Frank Romano has spent over 60 years in the printing and publishing industries. Many know him best as the editor of the International Paper Pocket Pal or from the hundreds of articles he has written for publications from North America and Europe to the Middle East to Asia and Australia. Romano lectures extensively, having addressed virtually every club, association, group, and professional organization at one time or another. He is one of the industry's foremost keynote speakers. He continues to teach courses at RIT and other universities and works with students on unique research projects.
Displaying 601-700 of 870 articles
Published April 3, 2012
Be a part of history. Frank is seeking some of the font masters and paraphernalia of the old phototypesetting era. He knows there are a few oldtimers who read WhatTheyThink while drooling in their oatmeal. Film, glass, and plastic fonts are requested.
Published March 28, 2012
This week Frank discusses the mix of digital and offset presses in most printing facilities and highlights a great example of a total promotional package created by Heidelberg showcasing the ability to create a seamless, color matched campaign.
Published March 21, 2012
Frank showcases a fraction of his collection of commodities that will always need print.
Published March 14, 2012
Frank shows us some of his more nostalgic labeling moments as labels got more sophisticated overtime.
Published March 7, 2012
Frank brings us several quick anecdotes this week, an old vision of the future, the one of the worlds most expensive binding, and a growth in stationery.
Published February 29, 2012
As Frank Romano reviews Packaging Design Magazine he compares current can printing to the custom printed cans from nearly 20 years ago.
Published February 27, 2012
As the number of printing services declines; the number of printing services increases. You read that correctly.
Published February 22, 2012
This week Frank dives deep into a finishing example, Swarthmore by the Numbers.
Published February 15, 2012
This week Frank goes over the promotional flyer market and why it will never go away.
Published February 9, 2012
Frank Romano switches it up and interviews Cary Sherburne for a change. He asks her what makes her most excited about drupa season and what she hopes to see this year.
Published February 8, 2012
Frank Romano discusses his recent work with Doug WIlson helping him create the in-depth expose of Linotype the Film and maybe Frank will finally get his 15 minutes of fame on the silver screen.
Published February 1, 2012
Frank rediscovers an old favorite of his, the Lithographer's Manual from 1940 and shares a historical outline of how the lithography technology has changed throughout the years.
Published January 25, 2012
Frank gives us a historical tour of of the type stetting capital in Brooklyn, his first foray into the printing industry. Who knew it would stick?
Published January 18, 2012
Any fan of Frank Romano knows his love of printing gadgets. This week Frank showcases one of the more unusual gadgets he found during his recent trip to DMA, a handwriting machine.
Published January 11, 2012
Frank was recently at the Direct Marketing Association Conference and Exhibition in Boston to showcase how much the once great trade show has adapted.
Published December 16, 2011
There will always be a printing industry, but it will be different than it used to be. Typesetting did not go away; it just moved to a different place.
Published December 14, 2011
This week Franks talks about the advantage pixels have over large bulky manuals and how online shopping saves the mailing industry while it kills off show floors.
Published December 7, 2011
Frank digs an old invitation to the 35th annual NAPL convention out of the archives and strikes up an interesting question, Who is still around? Find out in This Week with Frank Romano
Published November 30, 2011
QR code wrapped, Printer's bags of cash, and wooden clothing... yup, just another typical This Week with Frank Romano.
Published November 16, 2011
Frank reports this week on location at LDI, dealer for a plethora of digital printing equipment to give customers the choice of not being locked into one vendor. More organizations, like LDI, are moving their meetings away from big industry trade shows to a more intimate venue and Frank loves it.
Published November 11, 2011
The Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, PA just discontinued their Graphic Communication Technology major. The decline in enrollment began in 2001 and only four new students entered the major in the more recent term.
Published November 9, 2011
Frank Romano gets some samples from Canon's Dreamlabo inkjet (Frank was recently critical for the lack of samples) that makes him reconsider his original critique.
Published November 2, 2011
This week Frank Romano reports on location at the Cary Collection at the Wallace Library at RIT to proudly show off one of his favorite collections of print.
Published October 26, 2011
Frank Romano gets nostalgic on us this week with a look at an ad for one of the original photocopying machines aimed for offices and business in the late 50's and a discussion on how it all started.
Published October 19, 2011
Last month at GraphExpo Frank Romano stopped by the Xante booth and was blown away by a machine that he thinks will change the industry.
Published October 12, 2011
Frank goes over some of the samples that wowed him at GraphExpo.
Published October 5, 2011
Frank Romano reports live on the scene at the Boston Paper Collective to demonstrate how paper was originally made.
Published September 28, 2011
Philadelphia newspapers are changing to tablets and some percentages on unique smart phone applications all this week with Frank Romano.
