On the 7th of February, 2007 Roland DG took steps to ensure students have access to the latest industry equipment at a handover at Hunter TAFE  Newcastle.

The Océ Arizona 250 GT, a near-photographic quality flatbed and roll-to-roll UV curable inkjet printer, was recognised recently by the SGIA as the new digital imaging product development most likely to have a profound and positive effect on the industry and has won the Digital Printing & Imaging Association (DPI) Vision Award. 

Inca Digital Printers will launch it's new Spyder 320-8 Series at ISA International Sign Expo '07 in Las Vegas during April.

The printing industry is mourning one of its doyens, Sid Thompson, whose chairmanship of the National Print Awards over a 20-year period from 1982 to 2002 was the crowning achievement of a dynamic career.

An innovative use of Dibond in the exhibition sector was recently demonstrated by Mazda at the Sydney Motor Show 2006.

Michael Boogaard has been appointed to the Celmac Sydney office.

GBC Australia have introduced a new range of films for the indoor and outdoor digital signage market. The Studiojet range includes: The Studiojet Solvent 1000, 2000 and 3000 films.

New machines will be shipped with the upgrade, whilst existing users can download the new capabilities free of charge.
Gerber Scientific Products has introduced a new upgrade for its SOLARA UV2 hybrid inkjet printer. Gerber say that this upgrade builds on the solid platform of the GSP's successful inkjet technology. The SOLARA UV2’s hybrid design allows it to quickly switch from a roll-to-roll to a flatbed printer. It can print on a variety of materials up to 60” (152cm) wide including rigid materials up to ½” (13mm) thick.

The Prize Book of MACtac Worldwide Awards 2006 is now available. It presents the winning entries for each of the regions covered in the event. The Prize Book is published to give visual communication professionals a great many ideas to promote their messages using self adhesive vinyls. Mobile advertising, sheet marketing, window graphics, POS materials and many other applications contributing to brand activation are presented in the Prize Book.

3M Digital Signage, Australian digital content specialist Prime Digital Media (PDM) and telecommunications company Telstra Corp., announced the launch of a subscription-based, digital-retail media solution that marks one of the largest rollouts of digital signage ever deployed in Australia and New Zealand.

The deal which includes the 2007 and 2008 season will see Roland DG support Stone Brother Racing (SBR) team through sponsorship and supply of equipment along with technical support for SBR’s signage needs using Roland DG’s state of the art vinyl cutting and digital print technologies featuring the new Pro III XC-540 Print/Cut machine.

The Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG), the fast growing international association whose purpose is to facilitate the production and exchange of reliable digital documents for use throughout the publishing workflow has announced 4 new GWG Specifications addressing 2 additional markets: Large Format Digital Printing and Screen Printing.

Now in its fifth year, the GAMAA Leadership Programme welcomes four new scholars to the scholarship intake for 2007; David Constable - Fresh Design, Nathan Kable - Rawson Graphics, Stephen McRobert - NSW Department of Lands and Jacob Galea - BP Australia.

Entry to the FESPA 2007 Premier Awards Competition, which recognises excellence in screen printing and wide-format digital imaging, is now open. All printers who are members of national screen printing associations affiliated to FESPA (the SGIAA) or are FESPA Individual Members can enter, with some industrial categories also being open to non-members.

Agfa Graphics have announced the :Dotrix TransColor, an inkjet colour printer that adds high-quality colour to high-speed printing. A powerful IPDS (Intelligent Printer Data Stream) controller combines with single-pass printing engines, high-resolution inkjet technology (900dpi), 650mm width and UV curable inks and print both side simultaneously. Not for the traditional wide format market, just yet.

Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced that it intends to release the full Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.7 specification to AIIM, the Enterprise Content Management Association, for the purpose of publication by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

The largest laminator ever constructed by UK manufacturer Autobond is due to leave the company’s Derbyshire factory at the beginning of February to begin a journey across the seas to Texas trade laminator The Lamination Center.

Superwide Digital, the sales and service division for Gandinnovations’ Jeti printers in the African market have announced the sale of four new Jeti  printers in the Nigerian market.

Roland DG Australia and New Zealand are pleased to announce the 2007 Training Seminar schedules under the new banner; ‘Roland DG Academy’.

It seems city councils around the world are tightening up on the signage by-laws and Auckland is the latest city to fire broadsides at the sign industry with threats of reducing and/or eliminating city signage.