The digital platform drupa preview will present a conference programme showcasing the printing industry’s hot topics one more time (23 February, 2021) before making way for the inaugural virtual.drupa in April 2021. Industry players including Bobst, Heidelberg and Konica Minolta are taking part in the preview event, confirming their commitment to the virtual drupa show.

Emerging national supplier of Large Format Print consumable and hardware Total Image Supplies moves to bigger premises to keep up with stock and inventory demands from customers. There will be more staff appointments in the near future. It goes to show, despite Covid - there is opportunity for growth.

VIVID, the leading Melbourne-based Australian online signage manufacturer, has made a total million-dollar investment in the latest dye-sublimation printing and finishing technology – making it easier than ever for customers to create quality textile displays with big impact, and increasing capacity by 400%.

Onyx Graphics Inc, has launched a new way to experience the wide format industry's leading ONYX software; a subscription-based service named ONYX Go, available in both 'Lite' and 'Plus' versions. Both subscription and purchased versions will continue to be available through Onyx dealers and OEMs and Go is available now.

Mimaki has launched two new high performance printers for digital textile production - the TS100-1600 and the Tiger-1800B MkIII - designed to meet changing demands in the textile market.

The new Polar Choice range is ideal for signage and general advertising applications such as windows, POP displays, labels and decals, and can be printed using latex, UV or eco-solvent technology.

Technology companies are exploring ways to find new relevance in the post-Covid world, probing possibilities that address changed working patterns, travel and networks. Epson has established its new Open Innovation Centre research laboratory at its AiCT ICT offices, in which the company will work with partners to help find solutions to societal issues.

It's stuttering re-start but jobs in the signage, print and display industry seem to be returning. After months of lockdowns, border closures and high street business closures, we are seeing demand spark up again. Let's hope it keeps up.

High profile Melbourne wide format printer Magnify Media will be wound up and liquidated after suffering a severe business downturn in 2020 caused by Covid-19 restrictions. 

Idealliance says the G7 Expert Virtual Open House Australia will take place this Thursday, 11th Feb, hosted by expert instructor David Crowther of Colour Graphic Services and Mike Grady, vice president of global partnerships at Idealliance. 

Aluminium composite panels used for signage and facade work are the mainstay of retail and other chain fit-outs. CPH Group, who market Probond Ultra and other sheet products, have come up with a clever tagline 'we really know our sheet!' It's true, CPH employ trade-experienced sign people above sales hustlers, so they know the inside-out of the rigid sign panel side of things.

The Outdoor Media Association’s (OMA) monthly selection of the best of Out of Home campaigns has been expanded for January to include a Donald Trump-inspired UK campaign and a tribute to New York transport workers who lost their lives during Covid-19.

Ai Group’s Australian Manufacturing Index (PMI) increased by 3.2 points to 55.3 over the summer holiday period, with manufacturing businesses reporting stronger recovery over the normally quiet holiday season. But textiles, clothing, footwear, paper and printing businesses reported further declines, Ai said.

EFI released more details about its new VUTEk XT hybrid flatbed/roll-to-roll display graphics printer that was launched last month during EFI’s Engage global users conference and will be available mid-year.

Fuji Xerox Australia - soon to be renamed Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp - has turned to its YouTube channel to reintroduce the Fujifilm Vybrant UF10 Flatbed printer that was launched last year just before Covid-19 shut down business activity around the world.

The pioneer of anti-microbial films, Hexis, has achieved a one-hour contact 76% reduction of Coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2* (Covid) on surfaces coated with the product. This has been certified independently by the French testing laboratory UB'L3 in Bordeaux.

Leading graphics arts distributor Currie Group has announced ‘a strategic leadership transition,’ with executive chairman David Currie stepping down from his executive role in the business after 51 years. He will remain as chairman of the Group; the new Currie Group CEO, effective immediately, is Rob Mesaros.

HP has introduced a range of new Latex large format print solutions, the HP Latex 700 and 800 series, featuring “the whitest white ink available on the market.” The company has also updated its Latex Print and Cut portfolio and added to its PageWide XL suite of large format print solutions.

The S One roll cutter is the next step in Summa’s mid-level cutting machines and replaces the SummaCut Series. The S One is ‘more powerful and ready to enhance cutting workflow by obtaining unrivalled quality,’ Summa said.

Visual Connections is urging any Australian company considering exhibiting at the PacPrint expo in September of this year to act immediately to apply for funding which could cover 50% of participation costs up to the value of $250,000.