InPrint Issue 6 by Life Media Group

PLUS: INPRINT MEET CREATIVELY DIFFERENT - UPDATE: IS THERE STILL MONEY TO BE MADE IN ID PHOTO PRINTING? EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS - SIGN & DIGITAL: YOUR EVENT InPrint 1 PREVIEW - NEWS - THE LATEST PRODUCTS AND MUCH MORE InprintIssue6.indd 1

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pixel fullpage DKS4-PBB 232.8x320.1mm.pdf

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CMY

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contents issue six

05 - News

News and updates, facts and ﬁgures from the world of printing.

10 - The Complete Package

Photomart’s new Chorus ID bundles supply any retailer with everything they need to get started in ID printing.

14 - More than Just Watches

InPrint takes the opportunity to get to know Citizen’s products and their Sales and Marketing Director for Citizen Systems Eurpoe, Mark Moore.

24 - Launchpad

A concise showcase of the latest products and equipment for the printing business.

30 - PRINTED

A conversation with Alistair Archer, Managing Director of Creatively Different Ltd.

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CREDITS & CONTACTS Managing Director/Publisher: Lee Mansﬁeld 01323 411601 lee@lifemediagroup.co.uk

Subscriptions: Alex Weeks 01323 437941 alex@lifemediagroup.co.uk

Sales Director: Simon Skinner 01323 433700 simon@lifemediagroup.co.uk

Accounts: Clare Fermor Amelia Wellings 01323 433708 clare@lifemediagroup.co.uk amelia@lifemediagroup.co.uk

Editor: Laura Knight 01323 437946 laura@lifemediagroup.co.uk Production Design/ Editorial Assistant: Harriet Weston 01323 411601 harriet@lifemediagroup.co.uk

Published by: LMG SE LTD Park View House 19 The Avenue, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21 3YD 01323 411601 www.lifemediagroup.co.uk

Printed by: Ambassador Litho Limited Bristol BS16 3HH 0117 965 5252 www.ambassador.co.uk All material in this publication is strictly copyright and all rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. The views expressed in InPrint Magazine do not necessarily represent the view of Life Media Group LTD. Every care is taken in compiling the contents but the publishers of InPrint Magazine assume no reponsibilty for any damage, loss or injury arising from the participation in any offers, competitions or advertisment contained within InPrint Magazine. All prices featured in InPrint Magazine are correct at the time of going to press.

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Kodak Wide-Format Inkjet Media: BMG Offers Business as Usual Loyal customers for the acclaimed Kodak range of wide-format inkjet media need have no concerns about their ability to purchase Kodak products in future, nor about the expert back-up on which they have come to expect. In a licensing agreement effective from 2 January 2012, the Brand Management Group (BMG) has taken on the international marketing, sale and distribution of Kodak wide-format inkjet media products to imaging professionals. The BMG team has more than 15 years’ experience of selling inkjet media, equipment, and supplies across all market sectors, including printfor-pay, POS, digital photography, government, in-house and beverage distribution markets. With established distribution centres in the UK and the Netherlands, and a further 15 centres across North America, each offering state-of-the-art inventory and order processing, the company is conﬁdent of its ability to deliver – and exceed – customers’ expectations. A spokesman said, “BMG has helped over 20,000 printing, imaging and sign businesses adapt to changing markets and develop new revenue sources. Whether it’s with existing products, new products or introducing new technologies, we are here to help you grow your business and increase your bottom line.” BMG, in collaboration with Kodak, is planning to roll out a variety of new inkjet media products throughout the year. “Kodak is extremely excited about BMG’s commitment to providing industry leading sales and support along with their passionate desire to expand the Kodak wideFormat inkjet media portfolio. We will be working closely with the BMG team to evaluate new products and technologies,” said Lisa Singer, Worldwide Product Manager, Packaging Products Group. Eastman Kodak Company. For more information regarding the Kodak Wide Format Media please contact Sarah Punt at sarah@brandmanagementgroup. com or call +44(0)1992 563355.

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news A New Zest for Life Eastbourne-based Zest Printing is inspiring entrepreneurs in the town by celebrating a successful ﬁrst year with a birthday party. Zest is an on-demand print business with design, print, ﬁnishing and facilities management situated at its core. In the middle of the recession Managing Director Julie Banks, took the risky decision to end a 30-year franchise relationship with Prontaprint and began trading as Zest on 1 December 2011. One year on they have much to be proud of. Free of the constraints of the franchise, Zest has developed an exciting new brand, grown

the business in Eastbourne by 15% year on year, expanded into a second premises behind the Enterprise Centre, taken over Prontaprint Hastings and most recently taken on an apprentice. Zest is also one of very few printers accredited with the ISO 9001 Quality Management System standard. The accreditation is evidence of Zest’s highly efﬁcient operation, total commitment to its clients and constant strive to seek new ways to improve its services and client offering. Julie Banks said: “The rebrand emphasised our heritage - same staff, same premises, same service - but

enabled us to do it better. Rebranding as Zest has allowed us to drive our extensive experience and skills in the direction of our choosing. As a bonus, we have managed to retain the same highly skilled, committed and reinvigorated staff who are looking forward to developing our already successful offering.” Julie commented: “We’ve had a remarkable year in 2012, I want to thank our customers, staff and suppliers for their fantastic support. Long may it continue into 2013 and beyond.”

