drupa is an important trade show for the graphic arts which takes place in Dusseldorf, Germany. The word is the abbreviation of Druck und Papier (print & paper).
drupa was first organized in 1951. Nowadays it is organized every four years. Each show typically has some kind of a theme – a major area that many vendors focus on. Sometimes one single machine stands out and draws the biggest audience. These are the themes or highlights of the past shows:
- 1951 – Heidelberg Tiegel
- 1954 – Klischee engraving machine for letterpress printing
- 1958 – Phototypesetting
- 1962 – Offset
- 1967 – Folding machines
- 1972 – Small commercial presses
- 1977 – Color electronic prepress (CEPS) & UV inks
- 1982 – Phototypesetting & web offset
- 1986 – Fully-composed-film & data exchange
- 1990 – Digital
- 1995 – Improved productivity (CTP, DI, digital color printing)
- 2000 – Press and workflow automation
- 2004 – JDF & books-on-demand
- 2008 – Inkjet & wide format digital presses
- 2012 – Inkjet on steroids & inline finishing
The next drupa will be from 31 May to 10 June 2016 in the Düsseldorf fairgrounds.