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Kinko’s Is Acrobat’s Default Printer: II
June 27, 2007

The NAPL Network Weighs In on Acrobat Controversy:

The NAPL Release Follows:
PARAMUS, NJ, JUNE 27, 2007 – On behalf of the members of The NAPL Network, Joseph P. Truncale, president and chief executive officer of NAPL the trade association for excellence in graphic communications management, and Steve Johnson, president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Quick Printers (NAQP), sent a letter to Adobe Systems, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Bruce Chizen expressing their concern over a recently announced agreement between Adobe and FedEx Kinko’s in which the newest versions of Adobe® Reader and Adobe Acrobat® software feature an embedded connection to FedEx Kinko’s PrintOnline application. The views in the letter were endorsed by a number of NAPL Network members, including CEOs of major quick printing franchise organizations.

Disappointed at Adobe
In their letter, dated June 15, 2007, Truncale and Johnson expressed their disappointment in the agreement, noting that: “We fully understand Adobe’s wish to make document production as efficient as possible for the end user—an objective shared by our membership, ranging from quick and small commercial printers to some of the industry’s largest graphic communications companies and franchise organizations. However, by aligning with only one provider as a means of offering these efficiencies, Adobe has, in our view, provided an unfair competitive advantage to FedEx Kinko’s. . .

Unfair Advantage
“The advantage gained by FedEx Kinko’s through this agreement with Adobe comes at the expense of the many other printers—including many of our members—who have played such a pivotal role in establishing Adobe as the defacto standard among many end users for reading documents and printing file submission. Many of our member companies have, with the encouragement of Adobe, actively promoted the use of Adobe Acrobat products—and a PDF workflow—with their clients.”

Rethink the Alliance
The Association executives went on to urge that Chizen and Adobe “rethink this alliance” and “consider what we believe is a better approach—for Adobe to work cooperatively with any and all print providers who have an interest in partnering with Adobe to establish end-user efficiencies.”

Let’s Meet and TalkTruncale and Johnson concluded the letter with an invitation to Chizen to participate with them in a discussion of this important issue, to which Chizen responded promptly, expressing an intention to meet soon to address the concerns of NAPL, NAQP, and the printing company executives who support their views.

This expression of concern to Adobe is a reflection of the commitment of NAPL and its partners in The NAPL Network—NAQP and the Research and Engineering Council of NAPL—to speak out on issues affecting their members.


Posted by Bill Esler on June 27, 2007 | Comments (6)


June 29, 2007
In response to: Kinko’s Is Acrobat’s Default Printer: II
GK commented:

Fortunately it’s something that can be easily disabled by password protecting the document.

See the link below for more info -

kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb401725&sliceId=1




July 5, 2007
In response to: Kinko’s Is Acrobat’s Default Printer: II
Thad McIlroy commented:

The disabling technote is actually here:

kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb401726

…but you need to go into RegEdit on Windows to do so. It remains impossible to imagine what the dear folks at Adobe were thinking when they signed the Kinko’s/FedEx agreement and then hard-wired the feature!




July 6, 2007
In response to: Kinko’s Is Acrobat’s Default Printer: II
Mark Babey commented:

The agreement must be reconsidered. When the alternative to adobe arrives there will be plenty of people looking into it. Putting people out of business should not be their goal as it seams it is. They are looking for the partnerships on their sofeware then stabbing the partners in the back.




July 8, 2007
In response to: Kinko’s Is Acrobat’s Default Printer: II
Mike Minahan commented:

As a professional printing house who has supported Adobe and made recommendations to purchase Adobe products to our clients for many years… we feel Adobe has shot us in the back and betrayed the very people who built their business.




July 16, 2007
In response to: Kinko’s Is Acrobat’s Default Printer: II
Dick Ranes commented:

Quark is looking better right now. I might even dust off Corel….I think they’re still in business, and even PDF alternatives are deserving of a closer look. True type may be salvageable, and open type offers a good choice. Adobe’s got no idea how easy it is to find alternatives and move on.




July 22, 2007
In response to: Kinko’s Is Acrobat’s Default Printer: II
Bill Esler commented:

DICE Reaches out to Adobe over FedEx Kinko’s Deal

This past week the Board of Directors of DICE, The Digital Imaging Customer Exchange, sent a letter to Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen, as well as other top Adobe managers expressing its members’ concerns over the Adobe’s decision to include a “send to FedEx Kinko’s” command in Acrobat 8.1. DICE is perhaps the oldest digital printing users group in the industry, boasting 328 member companies, all who own high-end color digital presses from either Kodak, HP, or Xerox
In the letter it was stated that “DICE members collectively own thousands of Adobe applications, Adobe font packages, and Adobe RIPs. They helped to make PostScript a de facto industry standard in early 90s and to make PDF the accepted foundation for graphic arts workflows over the last decade.” The letter went on to suggest that Adobe rethink its strategy of recommending FedEx Kinko’s at the expense of its many loyal, long-standing print provider customers.
The letter brought a quick, positive response from Adobe’s Chizen. In the response he expressed a sincere desire to have Adobe enter into discussions with DICE to help accommodate the needs of the DICE membership within the constraints of the company’s contractual obligations to FedEx Kinko’s. DICE intends to create a user committee to work with Adobe to explore potential workarounds to help offset the potential impact of the arrangement with FedEx Kinko’s.





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