Printing, digital, and marketing convergence

More interesting news and case studies involving printing and publishing technologies in my regular ‘Hi-Tech’ category.

Today: a 200-year-old printing press; inkjet technologies for haute couture; 3D photos; an awesome book-based app.

Newspaper press marks 200 years

At the end of 1814, Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Bauer printed The Times in London using a steam-powered double-cylinder press, 360 years after Gutenberg’s hand press. In 2014, mechanical newspaper printing celebrated its 200th birthday.

To use steam power instead of hard labour, Friedrich Koenig implemented a rotating cylinder into the printing process. The hourly output of 1,100 printed sheets meant that productivity increased by almost 5 times compared to Gutenberg’s hand press.

Printing paper sheets on one side (straight printing), the ‘Times press’ was an important landmark in the 500-year plus history of printing.

‘Digital Couture’ at New York Fashion Week

Epson, the company that likely manufactured your printer, has teamed up with fashion designers to bring a unique project to New York Fashion Week this February.

Eleven designers from across the Americas will use new digital sublimation printers to show that digital prints may look cool. Some famous designers have already become early adopters of dye sublimation technology using it in their work.

Epson is sure that the digital couture can take fashion in new directions. A good fabric with a proper base colour will be enough for creating original collections.

3D photos for people without vision

Touchable Memories by pirate3D is a social experiment named among top ten 3D printing stories of 2014. An totally new application for this innovative technology is a great example of endless possibilities to make our lives better with the help of printing.

Testing 3D printing in a brand new field showed incredible results. An affordable home printer turned photographs into 3D-printed objects. The visually-impaired people experienced forgotten and never seen images by fabricating tangible scenes of them.

The video documentary describes how the 3D models open a way to visualize memories that were photographed.

Bonus: Made in Ukraine

In December, The Snow Queen, the world-renowned Hans Christian Andersen story, came to life on iPhones. Timecode, a Kiev-based apps and software developer, offered a universal build both for iPads and iPhones.

A interactive edition is based on the award-winning book published by A-BA-BA-GA-LA-MA-GA publishing house. In 2006, The Snow Queen became the book of the year in the US.

The Snow Queen’s detailed illustrations were originally drawn by Ukranian artist Vladyslav Yerko using ultra-fine brushes under a large magnifying glass and then animated and enhanced for iOS. Readers can make snow fall, stoke a fire, see themselves in a magic mirror, uncover hidden objects and games. The application is available in three versions: Ukrainian, Russian and English.