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So what about the show?

As expected the digital presence grew & the offset presence shrank, smoke & mirrors are working as well as ever with 200 - 300 page per minute digital solutions being marketed as competition to offset - This would be laughable if people weren’t buying it. However higher speed digitals were on display, these appear however to be 12 - 24 months out for anyone not desiring to be on the bleeding edge of technology.

Digital Printing is coming & coming fast in all fields of printing, the economics of digital printing need studying hard, at the moment digital presses offer versatility, however if you are a fixed format printer the advantages need to be closely weighed against the disadvantages.

· Consumable Cost

· Ink / Toner

· Reliability

· Click cost?

· Working Life

The first digital machines are already obsolete & uncompetitive after only 5 years so depreciation / obsolescence needs to be taken into consideration when calculating ROI.

For the few that did attend this year’s print show unless they were there on a mission, I am sure it did not live up to expectation it didn’t mine.