Columbia, MD - Printing and graphic communications companies representing more than 40 areas of print production were awarded for their superior work in the 7th annual Excellence in Print Awards Competition earlier this week. The annual contest is sponsored by the Printing & Graphics Association MidAtlantic (PGAMA) to recognize outstanding achievement in all aspects of printing and graphic communications.  PGAMA is a non-profit trade organization that promotes and supports the graphic communications industry. Membership is open to printing and graphic communications firms and suppliers located in Maryland, Northern Virginia, Greater Washington, D.C., and Southern Pennsylvania.  The Association headquarters are in Columbia, MD.

Commercial printers, engravers, embossers, binders and finishers, designers, and others in the industry enter the competition to showcase their specialized skills, and to vie for the honor of being named Best of Category, and ultimately Best in Show. Winning is a coveted achievement, and award recipients use their earned recognition to further market their services in this highly competitive field.

From hundreds of entries, an independent panel of experts selects the very best pieces based on qualities such as precision of color reproduction, use of design, and level of difficulty.  Awards are divided by the media type and process, as well as the type of press on which the item was created.

This year, nearly 200 awards and certificates were presented during the Excellence in Print Gala held March 22nd at Martin's West in Woodlawn, MD. The complete list of Best of Category winners follows. Other top honors went to:

- The People's Choice Award*-Advantage Book Binding (Glen Burnie, MD)
- Best Binding & Finishing Award-Raff Embossing (Tuxedo, MD)
- Most Unique Use of Design-Printing Specialist (Glen Burnie, MD)
- Best Website Design-Crabtree + Co. (Falls Church, VA)
- Best Use of Color-MOSAIC (Cheverly, MD)
- Digital Q, for best work created on a digital press: Printing Specialist (Glen Burnie, MD)
- Grand Q for Best in Show: Graphtec (Jessup, MD) for the 2nd consecutive year
*selected by attendees of the Gala

The companies earning Best of Category designations in PGAMA's 2011 Excellence in Print competition were:

- Advantage Book Binding, Glen Burnie, MD - Finishing/Binding

- Anaconda Press, Forestville, MD - Announcements & Invitations

- Art Litho Printing Solutions, Baltimore, MD - Magazines

- Automated Graphic Systems, White Plains, MD - Printers' Self-Advertising

- Baltimore Color Plate, Towson, MD - Annual Reports (digital press); Small Booklets (digital); Product Catalogs (process)

- Bindagraphics, Baltimore, MD - Screen Printing; Vinyl Binders

- Corridor Printing, Columbia, MD - Envelopes

- CPS Gumpert, Annapolis, MD - Greeting Cards (process)

- Crabtree + Company, Falls Church, VA - Website Design; Designer Entry

- Gamse Lithographing Company, Baltimore, MD - Sheetfed Labels, Web Labels; Web Press (5 colors)

- GraphTec, Jessup, MD - Paper Covered Books; Institutional Catalogs (process); Packaging; Impossible Job; Sales Campaigns

- Independent Can Company, Belcamp, MD - Miscellaneous

- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD - Book Covers & Jackets

- MOSAIC, Cheverly, MD - Annual Reports (process); Small Booklets (process); Calendars (process) Posters; Institutional Catalogs (non-process)

- Peake DeLancey Printers, Cheverly, MD - Company Catalogs (process); Web Press (4 colors)

- Printing Specialist Corporation, Glen Burnie, MD - Large Booklets (digital); Calendars (digital); Company Catalogs (digital); Product Catalogs (digital); Pamphlets; Greeting Cards (digital); Menus;
Printed Stationery

- Raff Embossing & Foilcraft, Tuxedo, MD - Die-Cutting; Embossing; Stamping

- The YGS Group, York, PA - Presentation Kits; Newsletters; Postcards & Self Mailers; Programs

- Todd Allan Printing Co., Beltsville, MD - Large Booklets (process)

- Westland Printers, Laurel, MD - Pamphlets (process); Packaging (digital)