Reprographics is a term associated with the commercial print industry. Since the early 1900s, the reprographics industry has served a wide variety of customers with a wide variety of services and technology. This has typically included:
- Wide-Format Engineering Output
- Wide-Format Color Graphics
- Small-Format Digital Printing
- Laminating and Finishing
- Scanning and Archiving Capabilities
- Digital File Management
- Facilities Management (managing a printing device at a customer facility)
The International Reprographic Association (IRgA) was formed in Boston, MA in 1927 when a group of prominent men in the blueprint and allied industries met. At the first annual convention held in Chicago in 1928, the attendees discussed common problems and worked to establish standard practices and a business code of ethics to improve overall conditions in the industry. While the association and the industry have undergone significant change since the 1920s, the IRgA today still provides a framework for the exchange of information and support for the industry.
Today marks the start of the IRgA 2006 Annual Convention and Trade Show. The 3 day event is being held at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida. Senior Architect and DWF Technical Evangelist, Brian Mathews, is speaking about DWF at the event. Among other things, Brian is covering the work that Autodesk is conducting with its partners in the reprographics industry. Although DWF goes beyond the paper, this is the perfect venue to ensure that DWF makes it to the paper accurately.
Much of the information for this post was obtained from the IRgA web site. [My apologies to René Magritte's "The Son of Man." :-)]