The tool, RRD explains, makes it easier for customers to view and purchase advertised products by providing direct access and embedded options for increased interactivity. A digital analytics suite provides insights into engagement patterns and inform marketing decisions.

“We view each interaction that our clients have with their customers as a unique opportunity to provide an enhanced experience that drives deeper engagement,” says Todd Hatley, Senior Vice President, RRD Content and Creative Services. “Digicom not only increases customer engagement by providing enriched, digitally native features, but it also offers meaningful analytics to drive a better understanding of customer behavior, leading to actionable opportunities that increase engagement over time.”

The book’s co-authors, Cal Poly Professor Emeritus Harvey Levenson and former Seybold editor John Parsons, will also be discussing the project at the Print 18 Educator’s Forum on September 30. They will be demonstrating the technology at the IntuIdeas booth, as well as signing and demonstrating it at the Ricoh booth. The book, Introduction to Graphic Communication, 2nd Edition, is described as the first textbook to use Ricoh’s Clickable Paper app as a bridge to related video and other interactive, mobile content. The book itself was printed on a Ricoh VC60000 inkjet press.

“This is not an e-book. It is an interactive book printed on paper that allows navigation to video presentations by industry experts, and video demonstrations of technology used in the graphic communication industry — prepress, press, post press, colour, design, typography, packaging, history, industry segments, and much more,” describes Levenson.

The book is a second edition of Levenson’s original Introduction to Graphic Communication published in 2007. Besides being interactive, the new edition includes updated information representing today’s industry. Interactivity also includes communication among and between readers, and even with the authors directly.

Snap Admail Plus campaigns include design, coding, hosting and distribution, along with post-deployment performance reporting. The service is available to advertisers anywhere in Canada and the ads are designed to closely match their printed counterparts.

“This is smart marketing for the digital age,” said Jim Fitzgerald, founder and CEO of Taradel LLC. “With one click, advertisers can extend the life and reach of every direct mail offer – and connect with the best prospects across channels.”

As a licensed vendor for the Canadian Census, Taradel and its partners compile offline data in Canada at both the household and postal code level. This includes demographics such as home value, household income, and other data. Then, the data is aggregated and de-identified to comply with Canadian laws and local regulations, Taradel explains, saying the solution will enable marketers to send display advertising to the exact same households receiving their direct mail offers.

W+D explains recent research in the neuroscience of touch as a marketing tool has shown improvement in direct mail lift and branding and it has become a sought-after value-add in the direct mail production. Direct mail factors the company intends to highlight at Print 18:

• Photopolymer embossing examples to add haptic tactile feel to the envelope images
• Foiling of the envelope samples
• Inkjet printing over embossed finished envelopes.
• Intelligent haptic direct mail piece with 1:1 colour personalized messaging on the envelope as well as inside that also has a fully IMB trackable mailer and response piece.
• LED UV inline flexo coating/drying solutions for new and existing machines for metallics, textures, gloss, motion, glitter and a variety of value-add inline enhancements for the envelope.

W+D will run its new W+D Halm i-Jet, a four-plus-colour overprint envelope press that can print 32,000 #10 envelopes per hour at 1600 x 1375 dpi, which leverages Memjet’s production class inkjet print engine. W+D will run on envelopes and flat sheet corporate graphics as part of its live demonstrations and variable print capability on plain white wove paper stock.

W+D will also be running its new BB700 S2 performance class inserter live at the show with a read and print direct mail application on a USPS full automation rate approved shape-cut envelope. Each envelope and content will be tracked as well as 1:1 colour personalized messaging will be added both inside and out. The BB700 S2 read and print system, which also incorporates a Lake Image Discovery camera and print solution, is designed to ensure the correct variable information, graphics and addresses are printed on the correct matching envelopes with minimal interruptions and that the full direct mail package, including the return BRE is IMB trackable.

As well, the new W+D 410 Easy Enveloper envelope converting system will be highlighted with video and a variety of new haptic shape and embossed envelope samples that have been run on the W+D 410. The W+D 410 Easy Enveloper boasts size and window changeovers in under 30 minutes for direct mail envelopes like #6-3/4, #9, #10 and 6 x 9 ½-inch envelopes on coated or uncoated stock that runs at speeds of 500 envelopes per minute.

