“Finishing” covers a lot of ground, so we have a wide variety of features in the latest print edition, which hits mailboxes this week. Kicking things off today, our embellishment guru Kevin Abergel looks at the evolution of embellishments, and some of the new technologies that are hitting the market—or at least were seen on the drupa show floor this week and last. If you receive the print edition, you’ll notice that we created a special embellished cover, and a short feature today explains how it was created, thanks to Konica Minolta and Burlington, N.C.’s Elite Print Finishing. It’s a design that demonstrates new techniques using texture, color, and form to inspire and show “the art of what’s possible.”
On Tuesday, Pat McGrew profiles Paul Hudson of Salt Lake City’s Hudson Printing and the success the company has had with digital embellishments. Paul is a true industry visionary and pioneer and Hudson Printing has become synonymous with quality and creativity. Check out how they are using the latest finishing technologies to their best advantage. This issue’s sponsor is Konica Minolta and we also have on Tuesday our Executive Q&A with William Troxil, President of KM’s Industrial Print and Production Print Business. And David Zwang surveys the current lay of the land in die cutting equipment.
On Wednesday, Pat McGrew and Ryan McAbee take a look at how a streamlined production workflow can help print businesses get the most out of their finishing equipment. And Cary Sherburne talks with Ranpak’s Bryan Boatner at and how they are developing automated packaging systems based on paper-based packaging, in the context of complying with new regulations aimed at eliminating packaging waste.
On Thursday, Richard Romano looks at some of the display graphics-based cutting and finishing solutions that were on display at April’s International Sign Association (ISA) Sign Expo. Cary Sherburne talks with Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar about how AI is being used to help textile designers become more efficient and provide consumers with better fashion-buying experiences. And some folks have not gotten their trade show mojo back after the pandemic lockdown year, but after drupa, trade show season kicks off in earnest, so Joanne Gore explains how to get your event groove back on and “survive” trade show season. (Additional tip: It may not involve publishing a show daily.)
Finally, on Friday, “Tales from the Database” looks at what our industry survey data can tell us about perceived opportunities and investment in binding, finishing, and mailing capabilities. We also lament the low perception of embellishment technologies, which we hope this issue will breathe some life into. And Johnson’s World is in eclipse as he derives life lessons from the recent “eclipse tourism.”
