Webinar Details
Letterpress is not an everyday offset printing process, so this webinar will instruct attendees in the unique aspects that will help in designing and producing a letterpress printed piece:

    * The history of letterpress: a quick overview;

    * Why letterpress has become so popular again;

    * How does the letterpress process work today: From artwork to final product;

    * Preparing artwork for letter press: Watch out for these common misconceptions;

    * The positive side of letterpress: Tactile, unique, standing out;

    * The downside of letterpress: One color at a time and slower press runs;

    * Paper considerations including hands on tips.

There will also be some examples of the effects and impact of using Letterpress today. To attend the webinar, prospective attendees can register at www.paperspecs.com/webinar/letterpress.htm. Participants must have access to a telephone line and an internet connection.

Guest Speaker: Judith Berliner, Full Circle Press
Judith has been in the printing industry since she was 14 years old when her father, Harold Berliner, moved his print shop to their home. As the fourth of eight children, Judith’s job was to run the hand-fed Chandler & Price printing press. After working for several small print shops — always the only woman in the press room — Judith returned to her hometown Nevada City in 1991 and started Full Circle Press. Judith doesn’t just love printing — letterpress printing to be precise — she lives it. Her love for detail and enthusiasm and eye for detail for each client project is infectious. Judith’s work has been featured in several editions of HOW Magazine, Chen Design Associates book One Color Graphics and several Martha Stewart Weddings editions.

About Neenah Paper
Neenah Paper manufactures and distributes a wide range of premium and specialty paper grades, with leading positions in many of its markets and well-known brands such as CLASSIC®, ENVIRONMENT®, STARWHITE®, NEENAH®, ESSE® and other fine brand names. Neenah Paper is a proud consumer of Green Energy and is a U.S. EPA Green Power Partner. Neenah also manufactures many brands carrying the Green-E, Green Seal and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certifications. For more information, call 1-800-994-5993 or visit the Neenah Paper web site at www.neenahpaper.com.
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About PaperSpecs
Paper professionals worldwide struggle to stay current with new papers and paper trends. This inspired founder Sabine Lenz to create PaperSpecs, the first independent and comprehensive web-based online database specifically designed to help designers and print buyers make the best paper choice for their projects. PaperSpecs currently features more than 4,200 papers from over 70 mills. The website also offers tips on paper buying. An online catalog allows members to order the latest swatchbooks and mill promotions, and assists in assembling samples for client projects. PaperSpecs also distributes a free weekly newsletter to aid subscribers in gaining valuable insight in paper specifying and print buying issues. To become a member or to get a free tour of the database, go to www.paperspecs.com.

(CSRwire) PORTLAND, OR — January 28, 2008 — GreenPrint Technologies announced today the launch of GreenPrint World, a new version of its paper-saving software available for free to home users worldwide. The company estimates that with widespread use the software could save over 100 million trees and reduce greenhouse gasses by over 300 million tons globally.

“Our goal is nothing short of ending wasteful printing worldwide,” said CEO Hayden Hamilton, “We believe that GreenPrint World provides the opportunity to do exactly that. It gives home users everywhere the ability to eliminate waste which helps the environment as well as their wallets.”

GreenPrint software eliminates waste before printing, saving paper, ink, and reducing greenhouse gasses. It does this by analyzing each page of every document sent to the printer and looking for typical waste characteristics (e.g. pages with just a URL, banner ad, logo, or legal jargon) and then highlighting and removing them before they are printed. GreenPrint also allows users to remove images from a page with a single click before printing, resulting in significant savings in ink or toner. GreenPrint saves the average user over $90 and 1,400 wasted pages per year and quantifies the ecological and cost saving benefits that result in an easy to read report.

“It’s products like this that can have a significant impact on the environment for generations to come,” said Scott Fogerty, Director of Friends of Trees. “By providing a free version which is available globally, GreenPrint is making an important contribution to reducing deforestation and removing greenhouse gasses.”

The World Edition incorporates GreenPrint’s core paper-saving functionality but has fewer features than the licensed versions and includes advertising. GreenPrint World is available as of today to all households and non-profits worldwide at no cost. GreenPrint is currently donating the advertising space in the World Edition to its environmental partners and organizations the company feels are doing important work with healthcare in the developing world.

GreenPrint World expands the GreenPrint product line to four offerings: GreenPrint Home Premium, GreenPrint Enterprise, and an eco-font called EverGreen.

For more information on GreenPrint World, or to download the software for free, visit the GreenPrint website – www.printgreener.com.

