Printing Press: What’s Happening December 2020

Printing Press: What’s Happening December 2020

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What’s Happening December 2020 is our final edition of the year. As with every facet of life today, Covid-19 is a consideration in most of the entries here. As a result of the pandemic, the industry has responded with innovations and resources.

Among these developments is a new touch-free way to order photo prints at Kodak Moments retail kiosks. In addition, new GotPhoto software helps school photographers create group photos via composites. The company also offers guidelines for contact-free shoots.

Rounding out the section are two printers; one is a large-format pro Canon Pixma and the other a pocket instant printer from Polaroid. We also look at a new company dedicated to advanced photo book production.

      What’s Happening December 2020

Kodak Moments Touch-Free Kiosk Photo Printing at Retail

A new touch-free photo printing solution was announced by Kodak Moments for its retailer partners. With the coronavirus pandemic ongoing, providing a safe shopping experience for consumers is critical as retailers continue to instill in-person shopping confidence.

According to a recent study by McKinsey, 74% of consumers who used safe and contactless checkout during the early shelter-in-place periods will continue to use these features in the future. As a result, Kodak Moments believes contactless shopping is here to stay. What's Happening December 2020 Kodak-Moments-touch-free-kiosk-printing

As part of its commitment to both retail customers and their shoppers, Kodak Moments is hoping to alleviate anxieties. Consequently, it developed an alternative to contact photo print ordering.

Its touch-free technology is already enabled on the company’s Kodak Moments To Go solution. Moreover, the company can retrofit it into current Kodak Moments retail products. As a result, consumers simply scan a QR code on the kiosk screen and go through the ordering process on their mobile device. After they place their order, they release their order to the kiosk for printing directly from their phone—all without having to touch the screen. Payment and photo fulfillment are handled by the retailer as normal.

“At Kodak Moments, our number one priority and concern will always be our customers’ needs and wants,” said Scott Robinson, director, Strategic Future Products, Kodak Moments. “Covid-19 has caused everyone to rethink how they shop and interact with solutions in-store. We remain dedicated to finding the best ways to serve consumers on their preferred pathways.”

GotPhoto QuickComposite & Holiday Sales Content

GotPhoto released QuickComposite software and holiday sales content. The company’s new composite software helps volume school photographers generate group photos.

GotPhoto prepared guides, webinars as well as e-mail templates to aid photographers in generating extra holiday revenue. The resources build on GotPhoto’s existing strategies started at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis. The company provided useful contactless workflow materials to school photographers. These include picture day flyers; a guide on communication with schools during Covid-19; animated explainer videos on a contactless workflow; and a contactless posing tips video. For more information, visit the company’s resource page. GotPhoto-QuickComposite-software

“Despite the difficulty of the Covid-19 situation this year, we immediately identified the best means of supporting our photographers; our contactless workflow was crucial to this,” said Benedikt Greifenhofer, CEO of GotPhoto. “Thousands of professional photographers have used these materials and ideas successfully. Now we want to go the extra mile and help photographers further increase their revenue during the holiday period and end this difficult year on a high.”

The new QuickComposite software enables photographers to create group pictures using individual student photos in a quick, easy and safe manner. Working seamlessly with GotPhoto, it makes it easy for photographers to expand their offerings within their current workflow.

For more on GotPhoto’s contactless volume photography materials and the company’s holiday sales materials, visit gotphoto.com.

Layflat.com Premium Bookbinding Company Launches

Print service providers worldwide can now partner with a new company dedicated to advanced automated bookbinding systems: Layflat.com. The company’s systems take advantage of the rapidly growing premium layflat photo book market.

Founded on the principle of establishing long-term relationships with customers, Layflat has evolved into an international bookbinding team that comprises design, manufacturing, logistics, distribution, marketing, sales and support. What's Happening December 2020 Layflat.com-banner-logo

CEO Djawad Khorosh invested almost a year to select the best international team members before officially launching the company this October. Layflat encompasses an alliance of companies from around the world that offer reliable regional manufacturing, sales and customer support.

