Introduce yourself!

[loustique20]

Introduce Yourself

Introduce Yourself

Hi everybody,
My name is Karine (maybe one of the rare woman in the industry!) and started working in Prepress 11 years ago, when I moved to the US. I'm originally from France were I used to be a freelancer illustrator and art teacher.
I never heard of Prepress until I started in the industry as a mere assistant on a night shift in a small retouching company with a small prepress department. I worked my way up to management and enjoy my job very much. I'm totally self taught and did learned the trade on the go.
I'm still working in the same company that I've started in, but now we have 80+ employes, the prepress department is a growing, and I have to keep up with the newest trend in the industry, while taking care of my newborn baby and my hard working husband.
I hope to learn a few thing, and share my own experience with the PP community.

 

[PineyBob]

Greetings

Greetings

Hello everyone Piney Bob here. Needless to say I hail from the New Jersey Pine Barrens and for the last 33 years I've been involved in putting ink and toner on paper.

From craft Positions to Suprevision to Sales, to Sales and Product Training I've done quite a bit.

Well versed in Color Management and the Feiry RIP including MicroPress.

Sold Facilities Management for Xerox

Directly involved in the Canon C7000 Product Launch as an instructor

Multiple Xerox Presidents Club winner

Road Warrior

There is more to tell but I prefer to let my work do the talking. I'm real pleased to be here.

 

[dynamicprinter]

Greetings Everyone,
My name is Pete and I'm located in Connecticut and been a quickprinter since 1985.
Started with a franchise then went independent in '94.
Ran AB Dick presses and in the last few years been making the transition to digital.
I've done just about everything in quickprinting, from computer pre-press to press to shipping etc...
I'm single, no kids (not to my knowledge) and into computers (mostly macs), Harley's and target shooting.

 

[Komoriopr]

Hello,
My given name is Sheldon and i've been in the pressroom for 28 yrs. All of it on nights.
Currently running a LS640 with inline coater. Have run Heidi 2,6, and 8 colors. Started my career in the business forms industry and moved up the chain from there. I am 51 yrs old and have 3 grandchildren.
This has been a good income for me over the years and helped me raise 2 fine children. How the wife has put up with all the hour changes and company aquisitions is beyond me.

 

[ween65]

Hello
My name is Paul. I have been in the Printing/Prepress business since 1984. I was an old school table stripper (you journeymen know what that is). I then moved onto the Scitex system than the Mac. My last five years as an employee I was a prepress manager. I am currnetly self employed working as a "somewhat" desktop designer. Since working for myself (six years now) I've had to learn Webdesign Digital photography computer building as well as maintainence. And did I mention Networking. I also do consulting. I haven't been in these forums for sometime now. I look foward to learning even more about this wonderful inustry we all call PrePress/Printing.

 

[reach2]

Introduce yourself

Introduce yourself

My friends call me teejay. I started the prepress work some nine years ago. i had worked as a prepress analyst, prepress manager, Application specialist and currently a part owner of a prepress equipment & software sales and service coy in Nigeria.

Really, i have done and still doing all my prepress as an instructor cum trainer.

I enjoy the prepress control element of the system

 

[unimog]

Hello, my name is Dave. I live in East Avon, NY. I own Genuine Printing right here in Upstate NY. In a little crossroads hamlet, East Avon. I have a 6000sqft shop inside of a 10,000sqft building I own and manage. I formerly was Genesee Valley Printers Inc., A former employee stole all of my money and I had to reorganize under a different name, that's another whole story. I have a Graphic Designer, an office manager, a part time bindery manager and a part time sales person, my Daughter SaraGrace.
I have three AB Dick 9810's, one with a swingaway head. A Harris 19X25 one color. Two Heidelberg windmills, Three Challenge cutters, a 42", a 23" and a 20". Two Bostich #7 stichers and an Interlake sticher, An 18x24 O&M folder with right angle. Two table top folders. A DS camera and film processor. An Itek camera plate processor. A NuArc plate burner. A strapping machine. And way to much stuff!
I have owned my shop since 1981. Ben way to long at the "Fair". I do all the printing now, myself. Some help from my partime bindery wizard. I had to let everyone go at my collapse. The next few years are going to be a real challenge. Well, thats my story. Regards, Dave

 

[Polyester]

Hello All

Hello All

My name is Dave. I have worked in prepress since 1971. in the beginning I was a camera man for a small offset newspaper in central Mass. Moved to the Washington DC area for 7 years or so. It was a paper town with lots of jobs back then, I hope this is unchanged. I moved back up to Mass roughly 25 years ago in time to see jobs fall off badly. I worked at 5 different shops in that time (full and part time) and not one is open today. Sad not to be able to go back once and a while and shout out to your old buddies. I am lucky enough to have kept employed through all this so far.
Looking forward to the forum. Thanks for having me.
Thanks Dave
Ps. this is the only shop I ever worked in that has no darkroom!

 

[Luigi1]

Hey Dave;
I to am a transplant from central Ma. Started in 77. Moved to NJ in 85 as the job market was drying up. Printing is still fairly strong in central NJ.
I worked at Holyoke Litho in Springfield, Treasure Chest in Windsor Locks, Tru Color in Greenfield. I am sure we have people we both know. It seemed as though everyone switched every couple of years and rotated shops. Two of the three I know have gone belly up. Is Treasure Chest still around?
Nice to hear for home.
Steve

 

[Quick Printer]

Hello, I feel a bit like a little fish in a big pond. I own a small quick print/copy shop in a small market (30,000) with too many print shops. Mom & Dad opened this shop in 1979...a KK franchise....the franchise contract ended and I elected to go independent in 2004.