GreenPrint Technologies, LLC is the maker of GreenPrint software, designed to reduce waste in home and office printing. The software eliminates wasteful pages before they are printed, incorporates a PDF writer as an alternative to printing, makes it easy to save ink and toner, and provides enterprises with detailed print monitoring and reporting functionality. For more information please visit www.printgreener.com.

For more information please contact:

Elise Burke, PR Director
GreenPrint Technologies, LLC
(503) 459-7545
www.printgreener.com

Caitlin McCool, Sales & Marketing
GreenPrint Technologies, LLC
www.printgreener.com

Your initial reaction is: Great. You are feeling better about the choice you made. Eighty percent fat free! Seventy percent sugar free! Your heart and waistline will thank you, and you are certain: this must be good for you.

When you stop for a moment and start thinking about it, you might wonder… what happened to the other 30 percent?

The food industry started it. And whatever works successfully in one market, others are sure to copy. Unfortunately, the paper industry is no exception.

Sooner or later marketing in all its glory takes over, and the issues get more blurry and confusing for everyone. How can a paper be elemental and process chlorine-free?

But don’t despair. Help is on its way.

The Brighter the…
For years, the trend in the paper industry has been towards whiter and brighter papers. The original AF&PA grade chart (the one that used to determine No. 1, No. 2, etc., grades) ended with a brightness of 87.9, but now, papers with 95 to 98 brightness are common.

To achieve these wonderful brightness levels, pulp mills used to use chlorine gas in the bleaching process. But the chlorine molecules combined with organic molecules in the wood fibers created cancer-causing dioxins in the environment.

The good news is that virtually all North American mills have converted to an at least “elemental chlorine-free” processes. The ECF process uses chlorine derivatives, primarily chlorine dioxide, instead of elemental chlorine gas. This is better, but not perfect.

Three Free Chlorines
There are three terms commonly used in the papermaking process for bleaching paper:

Totally Chlorine-Free (TCF) means that 100 percent virgin fiber (including virgin tree-free fiber) is unbleached or bleached with non-chlorine compounds. It may also include wood or alternative fibers, such as kenaf.

Processed Chlorine-Free (PCF) indicates that the recycled fiber in the sheet is unbleached or bleached with non-chlorine compounds. PCF papers are not considered totally chlorine-free because of the unknown bleaching process of the original fibers that have now been recycled. Any virgin fibers in a PCF sheet must be TCF.

Elemental Chlorine-Free (ECF) indicates virgin or recycled fiber that is bleached with chlorine dioxide or other chlorine compounds. This process significantly reduces hazardous dioxins, but does not completely eliminate them.

30 Percent Sugar Free
In an effort to promote their environmental and chlorine consciousness, some mills have started to draw attention to the PCF portion of their papers, by pointing out that their papers are PCF and ECF.

In those cases, the recycled portion of the pulp is usually PCF, while the virgin portion is ECF.

And the mills have to be specific about this. “A paper can only be either or! If there is any ECF pulp involved in the making of this paper, it cannot just be called PCF,” says Archie Beaton, executive director of the Chlorine Free Products Association. Think of it as the weakest link.

Just think about our soft drinks again. You cannot claim it to be completely sugar free, if 30 percent of it is made with the sweet stuff.

How to Spec
The best approach to keeping it all straight is determining your green preferences and goals. As with much of life, priorities and compromises rule the day.

If it’s important to you or your client that the paper is made from recycled fibers, then realize the best you can do in the chlorine-free department is a sheet that is completely PCF.

This does not mean it has to be 100 percent recycled. It could also be a sheet that is made from recycled pulp, that is PCF, and the virgin portion of the pulp is TCF.

Your colleagues and friends have been raving about the Members Only area in PaperSpecs – how easy it is to order swatchbooks, to access information on over 4,200 papers in our paper database.

But you have always been a bit skeptical. You want to know what’s behind all this hype, and here is your chance.

We are opening our virtual doors for a live tour, an “Open House” so to speak, on Thursday, December 6th at 11:00 a.m. PT.

Take 30 minutes out of your busy schedule, grab a cup of coffee and get all your questions answered. Live, up close and personal.

So grab a cup of coffee (and maybe one of those holiday cookies that seem to be everywhere) and join us. Get all your questions answered. Live, up close and personal.

