TAGA Announces Conference Keynotes

PostPress

The Technical Association of the Graphic Arts (TAGA) has lined up a powerful group of keynote speakers for the 2017 Annual Technical Conference on March 19-22 at the Houston Marriott West Loop by The Galleria in Houston, Texas. The speakers will address the expected worldwide impact of new color communication standards, approaches for achieving never-before-attainable levels of print efficiency, recent breakthroughs in 3D printing speed, and the technical and legal nuances with patenting colors.

Simply Smart: The Next Revolution in the Print Industry
Anthony Thirlby, general manager, Prinect, Heidelberg, will provide critical insight into how the transformation of the print and communications industry will happen, what the future shape of print companies will look like and how this will influence how we do business.

The Power of Standards: New Levels of Workflow and Color Consistency
Steve Smiley, principal, Smiley & Associates, will discuss the expected impact of the latest work by ISO on PDF/X file standard, CxF/X-4 color data exchange format, and ISO 20654 measurement and calculation of spot color tone value. Together, those standards can dramatically improve the communication of color and job intent, leading to a more consistent end-to-end workflow and the ability to print more vibrant spot colors.

Patenting a Color
John Seymour, color scientist, QuadTech, will illustrate useful and interesting facts about patents. What can be patented? When can you freely talk about your invention? How inventive does an invention need to be to be granted a patent? What is the most important part of a patent? When should you not try to patent a patentable idea?

Challenges and Opportunities in 3D Printing
Gary Dispoto, R&D director, HP Labs, will compare and contrast the capabilities of 3D printers (present and future) with conventional manufacturing methods and review important workflow considerations for 3D printing. He also will draw a number of parallels between digital commercial print production and 3D print-based manufacturing.

In addition, the TAGA conference will feature a panel of brand and graphics managers from consumer packaged goods companies discussing the changes they are making in workflows, production processes and graphics. The conversation also will delve into smart labels/packaging and the growing need for short-run packaging.

For more information, visit tagaatc.printing.org.