Director Mark Sharman explained, ‘We had been producing all our work on a Tensor T-400BE newspaper printing press, but decided to offer much shorter print runs, and invested in our first Xeikon 9800 with a Tecnau newspaper finishing line. The recently-added second 9800 press prints to flat sheets, which will be finished on the Horizon folder. This adds to our overall digital capacity and enables us to produce a wider variety of newspaper products. The folder was chosen because it offered the best finishing flexibility for output from the Xeikon.’

Horizon was considered because of the exiting connection with IFS through Tecnau web equipment. Mr Sharman said, ‘Because our experience was of a complete inline solution we wanted something that could manage the applications we were producing today and hoping to produce in the future. It also needed to be quick to set up and easy to use. Our team needed to be confident in running it.

‘We liked the fact the system had an integrated cross-folder so that it was fully automated. The touch screen also helps with the ease of set up. It is ideal for the work we are doing now, and it will enable us to expand our applications as well.’

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HMDS’s current Xeikon 9800, located in Jacksonville, will be joined by a new Xeikon SX30000, and a second Xeikon SX30000 will be installed in HMDS’ Pittsburgh facility. ‘We’ve used Xeikon digital presses with exceptional results for more than a decade. As our business steadily grows, it was an easy decision to upgrade our current Xeikon presses to their top-of-the-line Xeikon SX30000,’ commented Ihar Liashko, director of strategic operations, at HM Document Solutions.

The fast and efficient Xeikon SX30000 can deliver as many as 2545 colour 4/4 printed B2 sheets an hour (equivalent to 428ppm A4), and is claimed to have lower setup costs than conventional technologies. Offering a wide range of substrate choice, it can print on uncoated papers, digital coated papers in silk, gloss or matte, and standard offset papers up to 350gsm and synthetic media. The Xeikon SX30000 uses the new Sirius toner, which is produced in a plant powered by 100% green energy. The print is fully de-inkable in existing waste streams.

‘We are happy to play a part in HM Document Solutions’ continued success,’ said Donna Covannon, director of marketing at Xeikon America. ‘A growing number of commercial print providers are acquiring the Xeikon SX30000, attracted by its many unique features.’   

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Over the years, Hunkeler’s eponymous Innovationdays event has become an important platform for the continuous feed digital printing industry to coalesce around, attracting all the major press manufacturers as well as a variety of software developers, and providing a highly focused gathering for this part of the digital printing industry.

Almost 100 partners will also present their latest products in all areas of digital printing and processing in Halls 1 and 2 at the Messe Luzern. These partners include all the major manufacturers of printing and finishing systems, software developers and providers of finishing materials and consumables. As in previous years, many of the exhibitors will use the event to offer a European or global premiere of their latest innovations. A selection of these is listed below.

Exhibitor highlights

Mailroom automation for transactional print and direct mail will be the focus of the Bowe Systec stand, with a particular focus on the Fusion Speed inserting system, which will have its first ever live demonstration in Lucerne. The inserter can process up to 30,000 envelopes per hour and will be demonstrated in conjunction with Bowe’s Boxit system for automatic filling of postal trays. The company will also explain how upstream and downstream stages can be streamlined as part of an end-to-end automation concept.

Canon is playing its cards close to its chest but has promised two product news announcements at the event which ‘build on Canon’s expertise in inkjet’. Topics to be discussed also include the company’s strategy and how technology and business innovation can be harnessed together help ‘future-proof’ PSPs’ operations; the focus will be on publishing, promotion and business communications.

Another premiere at Innovationdays will be on HP’s stand, where the recently-launched PageWide Advantage 2200 digital web press will make it first European appearance. During the four days of the event, HP will be printing different applications such as postcards, leaflets, catalogues and books on a variety of substrates on the 150m/min press. In addition, the US company will showcase automation and services solutions.

Hybrid Software Group will feature its technologies for industrial print manufacturing processes which use inkjet and other printing techniques, showcasing all its brands covering the full stack of core technologies needed for inkjet. These include colour management, high-speed Digital Front Ends and Rips, pre-press software for labels and packaging and printhead drive electronics. All the group brands will be represented: ColorLogic; Global Graphics Software; Hybrid Software; iC3D; Meteor Inkjet and Xitron.

