Xerox introduced two print drivers earlier this year that earned a “Technological Innovation Award” from Industry Analysts, Inc., a market research firm specializing in office automation. The Xerox Global Print Driver and Mobile Express Driver were praised for simplifying printing management for IT departments and making it easier for workers to print from multiple locations.

The drivers support competitive printing devices as well as nearly all Xerox printers and multifunction printers – this played a key role in the award selection. Very little time is needed to set these drivers up thanks to Xerox’s seamless process. With the Xerox Global Print Driver, IT administrators do no have to install specific drivers for every printer that they deploy, Therefore, installation and management are simplified and management costs are lowered.

The Global Print Driver supports both Xerox and non-Xerox networked products that use standard PostScript, PCL 5 and PCL 6. The Xerox Mobile Express lets mobile workers in a large campus or on the road print to any available printer or multifunction printer on a network – whether it’s a Xerox printer or not. To use it, users simply plug into a network, pull up the intuitive pop-up print screen that automatically identifies all available printers on the network, pick a printer, and click “print.”

Chimigraf is one of the first ceramic ink manufacturers to partner with Xaar and it will boost digital ceramic printing applications worldwide. Chimigraf is a leading manufacturer of digital inks for the ceramics industry and have recently become a Xaar-approved ink partner.

Xaar manufacturers industrial-strength inkjet printheads which are featured in many new digital ceramic tile printers coming to market. Their decision to partner with specialist ink manufacturers results in a wide range of inks being approved for use with Xaar-enabled digital printers to deliver superior and consistent results. Chimigraf specializes in the manufacture of water solvent and UV-based inks for Flexography, Retrogravure, Screen and digital printing. The company conducts an intensive research and development program focused on developing market leading inks and coatings for the graphic arts and industrial markets.

Digital printing in the ceramics industry is at an early stage but is forecast to grow rapidly. By working closely with ceramics ink specialists like Chimigraf, Xaar can ensure that end users have a choice of inks that will produce good results. There are an increasing number of digital ceramic tile printers coming to market.

Standard Register is a premier document services provider that manages critical documents companies’ need to thrive in today’s competitive climate. They offer secure prescriptions, technology solutions, professional services and print supply chain services. Standard Register signed a three-year agreement with the St. Louis-based Amerinet, a leading group purchasing organization.

Amerinet partners with health care providers to reduce costs and improve quality. With this agreement, Standard Register is one of only two suppliers addressing Amerinet members’ document management needs. This agreement extends through August 31, 2011 and offers Amerinet members savings on a wide range of document and print management products, services and technology that includes commercial printing, custom and standard forms, label products, patient identification bands, and on-demand digital printing services.

Amerinet members will have the option of employing Standard Register’s powerful SMARTworks technology platform to procure, distribute, manage and track document spending and usage. Through Standard Register’s broad portfolio of document management solutions and services, they can help Amerinet members exert greater control over document costs.

Monotype Imaging is a leading global provider of text imaging solutions. They have recently added the eight-font Tanseek Arabic typeface family as an exclusive selection available from the Monotype library. Each font also features the Latin alphabet and combines Arabic and Latin designs into a single typeface solution.

Monotype Imaging believes that Tanseek is the first “system” of its kind designed purposely to combine “serif” and “sans serif” faces to achieve a balanced, visual relationship between the Latin and Arabic alphabets. They claim that the design answer to the challenge of how to succeed typographically when using both Arabic and Latin fonts. The problem lies in the extreme differences between the two alphabets and also that Arabic and Latin fonts have not been traditionally designed to work together.

Tanseek brings harmony between Arabic and Latin-based texts across serif and sans serif styles and a variety of weights to provide a typographic palette for graphic designers. The typeface was designed toward balancing character shape, stroke, width and text color between the two alphabets. The Arabic design provides calligraphic elegance and the Latin counterparts lend aesthetic compatibility and legibility. Tanseek fonts are being used in various industries and world markets, including television channels in Saudi Arabia.

With the rise of the Internet, some predicted that it would become the nemesis of the print industry. However, the Internet has not destroyed print but rather given us a new language – print documents are now hard copies. In the United States, in the first six months of 2008, no less than 291 new printed magazine titles were launched. This figure is down on the year before the decline because of the general economic downturn and not the impact of the Internet.

The new generation of children may not read printed material as often but studies show that they do read online every day. They also use the Internet to choose which printed material to read. Smart publishers are taking advantage of this. For example, popular British film magazine Empire capitalized on the hype surrounding the latest Batman film The Dark Knight with its July edition featuring two different covers billed as Collectors’ Editions.

Empire has employed this strategy before with multiple Lord of the Rings and Star Wars covers. Marketing strategies based on the notion of exclusivity are increasingly popular. Custom printing in the United States has rise 20% in the first five months of 2008. Specialist magazines in aviation, aerospace, military and agriculture sectors are reporting between 6 and 7% increases in revenue.