Now featuring the new Digital Advantage Suite, Inspire R12 aims to help users design omni-channel communications in days rather than months with a simple, comprehensive platform. Additionally, R12 integrates all parts of the communications process from linking journey maps to communications, postal sorting, address, phone and email verifications, email delivery, SMS delivery, mail delivery tracking, and production monitoring to reduce the complexity involved in managing multiple systems, explains Quadient.

Adobe explains it will allow customers to make mobile apps for phones and tablets without requiring development and to produce and distribute great content in simple, cost-effective and modern ways.

The company referenced its work five years ago with Conde Nast to develop a new approach for Wired magazine to be published as an interactive magazine on the iPad. From this work with Conde Nast, Adobe built DPS, which Adobe claims to have resulted in the launch of thousands of apps and has delivered hundreds of millions of publications (.folios) to tablets and phones.

Adobe explains it then went through another important phase of mobile publication development with Fast Company to launch a new app on the App Store, which helped its work towards what will be launched as Adobe Publish this summer. Adobe provides what it describes as the three main tenets of Adobe Publish:

 1. Apps on all major mobile platforms for phones and tablets without requiring any development skills. The experience of those apps should be immersive and elegant and bring audience directly into content that is well organized and inherently feels like what a mobile experience should be;
 
2. Adobe Publish customers can create, organize and deliver content in a way that is extremely flexible, simple and cost-effective; and

3. Enterprise-grade administration tools that are flexible enough to allow any enterprise, media company or university to organize all of the people who are involved in producing these experiences in a way that make sense. Designers, writers., marketers, producers, data analysts or outside agencies will get the flexible workflows they need to deliver amazing content into Adobe Publish apps.

FreeFlow Core, with its Web-based architecture, is a modular and scalable central workflow system, which includes the ability to drive Web-to-print and automate finishing work. The integration of Xerox FreeFlow Digital Publisher allows users to prepare and route files to their Xerox press for printing or to send digital versions of the same project through Web browsers or mobile apps that can be downloaded from Apple iTunes Store, Google Play or the Amazon App Store.

Developed in partnership with GTxcel, FreeFlow Digital Publisher users can produce electronic versions of print campaigns but with the inclusion of video or audio, while also tracking readership through built-in analytics. Content processing software within FreeFlow Digital Publisher automatically prepares the PDF job to create digital publications for mobile apps, Web browsers, social media and other digital channels.

The software  allows users to manage each publication with an included dashboard, in order to manipulate placement of rich media, restrict access, manage email subscriptions and push notifications, and more. Analytics are included to provide customers with metrics like readership, open rate reports, app tracking data, and clicks by platform.

Tagga is primarily focused on integrating social, Web and mobile technologies, using platforms like SMS messaging, Facebook and Twitter, to create connections between brands and customers. Its Cloud-based cross-channel campaign software – and related reporting functions – allows clients to determine where and when a consumer is interacting with their brand. This ultimately results in very precise conversion-rate metrics. Tagga also runs a Labs division to provide creative services geared to this cross-channel approach.


Through the partnership, Hemlock will be able to supply customers with interactive print opportunities, as well as interactive digitized content that is accessible from mobile, tablet and desktop devices for unique promotional campaigns.


“We work with a wide array of leading brands for their print and distribution requirements, and this partnership now allows us to provide an exciting new dimension to their marketing plans,” stated Richard Kouwenhoven, President and GM of Hemlock. “Using a small footprint for QR or SMS codes on their packaging, hang-tags or catalogues, a bold and simple interactive connection can be made with compelling promotional or informational offers.

“We know that now over 70 percent of Canadians use their mobile phone while shopping in-store,” continued Kouwenhoven, “So we looked to Tagga to help us take the print connection to the next level.”


Hemlock Printers works with its own roster of high-profile brands through print and is one of the largest commercial printers in the Pacific Northwest. The company operates out of a 100 percent carbon neutral plant in Burnaby, BC, with offices in Victoria, Seattle and San Francisco.


“We knew Hemlock was the right partner for us to expand our offering in the print realm,” stated Amielle Lake, Tagga Founder and CRO. “We already work internationally with Adidas, Dole, Red Bull and many others, but saw an alignment with the focus and scope that Hemlock could bring to a whole new segment of the market.”


