The inaugural Print21 + PKN LIVE event was a rousing success, with a full house turning out to hear industry experts discuss the best ways to push back the boundaries of packaging print.

Industry associations Visual Connections and ASGA have teamed up to launch a new education initiative aimed at promoting career opportunities in the printing industry to students in high schools, TAFEs and universities.

UV-curing inks can mess with printing plates and compromise run lengths, sometimes cutting plate durability substantially, writes industry sustainability consultant Laurel Brunner.

Industry identity Kellie Northwood will be a guest speaker at this month’s LIA Queensland/Heidelberg Graduate of the Year Awards Night in Brisbane.

Lindy Hughson, Publisher of Print21 and PKN News, opened the inaugural New Frontiers in Packaging Print as the first co-branded event from Yaffa Media's new magazine stablemates today at Sydney's Darling Harbour.

Paper merchants Spicers, Ball & Doggett and Direct Paper have all announced price rises of between 3%-8%, citing increases in pulp, energy costs, shipping and the depreciation of the Australian dollar. It's the third increase this year and more are on the way.

Greg Beech, owner of liquidated Brisbane offset printer Panther Print Group, says low margins in a shrinking market finally forced him to close the doors last week after 30 years in business. " I gave it a shot but I couldn’t do it," he says.

The altered landscape of the commercial printing industry in Australia has seen a drop in the number of companies enrolled as members of the Printing Industries Association of Australia. Patrick Howard spoke to CEO Andrew Macaulay.

Waratah Group will provide print and labour worth more than $60,000 to the Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) for the upcoming Field of Women event, to be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The global market for inkjet printing is expanding at a rate of 9.4% year-on-year and will be worth $109 billion in five years, according to a new Smithers Pira study titled The Future of Inkjet Printing to 2023.

Kurz, a leading supplier of metallised foil-based security solutions for banknotes - including the new Australian $5 bill - will showcase its new Kinegram ID security solution at the Digital ID Show in Canberra next week.

Supplier Celmac has installed a new HP Latex R2000 printer in its newly re-furbished Technology Centre in Melbourne. The R2000, launched earlier this year at FESPA Berlin, is HP’s first hybrid printer for rigid and flexible sign and display printing in one device.

Former Newstyle Print general manager Kym Burns (pictured) has bought the Adelaide digital and offset business from former owner, Ian Richards, who's retiring. "Kym helped Newstyle grow from a 10-man shed operation to the powerful 70-strong organisation it is today."

Brisbane offset house Panther Print Group has been wound up after 28 years in business and a liquidator is now compiling a list of creditors. It’s understood all staff members have lost their jobs.

Ink prices look certain to rise once again, with leading global supplier Sun Chemical warning that some raw materials are now at such critically low levels that it’s being forced to use “alternative materials” as substitutes.

Tokyo Typhoon Number 12 of the season was a fizzer, a bit of a blow but nothing to bother the printers attending IGAS at Big Site out in the Bay. It came and went within a few hours; rain and wind enough to alarm the woman at the Heidelberg showroom where I was on Saturday afternoon. She urged us to get out quickly to avoid being stranded. Perhaps a little over the top, but …