Metroprint Launch a New Instagram Printing Service Metroprint has announced a new online and walk-in printing service that lets you bring your Instagram photographs to life. Metroprint is the online print service from specialist photographic lab Metro Imaging. They have devised a 5 x 5 inch Instagram print on matte or gloss Fuji Crystal Archive paper, for just 35p per print. The service, available on Metroprint’s online uploader is designed for high quality prints either from your desktop to your

door, or as a walk in service in our EC1 London lab through the Kiosk service. Instagram, the free photosharing, social network app was launched in October 2010, and now has a staggering 30 million daily users. It is at the heart of the urban scene and has become a huge trend among the tech savvy, offering users the chance to take great quality photographs that are as quick as a Polaroid and as instant as a text message or tweet.

The Metroprint service is straightforward and easy to use, with prints ready within two days (not including delivery time.)

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news

Printers Support BHF Graphics and Print announced at the start of the new Barclays premier league season that they would be running a fantasy league to help raise money for charity. Now 9 weeks into the season, the award winning Shropshire printers have just announced their month 2 winner and Gary Jarvis has beaten off competition from nearly 100 participants, to win the charity award, which he chose to give to the British Heart Foundation. Managing Director Martin Kells is glad to be paying out for such a worthwhile charity: “The British Heart Foundation is the UK’s biggest heart charity whose goal is to lead the ﬁght against heart disease – the nation’s number one killer

and I am therefore delighted that Graphics and Print are playing their part. The idea behind the Fantasy Football League was ﬁrst and foremost to raise money for charities as part of our commitment to the community but at the same time we also wanted to have some fun in the process. You wouldn’t believe how competitive this is getting! “Sadly, so many commercial printers are struggling and can’t or won’t commit to the communities that they serve but we make sure that every one of our employees spends time supporting the community.” In total, the award winning Telford printer put £1000 up for grabs.

Watch this Space! Photomart are soon to announce a new promotion on their ImageColour wide format paper range, with exclusive new incentives for their customers in the new year. Also launched will be the new ImageColour Proﬁle - an automated custom ICC colour proﬁling service. Available early 2013, this service will further improve results for Photomart customers using the ImageColour range by enhancing printer compatibility.

www.photomart.co.uk

Personalised Photo Products Growth Anticipated Due to the popularity of products like photo books, photo calendars, and photo cards, the worldwide photo merchandise market has experienced strong growth over the past few years.A new study from Infotrends examines the “next-generation” of printed products. Today’s consumers are expressing their personalities through the products they buy on a daily basis. Printed products have capitalized on this trend, thanks to a rising installed base of digital printing

presses that allow for shortrun production of a wide range of products, as well as new creative tools and software that give consumers the ability to customise printed products with elements such as text, borders, graphics, and personal photos. “The overall market for

personalised printed products in the U.S. is estimated to grow from around 113 million units in 2012 to nearly 158 million units by 2017, says David Haueter, Associate Director for InfoTrends’ Photo Merchandise Trends Service. “It should be remembered that many of the products in this category have been around for many years and reside in a relatively mature market. Personalisation is breathing new life into many of these products, resulting in growth rather than ﬂat or declining volume.”

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Retail Photo Gift Solutions Mitsubishi Electric’s latest photo retail solution Gift Kiosk has been designed to offer ID photos, instant print and personalised gifts quickly and easily. Gift Kiosk enables customers to create and print personalised calendars, albums, gift & greetings cards, mosaic and collage prints and instant prints, using their own images stored on memory card, USB memory stick, CD / DVD or via their online Facebook and Picassa accounts.

Mitsubishi are currently offering Gift Kiosk bundle packages starting at £3899 which includes hardware, starter media, point of sale material as well as installation, training and warranty.* For more detail contact Mitsubishi 01707 278684 email printer.info@meuk.mee.com or visit our website! * Check availability

All of our systems include passport photo printing services and Mitsubishi’s integrated biometric ID software makes the process of making a passport or ID photograph, very simple and quick; instant prints are available in 6"x4", 5"x7" & 6"x8" formats in either a gloss or matt finish.

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news

A Portrait of the European Market Photo-Me’s positive results give an interesting overview of the strengths and weaknesses of photo printing in Europe Photo-Me have announced such successful half-year results that the board is considering additional returns to shareholders. Despite challenges to the European ID photo market, the company posted a pre-tax profit in 2012 of £20m, up 17.4% (25.9% in constant currency) despite revenue decline of 7.1% (2.1% in constant currency). In these quarters, the Sales and Servicing division returned to profitability and Photo-Me announced the formal launch of new coin-operated laundry machines which have boosted the company’s forecasts for growth. Photo-Me now have a net cash position of £70 million, an increase of £18.2 million since year end . In the photo printing sector, Photo-me are pleased to report that a better level of profitability has been achieved following a restructuring. “Digital printing kiosks are very much focused in Continental Europe, particularly France and Switzerland, with a smaller presence in the UK. The number of vending sites for digital kiosks is around 5,000 sites. The product offering is continuing to evolve and the Group has now introduced into the marketplace its latest model which offers different formats of prints and a complete range of added value services such as calendars, greeting cards

and postcards, together with a scanner for photo replication. Trading in both revenue and operating profit terms was broadly similar to last year. “As part of the restructuring plan, KIS moved a few years ago from their premises in Echirolles (France). Those premises were sold in October, generating a £2.4m profit. On the other hand, to face the decline of the minilab business, an additional provision of £1.9m has been booked against the stock of spare parts. “The operating background remains difficult, although the

and will be less impacted by the prevailing economic climate. “As to the present, as we always point out, the first half is seasonally the stronger for Photo-Me in terms of profits and we expect this certainly to be the case again. However, the Board remains confident of good progress over the year given that the level of profits in the first half broadly matched the outturn for the whole of the previous year. “The Group has again traded well and delivered a record result, despite a currency headwind. A growing estate,