Published September 21, 2011
Frank gets a demonstration of offset lithography's early start by from Carolyn Muskat showing how to print on stone lithography at the Museum of Printing during the 8th annual Printing Arts Fair.
Published September 16, 2011
Printers are providing more value-added services that go beyond paper. They are evolving into new kinds of companies. Here are some of the steps that got us to this point.
Published September 14, 2011
The President of the PIA mails the President of the USA and apparently September is National Coupon Month; just another typical week on This Week with Frank Romano.
Published September 7, 2011
Frank goes over some very interesting bullet points from The Book Industry in Transition and discovers some very interesting similarities between printing's past and now.
Published August 31, 2011
This Week with Frank Romano (because Frank doesn't seem to know the name of his own show) features two opposing articles about the much loved/hated QR code.
Published August 24, 2011
This week Frank shares an interesting patent that could make one paper to rule them all and the dangers of print manufacturers holding the keys to paper, ink, and equipment.
Published August 19, 2011
Frank takes a trip down memory lane reminiscing the days of the bookstore and what the future may hold.
Published August 17, 2011
Frank comes across "A Practical Way to Make Invisibility Cloaks" and theorizes the huge impact invisible printing will have on color management.
Published August 10, 2011
Frank talks about where the future of the modern high school yearbook with the rapid decline of yearbook orders over recent years.
Published August 3, 2011
With the rapid decline of photographic film Frank takes a look at some recent photo book samples from digital presses showcasing the range of digital printing today and most people would never know the difference.
Published July 27, 2011
Frank shares a touching story from the Postal Service's past and how today's USPS operations are completely unacceptable for small printers.
Published July 22, 2011
Frank tells you why he endorses Graph Expo and why now more than ever it is important to make the trip to Chicago this September 11-14.
Published July 20, 2011
This week Frank brings us some odd devices this week including a book charger (seriously) and what he thinks is a genius idea for corning the ice cube market (again, not kidding.)
Published July 15, 2011
The Rochester Institute of Technology and Cunard Lines have a unique work-study program. Students are trained in Rochester and then begin a multi-month stint running the ship's print shop. Andy Berghauser describes his experience with the program.
Published July 13, 2011
The New York Times adjusts printing on-the-fly, sells a warehouse to a server farm, and Kindle editions that magically disappear. Conspiracy? Frank certainty doesn't think so.
Published July 6, 2011
Saving the trees may sound good on paper, but soon that could hurt the food supply. Food supply? Frank shares some interesting tidbits about how trees work in our food supply.
Published June 29, 2011
Google has been vigorously searching and scanning out of print and out of copyright books. All of those books become searchable bits thanks to Google Ngram Viewer. So what does Frank do with all that data from books? He uses it to search for emerging print terms, that's what!
Published June 22, 2011
Frank doesn't really go out much to attend press events so it's a rare occasion to see his presence at one. Frank highlights his experiences from two recent events.
Published June 15, 2011
Frank goes over some of his more recent finds from various bookstores around the world. Proof that printing is better than hand printing, teaching the lost art of print to kids, and that two cultures can actually get along just fine.
Published June 10, 2011
All communication will some day be reduced to tweets -- small bursts of information 140 characters in length. They are the bumper stickers of the 21st century. Here are some of mine.
Published June 8, 2011
Frank gets a private tour of Concord Litho to see their latest innovations that keeps them ahead of the printing curve.
Published June 1, 2011
This week Frank goes over the accomplishments of another great father and son in printing history, the Bentons.
Published May 25, 2011
Frank shows off some of the items he gets in the mail. Frank now knows he can annoy people in yet another language, a promo piece that's too good to throw away and paper you can really feel all up ahead in This Week with Frank Romano
Published May 20, 2011
In 2008, the production of non-traditional print-on-demand books exceeded traditional book publishing for the first time. Since then, its growth has been overwhelming. The market is now closing in on 10 times the output of traditional titles. What is more amazing is that this growth has been one book at a time.
Published May 18, 2011
The heated discussion about saving trees continues. Frank's opinion? Printing is good and actually SAVES trees while the modern computer is a pile of toxic energy waste.
Published May 11, 2011
Today's agenda, no more tax forms, checks bounce (back) and maybe Frank could one day see his lifelong dream come true, directing Helvetica the Musical. All ahead in This Week with Frank.
Published May 4, 2011
Here's the short of it, Kelly Services hires Xerox to reduce print, Cliff Notes Shorts, and Scented Digital Print.
Published April 27, 2011
This week Frank's hamming it up for another camera! Frank's back in the Museum of Printing working on a movie for PBS called 'Rebel' helping recreate authentic copies of a book from the Civil War Period
Published April 22, 2011
We’ve asked if the print industry can still support multiple trade shows. Now Frank is wondering about trade associations. He went to a couple recent events and he’s reported back to us on what kind of year we’re having on the event circuit.
