I’ve lost count of the times I’ve said that, as fundamental processes, screen and digital printing are no ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than each other. Both systems have different sets of benefits and limitations.

Having recently completed a manufacturing facility for its Jet Force range of high production dryers in China, Adelco has announced dryer installations in three of China’s largest textile printers.

Capital Print & Display has installed a Flowmation web-based project communication system to boost its competitiveness. Part of an ongoing investment that will see the company move into a new Beckton waterfront factory, the Flowmation system will help Capital improve customer service, efficiency and asset management.

Digital media and print substrate specialist, Europoint, has launched a range of digital print machinery. Having signed distribution agreements with three digital print machinery manufacturers, Europoint is investing in demonstration facilities and staff training.

BTC Group is delighted to have won the Gold Medal for Best Screen Printed Garment in the National Printwear and Promotion Awards 2007.

The showroom at Kodak’s Watford-based headquarters has been upgraded and re-designed to allow the company to demonstrate a broader range of products and solutions.

Sefar has become a worldwide distributor for selected components of Esko Software Suite seven, to be integrated into Sefar's end-to-end solution for the screen printing industry.

Stopwatch in hand, Screen Process and Digital Imaging’s editor, Jon Barrett, timed Inca’s new Onset UV flatbed printer. The result, 500m2/hr. Is this the end of screen printing? I doubt it. Is it a new technological dawn for a slice of the global PoP market? Definitely

Visit any leading tradeshow for the graphics and signage industries such as Fespa, SGIA, ISA, Photokina and Viscomm and you could be forgiven for thinking there were no analogue technologies left for printing and imaging.

‘Doctor’ Kiddell explores the subconscious to prove that large, still images are what the human brain craves. Excellent news for producers of vibrant screen printed images.

So television is no good for our children. It disturbs their sleep, affects their hormone balance, could be a contributory factor in the development of autism, creates socially inept people etc etc.

As part of a major government initiative to highlight the potential dangers to children on-line, Kinetic Grafix, the Beverley, East Yorkshire-based vehicle livery company, was commissioned to provide the graphics on VW supplied vans.

Fespa is big. Over 600 vendors occupying 32,000m2 of exhibition space across 11 halls. Given these numbers it would be wise to plan your visit. Our 23-page preview is designed to help you do just that. Now lets hear from Fespa’s managing director Frazer Chesterman

Sakurai Graphic Systems Corporation was founded in 1928 by Ryuzo Sakurai as a paper trading house. Over the past 79-years it has expanded to become one of the world’s leading manufacturers of sheet-fed offset and cylinder screen printing presses, with customers in more than 60 countries.

Nordson UV will be launching a new air cooled product for the inkjet market, featuring a high power, low temperature output.

Centre stage on Spandex’ stand is the Gerber Solara UV2 flatbed and roll-fed UV-inkjet edge-to-edge printer. The six-colour (CMYK plus violet and green) machine prints up to 18 1.2 by 2.4m or 200 45 by 61cm signs per day.

Following the launch of its online garment designer earlier this year, Dundee-based RSK Tech is unleashing its product on the German market. NetShirt is an off-the-shelf garment designer which encourages end-user creativity.

Avery Dennison Graphics and Reflective Products' Fespa stand is designed to provide a peaceful environment where signmakers, digital printers and screen printers can discuss the company’s self-adhesive films and complementary products.

Fespa sees the first public demonstration of the Augend F16, a new, automatic, large format inkjet press designed for producing outside advertising material on flexible substrates.

ErgoSoft has announced its Rip software supports HP’s new Designjet Z series photo printer with its own printer driver. The printer models Z2100 and Z6100 are eight-colour systems, while the Z3100 is equipped with 12-colours.

CADlink Technology has announced FilmMaker software designed for creating film separations on inkjet printers. Supported products include Epson 1800, 4800, 7800 and 9800 printers.

Esko is introducing its new Kongsberg table RotaCut Tool at Fespa. The tool has been developed for cutting printed textiles and will be demonstrated on the Kongsberg i-XL24 digital finishing table.

CPS Chemical Products and Services is using Fespa to exhibit products including screen washes, developed to offer consistently effective cleaning, and Ultra Coat photo emulsions, said to offer high quality screen printing results.

Nicomatic is presenting conductive screen printable inks for EL and touchscreen markets. For example, NCS-540AG has been formulated as a general purpose polymer thick film silver containing conductor ideal for electro luminescence and other flexible applications.

For the first time, Fujifilm Sericol will be showcasing a new portfolio of wide-format digital products and business solutions designed to meet high demand printing need.

GBC will be using Fespa to showcase its new digital print laminators and announce an expanded customer service and support program. New products include the entry-level 1064WFt and 2064WF for semi-professionals. New wide format films and consumables will also be launched.

HumanEyes will be introducing its 3D lenticular technologies, including its flagship products, PrintPro 2.0 and Creative3D, which include HumanEyes’s new 2D to 3D conversion technology and timeline workflow for the creation of animation effects.

ProofMaster 3.1 helps silkscreen, large and wide format printers take designs to production for billboard, sign and point-of-purchase applications, with certified colour, from a single platform. ProofMaster is designed to drive multiple machines including cutting tables and plotters

Pröll’s NoriCure UV-L3 is a new UV-curing screen printing lacquer formulated to provide scratch and abrasion resistance. The lacquer’s cured surface even resists strong wipes with steel wool.

HP’s stand will feature a wide range of digital imaging solutions including its Scitex FB6700 flatbed industrial digital inkjet press, now with a new in-line lamination option.

Wilflex’s Fespa stand offers visitors the opportunity to see the company’s textile screen printing products including the plastisol inks, non-phthalate Epic, non-PVC, non-phthalate QuantumOne and environmentally friendly Oasis range of water based-inks.

A recent addition to Mark Bric’s range is SnapUp, a system for displaying seamless large scale images, incorporating curved or straight backwalls, towers, desks and display counters. Other Mark Bric products include the Flexiframe system and BannerUp roller banner cassettes.

Colour Scanner Technology’s latest development is the patented DLE (Digital Light Engraver). Machines range in size from 1 by 1m to 4 by 8m.

Durst claims to offer the most comprehensive choice of large format UV inkjet printers.

Fimor’s serilor FG fibreglass squeegee features two printing angles and is available in a variety of dimensions and hardness for cylinder presses and special equipment.

Vutek will exhibit the recently launched QS2000 and QS3200 UV-curing, superwide format printers.

Drytac’s product range is designed to offer customers a one-stop-shop catering for mounting, laminating and finishing needs. Products include heatset and pressure sensitive mounting adhesives and laminating films, inkjet media, backing films, substrates, tools and accessories.

Delko says change the way you promote your products by using super hi-microfibre cloths for your promotion.

Teckwin has set its sights on the UK. Sign UK saw the first public European showing of the TeckSmart UV hybrid flatbed and roll-to-roll printing system. This printer was launched at ISA in Las Vegas and is designed to be a wake-up call for the printer manufacturing industry.

With digital printing, as the price per unit continues to fall, one can make favourable comparisons with other printing processes. Here we look at commercial digital in action and explore why it is becoming popular in the mass personalisation market by Tracey Rushton-Thorpe

Significant Signs explains why being the UK’s first HP Designjet 10000 series user has, quite literally, widened its business scope, created new opportunities and given it more credibility among big customers

PLEASE NOTE NEW DATES

Where and when: Warrington 5 July and Oxford 6 July 2007

Chairman and Presenter: Peter Kiddell, DSPA President

www.dspa.co.uk Tel: 01737 240792