VERSATILITY IN PRINT - HOTFOIL UK
Personalisation seems to be top of the agenda on everyone’s lips, how can we personalise one off items and do it cost effectively? In recent years everyone has heard of Toner Foil Printing as if it is the ‘New Kid on the Block’, what people forget this process is now over 50 years old and the new kid is now coming up to its Golden Jubilee. Nothing seems to be new in Foil Printing it just reinvents itself for the next generation, but strangely we are still seeing a continuing resurgence in this ancient style of printing , that is still as popular as ever and has been growing over the years. At Versatility in Print we approach our 3rd decade in the trade and it shows no sign of waning. As ever personalisation seems to be top of the agenda on everyone’s lips, how can we personalise one off items and do it cost
effectively? There are several good quality machines out there to do just this process, but where you have to be careful is make sure these process’s will print on the substrates you need to use. This year we have become the UK sole importers for the Bookmaster. Its name might be a little misleading as it will not just print on books, but on many other items too, but this is where its ‘forte’ lies. The Bookmaster is ideal for those people and companies that wish to offer in house personalisation on their products such as leather goods, journals and diaries. The machine has a generous 36cm square table to place your products onto for printing, with a handy pre printed measuring grid for accuracy and lining up your products. As well as an X & Y micro adjustment facility to help with positioning. Coupled to this you have a Brass Self Centring Type holder capable of holding 5 x 23cm set of type or Block, giving you an excellent printing area, for a machine of this size. An additional feature of a ‘Flip Up’ head makes setting type so much easier to work than some more traditional flat bed machines. At the back of the machine you have a variable head adjustment with locking clamp that means you can raise the head by some 228mm/8 inches to take even the thickest book or Box Lid with ease and still be able to print, an impress feat that many traditional foil printers would be hard pushed to achieve.
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The digital display gives you an accurate temperate reading and it’s easy to use with a fast heat up time . All of this in a small footprint on just 356mm x 432mm ( so the size of an SRA3 piece of paper). It would fit into any retail or commercial setting where space is at a premium, hence you will find these machines in many upmarket retail environments , where they are looking to offer an instant personalisation service. Finally last but not least, these machine can not only foil print and blind deboss, but also Colourfill and deboss together on many substrates. This is not a machine for everyone or every application, but in the right setting worth its weight in gold (excuse the pun). Everywhere you look now clever companies are coming up with ideas of how printers can either Hot Foil or Cold Foil onto items. Most of these new innovations involve heavy investments into plant and machinery with massive capital outlay. I hear the cry ‘what about the smaller printing fraternity!’ how can we jump on the band wagon and offer this service in house, to compete a little more with those companies that can afford these new investments, when the economy is slowing down and inflation is on the rise! At Versatility in Print, Hotfoil UK, we have a number of solutions aimed at the smaller printing establishment for both new and pre owned.
NEW OR PRE OWNED I can all ready hear you say in your heads, why would I consider pre owned (the pretty way of saying 2nd hand) equipment that can be unreliable. I understand peoples reticent on this issue, but the one good thing is often the smaller table top style hot foil machines are so well built they just stand the test of time and are as good as the day they were built if you really don’t mind them not looking pristine with a little everyday wear and tear marks to the paintwork.
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