“We worked closely with all our manufacturers, thoroughly evaluating our systems under operating conditions with some printers, before deciding we were ready,” Khorosh said. “We considered many distribution/support channels before selecting those companies which best matched our philosophy of commitment to the customer.”

Khorosh understands that even with the constraints imposed by Covid-19, families and companies want to create photo books portraying the stories of their lives and businesses. So, it offers themes on architecture, art, poetry, cooking, professional photography, school days, important events, as well as products and services.

One of the company’s key products is the LF 600 All-in. The compact, fully automatic layflat block system includes a creaser and folder. It features automatic feeding, gluing and assembling. It creates photo books by gluing pages back-to-back and inserting cardboard in between sheets. Producing 600 finished sheets per hour, it combines the company’s layflat binding technology with Hotmelt gluing technology to ensure faster delivery at an economical price.

Canon Pixma Pro-200 Photo Printer for Enthusiasts

The Pixma Pro-200 printer is 15% smaller than its predecessor—the Pixma Pro-100. However, it has the ability to print up to 13×19 inches and features improved ChromaLife 100+ dye-based ink. Canon says it is the latest Pro printer to create prints more representative of the original digital file.

Moreover, the printer is marketed to photographers who print work for themselves and graphic artists, as well as photography students working on their portfolios from their homes.

A key feature of the Pro-200 photo printer is a new 3-inch LCD screen. The screen helps users set up the printer; connect to Wi-Fi; and monitor ink and paper levels for an improved user experience.

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Canon Pixma Pro-200

In addition, a new skew correction feature automatically corrects shifts the paper may encounter during printing. The printer also has professional print and layout software; the software can work as a stand-alone program or integrate into Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop as a plug-in to work within a photographer’s workflow.

What’s more, the printer offers robust media support. It can print on a variety of surfaces, such as Canon Photo Paper Pro Luster and Premium Fine Art Rough. Notably, it also has the ability to print longer panoramic images in comparison to previous Pixma models. The Canon Pixma Pro-200 has a suggested retail price of $599.99.

Polaroid Hi-Print Pocket Photo Printer

Polaroid’s new pocket printer uses dye-sublimation technology for fade-proof prints. The Polaroid Hi-Print continues to bridge the gap between instant photography and digital creativity; it’s a premium 2×3 pocket printer that produces photos with stickered backs. As Polaroid expands its range of portable, user-friendly mobile printers, dye-sublimation printing offers consistent and high-resolution photographs.

What’s more, the Polaroid Hi-Print is the first instant digital product Polaroid released since the company’s rebrand in March. That consolidation and rebrand marked the company’s dedication to all facets of the classic Polaroid experience: “Transforming memories into physical photos.”

What's Happening December 2020 Polaroid-Hi-Print-w-package
Polaroid Hi-Print

With all-in-one cartridges, the new printer uses heat to seal in the final image in under a minute, creating smudge- as well as water-resistant prints. Featuring an adhesive back, photos from the printer can find their homes on lockers and scrapbooks, etc.

The Polaroid Hi-Print uses 2.1×3.4-inch paper cartridges that contain a color ribbon and 10 sheets of dye-sub photo paper. The mess-free cartridge eliminates the need for separate ink. And the printer’s battery lasts for 20 prints. In addition, the new printer brings mobile photos and memories to life through the iOS/Android apps.

Sporting the classic Polaroid color spectrum, the printer offers wireless connectivity via Bluetooth technology. Subsequently, the free Polaroid Hi-Print app lets users unleash their creativity with a suite of photo-editing tools, filters, overlays, frames, text and stickers.

The Polaroid Hi-Print pocket photo printer retails for $99.99; a 20-print Polaroid Hi-Print 2×3 paper cartridge sells for $16.99.

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