Various Types of Printing Battle to Follow the Footsteps of Beijing Olympics

(NPES International E-commerce Website, August 15, 2008) Printing, as a production technique which closely related to our life, was often been overlooked inadvertently, but as a person in printing field, we can not ignore its significance and contribution. 

Beijing Olympics has opened gorgeously, showing the essence of Chinese culture to the people of the world in a moving way. We are proud of being Chinese people, because we have such a united country which increasingly powerful and prosperous; we are proud of being a person in printing field, because we are passing down such a long culture which continuously going forward.

Movable-type printing shined splendidly in the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics
Opening ceremonies of successive Olympic Games are a major concern to people, and thus extraordinarily brilliant. All the Olympic host countries hope to utter their own distinctive voice to the world through this window, as well as China. The opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games admires the world deeply; the international media and politicians are all giving unqualified praise to it. However, in such a visual feast, we saw the antiquated movable-type printing and the history closely related to ourselves. In such a picture seems that time and space staggered, we felt that we have returned to that period of years and feeling the crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese nation. When roses clustered round the movable characters, it is so splendid, as a person in printing field, how can you say you are not proud of that?

The Wuqiang New Year pictures in Olympic Village are full of vitality
During the Olympics, apart from sports competition, we should also show the charm of Chinese folk arts to athletes in the world. Thus, there are 11 traditional Chinese folk arts come into the Olympic village for athletes and foreign friends who live there. Kang Yingqin a well-known artist of New Year picture, who come from Wu qiang county, Hebei Province, is privileged to be one of the representatives and brought New Year picture to support the humanistic Olympics. Wuqiang New Year Pictures, which dating back to the Song and Yuan Dynasties, rose in Ming Dynasty and flourished in Qing Dynasty, It is said that artists came to Wuqiang from Hongtong County, Shanxi Province under Ming Emperor Yongle, which promoted the development of this form of art. At first, works mainly were personally paintings of folk artists, which gradually became to engraving printing, even registering printing.

The popularity of digital printing services at the scene
During the Olympic Games, a large number of image documents need to output timely, which had to request the professional printing services to undertake. As the top Olympic sponsor, Kodak has done a multi-directional support for the video output in this year's Olympics. Kodak Imaging Center is located in the Main Press Centre, covering an area of 22,000 square feet, According to the pre-estimation; it will provide traditional and digital photo products and services for more than 1,500 professional photographers and news organizations to meet their needs. Through digital processing of all images, Kodak Image Center will make photographers and picture editors to share these worthwhile moments with editors, producers and audiences around the world. At the same time, Kodak specially set up a live production centre, installed a Kodak Nexpress digital color printing presses in the site, which used for on-demand production of postcards, communications of events and posters and other the full-color printed materials. 

Furthermore, 13 million tickets of 2008 Beijing Olympics with radio frequency identification  technology are printed by digital printing. Digital printing of the tickets, which not only has meet the requirements of image quality and clarity, but also realized the record of variable data and personalized information on the tickets, such as ticket number, name, date and time, as well as sport events, sports venues name, seat information.

August 10, all the Chinese are congratulating her when Chen Xie Xia won the first gold medal for China delegation, and the first set of stamps and souvenir covers with her  head image have be printed and distributed within 48 hours. Through the use of digital printing technology, China created a printing speed record of stamp. 

Huge inkjet posters on the streets attract people’s attention
In Beijing, you can see many posters related to the Olympic Games, such as in the shop window, on the street and so on, but there is still a "poster" different to others, which even occupy the entire building. Actually, after several times of inkjet printing, these "big guys" are completed by heat joint, because there is no equipment that can achieve such a wide format. With bright colors and big appearance, you can not help to pay attention to it.

Chartered goods and Anti-counterfeiting printing to cut off fake  In Olympic chartered merchandise store, we can see big merchandise like decorations, China bottle, small merchandise like badges, key chains, almost all need printing, involving silk printing, gravure printing, offset printing and many other technology, but the most important thing of all, the author believe is the anti-counterfeiting printing. Beijing Olympics was known as 100-year Olympic Games for China, Chinese people look forward to it for a long period and hope every aspect of it is perfect, while, the fake will never be a perfect representation. In order to prevent counterfeit Olympic merchandise passing themselves off as the genuine, security printing has made its own contribution. Multiple technology including gravure microfilm, Gravure touch line, Gravure invisible text, fluorescent printing, two bar codes, which let "true" clear at a glance. 

Printing was one of the oldest techniques, and now is showing its high-tech charm. Printing is showing its vigor in Beijing Olympic Games and striding forward with every person in printing field.