A newsbasket is on-line Internet publication containing comprehensive aggregated collections of information.


Wednesday, January 31, 2007

self-mailer project where each mailer has a personalized URL (PURL)

WhatTheyThink.com - Marketing Efforts into the Future:


"A client hosting a New York education seminar tapped Today?s Graphics for a fast-turnaround, high-quality marketing campaign. In the two days following its seminar, the client used Today?s Graphics to print more than 200 personalized photo albums featuring seminar snapshots. Today?s Graphics also provided the multimedia design for a Web page with seminar highlights video that went live as the books were mailed.

Among the most notable projects being printed on Today?s Graphics? new HP Indigo press is a 4,000-monthly self-mailer project where each mailer has a personalized URL (purl). Each purl leads to a one-minute online video demonstrating the client?s publishing service. Because of the high level of response to this effort, Today?s Graphics is scheduled to begin producing a second, similar campaign for the same client next year."

Introduction to Persistent Uniform Resource Locators

Introduction to Persistent Uniform Resource Locators: "What resources should have PURLs?

Users should assign a PURL to any discrete resource for which reliable access over time is desired. For example, a home page, an electronic journal, an individual article, or a paper are good candidates for a persistent name. Some dynamic resources such as 'today's newspaper' or 'closing price of Foo stock' are also good candidates.

Nondiscrete resources such as sections within a document or charts or graphics that would not make sense outside the context of their containing document are not good candidates for PURLs. Temporary resources are also poor candidates.

Objects at the top of hierarchies of objects that might be moved as a unit are excellent partial redirect candidates. Depending on the underlying nature of the hierarchy, the lower-level objects may not require PURLs. For example, if the hypertext object hierarchy corresponds closely to the hierarchy of the objects in the underlying file system and the hypertext links are relative links based on the file system hierarchy, then a single PURL for the top-level object in the hierarchy is all that may be necessary.

To create a PURL, point a Web browser to a PURL Resolver and follow the resolver's instructions for creating a PURL. PURL Resolvers provide a form to fill out to create a PURL. This form should provide a default public domain with universal write access.
Maintaining PURLs

PURLs are not updated automatically when their associated URL changes unless some outside process is run to notify the corresponding PURL Resolver. A maintainer must update the information in the appropriate PURL Server when the associated URL changes. It is the responsibility of a PURL's owner and its maintainers to update the PURL when the associated URL changes.

PURL maintenance can be performed by connecting to a PURL Resolver using a Web browser and then using the PURL Resolver's maintenance forms to make the appropriate changes to the desired PURL. Only authorized PURL maintainers can modify a PURL.

A PURL maintainer can turn off PURL resolution. This is done by entering a new, empty, URL on the PURL maintenance form for the PURL in question. This will cause a history page to be returned when resolution of the PURL is attempted. A history page for a PURL contains administrative information accumulated over time and details about past associated URLs.

PURL maintenance is an important difference between PURLs and several URN proposals. In some URN proposals, a URN is a permanent name for a unique resource and only that resource forever. Some URN proposals would allow the same resource to move, but would not allow a different resource to be associated with the URN. PURLs make the name permanent, but allow the associated URL to change.
Using PURLs"

PANTONE Rebranding
by Cary Sherburne

WhatTheyThink.com -PANTONE Rebranding :

"PANTONE Rebranding: An Interview with Pantone?s VP of Marketing, Doris Brown
By Cary Sherburne, Senior WTT Editor

January 31, 2007 -- In our Graph Expo coverage, we mentioned that Pantone, long-known as the standard for color matching in the graphic communications industry, is taking its knowledge, expertise and creativity to the retail space in a big way. The introduction of over 70 retail paint stores nationwide and the creation of the PANTONE huey(tm), available at Apple and Circuit City, has required Pantone to undertake an entirely new marketing approach. Symbolic of this approach, led by marketing visionary Doris Brown, Pantone's Vice President of Marketing, is the company?s new web site and its new tagline, The color of ideas.
Whenever you are inspired by an image, Pantone is there to help you realize that inspiration

It is always exciting to talk to an established and respected company in our industry that is moving rapidly, and successfully into new markets. WhatTheyThink checked-in with Doris Brown to get the inside story on the changes happening at Pantone.

WTT: Doris, thanks for speaking with us today. What?s behind the new branding strategy at Pantone?

DB: The PANTONE(TM) Chip has been iconic for more than 40 years, and it resonates strongly with printing. Printers recognize the PANTONE Color Chip as a formal contract with their customers. We have reveled in the fact that the company?s brand represents such a strong recognition of color lockdown. People who don?t know anything about printing or color know about the chip. Although Pantone has expanded its abilities into other markets, including textiles, home and fashion, web design, plastics and paint, the iconic chip is still tightly linked to printing. But Pantone has expanded beyond its chip execution. When my dad was younger, he would look at an art book image of a Monet piece and that would transport him to France. Now someone opens up a computer screen and can see the world through the monitor. Pantone works with manufacturers, almost like Intel Inside, and has expanded to encompass a broader market reach. We needed to look at branding and overall execution, and get a fresher look that would speak about the company better."

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There is much more information excellent information in this article
visit: http://members.whattheythink.com/specialreports/070131sherburne.cfm

give it a read!

Uncle Dave
www.printplanet.com

It?s all about the TIFFs

Travel:It?s all about the TIFFs:

{by Mordy Golding}

"A post on the InDesign Secrets blog and some questions I?ve recently received while on tour on the Discover Adobe Creative Suite 2 Tour made me think about posting this ? some of the content I had posted previously on the CTP-Q Print Planet forum, and there?s some other related stuff as well here. On the CTP forum, this topic came up mainly due to issues where a user noticed that after placing certain kinds of images into Illustrator (PSD files), the image ended up being chopped up into pieces, while it was not happening when placing other image files (TIFF files).

First, let?s talk about how the TIFF format might be more beneficial than using PSD or EPS when placing art from Photoshop into Illustrator.

Illustrator is quite an old application and while a lot of the internal code has been rewritten and updated over the years, a lot of the old code is still there as well. Keep in mind that Illustrator has over 5 million lines of code, so it?s impossible to rewrite the entire application at once ? but portions of the code are rewritten over time. One example is the text engine which appeared in version CS (although the rewriting of that text engine actually started 5 years prior during the development of Illustrator 9).

In early versions of Illustrator (we?re talking version 1.1 and 3.2 here), Illustrator wasn?t really built to handle large raster images (and there was little reason to imagine it should), and so when large images were placed into Illustrator, those images were chopped up into smaller pieces. Why? Because in those days, programs were bound to linear memory allocations. Remember those? If AI would request a huge block of memory when it placed an EPS file, it would be very hard to find a block at that size, and that memory wouldn?t be released and would result in a waste of memory. By chopping the image up into smaller chunks, Illustrator could request smaller memory allocations and better manage system memory and its internal memory."

Full post on http://c31b.travel-ontour.com/TravelIts-all-about-the-TIFFs/ by Mordy Golding

Monday, January 29, 2007

Be on the forefront of prepress, print production, post press, personalization printing,

PrintPlanet.com | Learn - Teach - Debate : Be on the forefront of prepress, print production, post press, personalization printing, print: "'

Data Driven Publishing, VDP-PLus' is a special interest discussion forum. This SIG is available 24x7 world wide for on-line discussions concerning data driven publishing, (also known as : VDP, a catch-all term for any data-driven document production technique or methodology).

We are a venue for: Un-biased, real world opinions on VDP software tools from end-users. Another, less formal (back-channel) venue for technical support from software and hardware vendors. Commentary from printing industry pioneers, educators and non-printing companies adding VDP into their internal document workflows. Discussion where all parties want to learn, discuss and debate both the enabling technologies and the value-creating applications that are based on the technologies.

Discussions cover very broad categories:
'What VDP 'is,' 'how it works,' 'help!'' - PSP-industry dialogs.
'What VDP does' client-oriented dialogs."

http://www.printplanet.com

Barb Pellow , WEBINAR Jan 30, 2007, Trends in VDP

Free webinar Tomorrow Jan 30, 2007

"Integrated Campaign Management, Next Generation Variable Data"

It will be conducted by Barb Pellow who will share trends in VDP .
This WhatTheyThink.com webinar is FREE and should be a good use of your time!!