“Sales of the new DKS4 minilab continue to be restrained by ongoing weakness in the photographic printing marketplace” Group did continue to deliver a further 300 Pocketbook Makers to Mitsubishi and 100 Photobook Builders to Fuji. Sales of the new DKS4 minilab continue to be restrained by ongoing weakness in the photographic printing marketplace. John Lewis, Non-Executive Chairman, commented “The proﬁtability of the business has improved and cash ﬂow remains strong. In addition, we are about to introduce more coin-operated laundry machines, which we believe have substantial potential in the medium-term

tighter management and lower costs have all contributed to this with notable improvements in Germany, Switzerland and Japan and another very good performance in our largest market, France. “As we always point out, the first half is seasonally the stronger for Photo-Me in terms of profits and we expect this certainly to be the case again. However, the Board remains confident of good progress over the year given that the level of profits in the first half broadly matched the outturn for the whole of the previous year.”

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The Complete Package Photomart’s new Chorus ID bundles supply any retailer with everything they need to get started in ID printing. But is this market still strong, and why is this opportunity so important? Inprint investigates. It’s been a turbulent year for the UK’s ID photo market, but despite frequent high-profile challenges, passport sized photos are still a major source of income for retailers and service providers in our sector. If anything, the uncertainty as to whether retailers will still be called upon to produce photos for passport and visa use has highlighted the sheer scope and scale of other applications for the format, such as transport passes and professional use. Photomart have continued to supply retailers with solutions designed to make providing ID format photographs easy and cost-effective, allowing them to make the most of this opportunity. Designed to enable any retail outfit to begin printing ID photographs from scratch, Photomart’s Chorus ID system bundles all include a suitable camera, ID format software and a Citizen CY printer, with various configurations of accessories so that any business can get started straight away and their initial investment will be covered very quickly. Citizen’s new CY Dye Sub printer offers its users a cost effective printing solution without sacrificing functionality or quality. Ciizen have

“The ID Photo Maker software is very powerful and has been designed to make ID Photo, passport and visa photography easy”

ﬁtted the printer with new software to offer customers more choice from print services with just one PC. Three print sizes are available - 6x4”, 5x7” and 6x8” with some of the best cost per print ratios on the market. The ID Photo Maker software is very powerful and has been designed to make ID Photo, passport and visa photography easy. The software features all the ID Photo styles, templates, pro cropping functions, step-by-step user interface, video tutorials, help ﬁles and hints that you could ever need. The ID Photo Maker will help you get the perfect results in minutes!

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Focus

Inprint spoke to Lewis Martindale, CEO of Photomart, about this new offering. Lewis, What do your new Chorus packages offer for the retailer? Photomart started as a traditional photo retail business, so we understand the needs and requirements of other photo businesses better than any big-brand

manufacturer. When Citizen approached us with the idea of developing an ID/passport photo system, we knew that we had to put together a solution that was practical, ďŹ&#x201A;exible, reliable, economical and without any compromises. I am happy to say that Chorus offers our customers all of these things and more. How does this offering expand to suit those who are not traditionally photo businesses, such as convenience stores, copy shops etc? Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m really glad you asked that question because

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Focus Chorus was designed speciﬁcally with these types of businesses in mind as well. Without compromising on any of the functionality and biometric capabilities of the system, Chorus doubles as a fully functional photo kiosk. It can be networked just as easily as it can be set up as a stand-alone system and because of the nonproprietary nature of the system’s architecture, it can be integrated seamlessly with virtually any other hardware, so it enables these dealers to offer even more to their customers.

can equally present businesses with fantastic opportunities and it’s simply about identifying those opportunities and then acting upon them. Nevertheless, businesses should also be prudent when taking investment decisions and spreading one’s risk is a very prudent way of protecting your investments against threats in the volatile world of business. Now as far as the photo retail segment is concerned, Chorus offers enormous ﬂexibility and a broad range of in-store services that allows vendors to do exactly that.

Sure, but all these additional features & functions come at a premium? That may be true in the case of the other systems but not for Chorus. No additional licences are required and for the price of an ID/passport system, the retailer gets a complete in-store solution that will take care of any photo retail requirements. Nothing like this has ever been previously available.

How does the UK market for these products compare with the rest of Europe by way of types of retailer and volumes? Europe is a big market so these factors can vary significantly from one region to another within the European market as a whole. What I can say however is that, especially the independent vendors in Europe, seem to be far more proactive in general in promoting in-store products and services and this is clearly reflected in the volumes many of them achieve. Perhaps this should be a bit of a wake-up call for UK businesses. The money is there to be made but it’s simply not going to walk through the door. If, as a photo retailer, you are not having the success you think you should be having, Photomart can assess your business and suggest ways of making significant improvements to your overall bottom line.

Photomart remain proliﬁc in the ID printing trade despite recent challenges to the market. New technologies and legislation seem to be a constant threat to the traditional market how do you see this playing out over the next couple of years? Far be it for me to predict what new threats (or opportunities) the market can expect to encounter further down the line but less we forget that volatility is within the very nature of business, without it, we’d never be able to turn a proﬁt. Changes in technology or legislation

“Independent vendors in Europe, seem to be far more proactive in general in promoting in-store products and services and this is clearly reﬂected in the volumes many of them achieve”

www.photomart.co.uk

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More than Just Watches

With Citizen printers forming a crucial part of Photomart’s ID offering, InPrint takes the opportunity to get to know Citizen’s products and their Sales and Marketing Director for Citizen Systems Eurpoe, Mark Moore.

