drupa 2004 is more or less over

only now do I find out that Andy Tribute has been doing a special blog at

http://www.attributes.co.uk/drupa

Forget this blog. Andy Tribute has been there the whole fortnight.

He seems to have liked Print City more over time.

I have put some photos in a PDF (2 meg) from official sources so the quality is ok

Freehand is still the illustration choice for PC Pro. I have caught up on most hard copy reading. I'm still aware of the web in the background. Macromedia appear not to spend too much energy on exhibitions in real space. Maybe adobe are uncertain whether they should beat an vent such as drupa or not. I still thjink it strange that PDF Jobready was not promoted as far as I could tell.

News in Printweek shows that JDF is having a real effect quite soon.

Taylor Bloxham in Leicester are integrating Creo and Tharsten, as shown at the JDF Parc.

Barney Cox has an extended article on JDF in pre-press and production. He repeats the view from Tim Williams in a previous article - the early implementations will come from magazine printers working with publishers. The article reports on Wyndham Heron and Stephens & George.

The Digital Ad Lab started to look at JDF during Digital Solutions 2002. Once there are a few examples of how things work, the pressure for this to be an option could grow quite fast. There is a benefit for print buyers so they will find some sites where JDF is working, even if there is a long delay before JDF is everywhere.