NEW PRODUCTS

XEROX REVEALS PRODUCTION PRINT INNOVATIONS

At a virtual event attended by partners and window clings, decals and labels. A small footprint clients around the world, Xerox unveiled the device, the C8000W offers clarity and quality that following innovations: a Color Accelerator stands out over the typical four colour print. module for Baltoro, expanding inkjet applications TWO NEW VERSANTS: Xerox is expanding its and adding ink-saving automation; addition of Versant family of presses with two new machines fluorescent pink to the Iridesse Production Press, that support wider media options and add enhancing its metallics, white and clear colour automation features that reduce staffing needs and palette; three new printers capable of higher set-up time. volumes, more media and extended colour The Xerox Versant® 280 Press, a mid-production options in the VersaLink and Versant family; two press, provides added value with thicker stock Xerox Nuvera print speed upgrades that best intelligent automation, Baltoro uses 50% less ink media options (400 GSM) for applications such as competition; AI-enabled media manager software than competitor presses to purge inkjet heads, business cards. With the All Stocks at Rated Speed that enables high quality images with minimal increasing uptime and productivity while delivering (ASRS) option, the Versant 280 is faster than any set-up and staff time; and automated workflow consistent, reliable quality. competitor in printing heavy stocks. Customers can updates to seamlessly print embellishments with Introduced last year, Baltoro is redefining the print a million specialty colours using an Adaptive FreeFlow Core 6.0 inkjet market. At a fraction of the size, weight and CMYK+ kit that leverages white, gold, silver, clear

Xerox is committed to helping customers expand power consumption of competitor presses, Baltoro and fluorescents, unique to Xerox in this class of their business, enhance productivity with new offers a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) while products. technology and protect their existing investments being the only scalable, customisable platform in The Xerox Versant 4100 Press, handles higher with new tools and features. its class. volumes and heavier production loads than the

Digital print enhancements increase profitability, FLUORESCENT PINK FOR IRIDESSE: Xerox has Versant 280, bringing more jobs in-house by delivering higher margins and allowing print the broadest colour capability and Beyond CMYK reducing set-up time and printing on more media customers to expand into new areas. According to offerings across any portfolio. No one offers the types than any competitor press. The 4100 also Keypoint Intelligence, digital print enhancement is range of colours, embellishments, mixed metallics, handles thicker paper stocks, up to 400 GSM. expected to generate $25 billion a year and can extended gamut, media options and single-pass Automated stock management saves time and increase a printers’ profit by 50 to 400 percent. digital enhancement technology as Xerox. reduces human error. By making it easier, customisable and faster to The Xerox Iridesse® Production Press is adding FASTER XEROX NUVERAS: The Xerox Nuvera® produce these pages, Xerox technology provides fluorescent pink specialty dry ink option to its family is built for high production environments with multiple entry options for customers to expand their existing Beyond CMYK palette of gold, silver, customers making more than 35 billion prints last business and increase profit. white and clear. These embellishments allow print year. The Xerox Nuvera 157 MX Production System

XEROX COLOR ACCELERATOR FOR BALTORO: providers to differentiate and offer their clients eye and Xerox Nuvera MX Perfecting Production System The Xerox Baltoro™ High Fusion Inkjet Press popping designs and enhancements. monochrome production presses have upgraded platform, No.1 in the B3 cut-sheet inkjet market, NEW VERSALINK GRAPHIC ARTS PRINTER: the magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) print now has a field upgradable module that expands The newest addition to the VersaLink family is the speeds to exceed any competitive press. MICR, the its range. The Xerox Color Accelerator for Xerox Xerox VersaLink® C8000W, the most affordable line of numbers that allows certain computers to read Baltoro HF Inkjet Press enables increased print entry point into the embellishment market. Using and process information, is key for processing bank, quality, expanded media options and automation to white toner as a base on dark and coloured stocks, payroll and government cheques with tested and make inkjet printing viable for lucrative applications its cyan, magenta and yellow toners make images trusted Xerox Nuvera security. such as direct mail, postcards and catalogues. With pop for applications such as menus, envelopes, www.xerox.com

ESKO LAUNCHES ESSENTIAL TOOLKIT

Esko has announced it is responding to the latest retailing trends by launching the ‘Essential Toolkit for Retailers: from Consumer Insights to Product Launches’, a free online resource that outlines how retailers can improve packaging and marketing asset management to target consumers through an integrated omni-channel marketing strategy.

Esko, which provides a collaborative content creation platform for packaging, labels and marketing collateral, has recognised the trend for buying early in-store to avoid disappointment and acknowledges that ‘e-sales will explode’, putting retailers’ online strategies to the test, according to Forbes.