Converting and high quality embellishment will be the theme of the Kama stand, which will feature the Servo generation of the ProCut 76 Foil. The machine suits a range of applications from die-cutting, creasing and perforating to embellishment with hot foil, hologram and relief for commercial jobs and folding cartons. It will be shown with the AutoRegister AR3, which uses two cameras to bring each sheet into position at full speed.

Kern will present the new Kern 3200 Flash, a modular multi-format inserting system designed for flexible and complex inserting jobs in the medium- to high-output range. Different configuration options make it suitable for use in transactional and direct mail. A newly-developed inserting module is said to be the only system in this performance class that can be equipped with more than one envelope magazine, allowing the system to process different envelopes job by job, without the operator having to make a physical change. The 3200 Flash can be combined with a choice of modules, including roll and single sheet feeding. It is also possible to integrate up to 16 inserting stations.

Kodak’s Prosper Ultra 520 will get its first European showing

Another European first will be the Prosper Ultra 520 web press from Kodak. To be shown with a Hunkeler unwinder and rewinder, along with the Hunkeler WI8 web inspection system, the press will print live three versions of a ‘magalog’ (blend of magazine and catalogue) with different editorial and marketing content. The application will demonstrate the Ultra 520’s ability to print heavy ink coverage on standard offset paper at 150m/min. Other finished samples from the Ultra 520 and from the Prosper 7000 Turbo press, which runs at up to 410m/min, will also be presented, along with Kodak’s Prinergy On Demand workflow software.

Kyocera will feature its TaskAlfa Pro 15000C sheet-fed inkjet press, with a focus on its sustainability credentials, productivity, output quality and media flexibility. One-to-one demonstrations are being offered. More information may also be available about the graphic-arts focused version that is understood to be in development.

Another world first in Lucerne is the arrival of the Prinova Digital Saddle stitcher from Müller Martini. The highly automated 9000 cycles per hour unit supports both digital and hybrid print production and brings Müller’s Smart Factory concept to magazines, brochures and catalogues. Developments to the Vareo Pro perfect binding line will also be shown, including a mixed mode that allows softcover books and hardcover book blocks to be produced in the same run, complemented by a new de-stacker and sorting for subsequent InfiniTrim cutting. A variety of live jobs, including all-digital and hybrid printed products, will be featured, along with the supporting Connex workflow.

Workflow developer OneVision will explain how its software allows for ‘a complete integration of company processes’ by being configured to suit existing systems. The modular middleware can automate the production process from file input through printing and embellishment and finishing, while connecting to existing print and finishing hardware and software such as MIS or ERP.

Ricoh will be making the first public showing of its Pro VC70000e inkjet press that includes a number of hardware and software features and updates which collectively increase ease of use through automation, while providing greater media and applications flexibility via pre-coating. This will be complemented by the introduction of TotalFlow Producer, which the company describes as a ‘vendor agnostic automated job onboarding solution’. The new workflow software designed to automate job intake and consolidation from multiple sources, to run automatic pre-flighting and to support personalised job upload and status portals for print clients.

Riso will feature its newest additions to the SRA3 Valezus sheet-fed inkjet line, which are targeted at production print job demands that are difficult to handle efficiently on continuous-feed presses. The twin-engined Valezus T2200 is capable of duplex printing at 330ppm. The single-engine Valezus T1200 is aimed at both short and long-run full-colour transactional printing at 165ppm. Both are equipped with feeder/stacker units for a maximum capacity of 8000 sheets on the T2200, and half that on the T2100. Both models support uncoated papers only, from 46 to 210gsm.

The Smart High Definition technology from Scodix will appear in the premiere of the Ultra 6000 embellishment press

Also making a first European appearance will be the Ultra 6000 digital embellishment press from Scodix with SHD (smart high definition) capability. It will be used to demonstrate embellishment of B1 and B2 sheets for a variety of book covers, from paperbacks to high-end jackets and Scodix says it embodies the economics and productivity to replace analogue embellishment technology whilst offering publishers greater flexibility. Examples of the SHD technology will also be shown.

