NEW YORK -- May 1, 2006 -- Bucking conventional wisdom that digital copier/printers are not being used for any but the most rudimentary digital and VDP applications, TrendWatch Graphic Arts has released a 45-page mini-report looking specifically at how digital color copier/printers are being used in the VDP marketplace. The results confirm and bolster the initial data in the comprehensive March 2006 report, "Copiers & Printers: Serious Competitors in the Digital Print Marketplace." The new report, titled "Copiers & VDP: Partners in Crime," differs from the original report in that it looks at the data from the perspective of print shops whose primary VDP output device is a copier. Unlike the original report, which looks at the impact that copiers are having in the digital printing industry as a whole, the mini-report analyzes the VDP applications and volumes produced by this copier-driven subset of the industry. The report analyzes: -- the applications being produced on these devices, -- the percent of sales from VDP at these shops, -- output device mix used in these shops, and -- the growth in a variety of personalized/VDP applications they produced, as well as -- comparisons of the results from "copiers for VDP" shops to VDP practitioners as a whole, and -- changes in these data over a six-month period. The report also includes an analysis looking of the issues raised by the earlier report and how some of the skepticism stands up to evidence from the industry. "Those turning up their noses or ignoring competition from copier/ printers for VDP should take very serious note of these data," notes Heidi Tolliver-Nigro, author of the report. "Whatever you want to call them, RIP-driven copiers, networked copiers, or digital copier/printers, these inexpensive, small-footprint devices are becoming powerful competitors in the world of digital - and, particularly - variable data print. Despite the kickback that we received from the initial report, these data show that many copier users are doing just the kinds of applications we've said all along." News Highlights... -- 22% of shops whose primary VDP output device is a copier are doing full-color variable image, variable text jobs with 1-12 variable fields; -- 9% of shops whose primary VDP output device is a copier are doing full-color variable image, variable text jobs with 13+ variable fields; -- 11% of shops whose primary VDP output device is a copier say that VDP is 25-50% of their overall sales volume - compared to only 5% of VDP practitioners overall. -- Only 6% of those whose primary VDP output device is a copier are also using digital presses. Availability... TrendWatch Graphic Arts Special Report "Copiers & VDP: Partners in Crime" is available for purchase by visiting the secure TrendWatch Graphic Arts eStore online at www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com/special or by phone at 866-873-6310. The price for the 45-page mini-report is $349. TrendWatch Graphic Arts eStore customers can download this report in PDF Acrobat format immediately after purchase.