Retail Toolkit “What we’re taking from these trends is that retailers, and the brands that supply them, need to act with supreme agility to cater to evolving consumerism. The need for reactivity is not going away any time soon. This will be a theme into Spring 2021, and perhaps beyond. Adopting effective technology will not only plug the gaps now but it will also future proof the packaging, label and marketing collateral creation process against this level of disruption for future retail generations,” says Matthew Haws, Global Marketing Director at Esko Brand Solutions.

The Esko e-book explores retail challenges and trends and offers solutions on how to meet them head on with the right digital tools. Time consuming design approvals, laborious manual processes and missing assets shouldn’t slow down speed to market, according to Esko.

“A centralised location for team projects, approvals, artwork and collateral, gives the whole team greater visibility, improving accuracy to keep costs down and reducing the risk of missed deadlines,” continues Haws.

Further to this, having the whole project to hand via solutions such as web-based collaborative workflow management system, WebCenter and accompanying digital asset management system, MediaBeacon, helps brand marketers to deliver joined up omni-channel messaging with ease.

As the upsurge in e-commerce continues, digital collaboration through effective technology assists retail marketing teams to traverse the in-store and online marketing challenge to communicate clear messaging in a time when disinformation and conflicting messaging runs rife.

www.esko.com/brands • www.esko.com

NEW MORGANA DIGIFOLD PRO FOR SCREENTEC

Screentec Flexible Print Solutions, Ferndale, South Wales, has announced details of the installation of a DigiFold Pro creasing and folding machine from Morgana Systems.

The new purchase replaces an eight year old Morgana DigiFold. Jonathan Hainsworth, Small Format Digital Manager at Screentec, comments: “It has been the perfect workhorse for all of that time. The unit handles the finishing of some 75 to 80% of our work so reliably – it’s been an incredible machine! We’ve had to replace one circuit board in that time, and that was due to a power surge at our previous factory, which took out several of our machines at one time.

“Other than that, there have been a few minor things – worn parts, for example, that we were able to order from Morgana and fit ourselves – which is a big plus. With other manufacturers’ equipment you need to put in a service call for a technician to fit just about everything, and that can mean as much as two or even three days lost production at busy times. That is far from ideal for today’s fast turnaround print demands. However, with some critical parts now beginning to show signs of wear, the time was right for the new machine.”

Morgana’s DigiFold Pro is an automated creasing / folding machine designed specifically for the professional digital or litho printer who has a need to crease and fold digitally printed, heavy weight or cross-grained stock. The unit can produce up to 6,000 sheets per hour and can handle substrates of up to 700mm x 385mm, or 900mm x 385mm with the optional “long sheet” extension table. Perforation is also a standard feature of the DigiFold Pro with up to five perforation wheels able to be used across the sheet.

The DigiFold Pro has the new Morgana PosiFeed feeding system. The drum stops as the vacuum pulls the sheet down before the drum begins to feed. This significant change will enable the feeder to be piled higher and feed the most difficult of stocks.

DigiFold Pro uses Morgana’s patented flying knife technology which was developed to prevent the scuffing and marking on digital stocks that can be caused by folding using conventional methods. This dispenses entirely with buckle plates and conventional knives, using instead an electronically controlled contoured flying knife around extra large diameter rollers moving at the same speed as the material passing through the machine.

Rather than the solid deflector used in most folders, the DigiFold Pro uses another patented device in the form of a dynamic sheet deflector that only comes in contact with the leading edge of the sheet. This allows single or multiple folds to be performed without risk of scratching or marking.

The innovative seven inch SmartScreen control panel is one of the newer features of the Pro range of Morgana products that Jonathan is particularly pleased with: “It makes the machine that much easier to set-up and run. What might have been a five step check and repeat process on the older unit has become a three step and go process on the new machine. It really is very easy and fast to switch between jobs.”

Screentec handles a wide range of general commercial print including leaflets, brochures, and booklets, as well as ring binders, box files, signs, labels, and posters from its South Wales factory.

www.morgana.co.uk

MINUTEMAN PRESS LIGHTS UP NEW COVID-19 TESTING

Minuteman Press Bath has just completed a multi-site graphics project, using Drytac’s Viziprint Illuminate product to install Covid-19 tests signage at two retail locations.

The client, leading CBD supplier Goodbody Botanicals, required Minuteman Press to print and install a range of graphics at its stores to promote its new, private Covid-19 testing service, which it is now offering at its locations in Bristol and Bath.

As well as providing information about the tests Goodbody Botanicals can offer, the signage also promotes the key steps customers can take to help prevent the spread of Covid-19, including wearing a face mask, sanitising their hands, keeping a safe distance from other people and using the government’s track and trace app. In addition, smaller graphics remind people of the three main symptoms of Covid-19 and encourage them to take a test to give them ‘total peace of mind’.

