual printer.

Quality is not always better - Many aftermarket parts produce better replacement parts than the press manufacturer itself. You could be paying for just the name.

Aftermarket Parts

ProsCheaper - Hands down, usually the number one reason to buy them.

Availability - Most of our parts come from Germany when we order OEM. Who has time to wait for that? if there is a local parts manufacturer, you can wait hours instead of days. Who has time to wait when the press is down?

Quality can be better - This can sometimes be the case. Sometimes these aftermarket dealers improve on the part and try to get the edge this way.

ConsDifficult to select the best - The selection can be difficult if there are too many choices. Quality can vary.

no warranty - You will not always get a parts dealer that will stand behind their part with a warranty. This helps to keep the price down.

Variations in quality - Aftermarket press parts manufacturers who have reverse engineered their parts will sometimes use inferior materials to keep the price down. You get what you pay for.

Which is best?i worked at a company that was so cheap that they preferred we held everything together with twist ties. i don't work there anymore, but i am now thankful just to get replacement parts - no matter where they come from. Having said that, i cast my vote for OEM press parts. nothing beats the quality... as long as i don't have to pay for it. n

Courtesy : www.offsetpressman.blogspot.in

Chester Carlson's Vision

Seventy- f ive years ago, Chester Car lson created an eas ier way to duplicate information on paper. Named “xerography,” his invention revolutionized how information is shared and, ultimately, how office work gets done. Carlson’s invention also launched our company, Xerox.

Carlson’s legacy remains at the heart and soul of today’s Xerox. The genius of his invention and his passion for turning an idea into a business have been passed on to Xerox people over the 75 years since the very first xerographic copy was made.

In celebrating this 75th anniversary, we also celebrate Carlson. While tinkering in his lab in Astoria, Queens, he had one simple objective in mind: “…to make office work a little more productive and a little less tedious.” Fast forward to today: Simplifying how work gets done is core to Xerox and to the value we bring to our customers – in 160 countries and through the support of 140,000 Xerox people. n

Courtesy : www.xerox.com


Every letter tells a story - print problems revealed in type reproduction.

Spend even a small amount of time in a printshop and you'll quickly realize how much effort press operators put into scrutinizing their presswork through a loupe. The two things they're typically looking for are clear centered rosettes - this tells them that the presswork is in register – and print problems revealed by how well individual letters of type are reproduced in print.

Here's how type printed offset reveals problems:

Normal ink transfer - no apparent problems.

doublingA ghost image appears just behind the primary graphic causing an increase in dot gain.

Slur

A smeared ghost image appears just behind the primary graphic.

over emulsified (a.k.a. emulsified, water logged)

ink is designed to accept a small amount of water (fountain solution) on press. Too much water appears as tiny droplets in solid areas and reduces gamut, image sharpness, contrast, and increases dot gain.

Tailing (a.k.a. misting, slinging)

Too high a solid ink density or ink that's too "long" can cause thin "tails" of ink strands to appear extending behind the primary image causing

a loss of sharpness, contrast and an increase in dot gain.

Picking (a.k.a. pinholing)

Small white specks appear in solids. This usually results because the ink tack is too high or there is not enough impression cylinder pressure ("squeeze").

Ink breakdown

On press, fountain solution acts like a solvent. if it is too aggressive or acidic it can break down the ink that forms the image resulting in presswork that appears muddy and/or "soft." it also reduces total gamut because it reduces overprint trapping efficiency. n

Courtesy : the-print-guide.blogspot.in

When you fail

you learn from

the mistakes you made

and it motivates you

to work even harder.

Natalie Gulbis


New Ryobi Press Advances State-of-the-Art in 8-up Printing, Now Available in U.S. and Canada

Continuing its drive to help printers increase profitability of offset printing, Ryobi introduced the new RYOBI 928 perfector press with Panasonic LED-UV cure technology. The new press simultanously changes plates, cutting makereadies to as little as eight minutes, and instantly dries print. It also dramatically reduces power consumption and chemical use.

The new cost-saving press debuted to standing-room-only crowds of commercial printers at the Japan Graphic Arts Show in Tokyo, which concluded Saturday, Oct. 5.

