He said that the show was well timed to pick up on an improvement of the economic climate, but it would not exceed the success of the show in 2000.

Visitor numbers are predicted to be 370,000, similar to previous shows rather than last times record 430,000.

In terms of exhibitors 1,800 are signed up, filling all the available space with a waiting list of a further 200.

For the first time in the exhibitions 50-year history a programme of extra events has been added in addition to the exhibits in the halls.

Among those events are the JDF Parc, Innovation Parc, which will focus on document creation and digital photography, Compass Session conferences on key industry topics and guided tours of the halls.

Dornscheidt said these had been added specifically to encourage print buyers to visit the show.

KBA chief executive and Drupa 2004 chairman Albrecht Bolza-Schnemann highlighted that the exhibition would show that the future is a symbiosis of brainware and hardware and called on visitors to recognise print as an industry not a craft process.

Story by Barney Cox in Dsseldorf