BUSINESS PRINTING COMPANIES EQUIPMENT, PRINTER & PRINTING SOUTH AFRICA NEWS

Africa Print 2010 is the largest commercial digital print show for the African continent. A dedicated digital print exhibition, Africa Print will take place from 8 - 10 September 2010 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. On 8 and 9 September, the show opens at 09:00am and closes at 18:00pm, while on Friday 10 September it opens at 09:00am and closes at 17:00pm.

The Kodak Digimaster EX300 is a 300 A4ppm machine that uses two print engines, one for each side of the sheet, to reach its rated speed. The high-speed model is aimed at high-volume users in the publishing, transactional, government and direct mail markets.

The KIP KC80 is the world’s fastest wide format colour printer and has raised the bar when it comes to production printing of wide format colour prints. With a continuous output speed of 200 square metres per hour, regardless of image coverage, it makes short work of large production runs. The KIP Color 80 brings a level of automation you would expect from a production speed wide format paper solution.

The 137cm (54-inch) LEC-540 can print, crease, contour and perf-cut substrates up to 1mm thick. It prints CMYK with white and gloss at up to 1440dpi. The machine is significantly faster than Roland's previous VersaUV models, and offers greater versatility for applications ranging from packaging prototypes, short-run labels and membrane panels to interior décor items and large-format graphics.

Ronnie Oeschger has taken up the reins at NOR Paper, marking the completion of the company’s integration into Bytes Document Solutions. Oeschger’s primary goal in the next five years is to build a premier paper merchant that becomes the leading supplier to the print and office markets in Africa.

A special Avery Dennison prize will be handed over during the Pentawards ceremony, to be held on 30 September at the World Expo 2010 site in Shanghai, China. The company sees sponsorship of the Wine, Champagne and Spirits category as an effective way of recognising and encouraging creativity and design excellence. It is part of Avery Dennison's ongoing support for the self-adhesive label industry and ensures that brand owners have access to eye-catching new technologies.

Color Alliance (CA) has received Fogra certification after employee, Heiko Kienast, completed a DigitalPrint Expert course with Fogra in Munich. Members of the CA, a partnership of leading international RIP and printing media manufacturers, are now able to receive Fogra certifications much faster.

The Page Technology Group (PTG) will display graphic communications services at the upcoming 2010 Graph Expo from October 3-6. PTG is set to unveil its eagerly anticipated low-cost Variable Data Printing solution.

By Paul Haglich, manager of the production systems group of the Xerox division at *Bytes Document Solutions

Production inkjet printers have progressed far beyond the simple barcode label they were originally designed to print. Today they can do full colour. The more advanced examples can print on plain papers without any extra cost or the use of pre-coated materials yet still produce a bright, vibrant image quality. The more advanced examples are also rated good de-inkable, which means that the paper can be recycled back into office-grade paper after it has been used.

EFI has launched the EFI eXpress for Xerox 4.1 for wide-format printing. Based on the proven EFI Colorproof XF, BestColor and Fiery technology, eXpress ensures exact colour management and a valuable set of production tools. It is an easy-to-use software RIP that gives copy shops, creatives, print buyers, designers and printers the means to create high-quality production prints, photos, validation and even contract proofs.

Arctec, distributor for Grapo Technologies in South Africa, is to showcase Grapo’s Octopus II high-speed UV printer for the wide-format, digital sign and display market at Africa Print 2010. The show will take place from 8 -10 September at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. Arctec will exhibit on Stand G9-22, Hall 1.