VIENNA, Austria — IfraExpo attracted some 10,000 attendees to the annual conference.

Among major developments:

•Kodak and MAN Roland unveiled printing technology designed to give newspapers on-press digital inkjet printing at full speed.

The companies adapted Kodak’s Versamark DP6240 printer so that it is capable of printing 3,000 feet-per-minute on a MAN Roland ColorMAN newspaper press, allowing newspapers to add text, one- and two-dimensional barcodes and images. The technology enables variable numbering or coding on any page of a newspaper, including internal pages of a  folded newspaper, to support a variety of news, advertising sales and promotional contest opportunities, the vendors said.

The ColorMAN has a rated capacity of up to 90,000 copies per hour.

“Kodak is bringing a variety of solutions to newspapers to increase their vitality for both readers and advertisers, while leveraging advanced technologies in new ways to reach wider audiences,” said H. Jack Knadjian, Kodak’s vice president, publishing market segment.

The printing system will be tested later this year and available in 2008, Kodak said.

•Koenig & Bauer AG sold a Cortina 6-by-2 Berliner-format press to Cologne, Germany, newspaper publisher M. DuMont Schauberg. The printer, which bought its first KBA press in 1833, purchased a Cortina configured as four four-high towers with a maximum web width of 74.4 inches. The waterless Cortina will also be engineered with seven double-turner bars, two folder superstructures with three formers each and two KF-5 jaw folders with section and ribbon stitchers.

Photos: Newspapers & Technology
Nela’s Logistack plate storage system, top; and EAE’s variable ink zone keyboard option, immediately above; were just two of the dozens of new products and technologies vendors debuted at IfraExpo. The show reflected the thriving European newspaper market.
 

•ABB rolled out an upgrade to its MPS InsertManager postpress management software.

•AdLizard debuted the AdPortal, software that lets newspapers offer Web-based advertising management and ad creation tools to marketers. It also debuted Template Assistant, a workflow app that lets customers request a new template or update existing templates from an AdLizard-hotsted Web site. The app will initially be available through AdPortal.

•Agfa gave the first demos of its Arkitex Core 6.0 workflow software and N92v plates. The plates, to be introduced in 2008, will replace Agfa’s N91v plates.

Agfa also hosted live demos of its chemistry-free violet plate, which the vendor said is now in live testing at Mediaprint in Austria (see related story, page 35); its Advantage DL computer-to-plate manual-load platesetter; and Arkitex apps including AdCenter and AdControl, Afirma and Intellitune X. AdCenter and AdControl are Web-based apps designed to streamline the newspaper display ad process. Afirma is a reporting and monitoring tool newspapers can use  to troubleshoot and control the plate production process and IntelliTune X is the latest release of Agfa’s image enhancement software (see related article, page 1).

•Alfa Media Solutions Inc. said its e-edition digital newspaper software was rolled out in eight Web sites operated by Journal Register Co.

•Alwan Color Expertise showcased its CMYK Optimizer V3 app that gives printers the ability to preflight, standardize and optimize 4-color files. The software can detect various problems, including separations made with incorrect ICC profiles and the presence of undesirable color spaces.

•Anygraaf showed the newest features of its ePlanner Web Content Management software, which includes polls, forums and community tools.

•Atex announced a number of sales (see related story, page 30), as well as its acquisition of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-based Atex distributor Vogsys. It also said it has completed its integration of Mactive and Unisys Media into the company. The combined Atex now has more than 800 customers worldwide and expects to post 2007 sales in excess of $100 million, Atex said.

•Baldwin Technology Co. Inc. formally debuted its web cleaning system, the Jetstream 1000. The system is a non-contact web cleaner for newspapers and commercial presses that uses a combination of aerodynamic nozzles, web ionization and brushes. It can be used for all web widths, Baldwin said, and features automatic splice detection.

•BasysPrint showcased its flexo computer-to-plate processing system. Flexo plate provider MacDermid Printing Solutions is marketing the system. MacDermid also launched the UV-Setter Series F546 CTP system aimed at flexographic newspaper printers.

•Brainworks Software teamed up with Advanced Publishing Systems to incorporate APS’ Optima Live production and planning software within Brainworks’ advertising and circulation apps.

•CCI Europe previewed Adobe CS3 support in its NewsGate production software. NewsGate 2.1, released Oct. 30, meshes with the latest updates to Adobe’s suite of design and editorial apps, including InDesign, InCopy, Illustrator and Photoshop.

Meantime, CCI Sourcing chose Database Publishing System’s AdTracker to synchronize and track advertising production work for its newspaper clients.

CCI Sourcing is the Chennai, India-based outsourcing firm established earlier this year as a venture between CCI’s parent company Stibo and Indian newspaper The Hindu (see Newspapers & Technology, May 2007).

The DPS app will be used to track production worldwide for CCI Sourcing, which also serves ad agencies in Europe. The company installed a hosted implementation of AdTracker in northern California and a similar setup is scheduled for installation in Central Europe to serve European newspapers.

•Digital Technology International rolled out MediaPool, content management software that’s based on InterSystems Corp.’s Cache database. The software will let users create content for either print or online from a single database. DTI also debuted an upgrade to its NewsSpeed editorial and WebSpeed content management app (see related story, page 40).

•EAE debuted a variable ink zone keyboard into its EAE control console. The keyboard can be used for all web widths, regardless of the number of ink zones on the press, EAE said. Printers can use the keyboard to determine how ink zones are assigned via LEDs that display the respective ink zone limits. EAE also said its Baltic consoles are now equipped with 16:10 aspect ratio monitors, which allow operators to keep track of more production elements.

