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The power of two
When I first started editing Screen Process and Digital Imaging, some five years ago, I landed headfirst in one of the print industry's greatest debates: when would the new generation of digital print technology unseat analogue processes, namely screen?
At the time, having a reasonably good understanding of both processes, I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. Each process offered a different set of features and benefits which, in my opinion, sat perfectly side-by-side. Like most things in life, neither process was perfect but one or other would be the optimum solution according to an application's needs.
Over the intervening years I have witnessed great upheaval on both sides of the market, with company formations, mergers and closures. There is no doubt that digital grabbed the headlines but that's not really surprising given it was a new technology compared with screen that can trace its history back thousands of years.
So, where is all this leading? Well, take a look at the cover story and you will find a printer that has both diversified and been recognised for its quality production, not by switching processes but by combining them.
When you combine digital and screen you often get a result that is greater than the sum of the individual parts.
It's time for the providers of digital and screen hardware and consumables to settle their past differences, and recognise that the future requires unity, not confrontation.
Jon Barrett
Editor