Staff from Solimar Systems will demonstrate how its workflow-enhancing post-composition solutions support production printing on both cut-sheet and continuous feed devices, finishing, mailing, e-delivery and document archiving. The company is partnering with HP to show how direct mailers can save significant sums and with Screen to demonstrate dashboard tracking of incoming work and device-level ink and media consumption reporting via Screen’s Equios workflow.

W+D will use the event to launch its new BB820+, a new flagship inserter which the company says allows for the widest range of direct mail sizes, from C6 envelopes up to B4 flat packages up to 15mm thick, and which can insert at up to 20,000 piece per hour, 25% faster than the model it replaces. The new machine comes with a new rotary feeder for consistent feeding at the higher speeds and an additional servo axis for flexible and size-dependent motion control of collating track, envelope gripper transport andinsert finger.

Short-run book printing using the Sirius dry toner technology will form a major part of the Xeikon exhibit, centred on the roll-fed duplex Xeikon SX30000 press, which is also getting its first public European showing. Three high-end applications will be shown – a coffee-table travel book, a full colour tourist guide and a highly illustrated book on architecture. The SX30000 roll-fed press will be running in line with a Hunkeler Gen8 roll-to-stack solution, producing book blocks which to be bound on an offline Muller Martini Vareo Pro with InfiniTrim.

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Mr Welford’s career has included spells with FFEI and Xaar, where his roles included managing engineering, manufacturing and research and development operations. He joined Xeikon in September 2018 when he took over the management of its research and development activities, with a broad remit across engineering, the ink and toner competence centres and the print process and project management office. As president, he will further exploit this experience and his broader background in the printing industry, as the company accelerates the industrialisation of its product line and continued integration with Flint Group.

Mr Welford said, ‘I’m very proud to be given the opportunity to head up this industry-leading technology company which has been a pioneer in digital printing since the very beginning. Xeikon has always had a strong focus on customer-centric developments and application-driven solutions, and its name has become synonymous with breakthrough innovations and technology. Crucially, it comes with an excellent team of professionals, who are known for their vast experience and in-depth expertise.

‘This is an exciting industry to be part of, but like all other companies, I’m certain that we will have our share of new challenges and pressures as the market and our customers’ needs keep changing and evolving. Therefore, Xeikon will continue on its unwavering mission to support printers and converters with the tools they need to successfully navigate the future and grow their businesses – in labels, corrugated packaging and graphic arts.’

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While we emerged from lockdown and made our way to as much normality as we could, the industry kept pace, continuing with product introductions and new developments, some still arising from the postponed drupa momentum, and others that would not have made it there anyway. Here’s an overview.

EFI opened the batting for the season with a brace of fast wide-format printers announced at the online version of its Connect event. Topping the chart in raw speed terms was a new single-pass graphics printer capable of 1000 8×4 boards an hour, though it can print sheets of up to 1.6 x 3m. It offers optional orange, violet and white inks and is said to offer the lowest cost per unit of output.

At a ‘mere’ 375 boards an hour, the new Vutek XT hybrid also focuses on lowering total cost of ownership and was said to get similar image quality to eight-colour units out of just four process colours. The Pro 32h hybrid offers up to 230sqm/hr across 3.2m and up to five layers in a single pass, retailing for under US $200,000. On the roll-fed side, EFI introduced the Q3r and Q5r, three- and five-metre UV machines with a choice of inks for vivid display colours or flexibility for vehicle wraps.

Later in the year, EFI also debuted the entry-level Pro 30h hybrid wide-format printer, offering resolutions up to 1200dpi and speeds of up to 230sqm/hr, with options for white and clear inks and the ability to print up to five layers in a single pass.

Duplo offered the 150 Booklet System, combining the existing DSC-10/60 feeder with its DBM-150 Booklet Maker and Trimmer, allowing a wide range of sizes and stock weights to be handled. This was followed in March with the introduction of the DF-1300L, a folder aimed specifically at the long sheet sizes supported by many SRA3 digital presses, able to handle sheets up to 311 x 748mm and up to 230gsm. It offers a variety of folding options, including for six-panel A4 tri-fold leaflets and landscape orientation A4 brochures.