Graphic Systems North America, the recently appointed supplier of Ryobi printing presses in the U.S. and Canada, said any commercial printer considering an investment in an offset press should learn about the new RYOBI 928P with LED-UV and the entire RYOBI 920 flagship series of 16,000 sph presses.

GSNA will be discussing the new press and the full Ryobi lineup at the opening of its new showroom in metro Atlanta Oct. 28-29.

“Think about it: world-class print quality, mere minutes of makeready and instant drying in 8-color, 8-up, 16-page signature print—all at the cost of a traditional 6-color, 40-inch press with coater,” said Chris Manley, a co-founder of GSNA and owner of Graphco, Cleveland. “It’s no overstatement. Ryobi is restructuring the economics of offset printing today.”

The 920 ser ies cu ts cos t o f consumables by 25%, cuts energy draw by 35%, and requires 35% less floor space than a standard 8-up press, noted Wes McCallum, a co-founder of GSNA and vice president of Canadian Printing Equipment in Winnipeg. “Combine that with highly competitive pricing, plus extreme

reliability that assures continuous uptime, and you get the lowest total cost of ownership of any press on the market today,” he said.

Graphic Systems North America is the largest independent source of printing equipment, technical service and parts in North America. It delivers exclusive access to Ryobi’s full line of offset and digital presses to commercial, packaging and in-plant printers, together with immediate support and parts fulfillment.

Formed in 2013 with co-headquarters in four U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, the GSNA group has more than $60 million in revenue and the single largest press sales, service and parts team in North America. GSNA serves all 50 states and all of Canada.

More than 30 print industry sales consultants offer sophisticated business analyt ics to support capital equipment decisions. Fifty-plus factory-trained technicians and parts professionals deliver real-time support from Ryobi’s engineering and technical team in Japan. Six separate spare parts depots across three North American time zones are closely aligned to ensure printers have quick, often overnight access to parts.

GSNA also oversees a network of 20 printing equipment dealer-partners in North America. Its new showroom in metro Atlanta offers printers live demonstrations and on-site testing of the newest Ryobi technology, including the 5-color RYOBI 925 press with LED-UV. GSNA offers the full Ryobi line with an emphasis on the RYOBI 920, 6-up RYOBI 750 and the economy 6-up RYOBI 760 series.

For more information on GSNA, visit www.ryobi-group.com. n

Courtesy : whattheythink.com

india’s 67th independence Day was celebrated in a grand manner in iPT Our national flag was hoisted by the Principal at the premises followed by national Anthem.

On this grand occasion Trees were planted in the campus by the Principal and staffs to support and safeguard the environment.

The independence Day speech by Principal was about the Great leaders who had sacrificed their lives for the freedom and the importance of independence Day.

Principal handed over cash to economically weaker students which were sponsored by Lion’s club.

Student’s cultural event took place in the program.

IPT NEWS

Independence Day Celebrations


Industry Insider:

How to get Gen Ys onto print’s career ladder

Don’t know how to attract young people to join the industry? Start by telling it like it is.

The printing industry offers an exciting long-term career path for school leavers. i should know: i entered the industry in 2010, straight out of high school, when i accepted a pre-press apprenticeship from Sinnott Brothers.

i definitely think more young people should join the industry. There are many different trade and apprenticeship options that offer the chance to work, learn and earn. Another good thing is the diversity of jobs, making it possible to shift from one pathway to another during your career while still remaining in the industry.

So how can the industry attract more young people? A good start would be to let them know about all the opportunities i just mentioned. Most of my friends have no idea about the different avenues out there, like printing, pre-press, binding and finishing, graphic design, iT, photography and media advertising. They also don’t realise there is a lot of high-quality training around, as companies like Sinnott Brothers and organisations such as the Lithographic institute of Australia (LiA) want to do all they can to nurture the future leaders of the industry.