As a result, the company, through its Metroland Media Group, has re-launched Save.ca, which began in 2000 and is now visited by more than two million Canadians on a weekly basis. The company claims Save.ca provides access to the most comprehensive offering of online savings of popular brands and digital flyers from retailers across the country.


“For the first time in Canada, one site will bring together savings through coupons and flyers, and with our new shopping list option – the only one of its kind in Canada – we streamline the online deals and purchasing process – something no other site does for Canadians,” stated Doug Guan, Director, Digital Retail, Save.ca.

The re-launched Save.ca Website, according to Torstar, now links brand deals to retailer locations to streamline the shopping process. The new site also features a printable shopping list option to organize savings from all featured retailers and brands. Users can also decide to print deals on the spot or mail a hard copy to their mailbox.

Torstar provides the following Save.ca user statistics, based on a February 2013 survey of 1,395 male and female Canadians between the ages of 25 and 54:

More than 50% have used more than 30 online coupons in the past year,


More than 90% use coupons as new product trials before becoming a loyal shopper,

More than 75% of users who have tried a new product with an online coupon continued to buy the product,

More than 90% of users share their online savings with friends and family, and

More than 95% of users have purchase a product form a difference brand because of an online coupon offer.

[Departmental senior managers are responsible for] ensuring that on-demand printing is carried out by default, rather than volume printing, using the most economical printing option and in black and white unless colour printing is deemed necessary.

• – a printed version is specifically required under legislation, regulations or parliamentary procedures
• – the product informs the public about key information related to health, safety or security issues;
• – a printed version is required to meet the specific needs of the target audience;
• – the size or format of the product does not allow for printing using commonly available printers;
• – an existing contract for printing, warehousing or distribution services, put in place prior to these Procedures taking effect, cannot be cancelled, or the cost of cancelling the contract exceeds the benefits; or
• – the Minister or the person designated in Schedule VI (Part III, Column II) of the Financial Administration Act requests the printing;

 The full Procedure can be viewed here.

“With uStore Facebook Connect, we give our customers the means to truly take their multichannel capabilities to new heights. Now they can create apps for their clients’ Facebook pages that enrich social media interactions by adding highly-personalized and relevant print to the media mix,” said Jacob Aizikowitz, President of XMPie. “This allows brands to add value to their social media presence while extending their online relationships with fans into the tangible and engaging physical world, creating an overall richer and more valuable brand experience.”

Fans of a company can click on an application within the company’s Facebook page which will then take the users to available document templates. It will then be populated with personalized information once permission has been received. The system will then generate a PDF proof of the document and take the user along to the ordering process. Finally, once the order has been placed, the user can then notify his or her acquaintances via a shared news item.

XMPie uStore Facebook Connect is an add-on available to customers with uStore 6.0 and PersonalEffect Print MI or higher.

The new operational structure will be led by current Transcontinental Media President, Natalie Larivière, who has been developing Transcontinental’s digital products and services since 2006. As well, Christian Trudeau, President of Transcontinental Interactive, will be leaving the organization on October 31, 2011. 



The sector will now be responsible for products and services in publishing, distribution, data analytics and management, as well as interactive marketing solutions (mobile, digital promotions, etc.) and digital media.


“After three years of developing our interactive marketing products and services, it became a natural step to provide our customers with an integrated offer by grouping them in our media operations,” stated François Olivier, President and CEO of Transcontinental. “Supply and demand in the marketing communications industry has changed rapidly, reflecting the ever-growing presence of communication channels such as mobile technology and social media. In this new environment our customers want to reach their target customers more effectively by using a combination of media, digital and interactive solutions.



“Concretely, the reorganization of our digital activities and interactive marketing solutions will make it easier to market our products and services and emphasize our offer on the various communication platforms, while continuing to deploy our other media and printing products.”


Transcontinental states that its digital activities and interactive marketing solutions now generate more than $175 million in revenues on an annualized basis and employ some 1,000 people in Canada and the United States.

Mega online retailer Amazon is set to announce its offering in the increasingly crowded tablet market space on Wednesday this week. While other companies have failed to dethrone Apple’s iPad, Amazon’s effort is seen as having the most potential to drain sales from the Cupertino-based computer giant.

FedEx Office Print Online customers can transfer documents from their Google Docs account for printing and either have it delivered to their door or to a local FedEx Office location for pick-up. The FedEx Office Print Online application was launched in 2007 and today gets more than 250,000 unique visits on average per month.

