Echo Communications of New London, the publisher of The Kearsarge Shopper, and a popular local print shop, is an award winner in the Printing Industry of New England’s (PINE) regional Awards of Excellence Competition. The announcement was made with hundreds of industry professionals in attendance at PINE’s Industry Awards Gala, held at the Boston Marriott Burlington in Burlington, Massachusetts on April 11.

Echo won an Award of Merit in Division 1 for Digital Printing: On Demand for the quality of the printing it provided in the Andover Historical Society’s catalog for its October 2018 retrospective of “The World and Works of Winslow Eaves and Annaleida van’t Hoff.” The catalog was a collaborative effort of many, including Gail Richards and Patty Eaves, co-curators; Edibeth Farrington, Charlie Darling, and Jay Fitzpatrick.

PINE’s Awards of Excellence Competition attracted over 300 entries from over 35 printing and imaging companies across New England competing in a variety of printing and graphic communications categories, such as best annual report, direct mail campaign, labels and packaging, and more.

PINE assembled a panel of judges with extensive experience in printing and print production to examine the wide range of work submitted. Each entry was judged anonymously on its own merit in a category with similar printed pieces.

The judging criteria included: registration, clarity and neatness, sharpness of halftones and line drawings, richness and tonal qualities of color, paper and ink selection, ink coverage, difficulty of printing, effective contrast or softness, overall visual impact and bindery.

PINE is the largest trade association to serve printing and graphic communications companies throughout New England. PINE serves more than 300 member companies through a wide range of products and services that enhance member profitability. The Association is affiliated with the world’s largest graphic arts trade association, Printing Industries of America.