My friends are also surprised when i tell them how much technology

is in the industry. There’s a false perception out there that the industry is somehow stuck in the past. The industry is constantly evolving alongside modern technologies That’s a message that needs to be relayed.

i think another way the industry can attract young people is to offer incentives. The LiA, with support from Heidelberg, has done a good job of motivating graduates with competitions, scholarships and awards. You really strive to be your best when you know you could be nominated Graduate of the Year, or even win overseas study trips to the biggest international printing expos such as Drupa and ipex.

The lucky winners – and fingers crossed i’ll be one! – get to experience the print industry at an international level, communicate with peers from all over the world and learn all about its changing future and evolving technology.

This takes me all the way back to 2006, when i chose graphics as one of my elective subjects in high school. i started learning graphic design and programs such as Adobe Photoshop and illustrator, and soon realised i wanted to pursue a career in the industry.

The key to happiness is to find something you love doing – and then get paid to do it. i think that saying applies to me. i’ve found a career where i can express my talents, while being able to grow, learn and achieve success. if we can find a way to spread that positive message, i’m sure lots of other young people will want to follow the same path. n

Courtesy : proprint.com

Remembrance of Ziegenbalginstitute of Printing Technology in remembrance of Mr. Ziegen Balg celebrated a function on 26-08-13 in a grand successful manner.

Our offset Printer’s President Mr.Karmeham Angamuthu from Salem volunteered his support and made the function grand.

in the history of Printing Technology in Tamilnadu at Tharangambadi, a great remarkable change from paint formation to the written instrument of lines in Tamil form had been first brought out by Mr. Ziegen Balg.

A brief description about the Tamil line formation in printing was delivered to the students


The changing world of label printingWith the next edition of Labelexpo Europe around the corner, mike fairley looks at how label printing technology has changed over the years and considers some of the press investment decisions that label converters are facing today.

it’s now more than 400 years since the first recorded printed labels were being produced. At that time they would have been printed on hand-made paper using relief letterpress type or images cut into wood or metal, with impression pressure applied through a wooden hand press and simple screw mechanism.

The Pre-history of Labelsit was a further two hundred years before much began to change. Yes, the hand presses were now being made of iron with a lever system to apply pressure, but the paper was still made by hand. However, by the early 19th century the industrial revolution was bringing significant changes to the world of printing—the first cylinder printing presses (powered by steam), the offset printing process, continuous paper-making machines.

The 1800s also brought coated paper, the halftone process, color printing – and a whole host of new label market application requirements that were to see the early beginnings of what we now call the label industry. These new 19th century applications included automatic volume production of standard-sized glass bottles and bottle filling lines, the first canning factories, the rapid growth of pharmacy products, labels on boxes, labels on luggage, labels on cigar boxes and bands,

matchbox labels and all at this time now being printed on sheet-fed offset or letterpress presses.

The first part of the 20th century saw the introduction of the first narrow-web presses for printing gummed and self-adhesive tape. The key innovations for the narrow-web printer were developments by Stan Avery that enabled self-adhesive materials to have a backing carrier and be cut to shape on the press. it was die-cutting materials on a liner that now enabled sticky labels to be produced on a roll. it was not long before press manufacturers such as Gallus, nilpeter, and Mark Andy were producing the early dedicated roll-label letterpress and flexo presses.

Late 20th Century: emergence of self-adhesive in europeLater came narrow-web screen, hot-foil and combination process presses, uV-curing inks and more advanced plate-making technology. By the late 1970s self-adhesive labels had already attained a seven percent share of the European label market—with all printing processes being used. Today, self-adhesive labels make up around 40 percent of label usage, fueled by a whole host of technology and press innovations over the last thirty years that have enabled labels to be printed faster,

on wider webs, using rotary and wrap-around tooling, servo-drive presses, and press controls that include web inspection, register control, color management, and much more.

unbelievably, it was not until 1978 that the first retail bar codes were being produced for the Fine Fare Supermarket’s own label products, and the very first time that a velocity code was incorporated on the film masters for the production of the dark vertical bars on the codes. Today, bar codes are an essential element of every label sold through retail outlets across Europe.

At this time bar coded labels for labeling fresh produce in store and at pre-packers was being undertaken with heat-sensitive label stocks. it was not until the 1980s that thermal direct and then thermal transfer printing of bar coded price-weigh labels using self-adhesive materials began to take place and grow rapidly by the later part of the decade.