“As the first national print retailer to offer cloud printing technology, we are excited to meet the growing demand for mobility with FedEx Office Print Online. Our enhanced solution makes Web-based printing easy, wherever you store your files,” said Anthony Norris, vice president of digital access marketing at FedEx Office.

Google Docs is becoming an increasingly popular alternative to Microsoft’s Office application for small business and personal use. While it lacks many advanced features of Microsoft’s offering, it is offered for free and, as a cloud application, can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection.

In 2007, Adobe and FedEx Kinko’s (as it was then known) caused an uproar in the printing community when Adobe released its Acrobat and Acrobat Reader software with a FedEx Kinko’s button which sent the documents directly to a FedEx Kinko’s location. Adobe eventually backed down and removed the button with an update.

According to The Chosun Ilbo, a Korean-based newspaper, the Korean Ministry of Education has plans to invest over US$2 billion in developing interactive content which can be accessed anywhere. Traditional static content will be supplemented by interactive features, all hosted on the cloud.

The Ministry also plans to provide free tablet computers for students from low-income families. “It will be up to schools to decide which digital textbooks to choose for students in what year in what subject,” a ministry official said. “We don’t expect the shift to digital textbooks to be difficult as students today are very accustomed to the digital environment.”

The Fujifilm XMF system integrates both JDF and Adobe’s Print Engine technology. The system supports both offset and digital production and also features 3D softproofing. Flexible imposition via JDF stripping also allows XMF to re-impose jobs on-the-fly for late changes of press or even to split jobs between multiple presses.

Printology has been in business since 1987 and provides end-to-end print production services, from creative concept to final product. It also produces everything from wedding invitations to business directories to packaging products.

The idea of the candle came from designer-artist Tobias Wong, who passed away in 2010. Aware of the growing scent movement in the art world, Wong envisioned a way of replicating the smells of The New York Times, a publication he loved and had a long relationship with. The candle was not actualized within Wong’s lifetime.

Those who wish to get a piece of this novelty would have to pay a steep price: the candle has a limited production of 1,000 pieces and sells for US$65.

The candle can be purchased here.

In the age of online searches and smart phones, fewer people are turning towards the venerable paper phone directory for information. San Francisco currently has 1.6 million business directories delivered each year, which, when stacked, would be 8 1/2 times the height of Mt. Everest.

While many cities have an opt-out option for phone directories, San Francisco is believed to be the first municipality to go for an opt-in option. The city’s Board of Supervisors has already voted 10-1 to pass the legislation to ban the delivery of unwanted directories. It will face a second vote this week, which is expected to pass.

According to the Board of Supervisors, the directories not only cause seven million pounds of paper waste per year, but also damage the city’s recycling equipment, due to its bulk.

“We’re working hard to make sure that anyone who wants a Kindle can afford one,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “Kindle with Special Offers is the same #1 bestselling Kindle – and it’s only US$114. Kindle is the best deal in consumer electronics anywhere in the world.”

Priced at US$25 less than the basic Wi-Fi model, the device includes special offers from both Amazon and 3rd party advertisers. Buick, Olay (Procter & Gamble), Visa, and Amazon.com Reward Visa Card (Chase) are sponsoring the first series of ads.

The advantage of the Kindle and advertising is that the display draws no power when it is not refreshed and is always on. Ads will not appear when a  customer is using the device to read.

Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Chairman of The New York Times Company and publisher of The New York Times, said, “Today marks a significant transition for The Times, an important day in our 159-year history of evolution and reinvention.

“Our decision to begin charging for digital access will result in another source of revenue, strengthening our ability to continue to invest in the journalism and digital innovation on which our readers have come to depend. This move will enhance The Times‘ position as a source of trustworthy news, information and high-quality opinion for many years to come.”

Non-paying users will be able to access 20 articles per month at no charge before being asked to subscribe. The Top News section will remain free for smartphone and tablet users. Home delivery subscribers will receive free and unlimited access to the NYTimes site.

Digital subscriptions start at US$15 for every four weeks for access via the Website and through the smartphone app. Access through the company’s tablet app (which includes website access) sells for US$20 every four weeks. Users who want both smartphone, tablet and Website access pay US$35 every four weeks.

