PRINT GEEKS
The WhatTheyThink Print Geeks section focuses on the inner-workings of the processes and technology used to create print in today’s ever-changing industry. Thought leadership and educational content focuses on print production workflow, color management and process control. Print Geeks is a place where ideas on technical and operational process concepts are presented, exchanged, and debated. ••••
Video
Jim Raffel and Shelby Sapusek Geek Out Over the ISA Sign Expo
Published: June 20, 2022
Resident Print Geeks Jim Raffel and Shelby Sapusek recap some of the technology and product announcements that caught their eyes at the recent International Sign Association (ISA) Sign Expo. Watch Video
Shelby Sapusek Geeks Out with Greg Imhoff
Published: June 14, 2022
Resident Print Geek Shelby Sapusek talks with Dreamscape’s Greg Imhoff. Dreamscape is a producer of digitally printed wall décor, and now has 32+ unique, texturized, colored, printable wallcoverings. Dreamscape puts a lot of effort into quality control and especially color management, performing spectral analysis throughout the production process. Watch Video
Jim Raffel and Shelby Sapusek Talk About Print Geeks
Published: June 13, 2022
Print Geeks is a dedicated section on WhatTheyThink that takes a deep dive into the more technical and—“geeky”—aspects of color management and color education, offering feature articles and video interviews curated by Jim Raffel and Shelby Sapusek. Check it out at whattheythink.com/printgeeks. Watch Video
Jim Raffel Geeks Out with Caldera’s Joey Phillips
Published: June 7, 2022
Resident Print Geek Jim Raffel talks with Caldera’s Joey Phillips about the latest updates to Caldera’s software. Version 15 of CalderaRIP will see improvements to the cutting algorithm, new drivers, and updates to existing drivers, amongst other new and upgraded features. PrimeCenter, Caldera’s prepress software, also gets a major upgrade to Version 2. Watch Video
Jim Raffel Geeks Out with Mark Heimerl
Published: May 11, 2022
Resident Print Geek Jim Raffel talks with Serigaph’s Mark Heimerl at last week’s ISA Sign Expo about the new product and application areas Serigraph is moving into, how they are adapting with the times and with new demands from customers, and the new equipment they are acquiring to implement those changes. Watch Video
Dan Gillespie and Sal Passanisi Geek Out Over Pantone and Adobe’s Color Rift
Published: May 10, 2022
Resident Print Geek Dan Gillespie and Sal ”Pantoni” Passanisi have a highly entertaining discussion about the decision to decouple the Pantone color libraries from Adobe Creative Cloud, and what it really means for designers. Watch Video
Geeking Out with RIT’s Bruce Myers and PUA’s Bill Pope
Published: April 19, 2022
Resident Print Geeks Jim and Shelby spent some time talking with Bruce Myers of RIT and Bill Pope of PRINTING United Alliance about changes to the printing and packaging programs at RIT. We also found out how Bruce geeks out—and it’s all about color! Watch Video
Graphco Holds Open House at EZ Mailing in Indianapolis
Published: April 5, 2022
Graphco President Chris Manley is joined by EZ Mailing Owner Kevin Bennet on the final day of a two-day open house dubbed "The Unfair Advantage" by Graphco. They discuss the company's beginnings as a mail only shop to a full service printer and mailer now with offset, digital, and wide-format capabilities. Watch Video
Geeking Out About UV Inkjet Technology with Gabriel Conti
Published: March 29, 2022
Resident Print Geeks Jim and Shelby sat down with Gabriel Conti, CEO of Kover, to discuss many aspects of UV inkjet technology including the importance of having highly trained and educated machine operators. Watch Video
Bill Pope Geeks Out About Continuous Improvement
Published: March 22, 2022
Resident Print Geeks Jim and Shelby discuss the upcoming Continuous Improvement Conference with Printing United Alliance's Bill Pope. Pus Bill shares geeky moments taking his L*a*b* measurements to the paint store. Watch Video
How to Make a Non-Standard Ink Set Conform to Standard: The Difference Between 2D Curves and 3D Profiles
It is critical to compensate for the differences in your particular papers and inks compared to the color standard you’re trying to match. Print Geek Dan Gillespie of Alder Color Solutions outlines how effectively using color science/software is the most accurate and efficient way to reach the tightest conformance achievable. Read More
The Best Color Management Training Options
Alder Color Solutions’ Dan Gillespie details the resources available for print businesses to become more knowledgeable about color and color management. Read More
Color, Your Brand, and Display Graphics: How Your Clients Perceive You Through Color
In today’s world of digital and mixed analog technologies, it can be difficult to get consistent color from different platforms. Marty Davis, President of Alder Color Solutions, explains the importance of ensuring color consistency across small- and wide-format graphics. Read More
What You See Is What You Get. Or Not.
