Ink price 'stinks'

The price of printer ink is far too high, according to a survey of American consumers, many of whom choose to print at work to save cash, reports Amateur Photographer.

The Kodak-commissioned survey found that around 60% of people who own a home printer believe printer ink is expensive and almost 50% of respondents said they would print 'more or differently' if ink cost less. To reduce ink use, a quarter of those polled say they print at other locations, such as a 'friend's house', instead of at home.

The survey, dubbed 'thINK', refers to the habit of 'ink sneaking', described as a relatively new office phenomenon, "reminiscent of the once common practice of stealing office pens".

Updates for the FreeHand have come to an end, as the company tries to encourage upgrades to the CS3 version of Illustrator, reports ZD Net.

Adobe Systems has officially declared an end to development of FreeHand illustration software and is trying to coax users to its rival Illustrator package. "After a long and storied career, Adobe FreeHand has reached the end of its development road," says John Nack, senior product manager of Adobe's Photoshop software.

The company also announced work on a new driver to use PostScript printers with Microsoft's latest operating system. Adobe expects to ship the driver in July to printer manufacturers that can offer the software to customers.

Hopes of securing 200 jobs were raised this week as a European book giant bought a struggling Waveney printing firm, reports the Lowestoft Journal.

An unusual deal has seen the UK boss of French firm CPI buy a personal 90% stake in the William Clowes printing business, with his company buying the other 10%.

The deal raises hopes of a brighter future for Clowes, based in Ellough, near Beccles, where employees were asked in April to take a 10% pay cut for three months to help reduce the company's outgoings.