The Epson Stylus Pro inkjet printer has been selected by the panel of 32 MUST SEE ’EMS judges to receive the 2013 Legacy Award. This distinction is awarded to a past MUST SEE ’EMS winner that has had a significant and continuing influence on the graphic communications industry. The honor was announced at the end of the Executive Outlook Conference on the eve of PRINT 13 which runs September 8-12 in Chicago’s McCormick Place together with co-located CPP EXPO.
 
All MUST SEE ’EMS winners from the first two years of the competition (1999 and 2000) were automatically placed into the Legacy Award competition, where judges looked for products that have inspired innovation and change, not just products that have been popular.
 
“The 2013 MUST SEE ’EMS Legacy Award recognizes Epson’s important contribution to the field of digital proofing,” says GASC President Ralph Nappi. “It was an enabler for many of the automation breakthroughs that followed, including computer-to-plate and color management.”
 
Other comments from the panel of judges included:
 
“I’m choosing the Epson Stylus Pro inkjet printer both for being a breakthrough proofing device and for being the technical precursor of the wide-format and production inkjet systems that are so important in the graphic communications market today.”
 
Digital proofing helped to take DTP to the next level of growth. It was the next step on the path that has led to where we are today.”
 
“The quality of this inkjet printer was the start of what we see today in the inkjet printing market.”
 
This year’s Legacy Award winner was selected from the full list of MUST SEE ’EMS from 1999 and 2000, but future Legacy Award candidates will be drawn from a three-year window (e.g. 1999, 2000, 2001); all MUST SEE ’EMS honorees from those years will be automatically entered into the competition. The Legacy Award winner is chosen by the MUST SEE ’EMS Selection Committee (a panel of industry experts, journalists, and consultants) based on the impact it has had on the graphic communications industry. The same judges also choose the “Best of Category” winners from the current year’s MUST SEE ’EMS competitors.
 
For more information about the annual MUST SEE ’EMS product and technology recognition program visit: www.mustseeems.com.