August 26, 2005 -- With the motto "printing intelligence", the print media trade fair drupa will for the first time showcase the drupa innovation parc on tour at PRINT 05 in Chicago (Booth 5219, South Building). The drupa innovation parc will focus on presentations by small, creative companies destined to help shape the future of the printing industry with their technologies. The joint participation of six companies at PRINT 05 is divided into three sections: while "printing intelligence" will focus predominantly on topics such as JDF and workflows, the "communication intelligence" area will deal with databases and novel web2print solutions. The "creative intelligence" category will be represented in Chicago by two companies offering solutions for image editing problems. For the drupa organizers, the drupa innovation parc is a commitment which goes beyond simply providing a platform for innovative companies. Manuel Mataré, drupa Project Director, sees the world tour as a vital stepping stone in the evolution of drupa: "Under normal circumstances, many new companies cannot afford the cost of an individual trade fair presentation. With this platform, we want to lend a hand by giving such businesses an opportunity to get the attention they need to make it at an international level." Other stops on the drupa innovation parc on tour itinerary (www.drupa.com/dipot) will be IPEX/Birmingham, All in Print China/Shanghai and Igas/Tokyo. Volker Ohl from the Messe Düsseldorf drupa team is responsible for the organization of the special presentation; as at drupa 2004, he will be supported by Bernd Zipper/Zipcon Consulting. "drupa innovation parc lets experts from the printing and media industry cast a glance at the future development of their sector," explained Bernd Zipper about the importance of the drupa innovation parc. The following six companies will display their products within the drupa innovation parc at PRINT 05: Gradual Software (www.gradual.com) - this up-and-coming company from Belgium has set its sights on radically simplifying pre-press workflows both for print buyers and for users in the area of pre-press. At the core of Gradual Software’s technologies are XML und PDF acting as a bridge between sectors and workflows. This is not news, but what Gradual Software does with them is: in the future, clients and service providers should join forces and benefit from smart and inexpensive workflows. Peter Camps, the founder of Gradual Software, also sees a different angle on his applications: "The productivity gains required by the increasingly competitive professional publishing environment can no longer be achieved solely by monolithic systems focusing on islands of automation. The industry needs to build pathways to connect these islands and create a unified world between disparate systems." Workflows are also the speciality of the Polish company ACCHSH Group, which regularly astounds industry professionals with the problem-solving features in its "Puzzle Flow" workflow. The modular system is a low-cost option for users to put together their own workflows. It solves the problem of various details in several special applications with a single umbrella system. The best part is the fact that Puzzle Flow is also able to interface with other workflow applications, allowing it to "fit in" with any existing production processes. ACCHSH will unveil further innovations at the drupa innovation parc on tour. The German company ixact (www.ixact.com) will present the two JDF tools ixFrame and ixJED. While ixFrame does the job of integrating applications and machinery in a JDF workflow, ixJED is a directive tool for simulating and editing JDF and JMF which is primarily geared towards developers. In addition to systems integration, ixact offers an end-to-end consulting program for complex installations. Kinetik (www.kinetik.de), a German manufacturer exhibiting within the drupa innovation parc, plans to unveil its own web2print solution, iBright, with – for the first time – a direct linkup to media asset management system MediaBeacon. This interface means a number of new customization solutions can be executed on demand. A highlight in the "creative intelligence" section will be the Israeli manufacturer, KlearVision (www.klearvision.com), which will display a series of automated image optimization applications. While other products only function at a technical level, the KlearVision system is built around human perception of images. This sensational revolution in the field of image optimization has won over experts and users around the globe. For the first time in the U.S., the VDMA (German Engineering Federation) will showcase its new e-learning platform, learn4print. learn4print.com provides fundamental knowledge for the printing industry online. Developed in cooperation with machinery manufacturers and specialist authors from the printing and paper industries, the up-to-the-minute learning materials take a hands-on approach to pre-press and printing, vividly presented in animated modules. Support is offered by a moderated expert forum, an encyclopedia and several specialist tutors. For further information about the drupa innovation parc, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601. Telephone: (312) 781-5180; Fax: (312) 781-5188; E-mail: [email protected]. Or visit the web site http://www.mdna.com.