Image Reports
Supporting the wide-format digital print sector
The Forum of Private Business and property specialist LeaseholdersUnited are warning that changes heralded as making Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) apply automatically could instead lead to councils scrapping the tax break altogether.
Market analyst Plimsoll has come out on the side of the banks, claiming they are right not to lend to many print companies because the risk is simply too high.
BAF Graphics has dressed the Christmas windows of iconic department store Selfridges. In the London and Manchester stores, all back windows have been clad in Dufaylite, which has been directly digitally printed with the Christmas theme designs using BAF’s Rho 600. In addition, and also using the same Dufaylite printed boards, props such as open-sided, back-lit buildings and Christmas trees have been made to enhance the display. The Birmingham store portrayed Christmas in a slightly different way, using the same theme, but printed onto self-adhesive vinyl in order to wrap both of their 30m long main street level windows.
Pantone has announced Focal Points as the Colour Palette of the Month. Focal Points is a palette of the warm advancing shades of muskmelon, clay and burnt coral combined with aurora red, purples and wine. The palette also includes fashionable Honeysuckle which is the Pantone Colour of the Year 2011.
Infigo Software (ISL) has been established as an independent company to propel adoption of the Infigo Web2print suite of products and is currently looking for new resellers.
The Simpson Group has bought a HP Scitex FB7500 printer to offer a short-run, high-quality, quick turnaround digital service POP/POS applications.
Inca Digital has appointed Paul Massey director of customer support. Based at Inca's Cambridge, UK, headquarters, Massey - who has over 20 years' experience in senior customer and technical support roles, most recently as national support manager for Technotrans – will head up the company's growing network of global technical support engineers who provide first line technical support in the field as well as third line support for international distributors.
InfoTrends has released a global forecast for the print production workflow software market for 2009 - 2014. While this market, like many others, experienced a notable drop as a result of the recent economic downturn, InfoTrends believes that it is beginning to recover and will experience sustained growth through the next several years, at an average yearly rate of just over 5%.
BPIF run dotgain.org is organising two seminars on marketing for 2011. One will be held in London on 1 March and the other in Cambridge on 26 June. The announcement follows the first annual dotgain.org conference entitled ‘Fast Forward to the Future,’ at which BPIF chief executive Michael Johnson informed delegates that recent European research had shown that there clearly was a lack of understanding by printers of their customers.
80% of floor space is filled for Fespa Digital 2011, meaning it already exceeds the size of 2009 show. Fespa is launching a cross-media campaign, using an urban 'parkour' visual theme and the message of evolution, to promote the upcoming exhibition in Hamburg, Germany (24-27 May 2011).
Pira International has been bought the Smithers Group which integrates science, technology and business expertise and offers testing, consulting, information and compliance services in various defined marketplaces.
The new DFP family of direct-to-fabric digital printers from ATP Color provides a complete solution that enables printing directly onto polyester and other fabric substrates. Available now in the UK and Ireland from Atech, the system features precision media handling and an on-board sublimation unit that together provide rich saturated colours for flags, banners, textiles, and soft signage that maintain their natural drape and texture. Now, with the addition of the inline cutting system, you can also cut the fabric, while keeping it contained within the footprint of a single compact roll-to-roll printer system.
Hundreds of potential customers wanting home murals have contacted Landor since its Phototex self-adhesive printable wall fabric featured on The Gadget Show last month in a DIY shootout comparing traditional wallpaper with digitally printed wallpaper.
Kent-based Adept IT is launching SoftXPand, a carbon-neutral, multiple-user PC solution that allows businesses to run up to eight workstations from one personal computer, each user working on their own screen independently, as if working on a separate PC.
