Here you will find blogs from Digital Dots and Verdigris covering technology and sustainability advances in the graphics industry over the last 25 years.
Protecting the environment has to be a top priority for all of us in the printing industry. This much we know, but taking steps to improve how we do business isn’t that simple and is made harder by the ridiculous myth that going green is an expensive proposition. Fortunately a growing number of printing companies … Read more
What’s the hottest topic in print these days? Judging by the spate of recent announcements, it’s carbon calculators. They’re everywhere, from Google’s calculator and those of NGOs such as the Carbon Trust and Envirowise in the UK, through to energy companies the world round. Even book publishers are getting into the act. For instance, Finnish … Read more
Sun Chemical, the world’s leading producer of printing inks and pigments, released its first sustainability report, which provides data-driven performance measurement for seven key sustainability metrics to help customers and consumers understand the company’s environmental footprint. This first-of-its-kind report evaluates data collected since 2005 from approximately 170 Sun Chemical sites in over 25 countries. The … Read more
Wyke Printers, a family owned business based in Kingston-upon-Hull, UK, is known throughout the country as one of the leading litho print service providers. The commercial printer, with 65 employees and an annual turnover of £4 million, operates a “no order too big or too small” service and produces a wide range of jobs from … Read more
The PrintCity Alliance has signed the Copenhagen Communiqué on Climate Change, calling for an ambitious, robust and equitable global deal on climate change that responds credibly to the scale and urgency of the crises facing the world today. The Copenhagen Communiqué (www.copenhagencommunique.com) has been signed by over 800 global companies & organisations, including power conglomerates, … Read more
Paper is arguably one of the most useful commodities every invented, one that most of us make use of every day, and yet few people know exactly how paper is manufactured. Since its invention paper has played an essential role in spreading literacy and knowledge, and despite our modern communications technology it is still irreplaceable. … Read more
We’ve seen processless plates, and plates with low chemistry requirements, but what about a CtP plate with no coating or chemistry whatsoever? Computer to plate production has improved printing’s carbon footprint no end because it does away with film and the associated chemistry. But the recently announced Miracle technology, developed in the UK by JPI, … Read more
De-inking used paper is a major step towards making recycled paper, but can established de-inking processes keep up with advances in printing technology? There is a generally accepted principle that it is better to recycle as much paper as we can, rather than cutting down trees to make paper from virgin fibres. Recycled paper can … Read more
Environmental considerations have never played such an important role in CtP. Computer-to-plate has moved a long way in terms of affordability, performance and reliability since the early days. Plate technology has advanced to the point where printers can choose between traditional CtP systems that use chemical development and new chemistry-free technologies. This article looks at … Read more
The Greenhouse Gas (or GHG) Protocol is the grandfather of almost all the various greenhouse gas or carbon reporting standards, labels, carbon calculators and other measuring guidance you are likely to come across. So even if you are not familiar with it, it’s very likely that your business is affected by it. Its story started … Read more