March 2021 TAGA Presents Review
Nearly one year after the start of the global pandemic, TAGA continued to embrace the power of online platforms by hosting the first-ever TAGA Presents event on March 11 and 23. The intent was to deliver education on pressing industry topics and continuing to spread TAGA awareness. The free, two-day online event had nearly 300 registrations from across the industry.
The first day began with an eye-opening talk from Kelly Williams of NatureFlex Films. He called to attention inconvenient truths about single-use plastic packaging and highlighted solutions to create change, all while seeing packaging as a profit center instead of a cost center. Geert Van Damme of CERM closed out the day with a session on how data from management information systems can be used to develop business intelligence and improve performance.
The final day featured an engaging discussion between Jan Michael Lemieux, from Canon Solutions America, and Steve Upton of CHROMiX. The color experts shared insight on where the industry stands today in expectations of color matching between processes. The closing speaker was David Savastano of Printed Electronics Now and Ink World Magazine on printed and hybrid electronics. He provided a terrific status update on segment growth and the many applications surrounding us.
The next TAGA Presents virtual series will be held in July. The event will again feature four presentations, this time investigating how the pandemic has changed the industry, examining recent developments in digital textile printing, discussing the impact that artificial intelligence is likely to have on the printing industry, and looking at the automation strategy of a leading printing company.
Attendance will again be free to all printing, graphic communications, and related firms. Session descriptions are available at www.taga.org/taga-presents. Registration will open in May.
TAGA thanks those committee members that have worked diligently to help plan and execute TAGA Presents: Nick Gawreluk (chair), Dr. Mark Bohan, Anthony Carignano, Dr. Martin Habekost, Liam O’Hara, and Hart Swisher.
We also appreciate the support from our event sponsors:
2021 Paper Submissions*
This year the TAGA Papers Committee reviewed 23 abstract submissions and accepted 18 of those abstracts for publication. Those not selected were much appreciated but may have been commercial in nature, redundant with prior research, or not sufficiently relevant at this time. Additionally, another six abstracts were received from InterTech Technology Award recipients who were invited to provide a paper about their recent innovation.
The accepted abstracts are as follows:
- Antimicrobial Treated Coatings for Use In Graphic Communications and Packaging
Charlie Matthews, Biomaster USA LLC - Brand Color Tolerances: A Reality Check
Eddy Hagen, insights4print.ceo - Breaking the Pigment-to-Binder Ratio Paradigm of Metallic Pigments: Concomitantly Promoting Pigment-Binder Bonding and Metallic Pigment Orientation
Devin Schmitt and Christopher Hilbrich, Eckart America Corporation - Coated Versus Uncoated—Why the Difference In Density?
John Seymour, John the Math Guy, LLC, and Clemson University - ColorNet: Use Case of Artificial Intelligence In Sports Broadcasting
Dr. Erica Walker and Dr. Hudson Smith, Clemson University - A Comparison of App-based Color Measurement Devices to Spectrophotometers
Dina Vees and Malcolm Keif, California Polytechnic State University - The Deployment of Tracking Technologies In Digital Inkjet Corrugated Production Using Printed Marks for Brand Supply Chain Management
Gregory S. D’Amico and Christopher Bondy, Rochester Institute of Technology - Developing a Computer-To-Screen Application Using an Inkjet Printer to Apply a Stencil Directly to the Mesh in a Hybrid Screen Printing Processes
Dr. Carl Blue, Clemson University - Flexographic Expanded Gamut Printing with Proprietary and Nonproprietary Characterization Charts
Dr. Martin Habekost, Dr. Reem El Asaleh, and Abhay Sharma, Ryerson University
- Identification of Aim Values for a CMYK-OGV Based Process Agnostic ECG Characterization Data Set: FOGRA55 Beta 2 Field Test
Yuan Li and Andreas Kraushaar, Fogra - The Impact of Human Imagery on Food Packaging with Various Demographics
Colleen Twomey, California Polytechnic State University - Methodology to Assess Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Emission-related Risks for Companies
Michael Has, Grenoble INP-Pagora - New Natural and Biodegradable Wax Additives
Richard Czarnecki, Micro Powders, Inc. - Particle Size of Pigments for Soy Water Based Inks
Prashant Kotkar, Alexandra Pekarovicova, and Paul D. Fleming III, Western Michigan University;
Dipesh Sonar, American Ink and Technology - Screen Printed Moisture Sensor and Its Application on Smart Packaging
Ruoxi Rachel Ma, California Polytechnic State University;
Alexandra Pekarovicova, Western Michigan University - Simplified Scoring and Communication for Print Suppliers and Print Buyers
Brian Ashe, Esko - Study of Starch and Polyvinyl Alcohol Blended Vehicle for Biodegradable Printing Ink in Flexography
Juntira Komasatitaya, Kritsanapong Tangprajakpakdee, Phongsit Attapornpimol, and Supanee Boonyatassaneekul, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi - Understanding the Impact of the Software and Hardware Components that Drive Your Digital Press
Ian Bolton, Global Graphics
Papers received from InterTech Technology Award recipients included:
- Navigator DFE
Eric Nelsen, Xitron - GMG ColorCard
Marc Levine, GMG Color - GLX40RP Double-Sided Press
Doug Schardt, Komori - Esko Trapper
Andy Dickens, Esko - Mixing Oil and Water: Digital Printing on Hydrocarbon-based Flexible Films with Water-based Inkjet Systems
Doug Bugner, William Mansfield, Kodak - Image Processing for Web-to-Print Applications
Dmitry Sevostyanov, Aurigma
*Papers list subject to change
Student Competition Update: Levenson and Rhodes Awards
As student research and activity continues despite the implications of the global pandemic, TAGA is privileged to name the winners of two prestigious student awards: the Harvey Levenson Undergraduate Student Paper Award and the Dusty Rhodes Graduate Student Paper Award. The Levenson and Rhodes awards are open to students from any institute of higher education, regardless of TAGA affiliation.
