Cancellation of 2021 Annual Technical Conference
The TAGA Board, in conjunction with PRINTING United Alliance, made the difficult decision—for the second year in a row—to cancel the Annual Technical Conference. The groups concluded that the mid-March conference date was not feasible given the expectation of weak attendance stemming from the pandemic. Professional members said their participation was jeopardized by company travel restrictions and difficulty in getting non-essential spending approved. Adding to the pessimistic outlook for the conference was the realization that student chapter groups and their advisors likely wouldn’t be able to attend. Consideration was given to moving the event to the summer, but that change would have eliminated the potential for student participation, a core part of the TAGA event. As a result, the next scheduled conference is March 13–16, 2022, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The TAGA Board has moved quickly to develop other educational programming in lieu of the conference (see article below).
Call for Papers
Following the Board’s decision to publish a Proceedings book in 2021, the Papers Committee, led by Hart Swisher, met to create a framework for soliciting and accepting papers for publication.
The committee reached the following decisions:
- Deadline for submitting a paper abstract is Monday, January 11.
- Authors whose papers are accepted have the option of providing a video presentation of their research.
- Deadline for papers and the optional video presentations is Monday, May 31.
- 2020 InterTech award recipients are invited to provide a video presentation and encouraged to write a paper, although a paper is not mandatory.
The committee established a goal of publishing 20 papers (there will be 17 in the 2020 Proceedings). Two individuals have already inquired about submitting papers and several research projects that were due to be presented this year could be written up for publication next year.
Individuals interested in submitting a paper abstract should submit the abstract to tagapapers@printing.org by January 11. Abstracts should be 500–1,500 words long and can either focus on scientific research or technical innovation in printing, graphic communications, and related industries. https://www.taga.org/call-for-papers
Online Education Series
Following the success of the 2020 Innovation and Technology webinar, the TAGA board has set its sights on embracing the power of the online platform. With a focus on delivering education on pressing industry topics and continuing to spread association awareness, TAGA will be conducting an online education events in January and June of 2021.
Kicking off the new year in January will be a two-part online series starting on the 14th and concluding on the 26th from 2:00–3:30 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time. Be sure to save the dates!
We will be featuring two industry experts each day covering diverse topics. Speakers from Canon, CERM, NatureFlex, and others will cover sustainable strategies and solutions in packaging, strategic best practices in big data, smart technology innovation in printed wearables, and the realities of color management.
We are on the home stretch of finalizing remaining details and look forward to announcing the official lineup shortly along with information of how to sign up and secure a spot. If you were unable to attend the 2020 Innovation and Technology, please visit https://www.taga.org/technology-innovation-videos/ for recorded presentations. Should you have questions about either series, please contact TAGA Administrator John Bodnar at taga@printing.org.
2020 Proceedings Update
Even though the Annual Technical Conference was cancelled this year, the 2020 Proceedings will be published containing many of the papers that were scheduled for presentation. Those paper presentations were instead recorded and shared via the TAGA website for members to view. Current TAGA members will be receive their Proceedings book/CD this winter. Work is progressing on the book layout, and Canon U.S.A. has generously agreed to print it. The individual papers will be available on the abstract search before the book is printed, so watch for an email announcing their availability.
TAGA Announces 2020 Michael H. Bruno Award Recipients
TAGA recognized this year’s award winners—Laura Lawton and Gary Jones—during a special virtual awards ceremony on September 16. The Michael H. Bruno Award is TAGA’s most prestigious award, recognizing individuals for their outstanding contributions to the advancement of graphic arts internationally. Almost 100 notable individuals have been recognized since the award was created in 1976 to honor the co-founder and first president of TAGA.
Laura Lawton is the president and owner of the Spokane-based companies Lawton Printing and File-Ez Folder, Inc. She is the fourth generation of her family to manage these creative enterprises. Lawton is comprised of three divisions: Lawton Printing Services; innovAGING; and Navitabs; and Lawton’s sister company, File-Ez Folder. Laura began in customer service within her family’s company in 1984, taking on the reigns of scheduler in the Commercial Printing Division and assistant and manager of the Publications Division before becoming owner in September 2008. While Laura has been president of these companies since 2001, she also has extensive experience in the wider print industry.
Laura graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic Communications with a focus in Printing Management from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She has been a board member, national board representative, executive committee member, and the board president of the Pacific Printing Industries Association. She has been heavily involved with the corresponding national association for nearly 20 years, currently serving as a finance committee member, chair of its Young Print Professionals Group, and as chair of the board for 2011–2012. During that time, Laura also served as a member of the Kodak Commercial Printing Advisory Group. Currently, Laura is an advisory board member of Cal Poly Graphic Communications and was awarded the 2019 Lewis Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award by Printing Industries of America (now PRINTING United Alliance).
Gary Jones is the director of environmental, health, and safety (EHS) affairs at PRINTING United Alliance where his primary responsibility is to monitor and analyze EHS regulatory activities at all domestic and some international government levels. He provides representation on behalf of the printing and specialty graphic imaging industry. Jones works closely with the federal and state-level Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA), Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA), Department of Transportation (DOT), and other agencies.
