WAKE FOREST, N.C. - The results have been tallied for two of the newspaper industry’s premier print quality contests, and the judges once again have recognized the work of several newspaper partners who produced winning submissions with Viper® 830 thermal plates and Replica HSV® violet plates from Southern Lithoplate, Inc.

In the 2014 Print Quality Competition sponsored by Southern Lithoplate and Inland Press Association, The Villages (Fla.) Daily Sun earned its fourth straight Best in Show win in the annual contest’s color category. The Daily Sun specializes in four-color, spot-color and black-and-white newspaper printing of minitab, tabloid and broadsheet publications. The newspaper also took home first place awards in its circulation category (50,000 to 100,000) for both black-and-white and color entries.

The Print Quality Competition evaluates newspapers on how close they come to matching proofs of color and black-and-white images printed on newsprint as if they were part of a normal press run. The photos chosen for the 2014 competition depicted a wood duck in a stream and the interior of a professional ballpark seen from a wide angle. Winners received their awards October 21 on the closing day of Inland’s 129th Annual Meeting in Chicago.

The Bulletin in Bend, Ore., snared Best in Show honors for black-and-white reproduction and a first place finish in the 10,000 to 50,000 circulation category.

Other first place winners for color printing in their respective circulation categories included the Bozeman (Mont.) Daily Chronicle, Star Tribune in Minneapolis and Owatonna (Minn.) People’s Press. The Faribault (Minn.) News netted a runner-up award.

The Southern Newspaper Publishers Association recognized excellence in newspaper printing at its News Industry Summit, held October 6-8 in Charlottesville, Va. Newspapers were judged in the SNPA Print Quality Contest in four circulation categories.

The Villages Daily Sun collected another first place award in the SNPA competition. Awards also went to the Independent Tribune in Concord, N.C. (second place) and The Daily Home in Talladega, Ala. (third place).

“Southern Lithoplate congratulates all the winners in this year’s print quality matchups,” said Steve Mattingly, senior vice president. “They raise the bar higher and give every printing operation a standard to aim for. We are proud to support the award-winning work of our customers as they continue to strengthen their reputations for quality and innovation with Southern Lithoplate digital products, G7® quality support and SNAP certification support. We salute these newspapers’ management and staff for their many fine accomplishments.”