Please talk us through the Citizen CY printers’ USPs brieﬂy. What sets them apart from their competitors? Citizen is the original manufacturer of these kinds of printers, so has an inside knowledge on their build and performance. The new CY range was developed as a lower-speciﬁcation version of the original Citizen CW printer, with a view to reduce prices as the market became more competitive. The CY is slightly slower and uses lower cost, thinner media – but only an expert would be able to see the difference in print quality. It’s perfectly suited to the applications it will be used for. The original higher performance is available in the new Citizen OP900 II which is a direct replacement to the Citizen CW-01 and OP900. Some of our readers might not be familiar with the Citizen brand, what’s the background story? The company was originally founded as Shokosha Watch Research Institute in 1918.

“Citizen sees the value in promoting these printers themselves, not to compete with their other vendor partners, but to maximise market coverage” The trade name originated from a pocket watch Citizen sold in 1924. It is one of the world’s largest producers of watches. The Holding Group consists of Watches, Machinery, Systems and Electronics. Citizen Europe is the daughter company of Citizen Systems Japan, part of the Citizen Holdings (and Citizen watch) group. Based in Germany and the UK they deliver and support a wide range of speciality printers. The route to market is through a limited distribution channel, of which Photomart is a key partner. What is Citizen’s relationship with Photomart in the UK and Europe and how does the synergy between beneﬁt the photo retail industry?

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focus

Citizen values the market expertise of Photomart, who have established themselves as a strong international distributor with excellent knowledge of the dye-sublimation printer business. These are the printers we focus on when working with Photomart, so they are perfectly positioned to distribute these solutions to the right businesses. Outside of the CY printers Photomart are promoting in their new bundles, what other products make up Citizenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s printer/product range? Citizen has a wide range of speciality printers, including matrix, POS, thermal label and mobile printers. We also

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Profit from smartphone snaps NEW Wi-Fi Direct upgrade kit.

A quick and easy way to print photos from smartphones

Taopix Portfolio

The Magic Touch new reﬂective products

“

The new service we will be able to offer smartphone users will be fantastic, they will be able to access the images they need to print much more quickly. They will then be able to do more with the great photos they have trapped on their smartphones.

There is nothing more frustrating than watching a consumer stand in front of a kiosk with a cable connected trying to access the camera roll folder on an iPhone... with the right connectivity and an easy to use app, sales will definitely increase.

Ken Stait | Stait Photography - Morpeth

Trevor Brown | Colorgrafix - Louth

”

To upgrade your Kodak kiosks simply load version 6 software and attach the Wi-Fi Direct dongle. Your customers can quickly select the photos they want to print using the FREE Kodak smartphone app and then send them to the kiosk. Wi-Fi upgrade kit from £65, Dongle only from £35*, available September 2012. To order upgrade kits for your Kodak kiosks contact Tetenal service on 0116 281 5741 or email: serviceuk@tetenal.com

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Retail Systems Solutions

InPrint 23 *Customers with a Tetenal Service Support contract Wi-Fi Dongle is £30.36 21/11/2012 17/12/201217:12 09:42

focus “UK retailers are probably behind the general European curve when it comes to kiosk solutions, however the UK certainly lead the ﬁeld in professional event photography. There are certainly areas for growth and development throughout the European market, and Citizen is well positioned to help retailers make the most of these”

manufacture a wide range of dye-sublimation printers, which are mostly manufactured for other brands, but Citizen sees the value in promoting these printers themselves, not to compete with their other vendor partners, but to maximise market coverage and increase awareness of the brand. It also offers distributors and end users further choice, so it represents a worthwhile investment to everyone. Are there any exciting new products planned for the future and can you tell us a bit about them? Too many to count! We make so many products for inclusion in other brands’ equipment as well as our own brand, and we really are a market leading brand. In order to maintain this position, we must always be looking to produce new printers and solutions. We do have some particular new innovations ready to hit the market in the coming year, which I can’t reveal too much about right now but look out for solutions for different print formats using dye-sublimation and thermal transfer technologies! What applications are your products used for in the rest of the European Market? How does their use and the types of retailer they are installed within differ from place to place? How do other print retail markets compare with the UK? This is a really big question if you include our POS and thermal printers. In these markets the UK tends to lead the way in retail solutions, this is probably driven by the intense competition between the top ﬁve retail brands. In the photo printing market, UK retailers are probably behind the general European curve when it comes to kiosk solutions, however the UK certainly lead the ﬁeld in professional event photography. There are certainly areas for growth and development throughout the European market, and Citizen is well positioned to help retailers make the most of these, with the help of our distributors, Photomart. www.photomart.co.uk