We have one 20+ year old 2 color Hamada offset press & Itek camera....a Canon 3200 color copier, BW Copier & HP 5500 wide format printer. I out-source the 4 color work that can't be done cost effectively on the color copier.

Including myself, there are 3 full time employees and one part-time. I'm not looking to get bigger....just make a reasonalble living!

 

[Polyester]

Hi Steve

Hi Steve

Hi Steve,
Glad to hear someone is busy! The Treasure Chest question, there was one in the So. Mass area off 495 years back. I had an old friend that worked 3-4 day rotating shifts back some 15-20 years ago. They did lots of ads flyers mostly low end newspaper ads. I am not sure if they are still around. I mostly worked the Metro west area in mass and Northern VA and Wash DC.

 

[TahoeRunner]

Welcome to True Print 2.0

Welcome to True Print 2.0

Hello Everyone,

My name is John Vukovojac, Co-Founder of CoreFact. We are the combination of two companies coming together with a common goal. My company was a traditional printing company with a focus on real estate. My partner provided websites for REALTORS with an interesting direct mail tie-in.

What we have been able to do is provide a product that combines traditional direct mail and a complete website solution for REALTORS. Our direct mail campaigns typically receive from 3%-12% response rates with an average of 8% by the third mailing in one of our marketing campaigns.

We're located in Northern California and are planning to launch in selected markets throughout the year.

We hope to be able to provide a template based system for other printers in targeted geographical markets by the second quarter.

Hope to talk to many of you in 2009.

John Vukovojac
CoreFact Corporation

 

[Warren]

Introductions

Introductions

Greetings everyone,
I’ve been in the printing industry since I was eight years old (1968) when my father brought the first press into our basement. Currently, I am working for a calendar/commercial printing firm in Manassas Virginia as a press operator (pressman sounds too gender specific). Years ago, I left University of Maryland to go to work and for lack of money, I had not gone back to school until fall of 2004. Since then I’ve earned my Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and have continued by pursuing my Master’s degree with a concentration in management. Right now it is difficult to move forward within my industry considering the economic corrections and slowdown we presently are experiencing. My life right now is restricted to work, study time and classes with hunting and dating my wife sprinkled in to keep me sane. I am looking forward to being able to actually use my training in my industry or in another. The future of the graphic communications industry as I see it will reach it’s zenith as we begin to offer products incorporating photovoltaics and cholesteric liquid crystal technology, resulting in full color, full motion, interactive content on flexible substrates. I don’t see this happening in the next five to seven years but as my lovely wife says, “You never know”.
God bless all my brothers and sisters in the printing industry
Warren

 

[Neil Meggitt]

Hello to all. I´m a time served, City & Guilds qualified printer.I started work in the printing industry in 1989 and have worked on numerous sheet fed & heatset weboffset presses. I became bored of the industry and left 7 years ago and now find myself missing it all and looking to return to it again. Found it very interesting catching up on new technology and changes since I was in it.

 

[printr640]

hi im david
i have been a pressman for 12 years. i am currently running a mitz 6 color 40 inch press.
i have been around printing all my life since my dad was also a pressman.
i hope to add to and learn from this forum.
i recently graduated college with a degree in business admin.

 

[Makk]

Hi from Lisa at Ricoh

Hi from Lisa at Ricoh

Hi -

I have been in the printing world for over twenty years, moslty working for a book printing company in So Cal. I started out working in the bindery and ended up the operations manager. It was a great learning experience but sadly the company closed. I then went to a similar company as a sales rep for a few years. Recently I changed jobs so I could learn about digital printing.
Anyhow, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Happy New Year!

 

[Warren]

Hey David,
Glad to hear that there are some people that value formal education. It's been my personal experience that the graphic/com could use more training in management. Best of luck to you and congratulations!
By the way which University did you graduate from?
Warren

 

[ttlprinting]

new member

new member

Hello, Bill here
I just joined this forum about a half hour ago. Who would have thought there was such a thing.

I think I may have everyone here beat, as far as time in the industry goes. I have been doing pre-press since before it was called pre-press. I started as a compositor (yes, hot type, even the California job case). Worked on a ludlow, made up and broke down pages, even poured pigs (the lead forms that went on the linotype machines.

Went to a large daily newspaper in 1964, heard about this new thing called "cold type", then left to be production manager of a company that produced several weekly papers using keyboards that produced paper tape to run a Photon. Learned how to run a camera one day when my cameraman called in and quit on the spot, when we had to produce film for several papers.

Started on my own in 1971 and still at it. Have used Quark for about 15 years and this year switched to InDesign.

My wife and I started doing real estate photography seven years ago and that is our main focus, producing brochures and direct mail for real estate agents.

Enough for now.

Bill

 

[[email protected]]

Hi, my name is Ron, and I started in this business with VIP's now using Quark 8 on a dual Quad. Go Mac! Currently working as Prepress supervisor in a Religious Publishing Company thats been around for over 150 years. Living in western Md with my wife and 11 going on 18 daughter.

 

[jschrieber]

Sorry, Bill, but gotta call you on "everyone beat here" !

First job (other than paperboy) was as a printer's devil in a 2-man weekly newspaper in rural Northeast Nebraska during my sophomore year of High School in 1961.

Learned ETAOIN SHRDLU there, along with hand-casting mats, pouring pigs, letter-heads and envelopes on a Snapper.

Been in the business ever since with the exception of about 4 years when I finished my last two years of college and taught music for 2 years. Figured there had to be a better way to make a living than teaching, so got back into printing.

Been at the World-Herald in Omaha since 1970.

.... and still looking for that better way to make a living !

jack