Sappi North America, Boston, Mass., USA, a producer and supplier of diversified paper and packaging products, this week announced the 12 Gold Award winners of its annual North American Printer of the Year contest. Regarded as the world's most respected accolade of excellence in printed communications, this award recognizes superior innovation and creativity in print across 11 categories for work produced on Sappi papers. The 2017 winners were chosen as the most outstanding print submissions from nearly 1,500 entries.

"We are impressed year after year with the innovative techniques that printers incorporate into their projects. While all of the submissions are worthy of praise, this year's winners truly caught our eye with their attention to detail," said Patti Groh, director of Marketing Communications, Sappi North America. "Our Printer of the Year competition showcases the incredible power of print to inspire and influence purchasing decisions."

Lithographix, Inc., a premier offset and grand format printer, is this year's 2017 Printer of the Year award winner. Based in Hawthorne, Calif., the printer was selected for the book The 4th Phase Book, printed for Red Bull Media House, which highlights a beautiful collection of images shot during an epic four year, 16,000 mile journey across the picturesque North Pacific region. Printed on Sappi McCoy Silk paper, the book features legendary snowboarder Travis Rice, and was later adapted into an action movie.

According to Judge Jim Tenorio, professor emeritus in the Cross-Media Graphics Management Program at University of Wisconsin-Stout, the piece was chosen for a number of reasons: "The printer did a great job reproducing black and white and full-color images. They matched color and tone across long full-page spreads," he said. "It was impressively bound with colored edges and cloth siding that complemented the body of the book. The project used a great combination of format and page size that skyrocketed the impact of the broad, beautiful horizontal, and vertical landscape photography that was extensive in the book."

Lithographix will receive $20,000 to support branding and marketing initiatives, as well as up to 5,000 lb. of Sappi paper. The Gold Award winners, each chosen for their dedication to craft and meticulous eye for detail, will receive 5,000 lb. of paper as well as an award for the featured client and themselves.

A panel of highly regarded print professionals selected the winning entries based on the overall impact of the piece, degree of difficulty in printing techniques, and technical excellence. The winners of Sappi's North American Printer of the Year award competed in a variety of categories, including Books, Brochures, Direct Mail and Catalogs. Sappi introduced two new categories to this year's awards: Packaging and Activated Print. The following companies represent the gold winners of this year's competition.

Gold Award Winners of Sappi's North American Printers of the Year were: Lithographix Inc., Hawthorne, Calif (Gold/Printer of the Year)—Books; Geographics Inc., Atlanta, Ga. (Gold)—Activated Print; Neiman Printing Co., Dallas, Texas (Gold)—Brochures; Nahan Printing Inc., St. Cloud, Minn. (Gold)—Catalogs; Imtech Graphics, Carlstadt, N.J. (Gold)—Digital; Dreamworks Graphic Communications LLC, Glenview, Ill. (Gold)—Direct Mail; Queen Beach Printers Inc., Long Beach, Calif. (Gold)—General; Southeastern, Stuart, Fla. (Gold)—Magazines-Sheet; St. Joseph Communications, Toronto, Ont., Canada (Gold)—Magazines-Web; Lane Press Inc., South Burlington, Vt. (Gold)—Magazines-Web; Hatteras, Tinton Falls, N.J. (Gold)—Printers Own Promotions; Gamse Lithographing Co., Baltimore, Md. (Gold)—Packaging.

To ensure the highest possible standards and integrity, this year's judging panel was comprised of judges from recognized print institutions and trade professions, including: Lauren Elliot, Principal of Wicked Good Print Production; Ken Lantz, SVP, Director of Print Operations at FCB Health Network; Dr. James K. Tenorio, professor emeritus in the Cross-Media Graphics Management Program at University of Wisconsin-Stout, Wisconsin's Polytechnic University; and John Tenwinkel, program manager at Shutterfly.

Sappi's North American Printer of the Year winners will also gain increased visibility with current and potential clients by being featured on their own page in Sappi's Printers of the Year Online Resource. This unique and searchable database for designers, print buyers, and corporations provides information about the award-winning printers and their capabilities, printing equipment and location. The database  s available online. 

Sappi North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Limited (JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with more than 12,000 employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in seven countries and customers.