The company also took on distributorship for the Ultra C range of UV, aqueous and soft-touch flood coaters, whichit is promoting as an environmentally-friendly alternative to lamination of digital print, including food packaging.

Riso introduced the ComColor FT range of A3 and A4 sheet-fed inkjet printers, offering 600 x 600dpi on stocks up to 400gsm via optional accessories, with inline finishing including folding, stacking and booklet-making.

Ricoh added a Pro Scanner option for its VC60000 and VC70000 web inkjet presses, allowing on-the-fly image quality and registration assessment and correction; an option for checking each printed page against artwork files was also introduced.

Agfa’s Jeti Tauro H3300 UHS accelerated to 600sqm/hr

Agfa brought out the fastest version yet of its Jeti Tauro hybrid LED UV printer, the H3300 UHS, able to hit 600sqm/ hr across media up to 3.3m wide, 30% faster than the original model and supporting the same automation options. It’s aimed at the high end of the signage and display market but is also suitable for printing on corrugated board, suggesting packaging and PoS applications. The company also opened a new UK showroom in Rugby in March.

This was followed in June with the launch of the Avinci CX3200, a 3.2m dye-sub printer able to print to transfer paper or directly to fabric at up to 270sqm/hr, suiting soft signage applications including banners, wall graphics and flags.

Canon began a busy year with the launch of the 70ppm SRA3 toner ImagePress C170 line, aimed at in-house/ CRD applications, plus a later update to the ImagePress CV10010VP production model, which gained a registration and colour accuracy sensing unit, as well as updating its ImagePrograf printer/plotters. This was followed by the introduction of the ColorStream 8000 web inkjet press, aimed at transpromo, DM and pharma printing, at up to 160m/min.

On the wide-format side, Canon introduced an entry level version of its UV-gel roll printer, the Colorado 1630, which runs at 70% of the speed of existing 1640/1650 models and has remotely unlockable upgrades. The Arizona flatbed line got a mid-summer boost with the addition of the entry-level 135GT, a 1.25 x 2.5m LED curing UV printer, available for around €69,000, that can also be upgraded to support roll-to-roll work.

Xeikon followed up 2020’s debut of the ‘Sirius’ technologybased SX30000 web toner press with a smaller sibling, the 30m/sec SX20000, which offers the equivalent of 1700 B2sph. It handles the same stock weights and widths, prints at the same 1200 x 3600dpi resolution and can be upgraded for both speed and from four colours to five. Target applications for the SX20000 include books and direct mail.

The company also opened a virtual wall décor centre to showcase applications of its presses in this sector, expected also to appeal to architects, interior designers and retailers, and in April, added the CX50, a dedicated wall decoration toner press, as part of its Well Deco Suite. The CX50 is the middle option in productivity terms, between the 3050 Rex entry-level model and the CX500 press, and can be upgraded from 20 to 30m/min.

Riso extended its sheet-fed inkjet range with the ComColor FT models

HP added four 1.6m Latex printers to its eponymous line, the 700/800, each available with white ink, and offering up to 36sqm/hr depending on quality and application. Its print and cut line of stand-alone or linkable cutters was also updated, as was the Stitch 1000 dye-sub printer which gained better colour saturation in direct-to-fabric printing mode. New 1.6m photo printers were added to the HP DesignJet line in the autumn, the ZPro and Z9+ Pro, offering up to nine colour plus gloss. Three 1m-width PageWide machines for poster printing were added at the same time.

Mutoh added two 1.6m printers, the roll-fed ValueJet 1638UR Mk II and the hybrid 1628UH Mk II, able respectively to handle rolls up to 100kg and rigid media up to 15mm thick and weighing 15kg. Both support CMYK plus white and clear or double CMYK for increased productivity of up to 22.7sqm/hr. These were followed up in April with the addition of the XpertJet 1628WR, a dye-sub model based on the same 1.6m chassis, supporting up to eight colours and offering production at up to 48sqm/hr. Mutoh’s autumn season included the XPJ-1642WR, again based on the XpertJet 1.6m platform, but this time a dyesub transfer paper printer with water-based inks said to give improved quality on any sublimation-capable substrate and better productivity, with ‘sellable’ print at up to 61sqm/hr.