Two printers will be on a panel discussing their recent success with integrated VDP campaigns.
* Bob Pease, Vice President of Sales for Landmark Impressions in Boston, who has launched many successful integrated marketing campaigns
* Christopher M. Petro, President of Global Soft Digital Solutions, Inc., whose company has implemented a wide range of sophisticated and successful one-to-one communications initiatives on behalf of its customers

This one-hour event will provide graphic arts and printing executives with insight into what is coming and offer advice and guidance on how they can leverage this new convergence to grow their businesses.

The event is TOMORROW, January 30th, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM Eastern Time.

Get more info or Register Free -
http://members.whattheythink.com/home/webinarregistrationform.cfm

The ABC?s of Forecasting, Dr Joe, WhatTheyThink.com - Print's Home Page

WhatTheyThink.com - The ABC?s of Forecasting:

"Forecasting should not become an arduous and bureaucratic process. Nor should it become politicized. The quickest way for that to happen is to tie forecast accuracy to sales compensation. Honesty must permeate a forecasting system. Tying forecasting to compensation is only asking for trouble, creating potential of ?low-ball? forecasts on the part of sales people, and intimidation on the part of managers anxious to impress higher-ups with aggressive targets and to motivate sales reps. Goal-setting is not the same as forecasting, and should be apart from it.

Of great concern at the roundtable was dealing with customer loss and replacement. Customer losses are not always related to supplier performance. A sales representative and production personnel can execute all of their tasks perfectly, yet a large client can disappear for reasons out of their control. It was clear that the owners who were sitting at the table don't lose many customers due to performance issues. Their bigger problems were customers who change communications plans, merge with another company that uses other suppliers or is outside of the geographic or market niche they sell to, or go bankrupt and close. These can result in quite substantial revenue losses. Whatever the reason, those sales still have to be replaced.

In the end, forecasting is a constant process of learning about the business as it exists at a particular point in time. The exercise uncovers many issues that would otherwise surface as crises later on. Every forecast needs a scheduled reappraisal as the year goes on. Unexpected situations, problems, and opportunities always arise. Dealing with them in a in the forecasting context is more likely to yield a sensible, thoughtful plan of attack than if they were allowed to fester into a crisis."

read full article at: http://members.whattheythink.com/drjoewebb/drjoe172.cfm

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Security and Usability: Designing Secure Systems That People Can Use

Amazon.com: Security and Usability: Designing Secure Systems That People Can Use: Books: Lorrie Faith Cranor,Simson Garfinkel: "Human factors and usability issues have traditionally played a limited role in security research and secure systems development. Security experts have largely ignored usability issues--both because they often failed to recognize the importance of human factors and because they lacked the expertise to address them.

But there is a growing recognition that today's security problems can be solved only by addressing issues of usability and human factors. Increasingly, well-publicized security breaches are attributed to human errors that might have been prevented through more usable software. Indeed, the world's future cyber-security depends upon the deployment of security technology that can be broadly used by untrained computer users.

Still, many people believe there is an inherent tradeoff between computer security and usability. It's true that a computer without passwords is usable, but not very secure. A computer that makes you authenticate every five minutes with a password and a fresh drop of blood might be very secure, but nobody would use it. Clearly, people need computers, and if they can't use one that's secure, they'll use one that isn't. Unfortunately, unsecured systems aren't usable for long, either. They get hacked, compromised, and otherwise rendered useless.

There is increasing agreement that we need to design secure systems that people can actually use, but less agreement about how to reach this goal. Security & Usability is the first book-length work describing the current state of the art in this emerging field. Edited by security experts Dr. Lorrie Faith Cranor and Dr. Simson Garfinkel, and authored by cutting-edge security and human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers world-wide, this volume is expected to become both a classic reference and an inspiration for future research.

Security & Usability groups 34 essays into six parts:

* Realigning Usability and Security---with careful attention to user-centered design principles, security and usability can be synergistic.
* Authentication Mechanisms-- techniques for identifying and authenticating computer users.
* Secure Systems--how system software can deliver or destroy a secure user experience.
* Privacy and Anonymity Systems--methods for allowing people to control the release of personal information.
* Commercializing Usability: The Vendor Perspective--specific experiences of security and software vendors (e.g., IBM, Microsoft, Lotus, Firefox, and Zone Labs) in addressing usability.
* The Classics--groundbreaking papers that sparked the field of security and usability.

This book is expected to start an avalanche of discussion, new ideas, and further advances in this important field."

Blogger's note:
... CHAPTER NINETEEN Privacy Issues and Human-Computer Interaction MARK S. ACKERMAN AND SCOTT D. MAINWARING P RIVACY CAN BE A KEY ASPECT OF THE USER ...

In The Balance Blog: The Softer Side of Digital Printing

In The Balance Blog: The Softer Side of Digital Printing: "The Softer Side of Digital Printing

I met a small business owner last week, Alan, and we struck up a conversation about Lulu.com. His mother had written stories of her childhood earlier in her life, but was never able to get published. For her 89th birthday, Alan uploaded the book to Lulu.com and presented her with the bound book. She loved it so much she ordered 50 copies, wrote personal notes in them, and gave them to her grandchildren and close friends.

A while later Alan took his mother to the grocery store in her home town. As they were checking out, the young cashier looked at her, then her name, then she exclaimed 'You're that author!' Alan's mother had given a copy to the local library where the cashier saw it and read it.

That moment was the best day of Alan's mother's life. She could have died right there and not been happier."

Friday, January 26, 2007

Our Printer Got Hacked?!?!
eWeek.com 26 Jan 2007

Our Printer Got Hacked?!?!: "Our Printer Got Hacked?!?!
By Larry Seltzer
January 25, 2007

Opinion: Yes, hackers can enter unprotected ports and exploit buffer overflows in printers. Things never stop getting more outrageous with computer security, do they?

It's one of those 'not really a big deal yet but could blow up soon' problems: Printers, especially higher-end multifunction business printers, have become so intelligent and complicated that they have serious security risks. They are, in fact, really desktop computers, even workstations in disguise.

They run a wide range of operating systems customized and hardened to varying degrees. Linux, Windows XP Embedded, NetBSD, VxWorks, even AIX in one old IBM printer model. These operating systems may have vulnerabilities on their own, and who knows what flaws are in the applications that do the actual printing, scanning, managing the control panel, and so on."

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Vista Phobia

Faced with making a decision about installing Vista or waiting?
Want to discuss Vista's impact on the Graphic Arts World and YOU with your peers.
Why not make use of The PrintPlanet.com Powertech Discussion forum! Vista is on-topic.
http://www.printplanet.com/ Membership rolls for 25 Jan 2007 show 2,000 members on the Powertech Discussion forum.
--
Join PrintPlanet.com discussion forums. Membership is free!

It is necessary to go through the sign up application procedure.
Please go to http://www.printplanet.com
Select Register
A click will take you to the application form
Fill the application out in full. Please do not skip or omit any requested information.
Submit application.
--
The form will be reviewed.
The application process is semi automated. The human person reviewing your application can not fill in missing information.
Within minutes of your becoming a member our friendly computer ListManagerSQL@printplanet.com will send you welcome with information regarding the forum.

We have a firm commitment to privacy. The user's contact information is used by us to contact parties when necessary. We do not sell, rent or lease the email addresses of our members.

Dave Mainwaring
PrintPlanet
mainwaring@rcn.com"

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

"Variable Data Isn?t Enough Anymore! By Barb Pellow | WhatTheyThink.com

January 24, 2007 -- The formerly manageable world of marketing using print and mass media has exploded into countless micro communications channels. Familiar media has been augmented with the rapid run-up of Web, search, e-mail, blogs, satellite radio, chat, video on demand, interactive television, and even the small-screen iPhone. Interfacing with more media and new marketing channels means greater complexity for the graphic communications service provider.

You are also dealing with a new customer base that is focused on multi-channel communications ? the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). In today?s market, The CMO?s challenge is far greater than brand communications. Marketing groups must now fill the sales pipeline with predisposed prospects, optimize customer value, and be accountable for demand generation through market differentiation and integrated multi-channel campaign management. There is extreme pressure to deliver marketing ROI. Yesterday?s mass-media strategies need to be replaced with precision targeting strategies and comprehensive integrated marketing campaigns.

Looking Back at 2006

During 2006, there was a tremendous buzz about automated marketing campaign capabilities. New tools from Pageflex, XMPie, and MindFireInc. enable users to send the right message to the right contact at the right time and track response rates with limited manual effort.