And because we know your time is precious, we’d like to show our appreciation with a little “thank you” gift as well.
 We’ll send you a transcript of our recent Webinar “Sustainability – No Smoke or Mirrors.” In this highly acclaimed session, Liza Murphy, senior manager, Marketing and Business Development at the Rainforest Alliance, gave us the inside track on what sustainability really means and how it affects paper choices.

Click here to R.S.V.P. for the PaperSpecs Open House.

I am looking forward to meeting you – virtually that is.
Sabine Lenz
Founder, PaperSpecs

Mohawk launches Strathmore specification site, www.strathmore.com.

Cohoes, NY (PRWEB) August 31, 2007 — Mohawk Fine Papers Inc. has launched a new Strathmore specification website at www.strathmore.com. Beautifully designed, with an intuitive interface, the website quickly guides the user through the specification of a complete identity system — solving that frustrating and time-consuming process of rifling through multiple lines and dozens of swatchbooks. Now printers and designers can find coordinating colors, weights and finishes in offset and digital papers in a matter of minutes, and order samples at the same time.

“We have worked hard to make it easy for printers and designers to specify Strathmore. We all have a lot to accomplish in a day, and a tool like Strathmore.com can save so much time in sorting through swatchbooks and paper samples. We have streamlined the specification process through ordering samples and delivering paper instructions. It’s more efficient and leaves less room for costly errors,” says Laura Shore, Mohawk’s Senior Vice President Marketing Communications.

Whether looking for a specific color, weight, finish, recycled fiber content, or digital paper, the simple navigation does the work of sorting all the available options. With just a click of the mouse a complete list of coordinating papers appears making it easier and faster, to specify a complete identity system. Once an identity is specified, the user can easily print our a complete paper list, and click to order samples, or click to email the spec sheet to client, printer, or merchant for follow up.

For more information visit www.strathmore.com or call 1 800 the mill.

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Press Contact: Laura Shore
Company Name: Mohawk Fine Papers Inc.
Email: Email Us Here: http://www.prweb.com/emailmember.php?prid=550671
Phone: 518-233-6208
Website: www.strathmore.com

I love the smell of fresh ink on new paper, but most people I know prefer other scents, such as that wonderful new car smell.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like the scents of summer including a whiff of suntan lotion, freshly mown grass or even cotton candy on a warm summer’s day. Provocative scents lure and powerful smells can repel, but they all grab your attention.

Imagine being able to take some of the most powerful and pleasant scents and use them in your designs. Well, you don’t have to imagine because it’s easier and less expensive than you’d expect to add scent to anything that is offset printed. All it takes is a little extra time, the right know-how and a cooperative printer.

The Methods and the Projects
One way to get scent on paper is to coat the entire sheet. That’s the option that McCormick, the company that makes spices and flavorings for food and cooking, has chosen to add some extra “spice” to its annual reports. Every year the company incorporates a different spice, such as ginger or cinnamon, in the pages of the annual report .

To find out more about the project and the process of scenting paper in this way, I talked with Paul Schmitz at E. John Schmitz & Sons, Inc. (www.schmitzpress.com), a commercial printer located near Baltimore. The company has been owned and operated by the Schmitz family since its founding in 1937 and in 2002, won a Sappi North American Printer of the Year Gold Award.

Schmitz told me that adding scent to a sheet of paper is as simple as adding a coat of varnish. In fact, in the process they use on the McCormick annual report, the scent is applied to the paper inline (on press) in much the same way as a varnish is applied. The addition of the coating requires extra drying time, but basically, it’s a simple process. Schmitz suggested, though, that it’s not the kind of thing every printer would be comfortable doing because getting it right takes some experience.

I checked with Micro-Scent  (www.microscent.com), a firm that mixes up the scented coating liquid for Schmitz and McCormick. Micro-Scent has more than 400 pre-mixed scents you can use, including chocolate, lawn, sea breeze — and yes, suntan lotion. Micro-Scent will also mix up custom scents, which is what it does for the McCormick project.

Making a custom scent can take several weeks and requires an oil (not water) soluble fragrance, which Micro-Scent can help find or develop. The company doesn’t usually charge extra for the development and testing process.

The paper stock used in the McCormick scented section of the annual report is a matte, which is what Micro-Scent recommends. The scent is microencapsulated, and the process works best with matte or dull coated or vellum papers as opposed to gloss coated stocks. The process tends to give the paper a matte appearance, so you need to choose a paper with that in mind.

If you don’t need to coat the entire sheet or if you want to make sure the scent doesn’t reveal itself as soon as the envelope is opened, then you can add a scratch-and-sniff or rub-and-sniff scent to the paper. Doing so allows you to place more than one scent on a single sheet of paper, as well.

