Looking to get “up and running” with digital imaging technology? In just an hour, get the basic information you need to in order to understand the digital imaging industry, its equipment, markets, materials and products.

This program is specially designed to put those new to digital at the top of the learning curve. It’s an excellent way to be “in the know” before you take your first steps into digital imaging or to educate new hires about digital.

Click here to register for this webinar sponsored by the SGIA.

Looking for a new printer? Mutoh America has partnered with Pro Capital to bring customized leasing to the sign industry. This program available for equipment suppliers and their customers nationwide starting at only $49 a month. That’s an amazingly low price that could help you get your vinyl business up and running in a hurry.

Pro Capital is your leasing financing solution. No longer will you have to refuse an order, anywhere from printing signs, stickers, decals or even vehicle wraps is possible and affordable, while producing exceptional image quality with Mutoh’s ValueJet Print & Cut bundle.

It’s a dirty world out there and according to climate scientists, an increasingly hot one too. Sending digital graphics into this world unprotected leaves them at the mercy of the elements and your business at the mercy of customer let down should unsightly harm befall them.

That’s the description of a good article in Digital Output magazine about lamination in the flatbed era. Click here to read it for yourself.

Rick Raeder cut his design teeth creating aftermarket graphics for cars in the late 1970s. In 1985, he started his own business, R.G. Raeder Custom Graphics and Signs in Bethel, PA. Discover what products he uses for his vehicle graphics in this short case study called “Off to the Races” in Digital Output magazine. Click here to read the article.

Joel Ross from Avery Dennison Graphics and Reflective Products wrote this great article for Screen Printing magazine. Without a doubt, he writes, vehicle wraps continue to grow in popularity and effectiveness and have become an important component in the mix of outdoor advertising media.

The first wrap was created a bit more than a decade ago, he shares, turning an average city bus into a moving billboard. Since then, every type of vehicle has become fair game for wrapping with printed pressure-sensitive vinyl graphics.

You know, I just spoke with Joel today and we talked about a lot these sorts of issues, as well as what the future holds for vehicle wrapping. I’ll be sure to share that with you in the coming weeks. In the meatime, click here to read the article in Screen Printing for yourself.

Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced the immediate availability of Adobe Acrobat 3D Version 8 software, a major upgrade to the desktop application for driving document-based 3D design collaboration and CAD data interoperability capabilities to virtually anyone inside manufacturing organizations and across the global supply chain.

With Acrobat 3D Version 8, CAD, CAM, CAE, and technical publishing professionals in the aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics, heavy machinery, life sciences, and AEC industries can convert virtually any 3D CAD file—including large assemblies of more than 500 megabytes—into a single PDF document. The PDF file can maintain precise geometry or be compressed over 100 times smaller than the original file, depending on the needs of the specific business process. Three-dimensional CAD data can also be easily combined with other critical project information, such as product specifications, spreadsheets and bills of materials, into a more secure PDF document containing product manufacturing information (PMI). PMI is used to convey geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, annotations and other specifications directly on a 3D model.

Once 3D models are combined with other documents in PDF, Acrobat 3D Version 8 users can enable extended teams of colleagues, suppliers, partners, and customers to participate in an efficient document review process leveraging the free, ubiquitous Adobe Reader software. Adobe Reader users can view detailed product structure and, when enabled by Acrobat 3D Version 8, have the ability to use commenting, measurement and cross-section tools directly on 3D objects in PDF files. By helping engage technical and non-technical team members in 3D-based communications throughout the product life cycle, the software can help workgroups diminish the risk of misunderstandings, discover design flaws earlier, and speed product development.

“As costs, speed to market and pricing pressures continue to climb, high end products are making it easier to deliver more, faster. But even this creates challenges. The printing industry is evolving so rapidly and technological advances occurring so quickly that it’s difficult to stay on the cutting edge. It may seem as though the day you purchase a new piece of equipment, something better hits the market.”

That’s an excerpt from an article written by Allen Snelling over at Wide-Fromat Imaging about leasing versus buying wide-format printers. This is a good piece on the benefits of each side of the financing equation. If you need a wide-format printer to push out vinyl graphics and mega banners, this is a must read.

Click here to check out the article.