digitaldots.info

Digital Dots is an independent graphic arts research group specialising in digital prepress, printing and publishing technologies. The company is a collection of like-minded consultants and professional journalists with decades of experience working in the graphic arts industry. We publish a range of articles and reports and we also manage The Verdigris Project.

Slow & Steady Making Progress

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Since we started the Verdigris project in 2008, obviously much is different in the printing industry. Five years of economic mess and confusion have forced change on all of us. One of the apparent casualties of the rubbish commercial environment has been environmental impact reduction initiatives. However all … Read more

eBay Questions the Effectiveness of Digital Advertising

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Printed advertising has been the traditional bedrock of the publishing industry. Without it newspapers and magazines cannot exist, hence the carnage inflicted on those sectors since the advent of internet advertising. However a recent study by eBay* questions the value of Search Engine Marketing (SEM), suggesting that print … Read more

Print to Store

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner We need to change our thinking about print. Yes, it is sustainable, yes it is lovely and yes it is good for the planet. None of this has to change. What has to change is our view of print’s purpose. Most of us tend to think of it … Read more

A Supply Chain Problem Taxing Our Brains

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner A printing company that wants to improve its environmental footprint can do a lot on their own, but increasingly they want to work with suppliers such as Xeikon or Agfa and others, who are also doing their bit. And so it goes up and down the supply chain, … Read more

Regulation Stepping Up

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner On the 3rd March the European Timber Regulations (EUTR) come into force. EUTR will effect paper providers worldwide, because placing illegal timber or timber products into European Union markets will be a criminal offence. Any organisation that might be affected by the EUTR must put in place procedures … Read more

The Mobile Opportunity for Print

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner The volume of data sent over phone networks is set to overtake the volume of voice within the next few years. This could have significant implications for mobile printing applications. GSMA, the association for the mobile industry, make their prediction based on the huge numbers of mobile devices … Read more

APP to Halt Clearing of Indonesian Tropical Forests (Again)

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Greenpeace once accused Asian Pulp and Paper (APP) of “pulping the planet” because of APP’s wanton destruction of Indonesian rain forests. But after years of pressure from numerous NGOs including Greenpeace and WWF, things may finally be changing for the better. In June 2012 in response to customer … Read more

Food for thought

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Recycling the daily newspaper has, happily, become second nature for most people, as putting rinsed milk bottles out for the milkman was a regular evening task of yesteryear. Since it is expected that newsprint will be disposed of, it is produced from low-grade paper, with bleaching rarely used as in graphic arts and publishing grades. … Read more

Still a Steep Hill to Climb

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The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Ricoh has recently published the results of a short survey it conducted at EcoPrint last year in Berlin. This wasn’t a particularly long or detailed project but it provides an interesting snapshot of where we are with sustainability awareness. The respondents were Ricoh customers in 24 countries Europe … Read more