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Where in the world is Frank? Episode 5

Episode 5:

Friday, May 23, 2008

Episode 5: Around the World in 105 Days

Actually, I am circumnavigating the globe in two stages: Westward New York to Southampton, the long way from America to Europe, and then in July, Southampton to New York, the short way from Europe to America. The Queen Victoria gets 50 feet per gallon. In Hong Kong we took on 1,000 tons of bunker fuel oil (not diesel) at $500 a ton. 800-850 tons of water per day are needed and the ship can make 1,560 tons per day. 1958 was the last year that more people crossed the Atlantic by sea as air travel grew. But today, cruising is a major activity and industry.

The more printers I meet with, the more I see the commonalities we all share. I start my sessions by saying that we share a common language -- print. No matter what their native language or nationality, printers are united by CMYK, PostScript, PDF, Photoshop, Powerpoint, Macs and PCs, and all the software and technology we use to reproduce information on paper. Even in Thai they say CTP. Even in Vietnamese they say VDP.


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About Frank Romano

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.

Recent Articles from Frank Romano

The Font I Want

The Font I Want

Frank describes his informal survey to discover the most-used typefaces. Over a decade, he has asked users what font they use most often. See the results. Read More

Jeopardy in Jeopardy

Jeopardy in Jeopardy

Frank reacts to a Jeopardy game show segment that involves Johann Gutenberg. There is much misinformation about the invention of printing and Frank is on a mission to present the facts, even if it means yelling at a TV screen. Read More

Evolution of the English Bible

Evolution of the English Bible

Frank traces the evolution of the printed Bible as reported in Neal Lightfoot’s book “How We Got the Bible.” The English Bible evolved from Hebrew, Greek, and Latin versions. Martin Luther’s German translation influenced other translations. Read More

Frank Sees the Forest for the Trees

Frank Sees the Forest for the Trees

Frank notes that there are now shortages of newsprint for those newspapers that produce a paper edition. Paper production is down because we now lose more trees to fires. And paper mills are replacing newsprint with packaging papers. “Save the trees” now has a different meaning from when it meant printed page reduction. Read More

A Typographic Explosion

A Typographic Explosion

Frank talks typefaces by showing the 1923 ATF and the 1940 Linotype specimen books. From less than 200 type families to over a million today, there are more type families available than at any time in history. Fortunately, Times Roman and Helvetica (Arial) dominate. Read More

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