Graphics forum debates digital workflow

The forum was set up by the organisers of this year's major Middle East print exhibition, Gulf Print, which takes place in Dubai on 19-22 September.

According to Dominic McGill, project manager of Gulf Print, "The purpose of Gulf Ad Lab is to provide an industry forum to exchange ideas, raise issues and share solutions about digital workflow. The whole graphics and printing environment is constantly evolving and this sort of gathering proved very useful for everyone that attended. Feedback was very positive and the interactive process proved excellent and informative".

The meeting involved a panel debate featuring presentations by industry experts including representatives from key sponsors, HP. Others on the panel included Zahir Hassan from Zabeel Printing Press, Pal Singh of Motivate Publishing, Ben Castree of Momentum, Stan Paul of Leo Burnett, Joe Karkour of Layout Middle East and Ernest Azzam from HP. The event was hosted with the support of the newly established Dubai International Media Production Zone along with Momentum.

A variety of subjects were raised focusing on issues to do with colour management systems, training and how graphics applications and operating systems can be successfully integrated. Ernest Azzam presented a vision of how HP see workflow systems evolving followed by a presentation of the latest version of software application, QuarkXPress version 6 by Layout Middle East's Joe Karkour. The subsequent discussion focused on issues associated with file formats and the benefits associated with using software applications from Quark or Adobe.

Summary of key points
-Better education is needed for those supplying files on basic printing processes
-Better communication is needed between those involved in the digital workflow
-Pdf should be used within the industry, but is not fully accepted at present
-Colour management is a major issue
-Better understanding of preflighting and what solutions are out there is required
-Computer to plate is a growing technology that needs to be explored

The next Gulf Ad Lab, scheduled for 19 May, will reflect a similar format and include presentations on Adobe amongst other topics identified by the organisers steering committee. Gulf Ad Lab is a non-profit organisation and free to attend for individuals from the graphics, design, advertising and printing industries.