Making its European debut at Fespa Digital 2012 will be Print Shop Live! which recreates a fully functional, live print shop environment, enabling visitors to see a real production workflow close up, with expert commentary from participating companies and independent experts.
The prepress workflow on show will include colour management software from GMG, together with ripping and preflighting tools from Onyx. Output will be demonstrated across multiple print devices from suppliers including Epson, HP and Mutoh, showcasing a wide array of print technologies for conventional and textile applications. As the exclusive media partner for Print Shop Live!, Ilford will demonstrate a broad variety of substrates supporting diverse applications, including the biodegradable Biomedia range. Fespa’s Global Finishing Partner Esko Graphics will contribute its Kongsberg cutting solutions to demonstrate this aspect of wide format print finishing.
Visitors can register free of charge online to take fully hosted tours of Print Shop Live!, accompanied by inkjet expert Sophie Matthews-Paul, with regular tours also available in Spanish, hosted by industry commentator Juan Diaz Diaz. Printers may also choose to submit their own artwork in advance to be printed live during their tour.
Duncan MacOwan, Fespa’s head of events and new media has spearheaded the project for Barcelona and explains: “Technology is still the driver behind many of the opportunities open to wide format printers. The biggest challenge can be to assess how best to integrate new technology with what they have already to achieve the best outcome for their business. With Print Shop Live!, we’ll show how straightforward it can be to seamlessly bring together the different production stages, optimising productivity and operational efficiency across multiple applications to offer the most comprehensive service to customers.”
He added: “Print Shop Live! was a huge hit with visitors when we introduced it at Fespa Americas in 2011, and our research suggests that this is exactly the type of interactive, educational content that visitors want from Fespa. The participating vendors are collaborating closely to give visitors informative insights into the real-world potential of digital print, and we’re all excited to see this innovative attraction come together in Barcelona.”
For more detail on all the individual solutions on show within Print Shop Live!, to register for tours, or to find out about submitting your own artwork, visit www.printshoplive.net
Meanwhile, Fespa has a new app for show visitors that allows them to start accessing certain show information immediately and includes travel and accommodation, venue location, opening dates and times, and news about event sponsors. Each Event sections feature information including programme schedules for the Explore Conference and Textile Talk Theatre. Users can also access Wrap Cup Series timetables and keep abreast of live screen printing and garment demonstrations happening at Charlie’s Corner. For visitors wanting to know more details on the educational programmes, the app comprises a full list of speakers accompanied by biographies and images. Plus, the app gives visitors an insight of what’s happening in real-time at the show.
The app also offers the ability to create a ‘My Event’ diary which will send a private notification of all the latest information concerning their agenda and a reminder when their next planned activity is due to begin.
The app works across all mainstream platforms including Apple, Android and Blackberry devices. It can be downloaded at FESPA.com/digital by opening the link on their hand-held device and clicking on the icon to download.