MONTREAL—TC Transcontinental, by way of its TC Media division, has signed to acquire Sun Media's 74 community papers in Quebec.

As part of the transaction, TC Transcontinental also inked a deal to print a number of products produced by Sun Media's parent company, Quebecor Media, including several magazines and direct marketing materials. That comes into effect on February 1, 2014.

HAINAN, CHINA—PrintCAN recently traveled to China with Asia Pulp and Paper to visit one of its paper board mills and a eucalyptus plantation in the southern province of Hainan.

Much of the pulp APP currently uses in its mills comes from about 300,000 hectares of plantation the company manages in China, a program established in 1995.


A flourish of moss-like plants is weeded down to a few seedlings over a period of about 45 days in indoor and outdoor greenhouses

TORONTO—Here's a new one: printing performed well in 2012. "We grew last year. Has anyone ever told you we grew last year?" asks Josh Ramsbottom. "We're doing something right."

Ramsbottom, head of research at NorQuest College, spoke at Graphics Canada 2013 about business trends and opportunities, beginning his seminar by shedding light on the dark years of the recent recession.


NorQuest's Josh Ramsbottom speaks at Graphics Canada 2013

TORONTO—Scientific American is backing the benefits of print. Text is better understood and more easily remembered when read on paper, compared to off a screen, says the mag.

"E-ink reflects ambient light just like the ink on a paper book, but computer screens, smart phones and tablets shine light directly on people’s faces. Prolonged reading on glossy, self-illuminated screens can cause eyestrain, headaches and blurred vision," writes Ferris Jabr in a recent article. 

VANCOUVER—TC Transcontinental Printing has signed a five-year deal to print Postmedia's Vancouver Sun starting in 2015, building on a recent agreement to print the Calgary Herald.

Postmedia Network began outsourcing the Calgary Herald's printing to Transcontinental in November. When the deal was announced, Postmedia also revealed it would sell its Kennedy Heights printing plant in B.C. come February 2015, which prints the Vancouver Sun and the Province.

TORONTO—Corporate Knights is the first magazine in North America to print on a paper made mostly from wheat straw, leftover agricultural waste usually burned on fields after harvest.

"Recycled paper is great, but we don't think that recycled paper is going to fill the demand for paper in general," said Tyler Hamilton, editor-in-chief of the corporate sustainability magazine. "We're in support of alternative fibres that can bridge that gap and help complement the availability of recycled fibre, and in effect take pressure off our forests."


The November issue of Corporate Knights

TORONTO—The Print World 2014 trade show and conference will take place in Toronto next November 22-24 at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place, Canada's premier show facility.

Housed in the city's bustling downtown area, Print World is primed to be the biggest graphics arts industry event of the year, featuring a host of cutting-edge equipment from the industry's key players.


A snapshot from Print World 2012

TORONTO—Andrew Paparozzi wants printers to start looking at the current climate as a chance for innovation, rather than a threat.

"The biggest threat isn't the internet," said Paparozzi, U.S.-based NAPL senior vice president and chief economist, at Graphics Canada on Nov. 22. "The biggest threat is complacency…In times of great uncertainty, our natural instinct is to wait. But there is an opportunity to act, and create our own sense of clarity."


NAPL's Andrew Paparozzi at Graphics Canada 2013 urges printers to make a plan for recovery

TORONTO—Hosting a Graphics Canada seminar last week, Margie Dana discussed easy and effective marketing ideas for printers in an online world.

Dana has over 15 years of experience in the world of print buying, notably as the founder of Print Buyers International, and has since launched a marketing communications business. For those who didn't make it out last Thursday, here are seven takeaways from her talk.


Margie Dana speaks at Graphics Canada, Nov. 21, 2013

TORONTO—Landa Digital Printing's Kristof Dekeukelaere says the most important upgrade to the company's development-phase nano technology are its quality enhancing ink ejectors.

From the first nanography preview at Drupa 2012 to the recent update at China Print, print resolution has been boosted from 600 to 1,200 dpi. Dekeukelaere, regional sales manager for North America, says this is only 85% of what Landa looks to achieve.


Landa Digital Printing's Kristof Dekeukelaere delivers the opening keynote presentation at Graphics Canada 2013