Variable Data Alone Isn?t Enough to Meet the Needs of the CMO

In the graphics communications world, the historical perspective has been that delivering a more relevant message has significant value. Available solutions range from simple mail merge to complex transaction document solutions. In its 2005 Variable Data Design and Production Report, InfoTrends identified four options including:"
Complete story on WhatTheyThink.com : "Variable Data Isn?t Enough Anymore!

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

InDesignSecrets » Blog » The Ugly Truth Behind PDFs and AIs

The Ugly Truth Behind PDFs and AIs, January 22nd, 2007
Written by David Blatner

Color me annoyed this morning. It?s not the weather. After all, it?s a typical beautiful day here on the outskirts of Seattle ? oppressive near-rain gray, just the way I like it. No, once again my frustration turns to InDesign. As you all know, I love InDesign, but love is like a magnet: It can repulse as quickly as it attracts. So forgive me a short IDSGOM, which may be educational to some readers.

The issue, you see, is the Adobe Illustrator format. Now, I was a Freehand man, myself. I loved Freehand dearly in the early ?90s. I even wrote a plug-in for Freehand 3.0 which (much) later evolved into an InDesign plug-in. But like many of us, I switched to Illustrator somewhere in the mid-90s. I can certainly understand why Adobe InDesign hasn?t historically opened Freehand files. But Illustrator? Illustrator is the grandpappy of Adobe?s happy family. Of course, InDesign can import Illustrator files. In fact, Adobe has spent countless marketing dollars telling the world that InDesign can open native Illustrator files.

But it?s not true.

InDesign cannot read the AI file format. It?s all been a sham. I can?t believe I fell for it, and I?m not sure if I?m more angry at Adobe for not allowing me to import AI files or at myself for having drunk the KoolAid and believed them without digging deeper.

But David, I hear you shouting, I import .AI files all the time! Yes, but InDesign isn?t reading the AI part? The only reason InDesign can import that file properly is that you have saved it with the Create PDF Compatible File checkbox turned on. InDesign is reading the PDF part, not the AI part!

Complete commentary on
InDesignSecrets » Blog
or:
http://indesignsecrets.com/the-ugly-truth-behind-pdfs-and-ais.php

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Adobe Labs - Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

Adobe Labs - Adobe Photoshop Lightroom: "Update: Photoshop Lightroom beta 4.1 released on October 19, 2006. Get it now.

Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom? engages the professional photography community in a new way, giving you the opportunity to kick the tires and shape the feature set of a new tool being created just for you.

We?re releasing a preview build now so that you have plenty of time to give us feedback on what?s working for you, and what isn?t. Whether you choose the beta for Macintosh Windows, your feedback is needed. Download now before the Photoshop Lightroom beta 4.1 build expires February 28, 2007."

Adobe Lightroom Killer Tips » Getting Your Photos Out of Lightroom (Exporting)

Adobe Lightroom Killer Tips » Getting Your Photos Out of Lightroom (Exporting): "Ever since I started teaching people about Lightroom, there has been one question that I keep getting. It seems everyone understands how to get photos into Lightroom and there are lots of tutorials on processing and editing those photos once they?re in. However, the one thing that I keep getting questions on is how to get your photos out of Lightroom. There?s not really a ?Save? button like there is in Photoshop. Instead, there?s an export dialog. It?s here that you can save your raw photos into any of the popular image formats such as JPEG, PSD, TIFF, or even DNG. It?s actually really easy and this week?s video covers just what you need to know."

The Run Down: Creative Rights

The Run Down: Creative Rights: "Creative Rights

Okay, here's the real Rundown on The Weirding:

One of the biggest things I wanted to be certain of is the protection of rights when it comes to the site. I went back and forth (and still am) as to how best to protect those rights. One idea which I have not completely given up on is printing all text in images with watermarks and copyright indicia, etc. This would make it pretty inconvenient for everyone, from me all the way down to the end-user, and I'm not sure how well it would protect anyone's material, anyway. Let's face it: if someone really wants to do something -- good, bad, or otherwise -- they'll figure out a way to do it. So I'm walking a fine line between making it harder for such people to do this, while still making the material accessible and available to viewers. Further, making the text into images completely destroys the HTML coding, which is antithetical to the form."

MiddleEastEvents.com - A complete guide to events in Dubai, Cairo, Amman, Doha, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Riyadh

MiddleEastEvents.com - A complete guide to events in Dubai, Cairo, Amman, Doha, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Riyadh: "About MiddleEastEvents.com
MiddleEastEvents.com is a portal covering all events, exhibitions, trade shows, concerts, conferences, seminars, entertianment programmes and festivals in the following countries - Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tureky, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. It has a complete database on all event related information and an efficient search engine to find this information.

MiddleEastEvents.com helps you find, what's on today, what's happenning next week and what will go on next month!"

Women In Portland Publishing

Women In Portland Publishing: "Welcome to the home of WiPP!
? Comments Off

**Please excuse any occasional kinks in our site. We are currently looking into funding an upgrade, and we welcome any of your comments/suggestions in the meantime: info@womeninpublishing.com.***

We are Women in Portland Publishing: editors, writers, graphic designers, marketing and publicity professionals, small publishers, and aspiring students of the trade. We are spirited, creative, multi-talented, and resourceful, using our collective skills and Web site to support each other while uniting the local publishing scene. We also strive to serve the greater Portland community, assisting those in need and coming full circle to present the endless benefits that come from working together."

Practical Advice for Mastering Digital Color

Practical Advice for Mastering Digital Color: "Practical Advice for Mastering Digital Color

By Eileen Fritsch

Have you ever felt confused about how to translate color-management concepts into everyday success in your studio? If so, check out Mastering Digital Color, the new book by photographer/printmaker David Saffir.

I?ve known David for several years, and have relied on him for candid, common-sense assessments of how well new products would work for the typical photographer struggling to simultaneously keep pace with changing workflows and changing markets for photographic services."

What is Real Estate Postcards Farming? | Real Estate Marketing Tips

What is Real Estate Postcards Farming? | Real Estate Marketing Tips: "What is Real Estate Postcards Farming?

Real estate postcards farming is the practice of picking and choosing among a collection of pictures and templates put together by printing and publishing companies to use in your own real estate postcards. While real estate postcards farming can be cost effective, there are several drawbacks to real estate postcards farming.

One of the best things about real estate postcards farming is that someone else has already done the hard work of design or you. Someone else has paid the photographer or the artist and has found visually appealing and interesting pictures to put on your real estate postcards and mailers. Finding artwork for these purposes can be both time consuming and expensive, so it is no wonder that many realtors want to outsource the problem to someone else.

While real estate postcards farming does have that benefit, there are also some drawbacks. For one, your real estate postcards will not be original, you, in fact, run the high risk of using the same art work and templates that your local competition is using, which confuses your audience and dilutes your message. Furthermore, the very fact that real estate postcards farming creates stock real estate postcards means that your unique business vision and voice may not get through to your intended audience. If there is nothing unique about your mailers, your potential customers may think there is nothing unique about you and no reason to hire you or recommend you to anyone else. It is important, therefore, to weight the cost and benefits of real estate postcards farming before partaking in the practice yourself."

Any way you slice it | The Book's Den

Any way you slice it « The Book's Den: "About this Blog

Welcome to our Collective Blog, our goal is to connect with readers. We are a group of authors from various writing and social groups and now collaborate in this outreach endeavor. Find out more here. This is a bilingual blog, so if you encounter a blog entry in Spanish just scroll down a little and you'll find some in English as well.

We hope you enjoy getting to know new and established authors and participate in our blog by commenting frequently; we want to know you.
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Clary Lopez, Moderator"

Open Source Publishing » Blog Archive » FOSS and the Commercial Print World

Craig Bradney and Peter Linnell discuss the future of Free and Open Source Software for commercial printing:

Right now, I would say the biggest weakness from an FOSS point of view is there are few good high quality fonts. It is one of those areas which requires tremendous amounts of QA to make them reliable in the commercial print world. This is highlighted throughout our documentation.

(QA = Quality Assurance ;-) )

Read the interview here: http://www.kde.me.uk/index.php?page?

Posted by Femke on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007 in: Lay-out software, Printing + Publishing."