Kieran Blacknall, large-format manager at Minuteman Press Bath, said Drytac’s Viziprint Illuminate product was perfect for the project as it was ‘really easy to work with and install’.

The 100µ (4mil) translucent matte PET film has been developed for brilliant backlit window graphics and vibrant backlit display applications. It has a bright white base colour and is able to diffuse light, creating vivid window graphics, displays, decals, stickers - and more - with a wider colour gamut. It is reverse printable, allowing window advertisements to be viewed during the day in direct sunlight and at night when illuminated by store lighting.

“The client was looking for a solution to convey the new testing service at their clinics. We looked at various options, including lightboxes, but all proved to be very costly in comparison to the Viziprint Illuminate media by Drytac,” says Blacknall.

He continues: “Goodbody Botanicals has spotlights positioned behind every window, so we decided a media with backlit properties would perform best and have the biggest impact, particularly during the winter months.

“Viziprint Illuminate is great; really easy to work with and install. We’re always impressed with Drytac products and the advice and service we receive from the company.”

Minuteman Press Bath provides a range of digital print, large format, and design products and services to customers around the country. The wider Minuteman Press network has locations across the UK providing similar products and services.

www.drytac.com

PANTONE REVEALS COLOUR OF THE YEAR 2021

Pantone, the global colour authority and provider of professional colour language standards and digital solutions for the design community, has announced PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray and PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating, as the Pantone® Color of the Year selection for 2021, two independent colours that come together to create an aspirational colour pairing, conjoining deeper feelings of thoughtfulness with the optimistic promise of a sunshine filled day.

As people look for ways to fortify themselves with energy, clarity and hope to overcome the continuing uncertainty, spirited and emboldening shades satisfy our quest for vitality. Illuminating is a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with vivacity, a warming yellow shade imbued with solar power. Ultimate Gray is emblematic of solid and dependable elements which are everlasting and provide a firm foundation. The colours of pebbles on the beach and natural elements whose weathered appearance highlights an ability to stand the test of time, Ultimate Gray quietly assures, encouraging feelings of composure, steadiness and resilience.

“The selection of two independent colours highlight how different elements come together to express a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting, conveying the idea that it’s not about one colour or one person, it’s about more than one. The union of an enduring Ultimate Gray with the vibrant yellow Illuminating expresses a message of positivity supported by fortitude,” said Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute. “Practical and rock solid but at the same time warming and optimistic, this is a colour combination that gives us resilience and hope. We need to feel encouraged and uplifted, this is essential to the human spirit.”

Usage — A marriage of strength and optimism, Ultimate Gray and Illuminating do not have to be used in equal proportions, either colour can take precedence whether for apparel, beauty, home furnishings, product design or packaging.

Ultimate Gray and Illuminating Packaging and Multi-Media Design — Pairing Illuminating, the colour of highest visibility and reflectivity with resilient Ultimate Gray produces a visually noticeable message no matter where it appears. The coupling of friendly Illuminating with quietly assuring Ultimate Gray infuses a message of vitality into a firm foundation of reliability, wisdom and experience for packaging and multi-media design.

Design with Ultimate Gray and Illuminating — Ultimate Gray and Illuminating are paired with versatile hues in a series of five palettes, available to designers as inspiration to incorporate into designs via the Pantone Connect digital colour platform. Pantone Connect is available on mobile app and web, and as an extension app for Adobe® Creative Cloud® to make capturing, curating, and designing with Pantone Color easy and accessible. A featured Color of the Year page has all relevant colour information for using Ultimate Gray and Illuminating across various physical and digital design media. Visit Pantone.com/connect.

www.pantone.com

TOUCHSHIELD™ ANTI-MICROBIAL FILM NOW AVAILABLE FROM PREMIER

Premier has announced the addition of Touchshield™, an innovative anti-

microbial film, to their portfolio of products. Produced by UK based media manufacturer G-Tec Paper and Film, Touchshield™ is a range of protective, anti-microbial, self-adhesive film products that have been designed to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses.

Primarily comprised of a clear, watermarked film, Touchshield™ has a specially developed germ fighting top coating that utilises silver ion technology and offers up to 99% protection against bacteria (certified to ISO 22196) and 93.41% against viruses (certified to ISO 21702). Touchshield™ can be easily installed, bubble free, to everyday items such as hand rails, work stations and desks; to create safe, clean and Covid secure surfaces and environments.

Touchshield™ is available throughout the UK from Premier’s network of branches, delivered on their own fleet of vehicles by their own trained staff.

Find out more about Touchshield™ contact your local branch or email touchshield@paper.co.uk or alternatively you can visit www.paper.co.uk