KBA North America, a leading sheetfed offset press manufacturer based in Williston, Vt., drew large crowds to its display featuring brilliant high quality print sample sheets from its popular 74 Karat 29-inch digital offset waterless press and Genius 52 20-inch offset press at Print Ontario in the National Trade Centre in Toronto from November 20-22. In addition, an Ontario-based commercial printer has committed to purchasing a 74 Karat. Print Ontario is the largest show of its kind in North America, drawing the hard-to-reach, short-run, small-format market. The show strictly limits the size of offset presses to a 29-inch width (four- to six-up sheet size) and smaller. “We are quite satisfied with the large crowds that visited our booth to see print samples from the 74 Karat and learn how they can grow into new markets and develop new business models,” says Thomas Goecke, KBA North America’s director of marketing. “We were able to show them the outstanding quality produced on a variety of substrates from the Karat, such as onion skin, plastic, lenticular, board, and styrene. Attendees were very interested in the Karat’s unique Gravuflow inking system and the high quality produced using waterless printing. We were able to discuss with them how the Karat will easily fit into their workflow and help them to differentiate themselves from the competition. The attendees were very impressed with the Karat’s quick makeready of around 15 minutes, low waste of less than 10 sheets, and ease of use. This particular market of small to midsize commercial printers, quick printers, implants, and print-on-demand shops is seeking a high quality offset press that can produce work on a variety of substrates and allow them to charge a premium for such outstanding output. The 74 Karat is the solution for them.” Another show highlight was the new Genius 52 20” offset press, dedicated to the short run color market. Attendees learned about this revolutionary cutting-edge printing press and were impressed with its one-operator ability, ultra short make ready times of less than 5 minutes, its unique ability to print on a wide variety of stock up to 32 pt, its high quality print results and the low startup waste of less than 10 sheets – a perfect press to go into new markets. Print Ontario draws attendees from all 10 Canadian provinces and 27 U.S. states. Established in 1986, Print Ontario has been one of the very few North American trade shows to continuously expand. Past shows have drawn more than 9,800 attendees and featured more than 200 vendors with their own exhibits. The National Trade Centre is Canada’s newest and largest state-of-the-art trade show facility. Its single, large, rectangular floor plan with limited cross-aisles gives all exhibitors, regardless of size, superior floor-traffic. Other amenities include indoor parking, excellent lighting, in-floor electrical, communication and water ports, improved loading docks, state-of-the-art seminar rooms and a superior ceiling height.