Tyee Books Blog » Brits Recycle a Canadian Idea

Tyee Books Blog » Blog Archive » Brits Recycle a Canadian Idea:

"Go to Tyee Books Home Book Story Archive Tyee Books Blog Tyee Home News Views Mediacheck Entertainment Life Photo Essay Sports Comics BC Blogs Citizen Toolkit Series Teen Angst Poetry Too Many Georges Hockey Novel Election Stories Election Blog Battleground BC The Spin Hotbuttons
Search for
Tyee Books Blog
Brits Recycle a Canadian Idea

Posted by Charles Demers on January 19th, 2007

After years of monarchist Upper Canada bluebloods doing their whole derivative British thing, it?s nice to see some Brits recycling Canadian ideas ? in this case, recycling. The UK?s Independent recently ran a laudatory piece about Canada (and specifically B.C.?s Raincoast Books) setting the example for ?green publishing? ? printing books on recycled paper.
?It is the country that gave the literary world Margaret Atwood and Carol Shields. Now it is at the vanguard of green publishing.? Pretty nice. Nicer still ? if we stick to the conventional wisdom that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery ? is the news that UK writers are following suit, including big names like ?Helen Fielding, Philip Pullman and Ian Rankin? who ?have signed up? to the effort."

isen.blog: The bind in Google Unbound

isen.blog: The bind in Google Unbound: "isen.blog

David S. Isenberg's musings about loci of intelligence and stupidity.
Friday, January 19, 2007

The bind in Google Unbound
Yesterday, at Cory Doctorow's rather public BoingBoing invitation, I went to Unbound, Google's look at the future of publishing. It was absolutely excellent, with Chris 'Long-Tail' Anderson, Seth 'Permission Marketing' Godin, Cory 'BoingBoing' Doctorow, Stephen 'Freakonomics' Dubner, and Tim 'O'Reilly' O'Reilly, a bunch of other good speakers (including friend David Worlock) and an audience that was 80% traditional publishing industry and 20% BoingBoing readers.

Wow, if you have never heard Seth Godin speak, do yourself a favor next time you get the chance and go. Cory's even better; somebody should follow him around doing audio-video because every Cory moment is a genuine original. These guys are the masters of our era.

The day's theme was about the Deep Structure of publishing. To wit, publishing is not about printing and selling paper with black markings on it. It is not even about authors and bookstores. The enemy isn't piracy, but obscurity. The Long Tail needs to be discoverable. The publisher of tomorrow convenes communities around people and ideas. Freedom of the press is about attention, not presses.

The audience was docile. sessions were short. There was a tension in the room because nobody wanted to offend the host, no matter that Google has announced its intent to paint the neighborhood flaming purple with lime green polka dots.

What could have been the climax of the day belonged to Tim O'Reilly, an extraordinary convener of people and ideas, who was explaining why Google Book Search was in most publishers' interests. Finally a questioner from the School of Traditional Publishing spoke up to ask Tim why Google thought it had the right to create Book Search even when the publisher of a given (copyrighted, DRMed, otherwise pwned) book objected. Hey, there's a big, gray, smelly ELEPHANT in the room.

Unfortunately for most of the audience, the microphone carrier never made it over to the questioner's chair. So most of the people didn't hear this most important question. Tim answered, the questioner followed up in an animated fashion (I didn't even get the gist, thanks to the absence of amplification), Tim got cranked up to respond . . . but the moderator cut off discussion!

Boy, howdy, did Google ever blow that one. The chance to have The Discussion On Everybody's Mind went by the boards. Readers of isen.blog know I really trust Google not to be evil. I still do, in a trust-but-verify kind of way. I also trust Google not to be closed or ignorant, and I was more than a little disappointed by what could have been a great learning experience for all at Google Unbound."

KOMOradio.com - Seattle, Washington - King County Journal printing final edition

King County Journal printing final edition:

Save a link to this article and return to it at www.savethis.comSave a link to this
Story Published: Jan 19, 2007

Story Updated: Jan 19, 2007
By Keith Eldridge

BELLEVUE - A local newspaper that's been publishing for more than a hundred years is printing its final edition. The King County Journal is calling it quits. But the demise of one paper is giving rise to several community papers.

The final printing runs of the King County Journal are under way. Sunday is the final edition. It leaves a rich heritage of publishing covering 118 years.

It also leaves a rich heritage of people who are mourning the loss Friday.

'You know, there's losses on both sides of the ledger here. For the community and the people who've worked here,' said KCJ reporter Dean Radford.

The paper was recently sold and the new owners, Black Press, saw a paper with dwindling circulation and decreasing advertising dollars.

'We knew the daily was in serious trouble and we had very little hope of saving it,' said General Manager/Publisher Don Kendall. 'But we gave one last look at it to see if there was anything possible.'

In the end the decision was to close the King County Journal.

'Very, very difficult,' said KCJ sports reporter Mark Klaas. 'A lot of talented people I said goodbye to and are now suddenly looking for jobs.'

While this is the end of an era for this long-running newspaper, it is the beginning of a new era.

The printing presses will soon be pumping out new editions of community papers. Nine community papers will be taking the place of the King County Journal. That?s one for nearly every city covered by the Journal and coming out twice or once a week.

Radford will be the editor of the Renton Reporter.

'We're going to do our darndest to really give my readers in Renton a real sense of community. I mean we're going back to our roots.' Klaas stays on as the editor of the Auburn Reporter newspaper.

Still, 40 people are out of work and the paper with a rich heritage will be relegated to the dusty archives as a reminder of what once was a proud publication.

The final edition of the daily is Sunday and the first editions of the newly revamped community newspapers will come out on Wednesday.

"For More Information:"

Friday, January 19, 2007

UPNE - Mysteries of Paris: by Marion Mainwaring (Uncle Dave's Sister)

UPNE - Mysteries of Paris: Marion Mainwaring Thu, 4 Jan 2007 16:37:38 -0500: "'[A] remarkable book . . . Mysteries of Paris is a great pleasure to read for its forensic flair, as well as for the abundant colorful detail it provides of Fullerton and his times.' ?Times Literary Supplement

The intriguing, hitherto unknown story of Edith Wharton's lover, a man of boundless charm and deceit.

It has long been known that Edith Wharton had an intense love affair around 1908. For years readers assumed that it was with Walter Berry, her friend since youth, until it was revealed that her lover was not Berry, but rather Morton Fullerton, an American living in Paris. Until now little has been known of Morton Fullerton except that he was a Harvard graduate, a Paris correspondent for the Times of London, and a friend of Henry James.

In this unusual detective story, Marion Mainwaring unfolds for her readers her pursuit of Fullerton and of the people, both high and low, who were part of his checkered life in France, America, and England. Her far-flung investigations take her to slums and chateaux, to talks with counts and viscounts, concierges, engineers, sculptors, diplomats, and, in the end, to the astonishing figure of Morton Fullerton.

Talented, intelligent, sophisticated, and ambitious, Fullerton also proved to be egotistical and unscrupulous, a cad and a con man, but his overwhelming personal charm attracted friends and lovers of both sexes. Mysteries of Paris uncovers, one by one, the details of his career as a writer and a spy, his love affairs with Wharton and other women, his close friendship with James, and his relations with Oscar Wilde, George Santayana, Paul Verlaine, Theodore Roosevelt, and many others.



MARION MAINWARING, who has lived in Paris and London for many years, has become well known as the author who completed Wharton's novel The Buccaneers (1993). A novelist in her own right, she wrote Murder in Pastiche and Murder at Midyears. She translated Youth and Age: Three Novellas by Ivan Turgenev and edited The Portrait Game, records of a parlor game played by Turgenev and his friends."

InDesign Pro.com: Table width heaven

InDesign Pro.com: Table width heaven: "Thursday, January 18, 2007
Table width heaven

There was a post at InDesignSecrets.com about there not being a Table Width field in the table options pallet (or anywhere else) and ways to get around it. The suggestion made was fine, but I found it to be a bit of a long way around, and use a more simple way. And here it is:

Since InDesign?s fields can do math, all you have to do is select an entire row of your table, and then use this formula in the Column Width field; [total table width you?d like/number of columns in the selected row].

In this example ?3? is the width of the table and ?4? is the number of columns in the selected row.

Basically, you?re putting in the total width you?d like the table to be and dividing it by the number of columns already in the table (in the row you have selected).

InDesign does the math, and voila? table width heaven."