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Sign of the Times Sign and Digital UK will bring the future of the digital print industry to the NEC in April. Sign & Digital UK will return in 2013 for three days packed with show features and seminar programmes, including the Signmakers’ Workshop, the Adobe Theatre and Corel Seminar Programme, Sign & Digital UK 2013 is seeing a flurry of bookings with big name exhibitors committing to significant space at the event. Sign and Digital UK’s organisers have already reported a strong line up for next year’s event, with exhibitors including Epson, Roland DG, Hybrid Services/Mimaki, Agfa Graphics, Digital Print Innovations, Signmaster Systems, Granthams, Blackburn Metals, Radecal Machine Sales & Services, Maxicam and The Sign Group are just some of the companies that have booked their space for the show. Rudi Blackett, Event Director for S&D UK commented; ‘’We are delighted to report strong stand sales already for Sign & Digital UK 2013, which will be held in 2013 at the NEC, Birmingham from April 30th to May 2nd. “The show is well established as a business event for the sign & display graphics industry and the growing number of end users of signage and digital printing output. Exhibitors at the 2012 show have reported significant sales onsite – confirming that Sign & Digital UK is without doubt a must- attend annual event for businesses to find the best deals, keep up with the latest technology and make informed purchasing decisions.’’ Hybrid’s marketing manager, and regular

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Show Preview

“Sign & Digital UK is without doubt a must- attend annual event for businesses to ﬁnd the best deals, keep up with the latest technology and make informed purchasing decisions”

Sign & Digitral 2012

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Show Preview

Sign & Digitral 2011

exhibitor at the show, Duncan Jefferies said; “Sign & Digital UK 2013 is set to play a very important part in Hybrid’s plans for next year, affording us the opportunity to meet with our core UK & Irish customers. Historically, we’ve enjoyed great success at the show and fully expect next year’s to be equally valuable.” Sign and Digital was a popular event with Inprint’s readers last year, who found the event varied enough to provide relevant and interesting exhibits for all sorts of retailers across the graphics, copy, photo and wider digital printing market. Brett Newman, Technical Director at Roland DG (UK) commented; “In line with Roland DG’s growing portfolio of innovative products for the sign making and digital printing market, we have signiﬁcantly increased our stand presence at Sign & Digital UK 2013, as we see the exhibition as a great opportunity to spend quality time and do

business with both new and existing customers.” The 2013 show will also see the introduction of a business development learning zone, which will contain a number of niche areas, focusing on developing markets and dedicated to making money. One of the aims of these new areas will be to educate and demonstrate. Alan Caddick, Senior Marketing Manager explains; ‘’To further increase the advice on offer at the show, we have introduced this new business zone which will be a really effective way for business owners to spend a day out of the ofﬁce. The idea is for business professionals to come and learn about new business opportunities and see them in action. Opportunities that they can add into their existing businesses, and in some cases, with only a small investment for a great return.”

Closer to the event, Inprint will once again bring you a preview of the event with an essential round-up of products that will be debuted at the show and details of any releases or show-only deals that exhibitors will have with them. We also recommend following Sign and Digital UK @signanddigital on twitter for upto-the-minute news, offers and exhibitor lists.

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The Imaging Store

P of P

CAMERAS BRIDGE BRIDGE COMPACTS COMPACTS OPTICS OPTICS EXTREME EXTREME

DSLR CSC CAMCORDER BROADCAST 3D

SMART TELEVISIONS

PRO LAPTOPS

TV STANDS AND WALL MOUNTS

HIGH QUALITY TABLETS

SOFTWARE

LENSES

GOLD PLATED HDMI CABLES

D PA

MOUSE

APPS

TABLET CASES

TRIPODS

KEY

FILTERS

FIELD RECORDERS

BOA

LAPTOP HARD DRIVES

INSTALLATION 3D GLASSES

CASES

RDS HEADPHONES

CHARGERS

CASES

SPE

LIGHTING

PROTECTION

UNDER UNDER CAMER CAMER

MEMORY BATTERY CHARGERS

TRAINING ADAPTORS

LAPTOP DOCKS

WIRELESS ADAPTORS

BAGS

STYLUS

WEBCAM

OPTICAL CABLE

LENS MOUSE

CLEANING PRODUCTS

TIO

SPEAKERS

22 InPrint

PROJECTORS

BATTERIES

PROJECTORS

SPEAKERS

SOLAR POWERED CHARGER CASE

MONITORING/ VIEWING DEVICE

SOLAR POWERED CHARGERS WIRELESS ADAPTORS

CLEANING PRODUCTS

CLOUD COMPUTING

SMART TV WEBCAM

EXTREM EXTREM SPORT SPORT MOUNT MOUNT

CLOUD COMPUTING

HEADPHONES

SMART WIRELESS KEYBOARD

MEMORY MEMORY

HEADPHONES

APPS

MEMORY

BLU RAY SMART HOME CINEMA

DSLR DSLR RI R

HEADPHONES MEMORY

APPS

STABILI STABIL MOUNT MOUNT

S IC

FILM

CLEA PRO

AP FILM/CINE/DVD FILM/CINE/DVD TRANSFER TRANSFER & & DUPLICATES DUPLICATES

BOOM MIC

BROAD EQUIP

STUDIO FACILITIES

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theimaging

Pixel’s vision of the expanded world of imaging retail has stimulated an immense amount of discussion in the trade. We have reprinted this reference for you to keep and talk about. Please come and share your thoughts, suggestions and additions at pixel.co.uk

PHONES

DGE DGE PACTS PACTS TICS TICS REME REME

ILM

LABS

MEMORY

POP UP BANNERS

ACRYLICS

STABILITY STABILITY MOUNTS MOUNTS

PHOTO PAPER STYLUS

DSLR DSLR RIGS RIGS

CLOUD COMPUTING

RETOUCHING SERVICES PRIN

TER P APER

DOCKS

INKS FILM/CINE/DVD TRANSFER

SPEAKERS

NV AS

BAGS HEADPHONES UNDERWATER UNDERWATER CAMERA CAMERA CASES CASES

EXTREME EXTREME SPORT SPORT MOUNTS MOUNTS

CLEANING PRODUCTS

APPS FIELD RECORDERS SOLAR POWERED CHARGERS

TRIPODS

PAPER TRIMMERS

APPS

DVD DVD & & SS

WIRELESS ADAPTORS

APPS SPEAKERS

BATTERIES

KIOSK

Enrich your retail environment with social elements designed to get your customers talking, sharing and coming back for more. COFFEE MACHINES