Finally, EAE unveiled its general contracting services. The firm’s first project is to dismantle a MAN Roland ColorMAN press in Stockholm and reassemble it in Goteborg, Sweden. The remodeled press will be fitted with EAE controls, shaftless drives, a service PC and re-engineered reelstands.

•FFEI Ltd. unveiled its line of violet computer-to-plate devices for newspapers. The FFEI News is available in three models for output speeds of 80, 100 or 120 plates per hour. The platesetters use twin-laser exposure and have an online capacity of up to 750 plates, FFEI said. Resolutions up to 2,540 dpi provide good image quality for newspaper and commercial users. The platesetters also include a rapid restart feature designed to reduce downtime.

•Goss International said it sold two Uniliner S 4-by-1 presses to French newspaper L’Union. The new presses will increase color capacity from four broadsheet pages to 32 tab pages, Goss said.

•Helios Software introduced Helios UB, a color management app that supports Macintosh, Windows and Web clients.

•Ifra recognized nine newspapers with XMA Cross Media awards, citing their efforts to develop interactive features and encourage civic participation. The winners are: Bocholter-Borkener Volksblatt in Bocholt, Germany; SaarbrückerVerlagService in Saarbrücken, Germany; Heraldo de Arag”n in Zaragoza, Spain; Dagbladet in Oslo, Norway; La Nacion in Buenos Aires; Sudkurier Medienhaus in Constance, Germany; Agora/Gazeta Wyborcza in Warsaw; El Pais in Madrid; and Telegraph Media Group in London.

•Krause debuted its Smart’n’Easy workflow concept, which the vendor said encompasses everything from computer-to-plate imaging and processing to punch bending. The vendor also unveiled the Smart’n’Easy Jet platesetter, targeted at smaller regional newspapers. Krause said the Smart’n’Easy Jet offers the quality and technology of higher-end CTP devices, can be easily installed and configured and allows simplified system integration.

•Nela introduced an intelligent plate storage system, the Logistack. The system, cloaked with buffering technology, communicates with production layout software and is engineered to work with automatic and semi-autoamatic plate loading systems from MAN Roland and KBA.

•PPI Media said Oklahoma Publishing Co. upgraded its classified pagination software with ppi’s AdPag module. PPI also signed a deal with Escenic to blend Escenic’s online publishing software with ppi’s forthcoming Felix editorial software.

•PrintCity said work is continuing on its Value Added Printing of Newspapers study. The group has been beefed up with the  addition of project  members Oce and MacDermid Printing Solutions and project partner Eltex. The companies are now in the process of publishing an updated VAPoN report in  early 2008. Among information to be included in the report is new data from the first deployment of an Eltex Innocure inert UV installation, using  VAPoN member Sun Chemical’s UniWeb Sunray inks, at Herold Druck in Vienna, Austria. The group is also studying consumer reaction to different grades of papers printed heatset and coldset. Initial results show that the higher grade papers can attract higher ad revenues. Other VAPoN members are MAN Roland, UPM and Megtec.

•ProImage said Financial Times Deutschland will roll out its NewsWay production workflow software.

•Q.I. Press Controls said it installed an automated color registration system, featuring its Intelligent Density System control architecture, at Norwegian publisher Edda Trykk. IDS and other QIPC apps are enabling the newspaper to oversee color registration automatically, without operator intervention.

•Quark Inc. rolled out QPS 7.0, making it compatible with the most recent upgrades to QuarkXPress and QuarkCopyDesk.

•SandyScreen AG introduced an upgrade to its SandyStar screening app. QM SandyStar is engineered as a universal printing element that can support up to 2,400 dpi resolution.

•Schur Packaging Systems debuted a new high-speed inserter, the NewsStar. The system uses a 48-pocket design and can support up to 60 feeders, the company said. It has a rated capacity of 50,000 copies per hour and will be commercially available in 2009. “The NewsStar is the completion of our product portfolio,” said Knud Eric Rodbro, Schur’s managing director. TMS software permits fine-zoning down to a single copy, Schur said. The company also demonstrated its DVS preventive maintenance software.

•Sinapse Graphic International said it is making press simulators available for Goss International Corp. Universal and Uniliner presses.

•Tansa Systems rolled out German proofing software.

•Techniweb introduced an upgraded version of its web cleaning system. The Paris-based firm said it is planning to market its products and services to U.S. newspapers in 2008.

•Tera Digital Publishing unveiled its Content Management Service Architecture, which the vendor said will be the basis for all of its future products. CMSA defines the infrastructure necessary to handle content in a uniform production flow, Tera said, and CMSA apps are able to accept new content formats and use new presentation and distribution technologies.

Tera also announced plans to integrate AP Web Feeds from The Associated Press into its software .

•Vegra showcased environmentally focused cleaning products. Easy-Cleaner-202-US uses ultrasonic technology to clean press components while VOC-Free Pressroom Cleaner Concentrate Green 220 400 Zi can be used with offset, flexo and hybrid inks, among other consumables and components.

•VR Systems introduced two new products: the EcoStrip automatic unpacking machine and the EcoTrans roll handling system designed for newspapers that need to transfer rolls among single-level temporary storage positions. VR also said it is installing a stripping and preparation line at Trinity Mirror’s Watford, England, production site. The project will link Trinity Mirror’s ASRS outfeed to an existing AGV system. VR, formerly known as Metso/Von Roll, said the system will be installed next spring.

•WoodWing Software introduced Smart Newspapers, an integrated suite of software that oversees such operations as planning, information gathering, writing, editing, layout and publishing to multiple outlets. The apps are linked by the firm’s Smart Connection Enterprise platform and will be available before the end of the year, the company said.