The Possibility of Multiple Sniffs
To find out more about this process, I talked with Jim Berard, co-founder of a new company called Scentisphere (www.scentisphere.com). The company makes Rub’nSmell, a scented print varnish that also uses microencapsulated technology. The product can be applied inline just as any other spot varnish is applied and just about any quality paper can be used except newsprint.

The scent isn’t detectible until the area where it has been applied is rubbed. Unlike older scratch and sniff processes, the scent can be activated many times because the process applies millions of microcapsules within a small area.

I asked Berard for the names of a few customers who are using the product.  A week or so later, I chatted with Dana Springfield, director of circulation at Yankee Candle. He manages the company’s retail and wholesale catalog production process, and he’s been using Rub’nSmell for a few months now with great success.

The company’s retail operation sends out eight to ten catalogs a year, ten million in all, and Springfield was looking for a way to let customers smell new candle fragrances. He’s run several tests with the scented varnish and has been so impressed with the increased sales that he’s using it to introduce six new scents in the latest catalog.

The biggest lesson he and his staff learned from the tests is that they needed to find a way to call attention to the coated areas that contain the scent. The printed sample I received from Berard has dotted lines around the areas with instructional text. For example, a dotted line appears around a jar candle with the text, “Rub the jar to experience Citrus Sunshine Fragrance!” printed directly above the jar.

Berard likes the fact that you can’t smell the scent until you touch the area where it has been applied, which allows people to stop and sniff only the scents they think they’ll like. He also likes the price — compared to other scented printing processes he has tried, this one is the least expensive.

Fragrance Makes A Difference
The hardest part of the process may be finding a printer that has extensive experience in using scented products. However, if you talk to the scent suppliers in this article they will be able to direct you to a printer who is familiar with their products. So, if you have a project that could benefit from the added boost of an evocative fragrance, then you should investigate the difference scent can make.

The Passport line now features a full spectrum of fiber-added hues and accent colors, with four new cover colors added to its Felt offering: Coco, Urban Gray, Dark Blue and Serious Black. Passport offers 14 colors in both smooth and felt finishes, in six standard weights from 24-lb. writing to 110-lb. double-thick cover. The smooth finish writing and text sheets are laser, inkjet and copier guaranteed.

The swatchbook’s print demonstrations use black-and-white and color photos of European locales. Designed by Memphis-based Chung Design and printed by Williamson Printing in Dallas, it contains detailed notes on how each of the images were printed. The swatchbook can be requested on the SMART Papers site.

Mohawk Fine Papers Inc. announces the relaunch of Beckett Expression and Beckett Concept – the industry’s first premium paper brands made carbon neutral.

With fresh new shades, expanded basis weights including new extra-heavy cover weights, and new Beckett Digital papers with i-Tone, Expression and Concept offer a range of products that designers and printers can specify with the confidence of quality and performance.

In addition to enhancing the look and performance of the papers, Mohawk has made Beckett Concept and Beckett Expression the most environmentally responsible premium papers available.  The entire Expression and Concept product lines are now FSC certified, manufactured with wind-generated electricity and made carbon neutral – which means that they are made entirely with renewable energy.

“Mohawk is the second largest purchaser of wind-generated electricity among U.S. manufacturing companies.  Carbon neutral production was the next logical step in our efforts to reduce our impact on the environment,” says George Milner, Mohawk’s Senior Vice President, Energy, Environmental and Government Affairs.  (For more information on carbon neutral see Mohawk’s press release:  Mohawk Introduces Carbon Neutral Papers)

These two premium writing, text and cover brands have been revamped and re-engineered to meet the needs of designers, digital printers and sustainable businesses in today’s market.

Beckett Expression

Mohawk has created a groundbreaking environmental offering in the premium writing (unwatermarked), text and cover category.  Super-smooth Expression has an outstanding printing surface designed for high-performance on any printing platform from traditional offset, heatset web, waterless, Xerox iGen3™ Digital Production Presses, Kodak NexPress, HP Indigo, to office printers and copiers.