The complete article: Table width heaven

Fact checking

Fact checking: "Thursday, January 18, 2007

"Fact checking http://ampersandvirgule.blogspot.com/2007/01/fact-checking.html

I have deadlines pressing and, as a result, I have been putting in long hours. So I decided to take a break and peruse the New Yorker that came the other day, the January 22 issue. The magazine has a well-deserved reputation for meticulous editing, even if they make odd style choices (there?s that ?vender? again, I notice).

Numbers, though, are problematic. A great many people come to the writing and editing game having managed to indulge their aversion for all matters mathematical or scientific. They?re great with words?their passion?but having once decided they were math-impaired (whether that?s true or they just suffered abysmal elementary instruction in the subject), they continue through life not worrying too much if they get the fact right where numbers are concerned.

Don?t get me wrong. Fact checking is a big deal at the New Yorker. They?re quite careful with names and dates and places and quotations. But?well, let me quote the paragraph that prompted this post:

This year, Americans will consume close to four trillion kilowatt hours of electricity. In addition, we will burn through a hundred and forty-three billion gallons of gasoline, which at current retail prices will cost us some three hundred and sixty billion dollars, and twenty-six billion gallons of jet fuel, worth fifty billlion dollars. To heat our homes and businesses this winter, we will purchase sixty-two billion dollars? worth of natural gas and heating oil, and just to grill our weenies we will buy some seven hundred and seventy-one million dollars? worth of charcoal briquettes. In 2007, total energy expenditures in the U.S. will come to more than a quadrillion dollars, or roughly a tenth of the country?s gross domestic product.

Where to start?

"Well, let me start with a copyediting nit."

ODJ: From MIS to I-COM (Part 2) By Terry Nagi

OnDemand Journal "From MIS to I-COM": (Part 2) By Terry Nagi
As you get started, training is a critical step

January 18, 2007 -- In a print world that demands immediacy, acceptance and utilization of I-COM (Internet Customer Order Communications) is a key issue. For individual printers seeking to remain competitive and technologically ahead of their competitors, I-COM assists in the de-commodization of print. Potential functions for internet automation of communications between printer and clients can include:

* Customer initiated requests for estimates via the Internet for new print projects
* Request for estimates on previous orders
* Entering an order for a previously produced print job
* Entering an order for a new print job based information on the customer's original request for estimate
* Automated confirmation of the receipt of the order (printer confirmation to customer via the Internet
* Automated or human reply to customer on expected date of delivery
* Automated information to customer if the schedule date changes
* Internet transmitted requests for customer initiated changes to order
* Automated confirmation from the printer of receipt of changes
* Confirmation of date of completion
* Information on shipment
* If mailed, confirmation of mailing
* If fulfillment is involved, confirmation of entry into inventory and current inventory levels
* System to release inventory in the fulfillment process and confirmation of shipment, with links to shippers (ex: FedEx tracking number), and change in inventory levels
* Internet invoice from printer to customer
* Payment to printers' bank via direct electronic payment, with electronic confirmation of payment from the bank
* And more"

Read the the rest of the article!

OnDemandJournal.com serves executives seeking information about digital printing and on-demand solutions. This site provides free news, special reports, white papers and case studies about this dynamic and vital part of the graphic arts industry.

OnDemandJournal.com is owned byWhatTheyThink.com

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

InnerWorkings Responds to Barron's Column

WhatTheyThink.com - InnerWorkings Responds to Barron's Column: "Our Supplier Network. The column implies that the number of vendors in our supplier network was inflated in our IPO offering documents. We categorically deny this assertion. Since the completion of our IPO in August 2006, the number of vendors in our supplier network has continued to increase. Our supplier network currently includes over 4,500 vendors.

Impact of Acquisitions. The column incorrectly states that acquisitions have driven much of the Company's growth. For the nine months ended September 30, 2006, our revenues increased by approximately 82% over the prior year period. A substantial majority of this revenue growth was unrelated to acquisitions. In 2005, we experienced revenue growth of approximately 97% without the benefit of any acquisitions. As the Company has previously disclosed, acquisitions will continue to be a component of our growth strategy.

Related Party Transaction. The column erroneously alleges that a related party transaction accounted for a significant portion of the Company's profits in the months preceding the IPO. In March 2006, the Company entered into a strategic agreement with SNP Corporation Ltd., a Singapore corporation. Our non-executive Chairman also serves as the non-executive Chairman of SNP. For the nine months ended September 30, 2006, this transaction accounted for less than 7% of the Company's income from operations.

Role of Eric P. Lefkofsky. The article mischaracterizes the role that Eric P. Lefkofsky plays with respect to the Company. Mr. Lefkofsky is not an officer or a director of InnerWorkings, and he does not have any decision-making authority or responsibility for any management function. Mr. Lefkofsky and Richard A. Heise, Jr. were instrumental in the formation of the business, and the senior management team and the Board of Directors regularly consult with them."

The New RRD: I Say 'Donnelley',
You Say 'Printer'
WhatTheyThink.com -

WhatTheyThink.com - "The New RRD: I Say 'Donnelley', You Say 'Printer':

By Gail Nickel-Kailing, Senior WTT Editor

January 17, 2006 -- Let's play that old free-association game. Remember, the one where I say a word and you say the first word that pops into your head? So what if I say, 'Donnelly'? What is the first thing that you think about? I?ll bet it's, 'commercial printer'? Right? Maybe so, but that?s like saying 'photocopies' when somebody says 'Xerox'. It just doesn't fit anymore?

True, the last quarter of 2006 saw the acquisition of three commercial printers by RR Donnelley - so one would assume that the company is a commercial printer. Let's look back over the last couple of years and see what exactly they've been doing; just who is RR Donnelley?
In other words, just about everything from soup to nuts for publishers, creative agencies, and corporate enterprises; Donnelley reaches the full length of the communication supply chain.

First some basics: RR Donnelley was founded more than 140 years ago ? not the last century, but the century before that ? and provides a whole host of services. For example:

* long- and short-run commercial printing
* digital printing
* financial printing
* direct mail
* transactional print-and-mail
* forms and labels
* print fulfillment
* logistics
* call centers
* print management
* online services
* digital photography
* color services
* content and database management

In other words, just about everything from soup to nuts for publishers, creative agencies, and corporate enterprises; Donnelley reaches the full length of the communication supply chain."

full article:
http://members.whattheythink.com/specialreports/070117gail.cfm

"Microsoft Windows Vista:
What Does It Mean for Printers?
Cary Sherburne, Senior WTT Editor

WhatTheyThink.com - :

"Microsoft Windows Vista: What Does It Mean for Printers?

By Cary Sherburne, Senior WTT Editor

January 16, 2006 -- Amidst all the media hype around the long-awaited release of Microsoft?s new Windows Vista operating system, there has been little discussion about a key feature that will be important to our industry: XML Paper Specification or XPS. The name is misleading?XPS is a complete rewrite of the printing subsystem within Windows, and depending on the type of work a printer is receiving electronically, it could make a huge difference in the reliability of printing a wide variety of file types, including Microsoft Publisher and Microsoft Office files.

Here?s how Microsoft describes XPS on its developer site:

The XML Paper Specification (XPS) makes modern documents possible for all. Simply put, XPS describes electronic paper in a way that can be read by hardware, read by software, and read by humans. With XPS, documents print better, can be shared easier, be archived with confidence, and are more secure.

Microsoft has integrated XPS-based technologies into the 2007 Microsoft Office system and the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system, but XPS itself is platform independent, openly published, and available royalty-free. Microsoft is using XPS to bring additional document value to its customers, its partners, and the computing industry."

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

InDesignSecrets » Blog Archive » Why PSDs are Better Than Layered TIFFs

InDesignSecrets » Blog Archive » Why PSDs are Better Than Layered TIFFs:


"Why PSDs are Better Than Layered TIFFs
January 15th, 2007
Written by Claudia

Q: I have created a silhouette for a model?s head in Photoshop by using a layer mask, but when I bring it into InDesign, the supposedly silhouetted head is floating on an opaque white background. My frame has a background of None, the image has the ?checkerboard? background in Photoshop. Why isn?t it behaving correctly in InDesign?

Thanks, A Frustrated Designer

A: The image has been saved as a layered TIFF. Resave it as a layered native Photoshop file and all is well! While TIFFs can have layers, I sort of regard that as going against nature. Apparently, InDesign feels the same way :-)

Posted in Images, Creative Suite, Mailbag Answers, SECRETS |
10 Responses to ?Why PSDs are Better Than Layered TIFFs?"