At about the same time the use of new types of polypropylene and polystyrene (later polyethylene) film materials for more demanding label applications were being introduced. High quality printing of filmic materials used for labeling shampoos, toiletries, industrial products, etc, were now required by the leading brand owners. This presented more demanding label printing and converting challenges for press manufacturers and converters.

An example of an early drink label from Wales, UK.


Three decades of evolutionary changes in label printing technologyTo meet changing label printing requirements over the past 30 years the dominant label printing technology of the time has undergone several changes: in the 1980s it was rotary letterpress that dominated new press sales. Then came growth in the flexo process during the 1990s. Much of the early part of the 21st century has seen uV flexo as the dominant technology for new label press sales. Since the mid-2000s, digital printing has also begun to evolve quite rapidly, initially with electrophotographic liquid and dry toner technologies and, most recently, with new generations of uV and water-based inkjet.

in the pipeline for launch in 2014 is the newly developed Landa nanographic printing process, an offset inkjet process that has already created significant market interest amongst label, folding carton and flexible packaging printers.

Without unduly wishing to worry the label converter, there is also considerable development work being undertaken at the present time with the longer-term aim of eventually using inkjet technology to print direct onto glass or plastic bottles or onto a variety of can shapes and sizes. Maybe not a concern for today, but possibly a more real threat for the future.

What will the future bring? Factors to considerPut together, the key challenge today for any label printer is to decide what his new label printing press investment will be this year, next year or the year after. Will it be another conventional uV flexo analogue press? Or maybe an offset or combination process press? Some converters are perhaps still deciding whether to go digital. if so, will the investment be in toner or inkjet technologies?

in the past, the decision, which press to invest in was perhaps rather simpler. Today there are even more factors to be considered – even

with conventional analogue press technology. A press’s environmental footprint and energy consumption might be an important factor. So might the press color gamut and the number of colors or print stations available on the press.

What added-value finishing options are available? What inspection or control technology is required on the press? What kind of output speed is demanded for the type of work being produced? How long does the press require to changeover from one job to another? Does the converter want to print other products as well as labels, such as flexible packaging, tube laminates, folding cartons, sachets, etc. These factors may well influence press investment. Each of the main press manufacturers undoubtedly has their own technology variations and solutions they wish to promote and offer.

Going digital: Additional FactorsWhen it comes to investing in digital there are various other factors to be considered as well as just investment in a press. Digital printing is all about new ways of working. it’s about enhanced color management. it’s about making decisions whether to go conventional or digital as late as possible. What throughput of different jobs can be handled each day without getting bogged down in administration and paperwork? All these factors are likely to require more sophisticated Management information Systems (MiS). Yet another key investment decision to be made.

Then there is the additional challenge with digital of what dpi (dots per inch) resolution to go for; does the work produced need a white ink in one of the printing heads; does the press have an extended color gamut. Press running speeds between all the digital label press technologies also vary quite considerably. How important is speed with many short-run job changes?

Go digital and the converter also needs to decide whether to invest in in-line or off-line finishing. if in-line,

every job change may mean a press stop to change cutting dies. if there are multiple short run jobs to be produced the die-changes can take up a considerable part of the press day and offer reduced press running time. That means reduced output and potentially lower profitability. Off-line finishing can mean that one finishing line can handle the output of several digital presses, so maximizing press production time.

Another finishing investment option for the label converter might be laser die-cutting; a higher-cost investment, but offering significant benefits where multiple short runs are required each day. used with say, inkjet, laser cutting technology combined with inkjet (or Xeikon) technology where there is no fixed repeat length, offers the exciting potential of batching jobs across or along the web for maximum economics and performance.

Accelerating Changes in Technology: What is There to See at Labelexpo europe 2013?Looking back, it seems that more changes in printing technology, particularly for self-adhesive label printing processes and technologies, have occurred over the past 50 years than at any other period in the last 400 years. Even today, change in label printing and converting technology is still continuing to take place. This will become evident at Labelexpo Europe this year, where new makes and models of label presses will be launched, including ever more printing machinery emanating from Asia and the world of digital printing technology.

