A significant new resource for the global digital print sector launches today to coincide with the first day of the prestigious UK IPEX exhibition. Digital Print Republic is a new website for the digital printing community that provides opportunities to exchange information, knowledge and expertise and tap into other valuable resources.

The website, with free membership, is backed by several industry experts including Chris Baker, an early pioneer of digital printing and a former Indigo executive. According to the co-founder and owner, Digital Print Republic is independent of any supplier or interest groups, global and free to join, clearly distinguishing the resource from other sites.

"Digital printing is such a critical area for all printers, whether they have the capabilities or are simply keeping watch, and yet good independent advice and information is very difficult to come by", states Baker. "We wanted to create a truly global community for all those interested in helping each other build their digital businesses, hence the concept of Digital Print Republic. We found that so many current sites are either sponsored by one supplier, and are therefore not independent, or are small or geographically restricted. We wanted to break this mold and create something more valuable to the industry."

In addition to information exchange, the site incorporates a suite of value added products and services all related to digital printing. These include product reviews, a growing technical movie library, an international directory of consultants, recruitment facilities and classified advertising. Co-founder Phill Rodgers adds, "Making innovative products and services available for digital printers differentiates Digital Print Republic from publications and forum sites."

Digital Print Republic also brings to the market a whole range of useful software for digital printers, all on a low-cost pay-as-you-go basis for its members.

Rodgers continues, "From my own experience, which was illustrated during the research phase of this project, many printers find it difficult to invest in software; they don't know if the product is the best available until they use it, or, if they will require the software again for a similar job.Therefore, the pay-as-you-go model is the way that software will be demanded in the future, so we thought, why not now?"

Ahead of today's official launch, the new resource has received a lot of support, garnering many thousands of members from over 80 countries and over 60,000 page views already. Baker concludes, "Digital Print Republic has a multitude of benefits for printers and suppliers alike and we expect exponential growth from the results we're seeing already."