The major European paper manufacturers have today announced that paper prices are set to increase at some point in late March / early April. They say that this latest increase is due to pulp prices increasing by a third over the past 12 months and haulage and fuel prices going up. Some would think that with demand dropping the prices should be going the other way?
What is a certainty is that there is still over capacity in the UK print market and this price increase will not be passed on by all printers which will result in an increased rate at which UK printing companies go under over the next 6 months.
Feb 19
Jan 11
By this time today we should have been nailing some great shots for the Spring/Summer 2010 catalogue for The Collar Company, a mail order and online retailer of high quality ladies shirts and knitwear.
Unfortunately, due to the bad weather, we had to postpone the shoot for two weeks last Thursday as it was felt too hazardous for all of the parties involved to get to the location in Staffordshire safely and on time.
This was the first time that we had been tasked with laddering the shoot with two models so that the shoot could be limited to one day. We have worked many times with our models, Tracy Bailey and Lucy Knight, and can’t wait to work with them again.
Jan 08
Re: PrintSpeak, 6th January 2010, Karen Charlesworth – from the editor.
Karen’s story sounds so familiar to my own and is one that will resonate amongst many in the printing industry.
When I first entered the industry in 1986 as an apprentice litho printer with Raithby Lawrence & Co Ltd. of Leicester and London, I was entering a world of huge heritage. Although the majority of the presses were litho, they still had the racks of type set underneath compositors tables, of which there were maybe 16-20, and a couple of Heidelberg cylinders which still went on to offer me the occasional Saturday morning overtime bonus.
Of course by 1990 this antiquated machinery had disappeared along with the Kords, Sordz, Millars and Crabtrees that I trained on, being replaced by state of the art Komori Lithrones with revolutionary plate scanners and magnetic duct setting cards.
By 1993 it was the turn of the retouchers – a studio brimming with Apple Mackintosh computers and filmsetters had arrived. Planner platemakers and the traditional film exposed contract proof were to follow the same demise in the years following.
Sadly for my cousin, apprenticed as a ‘Slade trained’ traditional film retoucher at the same turn as I, had a very short career within a trade that offered a lifetime of employment security – only 8 years until his role disappeared in 1994 – the irony that it was down to a man named ‘Jobs’.
Fortunately, my father should just about see out his working life as a litho printer, having been one of the very first litho apprentices with William Caple & Co Ltd. at the time of the introduction of the first litho press into a traditional letterpress printing business.
To the present, Mulberry Square are in the business of providing print solutions as part of their marketing services proposition and as such remain vigilant to the changes taking place in print, being aware that these changes can be a risk but also realising that they are an opportunity.
Inkjet technology is an area that has already served us well – we have been utilising it for the past 12 years as part of our philosophy of taking control of the proofing process, which still has its place as a colour management and assurance tool. As Karen states, it is only a matter of time until the consumables cost drops to a point where, in combination with the already available speed, inkjet replaces what we know as traditional litho printing. Not meaning to wish time away, but 2010 will I believe be a time when we look back once again to an era of change.
Dec 10
RE: Xerox’s iGen4 has the colour accuracy to take digital print into packaging, Andrew Tribute, PrintWeek, 27 November 2009
In response to this article I emailed Andrew Tribute to clarify a point.
AT: “the really interesting comment came when comparing colour variance from iGen3 to iGen4: the variance was only one Delta E Colour, variance between offset presses typically measures between three and five Delta E.”
CJ: “I believe that I am correct in saying that digital print is not encompassed within the framework set out by 12647-2. However, as you talk of variance, which is an impressive level produced by the iGen4, is the target Delta E comparable to the one set out for offset? And as such how do the printed results compare to the naked eye?”
AT: “I really cannot answer the question as my quote was taken from the quality control manage of one of the leading and largest photobook suppliers in the world. They have HP Indigo 5500, Xerox iGen3 and iGen4 presses. His comment was purely on measurement of the results on the iGen4 taking account of page to page repeatability over a run. Since the company does not run any offset they cannot comment on how the output compares. In terms of 12647 digital print is not covered within 12647-2 nor in any of the other iterations of 12647. One day perhaps it will be! Sorry I cannot be of more help.” He adds, “One additional point. The variance of 1 delta E is better than can be achieved by offset however this is not surprising as there are far fewer variables in the digital process than the offset process.”
Well it appears that that day is about to arrive as prompted by this article gleaned from Printspeak.
This lead me to check it out with the ISO and it would appear that ISO12647-8 is ‘under review’ – The dawn of another new era I suspect!
Dec 02
I am posting this blog in response to the release of the 2009 Printweek Top 500 report released this week.
Having been in the print industry for 23 years I have clearly seen many changes. However, the transformation that the industry is going through at the moment is unprecedented. Clearly the accounting period covered by the report is a little out of date but what it does do is highlight the fact that change has been well under way for some time and at this moment we are in a period of accelerated change. The rankings show that you you only needed sales of £452,000 to be included in the UK’s top 500 print businesses in 2009, in comparison to £859,000 in 2008 and £1.9m in 2007 – the point of entry into the list of the UK’s largest printing businesses virtually halving each year over the three year period, even taking into account merger and acquisition activity, is a shocking statistic.
Amazingly, in the word of Printweek columnist Darryl Danielli, it appears that there is hope “On the bright side, it appears that the smaller companies have had a positive impact on the average profit margin of the Top 500, with companies with sales of less than £2.5m typically notching up a 4% pre-tax profit margin – by far the highest of any of the turnover categories – proving that it really can pay to be small”.
Yes, proof that is does pay to be small – being able to be flexible, adaptable and to offer a personal service is clearly a good thing but do pre tax profits of 4% offer hope when credit has been crunched, paper costs are spiraling skywards and debtors are falling over more often than Emile Heskey on a good day?
Clearly the business of print production is unsustainable at this time and it will require print business owners to be more adaptable and open to change than ever before. Certainly the industry has been well known for the poor quality of its representatives and the need for training has never been highlighted more, but being able to add value to a print businesses proposition is key – closer ties and reduced levels of risk are the way forward for all.