About FINATFinAT, founded in Paris in 1958 with headquarters in The Hague (The netherlands), is a world-wide association for manufacturers of self-adhesive labels and related products and services. With 600 members in over 50 countries around the world, FinAT has much to offer to label converters and all suppliers to the labeling industry in terms of information exchange and the opportunity to network internationally. More information can be found at www.finat.com.


We, the Members . . .together formThe ForumThis is Members’ Page, giving updated information on New Enrolment, Change of Categories, Change of Addresses, New Designations, New Appointments & Promotions, Retirements, New or Additional Telephones, Mobiles, E-mail ID, Weddings Renewal details of membership, etc.

Membership ProgressDuring Sept.-Oct 2013

New Enrolment

Mr. K. Panthala Selvam 789 AM (5)office : proprietor : Pressman Solutions15/7, Nallanna Mudali Street, Royapettah, Chennai - 600 014.residence: 26/34, Karpaga Vinayagar Koil Street, Alandur, Chennai - 600 016.mobile : 99622 47365email : [email protected] : 27.06.1981R.No : 3492 / 3.10.13 / Rs. 3500/-Intro : Mr. Rm. Senthilnathan, Vice-President II

Mr. R. Joseph 780 AM (5)office : proprietor : Arputha Prints11/19, New Street, Puliyurpuram, Kodambakkam, Chennai - 600 024.phone : 2486 6195mobile : 93804 24971email : [email protected] : 16.07.1972R.No : 3493 / 3.10.13 / Rs. 3500/-Intro : Mr. Rm. Senthilnathan, Vice-President II

Change of Office Address ...

Mr. A.N.Noufel 320 TLHoneycomb Creative Support (P) Ltd.No. 1026, 2nd Floor, 1st Block, 7th Main, opp. Shamrao Vithal Bank, 80 ft. Road, Koramangala, Bangalore - 560 034.mobile : 98451 28760

Acknowledgement for the Receipt of Annual Membership Fee Renewal for 2013-14 F.Y. (From 01-04-13)

Name of the members M.No. Renewal period Total Recpt.No. Amount From To Yrs & Date Rs.

Published by B. G. Kukillaya on behalf of The Printing Technologists Forum from No. 2 Venu Reddy Street, Guindy Chennai 600 032 & Printed by K. Ramachandran at Industrial Prints, 23 Second Cross Street, Trustpuram, Chennai 600 024 Edited by R. S. Bakshi

29. S.M.Ramamurthy 762 TA 01-04-13 31-03-14 3 3491,10-09-13 750

30. D.Nagarjuna 596 TA 01-04-13 31-03-14 9 3494,03-10-13 750

31. Md.M.M.Shaduly 768 AA 01-04-13 31-03-14 2 3495,03-10-13 750

Change of Residence Address

Mr. S.R.Ramprasad 320 TLNo. 457/17, 5th Sector, 23rd Street, K.K. Nagar, Chennai - 600 078.mobile : 98406 03341

Mrs. Usha Kukillaya, aged 59, beloved wife of Sri B.G. Kukillaya, Senior Patron Member of THE FORUM, Publisher of PRINT FORUM and Chairman, Universal Print Systems Ltd and Mother of Sri Rakesh Kukillaya, Executive Committee Member of THE FORUM & Director, Universal Print Systems Ltd, passed away on 14th October 2013.

The President and Members of THE FORUM convey their deepest condolence to the bereaved members of the family. May her noble soul rest in peace.

may the departed soul rest in peace in the heavenly abode at the feet of the creator.

Mobile : B. G. Kukillaya, 98410 78771 Rakesh Kukillaya, 98840 80478

Coming together is a beginning;

keeping together is progress;

working together is success.

Henry Ford

In one sense, the Internet is like the discovery of the printing press, only it’s very different. The printing press gave us access to recorded knowledge. The Internet gives us access, not just to knowledge, but to the intelligence contained in people’s crania, access to the intelligence of people on a global basis.

Don Tapscott

Documents

Pf sep oct 2013