Running from July 21 to 23, Adapt attracted 26 exhibitors and over 1100 visitors, with organiser Nick Tossman from Exhibitions Pty Limited saying the event was a success.

“The exhibitors were quite happy with the high quality of visitors and several sold some equipment at the show,” says Tossman. “This is a new type of show and many people haven’t adapted to Adapt, but they just haven’t realised the market out there.” As a result, he says next year’s Adapt, likely to be held in Melbourne in July, will be even bigger and better.

In this, its inaugural year, visitors had an opportunity to hear the latest and greatest straight from the experts, both at exhibitor stands and at a series of seminars.

All seemed to agree that not only is the print world adapting to digitalisation, but its embracing it and constantly improving what’s on offer.

Garry Nespal GASAA executive officer says, “It’s an important step forward for the industry to understand digital imaging and the longevity of digital fine art.”

And longevity was an issue consistently brought up by speakers, who say with advancements in inkjet technology and paper quality, digital fine art is now more likely to have a longer life.

So confident are producers, that Epson is set to introduce the world’s first fine art print warranty, which will soon be available in Australia. Epson’s Craig Heckenberg says their tests have shown archival prints can last up to 108 years in colour, and 300 years in black and white. “Customers are happy with the ease of creating digital prints, the colour accuracy, and now have a warranty for longevity,” says Heckenberg.

Likewise paper makers are aiming for longer life for digital prints. Graeme Schwarzinger from Arches, a division of Arjo Wiggins Papers and Kayell Australia, says their paper pigment ensures colour will last up to 150 years due to coating. “Coating of paper is a critical link between pigment and support,” says Schwarzinger.

Colour management was another issue prominent among speakers and exhibitors, with Chromaticity’s David Crowther admitting colour management often fails due to inappropriate viewing conditions.

He says now custom profiles as opposed to generic profiles can eliminate this problem and ultimately improve profitability and streamline existing workflows.

Russell McLennan from Rochester Systems, representing Kodak, said several new systems were on the market to help with colour management, including the Kodak Matchflow ImageMapper and RealTimeProof. The later is an internet based system that links the client, agency and printer, so everyone is looking at the same image and can make comments and collaborate this way.

The importance of print on demand was highlighted by most exhibitors, in particular by Ross Coffey’s Liveprint system, which he spoke on at the seminars.

The system was developed in Germany a year and a half ago and is a one stop shop for digital production. Coffey predicts it will revolutionise galleries and the framing of fine art, while keeping the integrity of the colour and paper.

He describes the software that keeps thousands of artists’ images as, “A virtual inventory – if you don’t sell it, you don’t print it.”

The images can then be printed onto the customers choice of 11 different fine art papers and three canvasses. “I believe it will be the first in a long line of similar systems,” says Coffey. The images within the Liveprint system require no photo manipulation and only basic computer skills.

He says the ease of digital and the advancements of inkjet technology have meant this has exceeded traditional photography. Coffey sites the advantages as no delivery time, lower costs and less likelihood of damage.

Commercial photographer David Roche agrees that the saving of time and cost of film, film processing, scanning and courier fees has seen digital take over.

He says in recent years, larger chips, larger reproductions, larger format printers, a greater media range and increasing affordability have made digital superior.

“For those who’ve embraced the digital world, there’s no turning back,” says Roche.

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