Le Devoir, a competitor to La Presse, reported on Friday that plans are underway to drastically reduce the printing of the newspaper, turning instead to digital-only publishing. Such plans could include offering free iPads or other digital devices to those who sign up for a three-year subscription to the newspaper.

The Montreal Gazette also covered the story, stating that the print edition may be reduced to 75,000 from its current 200,000 copies daily. The report also says $5 million has already invested into the plan and another $25 million is earmarked for the transition.

La Presse representative Caroline Jamet told CTV News that “Whatever transpires, we have a printing contract in the tens of millions of dollars with Transcontinental that ends in 2018.” The two parties signed the agreement in 2001 and in 2003 Transcontinental opened a new plant which gave La Presse an upgrade in print quality.

CTV Story
Montreal Gazette Story

“New times demand new journalism,” said Murdoch. “So we built The Daily completely from scratch — on the most innovative device to come about in my time — the iPad.”

A weekly subscription to The Daily will cost US$0.99 while an annual subscription will be US$39.99. The Daily is the first project to take advantage of the new publication subscription platform from Apple. Prior to this, publishers were not able to sell subscriptions on Apple’s tablet device.

While breaking stories will be pushed to users, The Daily claims its focus will be more on in-depth editorial, more akin to a magazine’s content than a newspaper’s. It will be led by Jesse Angelo, who was the Executive Director of the New York Post, another News Corp property.

“The Daily launches at a moment when advances in technology are changing the job of the modern editor,” said Angelo. “These advances are giving us new ways to tell stories. We intend to take advantage of all of them, and make The Daily the new voice for a new era.”

In the company’s fourth-quarter sales report, the company revealed that for every 100 paperbacks it has sold, it has sold 115 Kindle books, with free Kindle books excluded from the number. The company also says that sales of its third generation device has exceeded the sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which Amazon claims to have held the title as the company’s bestselling product in its history.

The U.S. Kindle store how has 810,000 titles, of which 670,000 of them are $9.99 or less.

As a whole, the company’s sales have increased 36 percent over the same quarter in 2009, to US$12.95 billion.

“Thanks to our customers, we achieved two big milestones,” said Bezos. “We had our first $10 billion quarter, and after selling millions of third-generation Kindles with the new Pearl e-ink display during the quarter, Kindle books have now overtaken paperback books as the most popular format on Amazon.com.”

Google eBooks so far is available for the U.S. market only and is aimed to directly compete with Amazon’s Kindle store. Unlike the Kindle store, however, Google eBooks are designed to support a wide range of devices and allows users to read books “in the cloud” which means one can access purchased books through their Google account.

According to Google, more than 3-million eBooks are available through its store. While Canadians can browse the store and even download free and public-domain books, paid books are unavailable for the time being.

The company’s Website explains, “Google eBooks are currently only available for sale to users located in the United States. We are working hard to expand the countries in which Google eBooks are available and offer this new product to readers around the world, and appreciate your continued interest.”

Dubbed AirPrint (possibly because the iPrint moniker is held by Novell), the system will allow users to print wirelessly via a Wi-Fi network without installing any drivers. The printer has to be connected to a running PC or Mac, or contains wireless hardware compatible with AirPrint. At the moment, only HP has signed on to produce AirPrint-compatible printers.

The omission of printing is striking as Apple offers its iWork productivity suite, which includes a word processor and spreadsheet editor for the tablet device, as well as bluetooth keyboard compatibility.

The Kindle, Amazon’s electronic book reader, has been on sale for just under three years and has grown to encompass 650,000 books for sale, including 105 of the 110 books on the New York Times bestseller list. Kindle books are also available for sale on computers and via the Kindle iPad application. In the last three months, the company says that for every 100 hardcover books sold, it has sold 143 Kindle books. In the past month, that number has grown to 180 Kindle books sold for every 100 hardcovers.

Price, of course, is the major attractor to Kindle editions: over 510,000 Kindle books are sold at US$9.99 or less, including 75 New York
Times bestsellers. 

“We’ve reached a tipping point with the new price of Kindle – the
growth rate of Kindle device unit sales has tripled since we lowered the
price from $259 to $189,” said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of
Amazon.com.

Amazon has just released an update to its larger Kindle DX reader, which features an upgraded e-ink screen that is even more like print.