This year’s winners were selected from a variety of research papers and topics submitted from schools from around the globe. Competition was especially keen, with excellent papers representing work done by students studying graphic communications. Grading was completed by the TAGA Advisory Board, with scoring categories in relevance, technical content, clarity, discussion, bibliography, and charts/graphs/illustrations. As each entry was of a very high caliber, only a few points separated the winning papers from the other submissions.
The winner of the Harvey Levenson Undergraduate Student Paper Award for 2021 is Samantha Stante from Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada for her paper “What Impact do the Accessibility Features of Colour and Contrast, Text-to-Speech, and Magnification in ePublications Have on Undergraduate Students’ Ability to Retain Information?”
Maayane Lugassy of Grenoble INP Pagora in Grenoble, France is the winner of the 2021 Dusty Rhodes Graduate Student Paper Award for the paper “Study of the Behavior of Cadmium-Free Quantum Dots in Functional Inks.”
In addition to the prestige of these awards, the winning papers are published in the TAGA Proceedings, along with other leading technical papers from accomplished researchers working in industry and academia.
The Levenson and Rhodes awards are only part of the engagement that TAGA has with students. Students are also encouraged to enter a special student research poster competition, exclusive to the 2021 “virtual” technical conference. Student chapters will also compete with research journals comprised of technical papers from their respective institutions. Winners of the student poster and student research journal competitions will be announced later this spring
New TAGA Officers and Committee Members
New officers were announced in March and they have already begun their two-year term in leading the organization forward. Dr. Mark Bohan ascended to the presidency and will lead the organization of which he was once the managing director while working for Printing Industries of America. Dr. Bohan has been involved with TAGA for over three decades.
Dr. Bohan replaces Wandee Poolpol, who successfully guided the organization during a historic period. During her presidency, she greatly helped TAGA adjust programming during the pandemic and also aided the organization’s integration into new parent organization, PRINTING United Alliance. Poolpol will become immediate past president. The previous immediate past president, Liam O’Hara, steps aside after passionately supporting TAGA in various officer roles for many years.
Three other individuals have joined the ranks of officers for the first time:Birgit Plautz,executive vice president, Ruoxi Rachel Ma, vice president of education, and Rory Marsoun, vice president of membership and marketing. Hart Swisher, who has done a terrific job as TAGA’s vice president of papers, remains on for a second term.
Five individuals joined the advisory committee: Dave Brewer, Dr. Martin Habekost, Dr. Volker Jansen, Fabian Ruiz, and Dr. Charles Weiss. Dr. Habekost is rejoining the committee after a two-year hiatus. Committee members serve a three-year term and provide guidance on organizational activities including the annual conference, virtual events, membership, student participation, and award programs.
On behalf of TAGA, thank you to all volunteers who are giving, or have given, their time and effort.
TAGA Advisory Committee Officers (2021–2023)
• President—Mark Bohan, Director Color Solutions, Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA
• Executive Vice President—Birgit Plautz, Manager Technical Services, GMG Americas
• VP, Education—Ruoxi Rachel Ma, Assistant Professor, Graphic Communication Department, California Polytechnic State University
• VP, Papers—Hart Swisher, Chief Research & Innovation Director, Hammer Packaging Corp.
• VP, Membership and Marketing—Rory Marsoun, Director Business Development—Flexo, Esko
• Immediate Past President—Wandee Poolpol, Global Product Group Manager, Eckart America Corporation
The list of advisory committee members can be reviewed at taga.org/committee.
Featured TAGA Paper: IMAGE: Accurate Full Color Image Aging
Authored by Bruce Ridge of NAZDAR Companies, IMAGE: Accurate Full Color Image Aging outlines the process and reasoning to create accurate weathering predictions for process color printed images meant to be displayed outdoors. These images have traditionally been produced with screen printing and are now being produced by inkjet.
There are established ASTM methods for the weathering of paints, inks, coatings, and substrates to predict exterior durability. However, weathering prediction processes are based on solid single-color inks, which is not accurate for images comprised of process colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). All inkjet-printed signs are produced with process colors, as are many screen-printed signs. The research goal was to create a full color weathering process to show how each of the process colors will change throughout the tonal range as a result of outdoor weathering.
In the case of the screen-printed signage displayed outdoors, the common expectation for most inks and substrates is to last for two to three years before fading more than 20% of its original color strength or losing a certain amount of gloss as measured with a glossmeter. It has erroneously been assumed that inkjet maintains the same exterior durability as screen printing because it prints on the many of the same substrates.
The paper describes various aging processes that were used to generate both real time and accelerated weathering samples. Those samples were then used to generate IMAGE profiles to create a full color, full tonal range rendering of how a particular ink and substrate combination will degrade.
The resulting profiles can be applied by a designer to make the best choice of colors in backgrounds, skin tones, foods, and product placement that will have acceptable durability. They can also be used for sales presentations to show differences between various ink and substrates choices.
Members can read the 10-page paper in the 2020 TAGA Proceedings or access it now via the online abstract search (log-in required to download the full paper). In addition, members can listen to Ridge present his paper here (log-in required).