Beckett Expression Key Features

· One of the smoothest uncoated premium papers

· 98-bright white shade, Radiance

· Designer palette of solids and fibers inspired by colors of contemporary resort spas

· Comprehensive range of basis weights from 24 writing to 160 double-thick cover

    > Significantly expanded 100 text offering in 10 shades

   > New 100 and 120 solid covers in key white shades

   > New ultra heavy 160 double-thick cover in five shades

· Heavy covers and deep shades are packed in small quantity cartons

· New Expression Digital items featuring Mohawk’s exclusive i-Tone™ surface

· Nine shades are made with 30% postconsumer waste fiber and are Green Seal certified

· All items are FSC and Green-e certified

· All items are made carbon neutral

· All items are manufactured with wind-generated electricity

Beckett Concept

Mohawk has responded to the emerging trend toward vellum finishes with the newly updated Beckett Concept. This premium writing (watermarked), text and cover grade with has a unique velvet-like finish that offers excellent printability with a luxurious feel.  Mohawk has built on Concept’s heritage as a recycled grade.  All items in the Concept are now FSC certified, manufactured with wind-generated electricity and made carbon neutral.  Most items in the line also contain 100% postconsumer waste.  Concept is engineered for superior print performance on traditional offset and heatset web printers as well as laser and inkjet printers and copiers.

Beckett Concept Key Features

· Refined vellum finish combines a dense uniform center core with a soft, toothy surface

· 98-bright white shade, Radiance

· Fresh new colors with a range of appealing earth tones

· Comprehensive range of basis weights watermarked 24 writing to 160 double-thick cover

       > New 80 text weights available in two 98-bright Radiance and new Candlelight

    > New 130 double-thick cover added in all shades

    > New ultra-heavy 160 double-thick cover added in key shades

· Nine shades are made with 100% postconsumer waste fiber and Green Seal certified

· All items are FSC and Green-e certified

· All items are made carbon neutral

· All items are manufactured with wind-generated electricity

Developed as a stand-alone brand, the Beckett Family features luxurious new swatchbooks, packaging and a new identity.  High quality, progressive, and verified by a third party, Beckett Concept and Expression are the ultimate choice for customers who value quality, performance and environmentally preferential products.

Ask you local merchant for more information on Beckett Concept and Beckett Expression and other Mohawk papers, or visit www.mohawkpaper.com, or call 1 800 the mill.

SMART Papers said it has opened a new online retail store at www.smartpapersstore.com to provide quick ordering and delivery of specialty printing papers in any quantity.

Kromekote and the SMART Line
The store offers new convenience for North American printers, designers, businesses and consumers. The respected Kromekote® ultra-glossy paper line and all other SMART Papers matte and uncoated offset and digital printing papers are now available in any order size—direct from the manufacturer.

Papers are available in 50-, 100- and 250-count retail packs, reams, full-size cartons and packs of 100 full-size offset press sheets. All orders are shipped next day via air or ground delivery across North America.

Luxury gloss, matte and wide range
of uncoated papers available
SMART Papers offers more than 1,800 SKUs of premium papers in a wide variety of sizes, weights, colors and finishes via the online store, including Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified papers. The offering can be easily accessed by brand, type of paper, color, finish, end use or stock item number. Printers, designers and other customers who know the papers they want can locate them quickly.

SMART Papers site users can also search by application or type of project. The site has recommendations for many end uses: stationery and envelopes, resumes, report covers, certificates, newsletters and announcements, business cards, post cards, greeting cards, hang tags, scrapbooking and hobby papers, plus packaging and color copy.

The company’s full line of coated and uncoated digital printing papers is offered for toner, inkjet and direct imaging presses. SMART Digital papers work on all OEM inkjet, color copiers and production-rated presses including those from HP Indigo, Xerox and Kodak.

SMART Papers’ flagship Kromekote triple cast coated papers for offset and digital printing, including Kromekote Glass, Kromekote Metallics, Kromekote Textures and Kromekote Foils are offered. Matte coated Knightkote papers are also available, as are SMART Papers’ uncoated collection of Writing, Text and Cover papers—Carnival, Genesis, Magna Carta, Passport, Pegasus, SMART Brights and Synergy.

Secure Payment Online
All orders via smartpapersstore.com are by credit card via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption, the highest level of encryption available for commercial web browsers. Smartpapersstore.com’s host site is certified by TRUST-e, an independent privacy organization.

Hamilton, Ohio-based SMART Papers is the largest independent North American manufacturer and marketer of premium cast coated, matte coated and uncoated text, cover and writing papers. The company markets a wide range of premium papers, including the well-known brands of Kromekote®, Knightkote® Matte, SMART Digital™, Pegasus®, Carnival®, Synergy®, Passport®, Genesis®, Magna Carta® and SMART Brights®.