Allen Press, Inc. (www.allenpress.com), printer and publishing services provider, has won coveted awards in 2012 in three prestigious regional and national printing competitions, where excellence in print quality as well as overall impact and degree of difficulty in technique are judged.

PIA MidAmerica, the regional trade group of the Printing and Imaging Association, bestowed the "Best of Category" award for two publications, recognizing each in their category in the company's division. The winning pieces were Orchids 80:2, a publication of the American Orchid Society and Catfish Alley Fall 2011, a publication of  The Commercial Dispatch, Columbus, MS. Winning Awards of Excellence were Gastronomica 11:4, from the University of California Press, The Mineralogical Record 42:2, published by The Mineralogical Record, Inc., Gems and Gemology 47:1, a Gemological Institute of America publication, Arabian Horse Times 2012 Calendar, from Arabian Horse Times, Inc., and Shadows of Minidoka, paintings and collections of Roger Shimomura, published by the Lawrence Arts Center. Allen Press' accomplishments were honored at a banquet this spring in Kansas City.  

Printing Industries of America awarded the company with two Premier Print Awards. The Mineralogical Record 42(2) was given an Award of Recognition and Arabian Horse Times 2012 Calendar was given a Certificate of Merit.

The company won a Gold Ink Award, given by industry publications, Printing Impressions, Publishing Executive and Book Business.  A Silver award was given for Hoover Digest 2011, No. 2, a publication of Hoover Institution Press.

Sappi Fine Paper North America honored the company with a Bronze for its Printer of the Year Award for Gems & Gemology 47:1and Shadows of Minidoka, in the first round of competition.  Gem and Gemology was then awarded a Silver, and represented the region in the challenge for a Gold Award. Both publications were printed on Sappi paper.  This competition received more than 2,100 entries, in nine categories, with only 54 publications garnering this prize.

These competitions, sponsored by printing and graphic arts industry magazines, graphic arts trade associations, and paper companies, offer printers an opportunity to show their best works alongside other printers, and all are judged by a panel of highly regarded print professionals.