Issued by: Sappi Fine Paper


Anderson Lithograph won this fiercely contested title for their 'Cadillac XLR 2004' brochure, printed on McCoy Gloss Cover 216g/m². The company received the International Printer of the Year trophy, a bronze elephant representative of enduring excellence and pride, to keep in perpetuity as a symbol of its achievement, and a handcrafted Sappi International Printer of the Year gold medallion.

Anderson Lithograph's Suzi Romanik and Mark Tennant, excitedly accept the 2004 Sappi International Printer of the Year trophy from Jonathan Leslie, Chief Executive Officer Sappi Limited

Ultra Litho from South Africa was named the Sappi 2004 African Printer of the Year for their 'Big 5' calendar, printed on Magno Satin 250g/m². Judges commended this entry for its overall impact and high level of technical quality.

Albert Lubbe, Managing Director Sappi Fine Paper South Africa presents Colin Finck of Ultra Litho with the 2004 Sappi African Printer of the Year trophy

Pragati Offset from India was named the 2004 Sappi Trading Printer of the Year for the book '88 Husains in Oils', printed on HannoArt Silk 200g/m². Judges commented on the excellent stochastic screening of the pictures and the meticulous hand stitching.

Multiple gold award winner Pragati Offset's Narendra Paruchuri from India accepts the 2004 Sappi Trading Printer of the Year award from Hugh Martin, Managing Director Sappi Trading

Fontegrafica from Italy was named the 2004 Sappi European Printer of the Year for their 'The world is a stage' brochure, printed on Hello Gloss 170g/m² and hello Silk 350 and 300g/m². Judges commented on the attention to detail and dramatic use of printing techniques, including foiling and varnishing.

Giuseppi Musmeci of Fontegrafica from Italy receives the 2004 Sappi European Printer of the Year trophy from Wolfgang Pfarl, Chief Executive Officer Sappi Fine Paper Europe

Winners were announced on 22 October 2004 at a gala event attended by printers and leading designers from around the world.

The event was held at the historic Vergelegen wine estate in Cape Town. "Like winemaking, papermaking and printing still essentially follow the same methods used for centuries," commented Sappi's Chief Executive Officer, Jonathan Leslie.

"While machines and technology have made these processes easier and faster, still they are very much driven by the skill and passion of the individual. Which is why Vergelegen is such an appropriate venue for this award, which is focused on encouraging, honouring and rewarding excellence."

Truly global, the awards are held in four different regions around the world - Africa, North America, Europe and the trading region (Asia, Australasia, Central and South America).

Each regional competition, held earlier in the year, comprises up to seven categories, including annual reports, books, brochures, catalogues (in North America), calendars and posters, packaging and labels, magazines and general. Regional judging panels make gold, silver and bronze awards in each category if appropriate.

These four regional gold winners then go forward to compete for the print industry's supreme honour, the title of Sappi International Printer of the Year.

Entries are judged in the week before the gala event by an independent panel of judges, who are all highly qualified and experienced industry experts. Representing Africa, the Sappi Trading region, North America and Europe respectively, the judges were:

• Eugene Brandt, a director of CTP Web, has served on the Printing Industries Federation of SA Cape Chamber and has been chairman of both the Printing Workers Committee and of Young Management Printers. Eugene is currently the Examiner/Assessor for the Rotary Offset Printing Federation in South Africa.
  
• Greg Grace, a Fellow of the LIA (Lithographic Institute of Australia) and manager of the Print Media Academy at Heidelberg, Sydney, Australia. Greg serves on the panel of judges for the Queensland, Tasmanian, South and Western Australia PiCA awards and is a consultant to the National Print Awards.
  
• Robert Chung, a faculty member of the School of Print Media, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) since 1980. Active in research, Bob has published over 30 technical papers in leading industry journals. At the beginning of 2004, Bob was appointed the first RIT Gravure Research Professor.
  
• Philippe Jourdan, a member of the FEGI Association (Graphic Industry Exchange Federation) and Chevalier of the European Order of Gutenberg, which honours the influence of French civilization through printing. Philippe is director in charge of the production department of one of the world's leading publishers of consumer magazines.

Entries were judged on overall appearance, quality of the finishing and the general difficulty of the print job, as well as factors such as dot sharpness, ink density, registration, sheet size, paper weight, screen ruling, stitching and die cutting.

But none of these are judged in isolation. It is how these elements are combined that defines a print work and creates something that is greater than the sum of the parts.

Over the years, the steady increase in the number of entries, together with an increase in general level of quality, have resulted in the Sappi International Printer of the year awards becoming the Oscars of the print industry, the equivalent of Olympic gold.

"During every Olympics, our idea of excellence is reshaped," said Leslie. "There is always an athlete who performs faster, higher, stronger. Similarly, every year, at the Sappi International Printer of the Year awards, printers from around the world reshape our ideas of excellence, raising the bar and performing beyond expectation.

"A good wine begins in the vineyard, just as outstanding print begins with excellent paper. At Sappi we are proud to play a role in facilitating outstanding print work from printer who share our commitment to excellence.

"Our theme this year was 'Celebrating print' and indeed, we have much to celebrate. Not only has demand for paper doubled in the last decade, but print media generally is on the increase and when one looks at the excellent quality of the work represented at the award, one can see why."

Editorial contact
Sappi Fine Paper
Madelaine Fourie
Tel +27 (0)11 407 8190

Visit our PRESS OFFICE: Sappi Fine Paper is a global business with manufacturing assets in eight countries on three continents, with customers in over 100 countries. Our main focus is on high quality branded coated fine paper. Our customers include leading printers, advertisers, publishers and designers who communicate their messages through the printed word and powerful graphic images created on our broad range of products.- more....

[24 Oct 2004 23:37]

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