HOFFMAN'S NEW ARTICLE: FAIR USE OF TRADEMARKS

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 06:49:19 -0800
Ivan Hoffman
Subject: HOFFMAN'S NEW ARTICLE: FAIR USE OF TRADEMARKS

As I previously mentioned, I will again be teaching 'Protecting and
Exploiting Intellectual Property Rights' (formerly called
'Intellectual Property Law') at UCLA Extension starting in
January. If you are in the local area, this is an excellent
opportunity to get a broad overview of this complex area of the
law. If you want further information, email me.

The 'Pycnogenol' case continues to rattle around the Federal courts
and the Ninth Circuit has recently ruled, for the second time, on
trademark and dilution claims in regard to this mark. It is an
interesting case and I have revised my prior article called 'Fair Use
of Trademarks: Further Issues' to reflect the latest decision from the Court.

You can find it at http://www.ivanhoffman.com/fair4.html

**Please feel free to forward this notice to your associates and
colleagues if you feel they may be interested in this.** Thanks.

This posting and any articles referred to in this posting are not
legal advice and are not intended as legal advice. This posting and
any articles referred to in this posting are intended to provide only
general, non-specific legal information. This posting and any
articles referred to in this posting do not create any attorney
client relationship and are not a solicitation.

IVAN HOFFMAN, B.A., J.D.
Attorney at Law
Lawyering With Integrity. Proudly in my 34th year of practice.
Entertainment Law, Publishing and Writing Law, Copyrights,
Trademarks, Internet Law, Web Design Law, Intellectual Property
Law. *A Winner of 9 Prestigious Web Site Awards.* http://www.ivanhoffman.com"

Monday, January 15, 2007

Barron’s Exposes InnerWorkings, Warns Investors « PrintCEOblog.com

Barron’s Exposes InnerWorkings, Warns Investors « PrintCEOblog.com: "Barron’s, a sister publication of the Wall Street Journal, published a negative review of InnerWorkings in an article this weekend. InnerWorkings provides print procurement services to corporate clients in the United States. According to the company’s web site, the firm uses proprietary technology to create a “competitive bid process to procure, purchase and deliver printed products as part of a comprehensive outsourced enterprise solution and in individual transactions.�

Morgan Stanley has InnerWorkings executives on a roadshow to convince investors to put up $150 million in a follow-on stock offering. Barron’s columnist Bill Alpert, is skeptical of the offering and the company. He notes that the company’s stock is overvalued and former employees say the software does not work as it should.

Other highlights:

- InnerWorkings appears to hide Eric P. Lefkofsky’s relationship to the company. Alpert says Lefkofsky has a history of “busting investors after promising to radically transform bricks-and-mortar industries.� Lefkofsky’s last software venture ended in quick bankruptcy and fraud suits.

- The current road show and stock-offering with Morgan Stanley is, in part, aimed at cashing out much of Lefkofsky’s stock. He and his affiliates own 35% of InnerWorkings.

- In August, just before InnerWorking’s IPO, employees “stayed late padding the company’s off-the-shelf FileMaker Pro database with an impressive-looking list of suppliers… dummied up some screen-shots of the software for the inside cover of the prospectus…� - this for potential investors.

In his article, Alpert says InnerWorkings is just a “glorified broker of print jobs� with $5.7 million in profits over the last 12 months and a market valuation of $700 million.

See the Full Article (Paid Subscription Required)"

Friday, January 12, 2007

OnDemand Journal : Is the Sky Falling?
John Giles' Digital Directions

"Most printers get 60 to 80 percent of their business from less than 25 customers.

Online print services and 'big box stores' such as Staples and Office Max are filling that void left by quick printers.

There are still successful printing niches available to printers if they focus on their business and quit trying to be all things to all people. Most printers are job shops that produce custom printing for local customers. Online print services typically offer commodity work that has been standardized for production efficiencies. Want a special paper? It isn't available. Want different specifications from those provided? Go somewhere else. Custom job shops can't compete with the specialty printers because they are organized to produce a wide variety of custom work with special services.

Traditional quick and small commercial print companies should have nothing to fear from online services if they are focused on their current top customers' needs. The fact is that most printers get 60 to 80 percent of their business from less than 25 customers. The only difference between the gross sales of one printing company and another is the amount of printing purchased by the top 25 customers. The bigger the shop, the more printing a top 25 customer buys. The amount of work purchased by the rest of the customers is usually not that significant."

full artile on OnDemand Journal:


John Giles is an industry consultant who specializes in digital issues for quick and small commercial printers. He is the author of Digital Directions: a digital workflow guide for customer-created files and the Digital Original, a CD which focuses on teaching customers to create Postscript files as well as the other functions required to get a file to print properly. Giles has developed a customer training programs that he presents for printers and does onsite training for printing companies to establish standards and procedures for dealing with customer-created files. He is also the director of CPrint (tm) (Certified Printers International), an alliance of more than 100 independent printers from throughout North America who have joined together to create a competitive advantage for their companies in their local printing community.. He can be reached at 304.586.3548 or john@johngiles.com .

InDesignSecrets Blog: PDF to InDesign?
"I have seen the future! ! !"

PDF to InDesign? the future! ! !:


"Recosoft Corporation, developers of the PDF2Office family of products has just announced the creation of a PDF to InDesign conversion product that does exactly that! It converts PDF documents into InDesign files.

The product added an Open PDF file to InDesign’s file menu.

It then pointed to the PDF document and opened it.

Text in the PDF was converted to text frames. Images in the PDF were converted to images with a choice of JPEG, TIFF, or PNG.

Vector objects were converted to vector objects (frames) with ID fills and strokes.

There was a setting to map fonts if the fonts in the PDF did not exist on the system.

There was a setting to convert just text, or just image, or everything!"

January 11th, 2007 http://indesignsecrets.com/about/
Written by vectorbabe

WhatTheyThink.com - Sunset for CtP

WhatTheyThink.com - Premium access article: "After nearly 20 years of tumultuous transformation of “pre-press� from a photo to a digital platform, 2006 may be called the year that the culminating CtP technology trend ended."

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

rumor that Kodak may buy Xerox had traders busy yesterday

PrintCEOblog.com: "A rumor among options analysts that Kodak may buy Xerox had traders busy yesterday. As Reuters noted in its story, it would be very unlikely that Kodak could buy Xerox. Xerox shares have a market value of about $16 billion, more than twice Kodak’s market capitalization of about $7 billion."

Growing in 2007 by Barb Pellow

Growing in 2007; Have You Made Your New Year's Resolutions Yet?
WhatTheyThink.com - special reports

Excerpts from Premium Content article By Barb Pellow

"2. Create a business plan linked to market reality. Too many graphic communications firms develop a business plan by the seat of their pants. If they have a plan, it consists of a loose collection of tactics without an underlying strategy that pulls it all together. To be successful, businesses must engage in the following critical activities:

1. Analysis of customers and the business environment to identify the right target markets
2. Research of the specific opportunities to better and more profitably meet customer needs in the identified segments
3. Development of product and service offerings that meet customer needs
4. Effective assessment of market position and a clear articulation of the unique value proposition
5. Selection of media to reach the target audience and build awareness to precondition prospects for salespeople

3. Stay a step ahead of technology. Technology continues to move forward at a rapid pace, providing companies with multiple ways to streamline their internal processes and reduce operating expenditures. Externally, a growing body of research indicates that today's consumers increasingly rely on the Internet, cell phones, and PDAs to access information; purchase new products; and communicate with family and friends. Your clients need to package their advertising/marketing messaging and their product/service offerings for these coveted platforms to remain relevant and visible to today's increasingly tech-savvy audience. During 2007, the concepts surrounding multi-channel communications will become essential in the world of graphic communications. Integrated campaign management tools are available from firms like MindfireInc., XMPie, BlueStream, and Pageflex. There will be tremendous pressure for you to evaluate the role that you want to play as the dynamics around business communications change.
Your clients need to package their advertising/marketing messaging and their product/service offerings for these coveted platforms to remain relevant and visible to today's increasingly tech-savvy audience."

"Digital Books Switching to Color"

Full article on: www.WhatTheyThink.com

Commentary by Andrew Tribute

"January 9, 2006 -- The announcement that Amazon.com has selected HP Indigo digital presses to provide digital color printing for their expanding books-on-demand business is another indication that the digital book printing business is moving from monochrome to color.

