She generally relishes a challenge, but this was ridiculous.

Irene Price, the high-energy executive vice-president of West Canadian Graphics and Digital Printing, spent years scouring the continent for a new and revolutionary printing platform. Trouble was, it didn’t seem to exist.

She and West Canadian president George Bookman knew what they wanted: “A robust, secure, online virtual print room. Something that allows our clients to select File/Print on their computer and print full-colour, top-quality digital documents directly to our printers 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Irene explained.

“We wanted to enable customers to re-order or update their documents, and then instantly distribute them throughout North America.”

Ultimately, the search led West Canadian almost to its own backyard.

While visiting an Edmonton software developer, Irene’s team stumbled across a space-age breakthrough. It’s known as PrintPort (www.printport.ca).

From George’s and Irene’s viewpoint, PrintPort was a revelation, an online dream made tangible. PrintPort was able to deliver every priority on the West Canadian wish list, even adding a few that hadn’t occurred to George and Irene.

From left, West Canadian VP of sales and marketing Tim Flaman, executive VP Irene Price and president George Bookman are excited about the company’s growing range of services, including PrintPort

PrintPort is now available exclusively through West Canadian, after drawing an overwhelming response from select customers of the trusted graphic design and printing company at 901 - 10th Avenue S.W. in Calgary.

Clearly, the de facto industry standard has been established.

“Whether you’re a small company with no access to a colour printer, or a large corporation, you can make use of our virtual print room,” explained Irene.

Think about it. As a PrintPort user, you sidestep overhead costs by making transaction-based purchases, as required.

And whether your document is a modest price list, a black-and-white brochure, or a glossy, full-colour corporate report, it can be ordered, printed and distributed across North America (via Purolator) with a few flicks of the wrist.

“We’ve tried to keep PrintPort simple. Four clicks of a mouse, and customers have access to millions of dollars worth of the highest quality and fastest digital printing equipment available today,” said Irene.

For a more thorough introduction to this ground-breaking application, visit the PrintPort website: www.printport.ca.

The introduction of PrintPort has been a highlight of a truly eventful year for West Canadian – the company’s golden anniversary year.

Sometimes, George Bookman finds it hard to fathom the changes he and his team have introduced since he purchased the company in 1984.

At that time, West Canadian employed a staff of 57. Today, the number has grown to 190 in Calgary alone.

“There’s no comparison between West Canadian today and 10 or 15 years ago,” George said with characteristic enthusiasm.

“No, you simply can’t describe West Canadian as a reproduction house any more. West Canadian is a digital imaging centre. There’s no other way to say it.”

And though West Canadian remains fiercely protective of its semi-legendary reputation for customer service, longtime clients detect a change in the wind.

There’s a new brand, a fresh look, even a new feel to one of Calgary’s most venerable institutions. Another exciting addition to the West Canadian lineup is orangedoor Communications, a recently introduced graphic-design agency capable of helping you create everything from corporate identities to annual reports to product brochures to a new website.

Then again, even loyal patrons of West Canadian are sometimes flabbergasted when they begin to tap the astonishing range of services this company has been offering for years.

For instance, most Calgarians know that West Canadian is their first, last and only stop for document reproduction, from unwieldy engineering blueprints to large-format posters.

They understand West Canadian is their premier choice for litigation support services, scanning and film-based imaging.

But how many consumers realize the simple act of walking through the door of 901 – 10th Avenue S.W. can lead them to a complete archive of Canadian and international newspapers dating back to 1883?

How many energy companies understand how easy it is to take advantage of West Canadian’s electronic Well File Management System, which provides a single point of access to all well file documents?

To get the Big Picture, check out www.westcanadian.com. Or telephone 403.245.2555.

Pssst. Did we mention the free parking? Downtown? Now THAT’s revolutionary.