We’ve all been told not to rely on the color we see on our monitors because it’s not accurate. Most of the time that’s true, because most people don’t have capable devices or those devices configured properly. Dan Gillespie, Director of Technical Services at Alder Color Solutions, compares two monitors and explains how the accuracy of a display is a function of color gamut. Read More
Expanding Your Gamut By Limiting Your Ink
Does limiting your ink sound counterproductive to creating an expanded color gamut? Over-inking is a common problem seen in the printing world, and especially when it comes to printing on fabrics. Alder Color Solutions’ G7 expert and color IT specialist Bill Owen explains how this misconception can wreak havoc for printers looking to optimize their gamut. Read More
Why Color Is a Management Issue
In this article, sponsored by Alder Color Solutions, Marty Davis, President of Alder Color Solutions, explains how and why color management affects profitability and why upper management should be concerned and involved. Read More
The Print Geeks: Color Control 101
Highlights of a recent Print Geeks webinar in which resident geeks Jim Raffel and Shelby Sapusek of ColorCasters were joined by contributor Dan Gillespie of Alder Color Solutions to discuss five common areas where color management fails in the world of inkjet printing. Read More
Where Design Color and Textile Printing Interconnect, the Workflow Must Be Digital
As digital workflow increasingly makes its way into the textiles & apparel supply chain, how do you simplify the complex process that carries a creative piece of artwork through print production? That’s the question that Debbie McKeegan, textiles expert and WhatTheyThink contributor, addresses in this article. Read More
The Two Approaches to Prepress that Could Have an Impact on Your Bottom Line
The time it takes to prepare a job for digital print depends on many variables: the type of application, job complexity, number of pages, quality standards, and of course, the type of systems you have in place to automate and enable all of these. This article, sponsored by HP and written by HP Indigo's “Workflow Chef” Gershon Alon, looks at prepress and what it means for your bottom line. Read More
Association Insights—Getting to Know the Ghent Workgroup
The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) is an international organization made up of graphic arts experts, users, hardware and software vendors as well as educational members building best practices for print and packaging workflows. David Zwang highlights the accomplishments the organization has achieved over the past 20 years, expanding beyond its initial goals. Read More
Show Me the Money: Making Print Secure
Printing is a valuable and versatile platform that provides methods of communication, identification, even interaction. However, what happens when you need your printing secure or validated? David Zwang looks at today’s options. Read More
Can Measuring OEE Improve Your Productivity?
It seems like everyone is talking about “OEE” these days. This article, sponsored by HP and written by HP Indigo's "Workflow Chef" Gershon Alon, explains how OEE is a standard way to measure the “overall equipment effectiveness” of a manufacturing process—in this case, the printing process. Read More
Automation for the Win!
Automation is the next step in a successful future. It enables print service providers to tackle a growing number of print orders with the greatest efficiency and accuracy. Beyond having financial and practical benefits, it can be yet another differentiator that helps organizations stand apart from their competitors. This article discusses the most common benefits of automation and offers insights into how to overcome the challenges associated with implementing it. Read More
APTech Brings Research, Standards and Education to 2021
Association for PRINT Technologies (APTech) President Thayer Long details APTech’s latest developments, and discusses the programs, events, and other services the association has planned for 2021. Read More
Prepress Automation Made Easy
If you have taken the first steps to automating your workflow, you will have seen significant benefits from software you had likely already invested in. In this article, sponsored by EFI and the second in a series, explores how to take your workflow automation to the next level by examining your prepress operation to uncover bottlenecks that require extra labor and slow the production process. Read More
Taking Color Management to the Next Dimension
Color Management is the critical part of any reproduction process, especially as it relates to brand identity. We have good tools today, but as print applications expand beyond conventional media—for example, to packaging and industrial applications—we are starting to outgrow them. Read More
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