The statement from Amazon shows that it is leveraging the power of digital technology to print books in real time. HP will become Amazon's preferred provider for color print-on-demand services. Multiple HP Indigo digital presses have been installed at Amazon fulfillment centers and are now producing full-color books on demand as well as color covers for black and white books.
Multiple HP Indigo digital presses have been installed at Amazon fulfillment centers and are now producing full-color books on demand as well as color covers for black and white books.

Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president, Imaging and Printing Group, HP commented: “the ability to produce books on demand is another result of the transformation from analog to digital printing, and with our line of HP Indigo presses, we are at the forefront of this trend. Now, through this collaboration, consumers will benefit from the integration of HP’s digital print technology and Amazon's unmatched ability to offer the broadest selection of books possible.�

Greg Greeley, vice president of books at Amazon.com. gave the following statement about this development: “Amazon is completely focused on the customer experience. This collaboration with HP will enable us to significantly increase the number of available titles our customers can purchase while offering publishers the highest quality color printing options.�

According to Interquest’s study, The Digital Book Printing Opportunity 2006, the books-on-demand market is expected to grow from approximately 20 billion book pages in 2006 to approximately 38 billion book pages by 2009. This is due chiefly to the increasing demand for small-volume, rare and self-published books."

The R+E Council of the NAPL's Digital Smart Factory Forum

Full article on WhatTheyThink.com - :

"Coming Up Fast: The R+E Council of the NAPL's Digital Smart Factory Forum

January 8, 2007 - (Special to WTT.com) -- The Digital Smart Factory Forum is a unique event that takes places annually, and addresses key issues facing printing companies in our fast-moving industry. It's a small conference with an interactive format, directly targeted at Owners, CEOs, Chief Technology Officers, IT Managers, Engineers, Production Managers and technically-oriented Sales Managers. Don't be mislead by the name, the "Digital" part of the Smart Factory name means computers and integration, it's not only about digital printing; the Forum covers all aspects of printing technologies, and computer application topics, whether you are printing gravure, sheetfed offset, web offset, flexo or digital.

The Forum is a place where attendees learn how to apply technologies to maximize the performance of print manufacturing operations. But the conference isn't about "speeds and feeds", it's about the integration of customer-facing systems, business systems, and manufacturing systems into a cohesive unit whose whole is more than the sum of its parts. And the most important part about the conference is the networking that takes place between attendees.

Chuck Gehman is the conference co-chair, along with Tim Daisy of Kodak. Chuck has led the conference for the last four years, and this year is his "retirement" year (although he will continue to play an active with the R+E, NAPL and the conference.) Below is a Q&A with Chuck, who explains the Forum and why forward-looking industry leaders should attend.

January 16-18, 2007
Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport
Orlando, FL

Question: What is the Digital Smart Factory Forum?

Gehman: To me, it's amazing that the Forum is now eight years old. Time flies when you're having fun! The topics have never been more important, though; the important thing is that what once were relatively far-out concepts discussed at this conference, have now become practical, applicable ideas and techniques.

Process improvement methodologies and technologies, like CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing), Web-To-Print, Workflow and PrintMIS, the main topics of the Forum, are only becoming more important to printing companies. The conference is more like a cross-vendor user group meeting with a defined agenda, rather than a bunch of sessions where speakers get up on a podium and speak to the audience. It's very interactive.

The purpose of the conference is to help printers understand how to apply these technologies, and to help vendors understand what their printer customers are looking for in these areas."

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

PrintingNews.com - Article - Printable Technologies Goes on Tour with HP

PrintingNews.com - Article - Printable Technologies Goes on Tour with HP:
"Printable Technologies Goes on Tour with HP
Printable Technologies, Inc. Press Release

Printable Technologies, Inc., leading provider of Web to Print workflow and Variable Data Printing (VDP) solutions, and a team of personalization experts will showcase integrated marketing solutions with a four-month, 12-city “Go Digital� tour. Printable Technologies successful “road show� tour in 2006 will be repeated in 2007, promoted and keynoted by long-standing partner, Hewlett Packard.

A marketing revolution is taking place and true “multi-channel� marketing campaigns – which include personalized, cross-media, one to one communications – are the means by which companies speak to their prospects and customers. InfoTrends projects the growth in variable data printing will exceed 15% annual growth between 2004 and 2009.
Integrated marketing strategy begins with a deep understanding of customer behavior, preferences and motivation and incorporates multiple media to communicate personally – one to one – with each as an individual. The GO Digital tour will not only promote the best personalization marketing techniques; it will be promoted through a comprehensive, integrated campaign demonstrating these techniques.

'Printable Technologies is very pleased to continue our long history with HP and to build upon our fully integrated web-to-HP press solution. The Go Digital events will offer a clear strategy for print service providers and marketing agencies on how to truly provide profitable, VDP-enabled, cross media services to their clients,� said Jim Van Natter, Director of Sales, Printable Technologies. “By incorporating presentations by industry leaders, attendees will gain insight as to how they can market themselves as a solutions provider and differentiate their company through high-growth services. We're excited to share the message!'

The GO Digital Tour will be in twelve cities beginning December 12 and ending March 22, 2007.
December 12, 2006 - Dallas TX
December 14, 2006 - Cincinnati OH
January 16, 2007 - Santa Monica CA
January 18, 2007 - Charlotte NC
January 23, 2007 - New York NY
January 25, 2007 - Indianapolis IN
February 15, 2007 - Philadelphia PA
February 20, 2007 - Boston MA
February 22, 2007 - Chicago IL
March 13, 2007 - Louisville KY
March 15, 2007 - Seattle WA
March 22, 2007 - Phoenix AZ

For more information or to register call 1.866.522.4103 or visit www.hp.com/go/digitaltour."

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Jim Cox Report: January 2007,

Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2007 12:12:19 -0500
From: Jim Cox
Subject: Jim Cox Report: January 2007

The Midwest Book Review is now beginning its 31st year. I think that means
we have entered the corporate equivalent of middle age. But it's never too late
to learn something new in the book review/book promotion game.

For example:

We permit folks to contribute postage stamps to the Midwest Book Review as a
way of expressing their support and appreciation for what we try to do here
in behalf of authors and the small press community. In the mails came a
postage stamp contribution from Jack Eadon, an author who wanted to say 'thank you'
for our having reviewed his book "Latent Image". Enclosed with his letter
were two sheets of 39 cent postage stamps.

Those two sheets of stamps stopped me dead in my tracks and made call in my
staff to look at what Jack had done.

Using something called 'Photo Stamps' from Stamps.com, Jack had created two
sheets of twenty stamps. One sheet of stamps has each stamp announcing 'Jack
Eadon', 'Out To Make It', 'Based on a True Story', 'New!! Collectors'
Edition', all against what I'm assuming is the dust jacket illustration for his next
book.

The second sheet of 20 stamps has 'Jack Eadon'; 'A Consequence of Greed",
against a blue background and what looks to be the top of a pen and which must
serve as the cover art of that particular book.

My staff (and Jack's letter) assured me that the postage stamps were
legitimate and accepted by the post office just like any other American postage
stamp.

What a terrific way to get a bit of promotion for an author's book!
Especially since authors and publishers must (even in this day of the email)
occasionally use postage stamps -- if only to pay their bills! And why not use a
stamp that advertises your book! Jack included the Stamps.com website address:
http://photo.stamps.com/store

My advice (and I have no connection to Stamps.com -- I'd never even heard of
them prior to getting Jack's letter) is to go to this website and check it
out as a possible addition to your own resource collection for book promotion
ideas.

If you do try your own hand at it -- send me an example of your book
promotion postage stamp. I think I might start a collection of them!

Now for the latest batch of "how to" books for authors and publishers in a
section I call:

The Writing/Publishing Shelf

MBR: Internet Bookwatch, January 2007:

"The Writing/Publishing Shelf"

The Writing Game
W. A. Harbinson
BookSurge Publishing
1419644378 $19.99 www.waharbinson.eu.com www.booksurge.com 1-886-308-6235

W. A. Harbinson's 'The Writing Game: Recollections Of An Occasional Bestselling Author' isn't simply another instruction manual on how to write better or how to get published. It is instead, a candid autobiographical account of being a professional writer with more than thirty years of experience at making a living in the highly competitive and volatile publishing industry. That experience includes the writing of more than fifty novels, as well as a wealth of short stories, magazine articles, screenplay adaptations, and radio plays. This is a graphic and detailed account of living a life and pursuing a career fraught with the possibilities of artistic and financial failure. Enhanced with superbly articulated accounts of his dealings with editors, other authors, and showbusiness celebrities, 'The Writing Game' is as entertaining as it is engaging, and a 'must read' memoir for anyone who contemplates embarking upon a professional writing career for themselves.