Widely considered a leading authority in his field, he frequently organizes and participates on industry committees or is an industry liaison representing the printing industry before state and federal regulatory agencies during rulemakings. He also works with the agencies to secure interpretations and other related policy documents on how the regulations apply to printing operations. Jones provides membership assistance on EHS compliance and sustainability programs, and regularly presents at industry events and workshops. Prior to joining PRINTING United Alliance in 2018, he was the Assistant VP for EHS Affairs at Printing Industries of America.
A list of past recipients of the Bruno Award is available at www.taga.org/michael-h-bruno-award. If you know of an individual that should be considered for a future Bruno award, contact Jim Workman, TAGA managing director, at jworkman@printing.org.
2021 TAGA Student Competitions
For 2021 TAGA is looking to use the current situation as an opportunity to host student competitions that engage more individuals and institutions with the organization.
For student chapters, the traditional printed journal competition has been suspended for 2021 in favor of groups competing with electronic journals of student research. In this manner, chapters can compete without the costs and resources associated with printing, shipping, and physical conference attendance. Journals will be judged on categories such as technical writing, innovation, and integration. It is anticipated that more institutions from around the globe can use this modified competition and the virtual conference as a way to engage with TAGA.
Students can also compete for awards as individuals, including the prestigious Levenson Undergraduate Student Paper and Rhodes Graduate Student Paper competitions. These are open to all students in higher education, regardless of TAGA chapter membership.
Submission dates and details will be provided later this month to chapter advisors and program heads at other universities.
Why color standards matter—Featured Paper: The interaction between color standards and production tolerances: A mismatch of metrics
This paper, presented for the 2020 conference by Dr. Mark Bohan in collaboration with Dawn Nye, explored why color standards matter, the differences between them, and, particularly, how users can easily introduce errors in daily use by using the wrong combination.
The paper highlights the differences and challenges facing the industry from first of all meeting a specific target (in this case GRACoL CRPC6), verifying that you have achieved it, and then, critically, from a production perspective, the practicalities in ensuring that you are maintaining it where people often use different targets, such as the Idealliance ISO 12647-7 Control Wedge 2013 shown below.
The differences in specifications are discussed showing that they may use various color difference equations; some will use ΔE while the modern solutions all use ΔE00. They have different tolerance criteria so that a metric that is used in one may not be used in another or it may use a weighting function, etc. They can also have different tolerance numbers, even when the patches and metrics are exactly identical. As a further challenge, people use varying validation wedges with dissimilar patch combinations sampling the colorspace differently.
The use of the TC1617 target provides the most accurate method to verify that a press is in conformance with G7 colorspace and should always be used once a profile has been generated initially to check that it is a good profile. Critically, when evaluating if the press has shifted, it is imperative that the same tolerance sets are used.
A simplified method is needed, and the proposal is to use a universal target with the G7 colorspace tolerances. It also proposed for the introduction of production tolerances to build on the existing pass-fail criteria.
The paper formed a discussion forum on the topic, and, since the conference has initiated a working group at Idealliance’s PPC (Print Properties Committee), to further the work and define a standard target that can be used in production and introduce a series of production tolerances.
Members can read the paper online at https://www.printing.org/taga-abstracts/t200173 and, uniquely for this conference, revisit the presentation to hear firsthand what the research was about (https://www.taga.org/2020-videos/ password is “20taga20” and you’ll want to go to Session 11).
Resources Available from the TAGA Website
This is a reminder that TAGA members have access to an impressive collection of digital resources that continue to expand.
The resources include:
Abstract Search (full papers available to members)
Conference presentations archive
Recordings of paper presentations from 2020 Annual Technical Conference
TAGA Journals (login required; ceased publication in 2013)
Login to www.printing.org is required to verify membership for some items (nonmembers have limited access). If you are a TAGA member and don’t know or need to reset your login, please contact taga@printing.org.
2020 InterTech Technology Awards Announced
The 2020 InterTech™ Technology Awards, sponsored by PRINTING United Alliance, have become closely connected with the TAGA Annual Technical Conference since companies often present their awarded technology there. The awards highlight innovative technologies that are judged as likely to make a significant impact on at least a sector of the printing industries. They have been a harbinger of technology shifts since their introduction in 1978
An independent panel of judges deliberated over an outstanding selection of technology nominations. They ultimately selected 11 technologies for recognition. More than half of the awarded technologies were digital presses and associated systems, including the first ever award for a textile press. Judges also recognized innovations in sheetfed offset press technology, web-to-print software, and solutions that streamline packaging print production.
The technologies selected to receive a 2020 InterTech Technology Award (listed alphabetically by company, with the technology named first):
- Customer’s Canvas—Aurigma
- EFI Reggiani BOLT—EFI
- Esko Trapper—Esko
- GMG ColorCard—GMG
- HP Indigo 100K Digital Press—HP Inc.
- HP PageWide Web Press T240 HD with an inline H&B ExcelCoat Web Coater—HP Inc.
- KODAK PROSPER QD Packaging Inks and Film Optimizer Agent—Kodak
- Uteco Sapphire EVO M Press—Kodak and Uteco
- Komori GLX40RP Double-Sided Press—Komori America Corporation
- Xerox™ Baltoro™ HF Inkjet Press—Xerox Corporation
- Navigator DFE—Xitron, LLC
Additional information on the awards, along with a listing of technologies entered into the competition, is available at www.printing.org/intertech2020.