Published April 20, 2011
Frank's very excited to see some new looks on ways to promote print. Promoting print is going beyond what print IS to showing what print can DO.
Published April 13, 2011
This week Frank Romano shares some interesting studies on efforts to print human skin and the practical applications, such as skin grafts for burn victims, to the bizarre.
Published April 6, 2011
This week Frank talks about how vending machines are being used to cut back on retail staff which made him reminisce the old days of book vending and the modern equivalent printing on demand.
Published April 4, 2011
Frank was invited to Canada's Middleton Group to see one of the first installations of Agfa's M-Press. Could this be the edge printers are looking for?
Published March 30, 2011
Frank reviews a shocking study that appeared in the LA Times showing that Ash trees closest to WiFi networks may be dying.
Published March 4, 2011
Frank makes a rare observation about his phone bill and shares an old story about the $100 bill and how it could have created jobs.
Published January 28, 2011
This week Frank revisits some literature published in 1957 on the modern letter press and how it fought the changing times to offset lithography.
Published December 17, 2010
Frank wraps up the year with a gift celebrating the great material known as print. Download Text Reprint (PDF)
Published December 15, 2010
This week Frank visits the Mount Washington Hotel's Print Shop to see a bit of print history.
Published December 8, 2010
This week Frank takes us back to the days of old with Linotype's promotional pamphlets over the years.
Published December 1, 2010
Reading a recent study by analysts trying to study the data of the available pages for printing bothers Frank because they don't consider long run projects that won't go digital. This week Frank gives a eulogy for the imminent demise of the phonebook.
Published November 23, 2010
In this special episode of This Week with Frank Romano, Frank is at the Bootcamp for Print Designers. He surveys a group of print buyers in attendance about what's happening with print in their organizations and the trends they foresee. Happy Thanksgiving!
Published November 17, 2010
This week Frank reveals a call to social media: FontFaceBook! NYC street signs and the Gap logo get fresh fonts and new looks, and what's the deal with all this Helvetica?
Published November 10, 2010
Digital Printing is decades away? Frank says it's almost here. He looks at a recent NPES publication that says the tipping point for digital printing is decades away.
Published November 3, 2010
This Week with Frank Romano welcomes a special guest to talk about the printing industry in China, where offset looms large, and digital is on the outside looking in. Join Frank and Joe Pasky in front of an antique printing press for a little Pacific rim rap.
Published October 27, 2010
What do paper, printing, and Star Trek have in common? Frank, of course! This Week, Frank talks about the TBD end of the New York Times print edition, the demise of another magazine's print edition, and the return by popular demand of the "What Is It?" segment, featuring large metal things. That are heavy.
Published October 22, 2010
For the majority of us lay people print buying seems like a trick for the anointed few who can piece together a much larger puzzle of production parts. Frank Romano looks at the new world of the print buyer, how it has changed, how they do their jobs, and where congregate to share their secrets.
Published October 20, 2010
Email marketing versus printed mail - guess which one Frank likes. Data backs him up, too. Plus some love for franchising small print shops, and a look at a printing business model that one day Frank thinks will yield an industry-wide revenue of precisely $7.50.
Published October 13, 2010
Let's see...bottled water? Food? Frank wonders where the big printer companies might go after taking the print out of their bottom line. Plus another tour through more print that's going the way of the dodo. But take heart...all is not lost!!!
Published October 6, 2010
When you do ten presentations at a trade show, you get a feel for the thing. When you do 20, you're Frank. GraphExpo 2010 winds down, and Frank gives us his take. Bottom line - optimism is the word of the day.
Published September 29, 2010
There used to be an entire industry dedicated to setting type. Frank used to go to their trade events, and stumbles upon a program from 1969. It jogs Frank's memory. Frank waxes philosophic. Just another week with the curmudgeon emeritus.
Published September 22, 2010
Take a lovely scenic tour of the approach to the Rochester, NY train station. See the skyline, a lawn, a pole, even some cars. Plus an attempt by Frank to show us the old Eastman Kodak headquarters! It's a journey only Frank can take you on.
Published September 15, 2010
Frank discovers that Moses used a tablet, graphic design degrees don't pay, a city intends to save $18,000 on print, and a 105 year old antiquarian book store closes its doors.
Published September 10, 2010
Our increasingly ravenous hunger for new technology, ie. smart phones, flat screens, iPads, grows by the day. Frank Romano looks at the environmental cost of all this new stuff and considers how it compares to technologies of the past and the effect on the environment
Published September 8, 2010
This time Frank shows us another cartoon (been awhile huh?) this time about the demise of the phone book. Also coming up: Frank loves bad direct mail, Spider-man, and rants why off-shoring is a bad idea.
