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VERSATILITY IN PRINT - HOTFOIL UK
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. 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.
We have been established now for 20 years selling pre owner Hot Foiling Machines and I guess over that time have sold in excess of 250-300 machines to the UK and the rest of the world, predominately pre owned, and set people up for less than ½ the price of buying new, but still offering a good product that does everything a new machine will print just at a better price. Having this experience in the trade as well as using these machines ourselves as we foil print for our customers both direct and on a trade basis and also being fiercely independent in our style of products we know what makes a good machine and can advise what machine would be best for what type of job. If we can’t help we can advise where is best to go. Saying all of the above we also sell 2 varieties of new machines and are agents for the Bookmaster Machine from America and the Kobo Brand from Hong Kong. Our philosophy is not sell what is the most expensive, ours is to find you a machine to fit your business requirements at a price that is affordable and can give you a good return on your investment.
SO YOU ARE NO DIFFERENT FROM ANYONE ELSE SELLING FOILING MACHINES
Hopefully I beg to differ. To our knowledge we are the only people left in the UK actually training people to use these types of hand operated foiling machines both new and second hand, other supplier might show you for ½ hour in a show room environment how a machine works, from a model set up in advance so nothing goes wrong and everything looks perfect. We will take you through from start to finish on our basic one day course, so you will come away with the knowledge you need to go on and start printing. We will also show you the traps to avoid, offer marketing advice and suppliers who can help you out, without having to ‘trawl the internet‘ to find your own suppliers. We are also working printers, so no fancy or flashy showrooms, just down to earth common sense and practicality.
Hot Foiling and MORE
Most people think a hot foil machine will just basically, well ....hot foil. That makes sense, but small printers want their machines to be able to do a whole lot more than just be a ‘one trick pony’. People often forget that most decent hot foil printers will be able to:- Emboss, Deboss, perform basic Creasing and Perforating functions, Die Cut, Number, Toner/ Sublimation Foil Print, as well as good old fashioned type setting (still surprisingly in demand). If you wish to put in the time a table top foiler can almost be like your ‘Swiss army knife’!
Table Top Hot Foilers, they are for hobby printers
Certainly not, but the old adage applies, you get what you pay for, buy something cheap and it will not be up to the task at hand. Pay once and get it right and you will be set up for life. We tend to get people into the pre-owned market for easily under £2000 and for a new Machine between £3250 - £4500 including a day’s training at our premises.
Substrates and MORE
A question I am asked all the time is can you only print onto card and aren’t you limited. Again in a simple reply NO. You can foil print onto the thinnest item such as a piece of tissue paper or as thick as 2cm on most standard style machines. On some machines up to 18cm deep, but most foil machines as long as you are using the correct style of foil will print onto Paper, Board, Plastic, Leather, Acetate, Wood, Vinyl, promotional items, to name a few, how many other machines would cope with all these different substrates.
Versatility in Print
We have been established now for nearly 2 decades, working out of the West Midland close to the M5 and M42 in Bromsgrove with over 30 years experience of the small table top Hot Foiling Marketplace. We stock a range of approx 20-25 different pre owned and new machines on the premises at any time and are happy to provide you the type of advice to get you started and become successful on your hot foil journey.
Telephone / Fax: 01527 871 500 Email: david@vipprinters.co.uk Visit: www.hotfoiluk.com