EXTREME SPORTS CASES

STABILITY

SOFA PHOTO ALBUMS

BROADCAST EQUIPMENT

PASSPORT PHOTOS

PHOTO ALBUMS

SOCIAL

CASES

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Your Essential Guide to the Latest Launches NEW SERVICE HELPS PHOTOPGRAPHERS MAKE MORE MONEY’ FROM WEDDINGS Wedding Photographers who offer their clients a “disc only” option can now beneﬁt ﬁnancially, thanks to a new service by album specialists PhotoValue. ‘The 3XM Solution’ is a web-based service through which brides and grooms can order a wide range of albums with their photographer receiving a commission on each purchase. Photographers provide their clients with images taken at their wedding on a custom designed 8GB jewelled ‘Memory Heart’ USB. Within the USB packaging, is a printed brochure giving them information about how to order their album. There’s also a licence key which links all orders back to their photographer so that they receive a revenue share on everything bought. Clients have a wide selection of album styles and designs to choose from. The cost to photographers is modest. For

£120, or just £24 per wedding including VAT and delivery, they will receive the ‘3XM 5 Wedding Pack’, which includes: Five beautifully presented 8GB (Grade A) Memory Heart USBs; Five ‘Social Networking Marketing Video’ credits to help drive referrals from friends and family; Back up storage for up to 500 images for 13 months for each of those ﬁve weddings; FREE advertising on the ‘Find a Photographer facility’ on the wedding albums boutique website and a revenue share on everything sold to the happy couple or their family and friends on Wedding Album Boutique.

A TOUCH OF ILUX-URY Photomart have announced the launch of a groundbreaking new studio lighting range called iLux. Featuring a tough, extruded aluminium housing with a rubber coated surface, Perkin Elmer flash tubes, fan cooling and microprocessor controlled electronics, the whole iLux range are designed for unparalelled reliability in any working environment. The new brand’s top-quality HEC capacitors, digital display and output settings have an accuracy of up to one tenth of a stop, offering professional photographers the precise functionality they need. Offering results comparable to - and in some cases exceeding the quality of - leading brands, iLux retails at far lower prices points so for the price of a 200w set of the market leading brand’s lighting, photographers could be enjoying a 300W set from Photomart’s new iLux range! Both appealing and affordable, the new brand is designed to offer an entry point that will allow photographers to cut costs without sacrificing on build quality or results. Photomart are preparing for the official launch

of these products at Focus on Imaging in 2013, and have already received an overwhelmingly positive reponse from photographers given a preview of the equipment at Photomart’s headquarters. Initially, Photomart will be stocking the 300w and 500w iLux kits, plus a comprehensive collection of accessories including stands; light modifiers such as umbrellas, reflectors, soft boxes, barn doors, beauty dishes etc; radio triggers and more, providing photographers with everything they need to enjoy and profit from their new iLux experience and giving retailers ideal opportunities for add-on sales.

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launchpad DENIS WRIGHT RANGE AT PHOTOMART

NEW INJET PAPER FROM FUJIFILM: AFFORDABLE QUALITY. Fujifilm has released a new range of professional inkjet papers to supplement its Photographic Artwork Range. The new selection, ‘EZ Media’, provides the reliable quality of Fujifilm’s other large format media with a more attractive price-point. The range consists of three different types of media, all available on rolls – Canvas, Photo Base and Paper Base. EZ Canvas is available as 260gsm Poly Canvas, 340gsm Natural Canvas and 340gsm FF EZ Media Paper Ad.pdf 19/11/12 16:08:56 White Canvas. All EZ Canvas options are suitable for photo, graphic and fine art reproduction and for stretching and framing. EZ Photo Base comes in 240gsm Gloss Paper, 240gsm Satin Paper and 300gsm Pearl Paper. EZ Photo Base papers are instant dry, PE coated and microporous. They are the ideal media for portraits, posters and graphical art reproductions. EZ Paper Base is 170gsm Matt Bond Paper. EZ Paper Base is an instant dry, matt-coated paper and is perfect for presentations, posters and graphical output. Papers in the EZ Media range are compatible with most photo-capable large format and desktop printers. ICC colour management profiles are available for the range. Peter Wigington, marketing manager for the Fujifilm Photo Imaging Group made this comment on the release: “The EZ Media selection is an exciting addition to our Photographic Artwork Range and cements Fujifilm’s position as the ‘goto’ supplier of large format papers. We describe the EZ range as providing ‘affordable quality’ and that is the perfect description – a combination of Fujifilm’s consistent high quality with a price that will appeal to all photo retailers.” Fujifilm’s Photographic Artwork Range includes a paper for every possible creative requirement - from the heavyweight 310gsm Baryte Fine Art paper, to the 90gsm Matt Bond Paper Base each one has been designed with the customer’s needs at heart.

