Several years ago, Adobe Systems developed a universal non-proprietary camera Raw format that would make images easier to decode from camera files. Additional benefits include the ability to embed all of the camera data like shutter speed, aperture, focal length, flash (EXIF data) and captioning, keywords, copyright information, contact information and more (IPTC data).

Known as DNG (Digital Negative), the file format would be a boon to digital camera users and software developers alike. Adobe (apparently) ge...Read More

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When you modify an image using Adobe Bridge or Photoshop, those applications create “sidecar” files called XMP files, which carry the information about the image, some of the modifications you have made, and metadata that you have added. One of the most important things that photographers do with images is to embed their copyright information and captioning. Called IPTC data, this information assists database programs and asset management systems in sorting, filing, and creating valuable search criteria for the image.

In version CS2 of Photoshop and Bridge, Adobe created these sidecar files only with Camera Raw files. In Photoshop, Tiff and JPEG images, that version of the software wrote the metadata to the file itself. In version CS3, Adobe creates the XMP files for every image type except PNG, their open digital negative file form...Read More

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The per-click charges and expense of consumables (toner, primarily) for the various digital presses make these machines costly devices when compared to the output of regular sheet-fed printing machines. But, you’re quick to point out that they are not regular offset presses. I agree, and I want to emphasize that point.

Too many printers buy a digital press and then treat it as a commodity printing machine. They talk at conferences about how to estimate for digital printing as if it were just another machine in a line of presses. How much to charge per sheet, what is the cost of toner and paper; what is the cost of maintenance? While all of those are important, digital printing is not cost-competitive with conventional printing! It’s better.

I have seen a handful of half-million-dollar digital presses sitting idle on the floors of plants around t...Read More

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In my last blog I wrote about printing with wood type and a hand-cranked 1890 cylinder press. The next day we printed the second color. We had three people running the press: a crank operator (this is the most fun), a feeder, and a slip-sheeter, who inserted a sheet of 24 x 36 vellum between the printed sheets. With the kind of letterpress printing we were doing, the slip-sheet is very important. We put down a lot of ink, and the sheets set-off badly unless you protect them with a slip-sheet. When you run the second color, you have to de-collate the sheets first, then you do it again.

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This will come as no surprise to you: we’ve come a long way since letterpress printing. This thought occurred to me yesterday when I was lying on top of the ink distribution plate of an 1890 broadsheet size Campbell cylinder letterpress. I was fixing some typographical errors in a poster. The type is a combination of wood and metal, and the locked-up chase weighs about 50 lbs., so I was making the changes in the press rather than making them on an imposing stone across the room.

I had ink on my left elbow, my left forearm, my hands and my nos...Read More

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Apple’s System-level search is not to my liking. I don’t like the fact that it takes off searching even before I have finished typing the search criteria. I also like to tarket my searches, limiting the disks or the servers I want it to search. The results of Apple’s search engine are useful, but using the software is enervating.

I was told by a friend about the Google Desktop search software. I decided to give it a try, and I have been favorably impressed.


Based on the same kind of search capabili...Read More

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I got a tip last fall from a video producer friend. He shoots HD video with one of the new tapeless cameras, and he routinely exceeds the capacity of his computer hard drives. When that happens, he copies segments of video to small portable hard drives made by a company called Oyen in St. Paul, MN.

I bought one of these drives to see if it would work for me, and to compare the performance of this drive to other removable drives in my collection. In past years I have invested heavily in removable cartridge drives made by Granite Digital. These are nice, but the base unit has unnecessarily noisy cooling fans. I hate the noise, so I tend to avoid the system; it’s off most of the time.

The Oyen drives are silent. You can’t even tell when they are running except for t...Read More

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Now, I know that some of you are thinking, “Isn’t whimp spelled with an h?” – but regardless of that, let’s discuss the fact that some of us don’t get much sleep. I usually get five to six hours, and that is something of an advantage. I sleep less; I work more. I also read, and write and draw illustrations. Sometimes I amaze myself with what is on the Internet (try StumbleUpon!).

While not sleeping tonight, I encountered a very good blog written by a man named Nathan Moroney at HP Labs in Palo Alto, California. It contains his observations on color, pigments, dyes, and the management of color. His entry from yesterday is particularly good: You can read it here.

Also while not sleeping, I have been sno...Read More

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I often lecture about the value of making investments in new technology. When time is money, and in premedia that is always the case, having the right technology is critical to profitability. In an earlier blog I described my two Cinema Displays, and the time-saving benefits they provide.

I found myself a few weeks back explaining return-on-investment to my students, and using the cost of a computer as the example. It made sense; it made money because it would be faster than the existing computer system. Then I went home and spent an arduous afternoon making web galleries in Adobe Photoshop from high-resolution digital images. My three-year-old Macintosh G5 computer was poking along, running CS3 rather badly on its Motorola processors (CS3 likes Intel).

It occurred to me th...Read More

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HP announces new products

When Hewlett-Packard announced that it was purchasing Indigo in 2002, I thought they were just a little crazy. The company had been the leader in laser printers and ink-jet printers in office and consumer markets, but to jump into the fray competing against Heidelberg, Komori and other multi-billion dollar press manufacturers seemed just a bit out of their league.

What happened, of course, is that HP took a major share of the digital printing marketplace. They learned a lot about making the Indigo a better machine, and their batallions of engineers worked tirelessly to raise the bar of competition with the Indigo, forcing the others (Xeikon, NexPress and iGen primarily) to respond. Last week they announced two new Indigo models. One is an improved sheet-fed machine, the other is an improved roll-fed label press.

...Read More

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It’s about the beginning of April each fourth year that the buzz begins about what will be happening at DRUPA in Dusseldorf, Germany. The buzz began in earnest this morning with a number of press releases from Heidelberg US. Among them was an announcement for the new wide format sheet-fed machines they are showing at DRUPA. These presses, which break the 40-inch limit Heidelberg has set for its entire existence (158 years), are big (obviously) and very capable.

The new XL145 and XL162 (57.09 and 63.78 in.) presses allow for tremendous productivity, and they do it in a relatively small space.

...Read More

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I know you have been waiting. It’s finally out! The DRUPA 2008 song. Yes, the waiting is over.

When I attended DRUPA in 2000, I heard the DRUPA song (yes, there is one for each DRUPA) and stood in utter amazement marveling at the quality, the musicality, the sonority, the percussion, the beauty, of DRUPA 2000 in song. In 2004 I didn’t attend, but I was able to download the song, and to enjoy the show vicariously through the DRUPA song that year.

This year I will be attending the show, so to get psyched-up for the event, I have downloaded the MP3 version of the 2008 DRUPA song (it is also available as a Windows Media or RealPlayer “music video” both of which are so difficult to download that you might consider p...Read More

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