It is with great shock and sadness that we report a fire, started around 9pm on Boxing Day, December 26th has gutted one of South Australia's most respected wide format printers, Big Image of Hindmarsh, Adelaide. Wide format online visited Carlo and his son Deon Capogreco's new premises only 18 months ago, and previously in 2013 when Big Image installed Adelaide's first 5 metre UV printer from Fujifilm.

Since the tragic Grenfell tower fire in London, and the Lacrosse and other fires in Australia and in other parts of the world such as the UAE; ACP (Aluminium Composite Panels) have been in the spotlight, mainly for their use as facade and cladding but, by implication, in the sign and shopfitting industry too. Now sensational news is emerging of 'rigged tests' to discredit non-flammable ACP (such as Fairview's Vitracore G2) - curiously linked to manufacturers of PE-cored ACP.

The Imaging & Digital Entertainment Association (IDEA) has announced that it will wind up operations in June 2022 after more than 40 years as the 'peak industry body' (sic). Originally a Photographic Industry Association, it struggled to adequately deal with the digital revolution; thinking that solely digital image capture cameras were the answer, delaying the shift from silver-halide to inkjet, toner and other digital for hard copy, and blindsided by Smartphone image capture, facebook albums, instagram, pinterest and so forth. A fine association in its heyday; it is yet another salutory lesson in a 'Kodak moment.'

The Ricky Richards team gets right into a far better 2021 with its Seasonal/New Year message - and the lyrics to the famous Scottish ode 'Auld Land Syne' - or should that be 'sign?' ;-)

Hot on the heels of Mutoh's XpertJet 461/661UF object printers winning another EDP award, the company has so far raised $4,000 for the Fred Hollows Foundation. Mutoh allocates $500 on every order received by COB on December 24th, for 2021 delivery.

Former imaging giant Kodak has partnered with Pigment.inc BV Europe to release EDTG ink targeting the growing DTG sector. The inks are made at Kodak's former photographic site in Rochester, New York state and even use the old Kodak photo film brand name 'Kodacolor.'

Neschen introduces a new version of its successful Easy Dot range of polypropylene films with the 'dot pattern' adhesive that eliminates trapped air bubbles and is very easy to apply and remove.

Esko, a Danaher company and the global developer of integrated software and hardware solutions for the packaging, label and wide format sectors, has announced the planned sale of its Kongsberg digital finishing business to OpenGate Capital, subject to any applicable information and/or consultation with employee representative bodies under applicable local law.

Melbourne-based artists Catherine Clover and Daniel Kotsimbos will share the $30,000 Fivex Art Prize: Billboard Art Reimagined - taking home $15,000 each in Australia’s first award dedicated to digital billboard art.

“Cybersecurity predictions for 2021 show the ripple effect of COVID-19 is likely to continue, leading to a rise in thread hijacking, whaling and human-operated ransomware,” says HP in its preview of 2021. Konica Minolta says the past year led to an “irreversible shift” in the meaning of the workplace and in 2021 “we will be entering the era of the hybrid office.” Ricoh says after a year of “exceptionally high demand” for floor graphics, the formerly under-utilised floors of retail, commercial and public spaces are likely to receive a lot more attention.

Epson has been placed on the prestigious corporate sustainability 'A list' by global environmental non-profit CDP for leadership in tackling climate change and protecting water security.

There's a flurry of late 2020 listings of used wide format equipment happening with WFOL and Printmachinery.com.au. Some is hardly used and no more than 2 years old. Yes, Covid-related close-downs and business difficulties have contributed to this, but it presents opportunities to others and delivers much-needed cash to the sellers.

Two European Digital Press Association Awards have been awarded to Durst, manufacturer of advanced digital printing and production technologies. They were for its Rho 2500 in the Best Flatbed/Hybrid Printer > 250 sqm/h category and the other for Durst Workflow (Best Workflow Technology).

Outdoor advertiser oOh!media reports a strong recovery in key Out of Home audiences post COVID-19 lockdown. A significant revenue rebound in the 4^th quarter means FY20 revenues are now anticipated to be between $420m-$430m, the company said.

Canon Production Printing Australia has launched ProCare, a new Canon Production Printing Oceania after-sales service program for its Colorado roll-to-roll wide format printer series.

UK developer Global Graphics - known for digital inkjet software used by customers HP, Canon, Roland, Kodak and Durst - entered into a binding conditional agreement for the acquisition of HYBRID Software Group from holding company Congra Software - to create the “foremost enterprise software supplier for digital printing.”

Entries are now open for the Pride in Print 2021 Awards for the best in visual print communication products produced in New Zealand. Each sector of the printing industry is covered, with expert panels of judges analysing every entry. 

The fully automated Durst P5 350 high speed system can print over 600 sqm per hour, twice as fast as the Durst P5 350 standard model, making it “the most productive hybrid printer in the market,” says the Italian printing technology manufacturer.

Italian regulator AGCM has fined HP Inc and HP Italy a total of €10 million for using “misleading and aggressive” practices to limit the use of non-original cartridges in its printers. 

The ASGA & FESPA HP National Conference scheduled to take place in Sydney on Friday 19 February 2021 has now been cancelled due to "unpredictable and uncertain" restrictions related to Covid-19. The HP Awards For Excellence, due to be presented during the conference, have been rescheduled to 28 September 2021 in Melbourne, at the start of the Visual Impact / PacPrint21 trade show.