Now in stock at Photomart are a new selection of Denis Wright albums, photo CD and DVD cases. Denis Wright has been manufacturing top quality photo presentation products since 1936 and the constantly-updated range remains a consistant favourite with consumers and professional photography studios alike. Photomart can now supply a varied mixture of contemporary and more traditional albums, frames, mounts and other accessories manufactured by highly skilled, local UK craftsmen and craftswomen. It’s an ideal range for a wide spectrum of consumers and it offers a large range of price points, opening up margins for the retailer. www.photomart.co.uk

for creative freedom

CMY

Photographic Artwork Range

Fujifilm’s EZ product range is a Go to www.fujiﬁ lm.co.uk/parange to see selection of quality papers that offer the full selection. added value for the photofinisher, pro lab and photo retailer.

FineInkjet Art Media EZ Canvas

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EZ Poly Canvas

260gsm

EZ Natural Canvas

340gsm

EZ White Canvas

340gsm

Photo Base

create

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launchpad

44 AND 64-INCH MODELS MARK EPSON’S ENTRY INTO TEXTILE PRINTING Epson has entered the dye sublimation printing market for the first time with the announcement of two roll-fed dye sublimation printers: the 44-inch SureColor SCF6000 and the 64-inch SureColor SC-F7000. Providing high quality output at up to 720 x 1440dpi on all leading transfer papers, the new printers are not only the first dye sublimation models from Epson, but also the first in this sector in which every component, from ink and printhead, to printer chassis and optional accessories, are all designed and manufactured by one company. This ensures that quality, performance and reliability are all optimised for maximum productive uptime and profit, and a low Total Cost of Ownership. The SureColor SC-F models are durable and robust roll-fed CMYK printers that support an extensive range of applications. The mid-high volume 64-inch SureColor SC-F7000 and lowmedium volume 44-inch SureColor SC-F6000 have been developed for the efficient production

of quality soft signage, sportswear, apparel, accessories, customised promotional items and decorated gadgets.Both models output at speeds from 16 to 57m2/hr, depending upon application and feature an integral and easily reﬁllable, high-capacity 1.5 litre ink system. Furthermore, the auto takeup roll – standard for SC-F7000 and optional for the SureColor SC-F6000 – allows maximum uninterrupted production runs with minimal downtime for maintenance. Guy Martin, product manager, Epson Europe, says: “Digitalisation of textile printing is still less than 2% of the market, but this application is growing rapidly. Our strategy is to increase that percentage, by providing professional print sectors with the most reliable and cost-effective production solutions for the growing short run production, fully engineered by Epson to deliver consistent quality results. This is only a start for us and we will launch more products in the future.” www.epson.com

D-SALES REVEAL DEVELOP MONO PRODUCTION SYSTEM DSales Ltd, the UK distributor for the Develop range of production print systems, has launched the ineo 1052. With a maximum A4 output of 6,300 impressions an hour, the ineo 1052 is an excellent choice for average monthly print volumes of between 300,000 and 500,000 printouts and peak volumes up to 2 million prints per month. The ineo 1052 offers high media ﬂexibility including the option to print on paper weights from 40 to 350 gsm in single-sided printing and on paper of up to 300gsm. Develop’s production print systems are designed to meet the print industry’s preferred bleed size for media of SRA3, allowing

full size A3 documents with trim marks and A4 booklets to be trimmed to size. To provide high quality print output the ineo 1052 has a print resolution of 1,200 by 1,200dpi and benefit from using Develop’s HD polymerised toner with smaller, smoother, more uniform toner particles for fusing at lower temperatures and producing high quality images. For online finishing the ineo 1052 offers a comprehensive range of modular options with combinations of folding, punching, booklet making, perfect binding and staple finishing all supported. Large capacity trolley stacking units are available for off-line finishing.

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www.pmai.org

Eye-Fi Optimises for Phone and Tablet Eye-Fi was the pioneer in connected cameras, providing storage cards that also added WiFi to off-the-shelf cameras from major manufacturers. But as more of us take photos with already-connected phones, the company needed to seek new territory — and now it has, with Circ, a storage and syncing service. “Circ was created for anyone looking to easily access photos and videos anytime, anywhere, using their favorite devices,” the company says. “With every photo & video on every device, your best stories and favorite memories are ready to share anytime — not trapped on your computer at home or spouse’s phone. Storytelling has never been this fun.” The “completely new photo service” has an app for Windows, iPhone and Android that collects photos and videos from your devices, automatically organizes them, and uses the

cloud to keep everything in sync. Storage in the cloud is free and unlimited, and your photos are kept in original resolution. And, your content is available anywhere, without huge memory or performance demands on your devices. “Original resolution” isn’t quite the case if you’re thinking unaltered image capture ﬁles — but Eye-Fi is promoting its

compression as highly efficient and all-but lossless “It’s been five years since we launched our first Eye-Fi wireless SD card,” CEO Yuval Koren says. Since that time, “one of the fundamental changes we’ve all experienced is the proliferation of smartphones, tablets, and other devices we rely on to capture, view and share our memories.”

Kodak Extends CVS Relationship Kodak announced it’s extended its relationship with CVS/ pharmacy through 2016, adding that the four-year “extension of our relationship is great news for both companies, and for consumers who enjoy our services.” CVS operates 7,400 stores across the U.S. and is the largest customer of Kodak’s

Retail Systems Solutions business, Kodak says, with more than 15,000 Kodak kiosks in its stores. As part of the agreement, CVS will upgrade and expanding its APEX dry lab systems, which Kodak says “provide a more economical

way for retailers to produce photo products, improve proﬁtability, reduce their environmental footprint, and expand their customer offerings.”

