Greetings from Yorkshire, where the sun is indeed shining. I've finished my stint at Northprint but if you're within striking distance of Harrogate and haven't been to the show yet, IMHO it's worth popping along to have a look around.

It's a good opportunity to check out some of the latest web-to-print offerings, with no less than eight solutions on show. It's also a good exhibition for nify little bits of low-cost, high-value kit - for example the Bodoni Systems and Renz stands have been busy busy busy throughout the two days I've been at the show; as have the chaps at Zerographic Systems who are showing an extremely user-friendly £5k box of tricks from Imaxel for producing photo products.

There's new stuff too - the Dryprint UV coating system involves doing something clever with a duplicating engine to allow flood or spot UV coating using paper plates. It can print too, if there's not a full-time coating requirement and as far as I'm aware it can genuinely be described as unique. Unsurprisingly there's been a lot of interest in that.

Ricoh is previewing a new colour management tool - PuzzleFlow - for producing consistent colour to ISO standards on its Pro C900 engine. This is set for official launch late summer/early autumn.

Also good to see that the three printing companies who've chosen to exhibit: Clinical Print Finishers, Easibind International, and Trapeze Mailing Services were all reporting brisk business.

It's also notable that exhibitors who put effort into marketing their presence seemed to be really reaping the benefits, in terms of quality visitors attending the show with specific aims in mind. And last but not least I'm pleased to report that Bettys Cafe Tea Rooms is as delightful as ever.