Published September 1, 2010
This week Frank takes us through another whirlwind round of news that fascinates Frank (and makes him a little reminiscent.) Knock-Knock wants to print your tweets, the last roll of Kodachrom, R.R. Donnely's research facility, AARP tells its readers how to "save" printer ink, Boing Boing's typographic mustache for the facial hair challenged, Boston garages use print so you don't lose your car in the parking sea all ahead.
Published August 25, 2010
This week, Frank brings us a recent news article featured in the Wall Street Times about Wal-Mart's plan to use Smart Tags (RFID) to track inventory. Smart Tags are an intriguing new venture for electronic printing but have some interesting privacy issues. Frank believes it will be the tipping point to bringing print back to its prominent days again when printing electronic tags and new aspects of direct advertising are the norm with Big Brother accuracy.
Published August 18, 2010
Frank continues to show us printing technology of the past at the Museum of Printing. This week we study the first photographic typesetting machine, a device as timeless as Frank himself.
Published August 13, 2010
There’s a new report out predicting significant growth in US media and communications spending over the next four years. Is it time to start the presses running again? Frank Romano examines what impact new media is continuing to have on media budgets.
Published August 11, 2010
This week Frank takes a trip to the museum of printing. In this video he talks to us about Gutenberg's Wooden Printing Press. Why you may ask? "Why not." Frank responds. An in depth overview of the wooden press, something almost as old as Frank.
Published August 4, 2010
This week Frank takes a look at the peculiar similarities (and minuscule differences) between the Rochester and Syracuse Sunday paper ad inserts. His findings will leave you shocked. But not really.
Published July 28, 2010
Frank Romano confesses that he has a vice and that vice is collecting books associated with the print world. Frank scoured the globe looking for new and interesting gems and he wasn't disappointed. In this video Frank shares some of his favorites ranging from Victorian fiction to Korean printing.
Published July 23, 2010
None of us know what the future holds for the print industry, but Frank Romano looks into his crystal ball and sees a bright future for a trimmed down industry, run more by computers and technicians that printers, better integration between products and packaging, and a few other surprises.
Published July 21, 2010
Now that Frank's back from his trip he doesn't waste any time and goes straight for some interesting news articles. Featured articles on China print, electronic reading study, New Jersey insurance agent license, and PGAMA's "Print Grows Trees" and Frank's spin on it all.
Published July 14, 2010
Frank interviews the lovely ladies that run the Queen Mary 2's print shop while at sea. A WhatTheyThink first! Rosemary and Kelly discuss what it is like to print on board a luxury cruise liner as well as some of the services guests can expect while on board.
Published July 7, 2010
This week, Frank shares a 1907 edition of Penrose's Pictorial Annual. The annual collected examples of print from a given year and bound it into a book giving a snapshot view of the printing technologies at the time. The books also included articles on the processes and different applications as well.
Published July 1, 2010
Louis Moyroud just died. Doesn't ring a bell? He and Rene Higonet invented photographic typesetting. Oh, phototypesetting does not ring a bell either? From the 1950s to the 1990s, we set type using photographic techniques, exposing miles of photo-sensitive paper and film. The printing industry moved to CTP in the 1990s and digital printing in the 2000s, but the era of pre-press automation began with Louis and Rene. Rene died in 1983. Louis died on June 30 at the age of 95.
Published June 30, 2010
Frank explains why Johannes Gutenberg was an idiot (not what you think, of course) and gives us a history lesson on the 42 line Bible and shares all the intrigue a 15th century typesetting drama can muster.
Published June 23, 2010
New things to print - Frank gets excited about coffee cup holders, canvass prints at Costco, cyber companies, big box wide format printing, and Grandma chatting via Skype...and spell check.
Published June 18, 2010
Recent innovations in variable data printing have created huge opportunities in direct mail. Are you taking advantage of it? If not, Frank Romano lists a variety of reasons why you should be.
Published June 16, 2010
Continuing a series on hot metal typesetting, Frank give us a tour of the Ludlow. Never heard of composing sticks? Plungers? Matrices and slugs? Join Frank as we create fonts from molten lead.
Published June 9, 2010
Molten lead, greasy fingers, clanging bits and pieces, gears turning...who doesn't like hot metal? Today, we visit the Museum of Printing to see a working hot metal linotype machine, which Frank expertly describes as a volunteer makes it sing.
Published June 2, 2010
What do the internet, the printing industry, and a chart hand drawn with magic markers have in common? Frank! This week, Frank gives his take on what happened to the printing industry since its peak in 1995, and how much further we have to go before reaching equilibrium.
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