Cite It Right
Julia Johns & Sarah Silvia
Source Aid
1284 A Main Street, Osterville, MA 02655
0977195708 $26.99 www.sourceaid.com

Now in an updated second edition, Cite It Right: The Source Aid Guide to Citation, Research, and Avoiding Plagiarism is a guide written especially for students and researchers. Cite It Right spells out exactly how to give credit where credit is due in circles where being 'by the book' in one's references and citations is absolutely critical to earning good grades, furthering one's career, creating a professional-quality paper, and avoiding even the slightest possibility of unintentional plagiarism. Chapters briefly refresh the reader about the basics of researching and writing papers, but the four main chapters of Cite It Right are particularly devoted to the express guidelines required by four different professional organizations: the Modern Language Association, the American Psychological Association, Chicago Manual of Style, and Council of Science Editors. Though not sponsored or endorsed by any of these groups, Cite It Right meticulously spells out each group's precise format guidelines, including their individual terminologies, specific examples, and the format expected for different types of citations. A 'must-have' for anyone preparing a scholarly work, especially if for one of these big four writing styles."


--
Note from Uncle Dave

Midwest Book Review website is http://www.midwestbookreview.com All of the monthly Jim Cox Reports are archived there.

Office 2007 But Learning Curve Too Steep for Some Users;

"Bold Redesign Improves Office 2007
But Learning Curve May Be
Too Steep for Some Users;
Ribbon Replaces Menus
January 4, 2007;

PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY
By WALTER S. MOSSBERG
http://www.wsj.com

Next to the Web browser, Microsoft Office is probably the most-used computer software product in the world. Its three main components -- Word, Excel and PowerPoint -- are the top business applications on computers. And the fourth pillar of Office, Microsoft Outlook, is the leading email, calendar and contacts program.
[The Ribbon]
All of the familiar Office toolbars and menus have been replaced by the Ribbon, a super toolbar divided into seven tabs grouped by commands."

The entire user interface, the way you do things in these familiar old programs, has been thrown out and replaced with something new.

Adobe PDF Print Engine uses the latest version of ACE

Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2007 12:07:07 -0800
From: 'Dov Isaacs'
To: 'CTP-Q, Page Layout: Adobe, Quark, MS, PDF' www.printplanet.com

-- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Adobe PDF Print Engine uses the latest version of ACE,
the Adobe Color Engine and makes use of its support for
device link profiles.

Three caveats:

(1) Currently, you must already have the device link profile
installed in order for ACE and hence the Adobe PDF Print Engine
to make use of it.

(2) Obviously (at least I hope it is obvious), the quality of
that device link profile determines whether black (or any other
channel) purity is maintained. Remember, GIGO!

(3) Not all Adobe's OEMs who will incorporate the Adobe PDF
Print Engine will actually either enable and/or allow use of
the Adobe Color Engine. Many of them love to 'diffentiate their
products into incompatibility' by either replacing or providing
preferred access to their own color management systems which
may or may not have support of device link profiles and/or
intelligent CMYK to CMYK conversions.

" The CTP-Q eCommunity is a SIG, special interest group, focused on page
layout and related applications as part of the larger printing
process.Conversations involve "Page Layout" issues encountered in software
applications offered by: Adobe, Quark, MS and others. Members also discuss
the flavors of PDF files. www.printplanet.com"

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Regional Software Sales Representative

"Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2007 12:29:56 -0600
Author: 'Anonymous'
Subject: Regional Software Sales Representative
Body:
MetaCommunications, Inc. (http://www.meta-comm.com) has an immediate
opportunity for an experienced software sales performer. Are you looking
for an exciting opportunity with a growing company? Do you have a strong
desire to win? Are you motivated by an aggressive performance based
compensation package?

As a key member of our national sales team, you'll work remotely with a
growing company that is the best in its market. Our customers include
graphics arts based businesses including advertising agencies,
publishers, and corporate creative/marketing departments.


What We Offer
--- --- --- --- --- --- -
- Competitive salary.
- Strong commission driven environment with outstanding earning
potential.
- Excellent benefits package.
- Opportunities for professional growth.
- An entrepreneurial environment.
- The opportunity to make an impact.


Responsibilities
--- --- --- --- --- --- -
- Pursue prospect inquiries.
- Develop strategies for new business development.
- Manage and drive a sometimes complex sales cycle.
- Prospect for new business.
- Consult with mid to senior level management.
- Over 90% of your sales presentations will be handled virtually, using
the telephone and WebEx presentation software. Very little travel is
required.


The successful candidate will
- Have a minimum of three years of consultative sales success.
- Have a high sense of urgency and a strong sense of commitment.
- Possess strong and verifiable closing skills.
- Have a technical background with recent experience.
- Have a proven ability to forge new relationships and build existing
relationships with clients at mid and senior levels of management.
- Have the ability to learn a new industry and technology quickly.


About Us
--- --- --- --- --- --- -
MetaCommunications, Inc. is an internationally recognized leader in the
development of software solutions for the graphics arts industry. As a
result of our recent strong growth and the launch of our Workgroups 2006
suite, we are looking for a number of professional team members to join
our rapidly growing company.

Our rapidly expanding customer base includes such companies as Abbott
Laboratories, Allstate, Time Warner, Bandag, Carson Pirie
Scott/Younkers, HIT Entertainment, Merrill Lynch, MapQuest, State Street
Research, U.S. Army, the Village Roadshow, Walker Books, as well as
hundreds of other organizations located throughout the world.

Please send resume in confidence to: employment@meta-comm.com"

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Marketing Campaign Management: The Next Phase in the Variable Data Continuum

(Complete article available)Special Report by Barb Pellow for WhatTheyThink.com October 11, 2006:

Complexity in the variable data continuum is changing. Historically, there have been a range of solutions, from simple mail merge to complex transaction document solutions. Market research firm InfoTrends, in its 2005 Variable Data Design and Production Report, identified options including:

* Mail merge: Incorporating simple name and address information to produce unique pieces for each recipient.
* Simple One-to-One: Incorporating some targeted images and text along with personalized information to produce a unique composition that is customized to a unique recipient.
* Complex One-to-One: Incorporating completely unique text images graphics, templates, content and designs based on specific detailed profile information about each recipient.
* Transaction: Incorporating personalized and customized content with intricate financial and account data that is automatically composed to produce “data-driven� documents. This data is frequently mainframe-based and document creation may encompass complex logic.

But now there is a new game in town, and it is not for the faint of heart. It is the emerging world of integrated automated marketing campaign management. In reviewing the show floor at Graph Expo, there is clearly a lot of attention being paid to multi-channel communications options and alternatives. There are both existing variable data software solution providers and new players that are “getting in the game� and starting to redefine the rules for marketing solutions…solutions that will drive both print and electronic communications and yet again change business models for graphic communications service providers."

So what exactly is integrated automated campaign management and why is it important?

In a difficult economy, the marketing budget in corporate America typically falls victim to intense scrutiny. For the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), the job today is far greater than brand communications. It is about marketing accountability. Marketing groups must now fill the pipeline with predisposed prospects, optimize customer value, and be accountable for demand generation through market differentiation and integrated multi-channel campaign management. This requires new competency in business analytics, database management, digital marketing, field sales, channel operations and marketing results analysis.

Online marketing in particular is gaining increased attention as CMOs are being asked for a greater degree of accountability. In that quest for greater accountability, multi-channel campaigns that blend print and Web capability are gaining increased attention and more budget allocation. According to the CMO Web-Smart Survey by Webtrends, “Over 56 percent of marketing executives said that the Web was either the hub of their marketing organization’s strategy, or it would become the hub in the next year.� The survey went on to say that marketing executives and their organizations are not very savvy when it comes to their collective knowledge of online marketing trends, strategies and technologies.

Full article is available on www.whattheythink.com

Barbara A. Pellow, Principal, Pellow and Partners.
Barb can be reached via email at barb@pellowandpartners.com and by telephone at 585 554 4144.