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inside track Instagram and Twitter “Tiff” In a volley the NY Times called “The Photo Wars” but we’d call a tiff amongst the social imaging giants, Instagram disabled the code support that allowed Twitter users to embed Instagram images in their tweets that others could fully see in the Twitter newsfeed without going to the Instagram site. “Users are experiencing issues with viewing Instagram photos on Twitter,” Twitter says. “This is due to Instagram disabling its Twitter cards integration, and as a result, photos are being displayed using a pre-cards experience. So, when users click on Tweets with an Instagram link, photos

appear cropped.” Many online pundits see this as a more of a struggle between Twitter and Instagram’s new owner Facebook than an actual overt move on Instagram’s part. On the one hand: big whoop, it’s hardly a huge inconvenience to click the photo link and have it open a new browser window in which the photo appears full size — and it’s arguably better that way than the tiny inline image Twitter shows in its newsfeed… Instagram argues just that, actually: it wants its photos to be seen on its web page where it can optimally display them. On the other: this seems like a power grab that spites only

its own users: If I take a photo and upload it to Instagram, hey, it’s still my photo, not theirs — and if I want to embed it in a tweet and have it visible on Twitter, that should be my right. Instagram’s attempt at authority will likely have only two effects: Twitter readers will see far fewer Instagram images [unless you like overly ﬁltered shots, hardly a loss] and Twitter posters will use another image service — most likely the one from Twitter and Photobucket — instead of Instagram. Twitter was likely to add ﬁlters and boost sharing there, and now that will happen sooner rather than later.

PMA’s Big Photoshow: It’s Coming! The PMA are very excited to announce the ofﬁcial launch of thebigphotoshow.com. There are two aspects to The Big Photo Show. First is the event, held in different venues across the USA, where photo enthusiasts can come to see the latest in photography gear; meet representatives from the top equipment manufacturers, retailers and labs; learn new ways to hone their skills and take their photography to the next level; and interact with other photographers. The Big Photo Show inaugural event will be held from 10:00 a.m. till 6:00 p.m. on May 4-5, 2013, at the Los

Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, California. Second is an online community at www.thebigphotoshow.com, where people who love taking pictures – at all levels, from beginners to advanced amateurs to professional photographers – can come to share their knowledge, questions, and passion. “The website offers contests with great prizes, tips and tricks from expert photographers, and a calendar of events where photo enthusiasts can ﬁnd out what’s happening in the world of photography,” said Jim Esp, Executive Director of PMA. Of

course, details of the happenings at The Big Photo Show events are there, too.” Allen Showalter, PMA President, said “The Big Photo Show and the corresponding online community will bring consumers together with the people who have made it their life’s work to serve them. What a remarkable opportunity for imaging businesses to develop relationships with photo enthusiasts, and for those avid photographers to discover all the tools and services this industry has to offer, to help them grow in both passion and ability as photographers.”

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printed Each issue, InPrint calls a UK printing business to bring you the essential information about life on the front line of our trade and prints the results. This issue, our spotlight falls on Alistair Archer, Managing Director of Creatively Different Ltd.

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So Alistair, what do Creatively Different do? In a nutshell, we produce blinds to our customer’s speciﬁcation, printed with an image of their choice. They can choose from our growing collection of more than six thousand licensed images from photographers, museums, galleries etc or upload a photograph of their own for us to use. We also have a studio so we can create and modify images, and if a customer has special requirements, we can search for images to see if there is a one-off license available for them. Sounds interesting… what could we buy from you? Our photo-blinds cover the entire range of window blinds: roller blinds, where our business began; venetian blinds; panel blinds; vertical blinds; Roman blinds… you name it. We support the full selection. Sometimes people request wallpaper and murals so we expanded into those areas. We can now also produced customized splashbacks for use in kitchens and bathrooms. Finally, for those who love the coordinated look, we can produce cushions too. Are there any restrictions on what designs we could have? We can only print images we have a license to use, which tends to rule out things such as brand logos and ﬁlm characters as the costs implied with buying the license for such images would be out of the question. Other companies might offer one or two similar products but as far as we know we are the only company that offers customisation on the full range of blinds. With the equipment we have, we can print on surfaces up to 4m wide by 4m deep, which is enough for most! Other companies offering large formats like this tend to print on two pieces of material and sew them together, which doesn’t have the same high-quality appearance.

Assaf Frank

How do your customers place their orders with you? It’s a combination of online ordering and telephone enquiries, which enables us to talk the customer through what we can do for them. We’re very consumer-centric, and I like to think we treat the customers as well as John Lewis and the like! Finally, how much will your products set us back? Prices range from £130 up to £700-ish dependent on size. The higher end of that range tend to be for commercial user. I would say the average price for a normal household blind, customised with your photo and design, would be around £250. www.creativelydifferentblinds.com

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Hi Hi Up 4 Bo Sm Ou 5 En

Inprin

HP Photosmart ML2000D Minlab Printer Proﬁt from the ultra-fast dry minilab and watch your revenue grow with high quality, high margin products

High margin products High volume workﬂow Up to 55 photobooks per hour 4 x 6” photos at 1500 per hour Borderless & duplex printing Smudge & water-resistant prints Outstanding & consistent quality 5 input trays Environmentally sound 8 InPrint

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ACL Absolute Computing Ltd 29 Nuﬃeld Centrum Abingdon OX14 1RL 01235 559999 www.acl-uk.com sales@acl-uk.comInPrint InPrint 31 27 17/12/2012 21/11/2012 09:43 17:13

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