Horizon introduced a fully automated eight-buckle folder, the AF-408F, aimed at pharma and other small leaflet production. It accepts sheets up to 900mm in length (via an optional extension) and can space folds at 20mm. This was complemented later in the year by the AFV-566FKT, an automated cross-folder designed to support digital print shops where short runs are common, by offering 20% quicker changeovers than its predecessor.

Wide-format printer manufacturer swissQprint introduced a faster and more automated version of the Karibu roll-fed printer launched in 2019. The 3.4m Karibu S offers up to 330sqm/hr and a double-sided printing capability now is available both for it and original Karibu models via a retrofit. Two new ‘neon’ inks, yellow and pink, which fluoresce under UV light, were launched, and are offered for all the company’s printers.

Mimaki expanded its textile printer range, with the entry level 1.6m TS100-1600 dye-sub running at up to 70sqm/hr being complemented by the industrially-focused 1.8m Tiger 1800B Mk III, which supports a variety of ink types for different fabrics and gains improved reliability and accuracy. Both are driven by the TxLink4 Rip software which has textiles-specific functionality.

These were complemented a month or so later by the introduction of the JFX 550-2513 and 600-2513, high productivity 2.5 x 1.3m flatbeds offering up to 16 printheads and 200sqm/hr, plus a dedicated 1.6m roll-fed leather printer, the SUJV-160, that uses a special inkset developed by Fujifilm and which includes a clear ink. In the autumn, four new models were added to Mimaki’s direct-to-object printer range, most of them in a new smallformat/desktop line.

Mimaki’s entry-level dye-sub printer, the 1.6m TS100-1600

Late spring saw Ricoh reveal some of the specifications of its long-teased B2 digital press, revealed as the Pro Z75, a 4500sph (simplex) aqueous inkjet that is aimed squarely at the commercial sector, with a duty cycle around 1.25 million impressions a month and with greater media flexibility than most inkjets. Beta testing should be well underway by now, but commercial availability isn’t expected until Q2 of 2022.

Ricoh also reached an agreement with Austrian direct-togarment developer Aeoon Technologies to extend its DtG offering into the higher productivity sectors of this market.

Around the same time high performance wide-format printer specialist Durst introduced a dye sublimation version of its P5 roll-fed printer platform the P5 Tex iSub, a 3.3mmodel that can print directly to suitable polyesterbased fabrics within inline heat fixation, or to thermal transfer paper. It runs at up to 383sqm/hr and additional primary colour inks are available.

Fujifilm introduced a faster version of its established JetPress B2 inkjet, the 750 High Speed, which trades resolution for speed to hit 5400sph (simplex); the 2600sph of the existing model is also supported in ‘high quality’ mode. The faster mode also dispenses with the priming stage that is otherwise used, which may limit the choice of papers that can be used at top speed.

Following the ending of its OEM agreement with Canon for flatbeds, Fujifilm introduced its first own-build model, the Acuity Prime, a 2.5 x 1.7m UV printer that supports white and clear ink in addition to CMYK. The Acuity Ultra R2 roll-fed printer was also introduced, an upgrade to the 3.2 and 5m models launched in 2018 with various usability and overall productivity enhancements. 

April saw Epson expand the top end of its textile printing line with the introduction of the SureColor F10070H, an industrial strength 1.9m dye-sub printer claimed by the Japanese company to be cheaper than competitors in this sector.

The end of that month also saw Vivid add a B1 format version of its VeloBlade cutting table, in response to customer requests. Also in the finishing arena, a couple of weeks later, CreaseStream and ProCut introduced FoldStream, a crease-and-fold system able to handle digital print without damage at up to 10,000 items per hour, up to SRA3 size and 400gsm or more and without some of the issues experienced with plate or buckle folding.

In May, Inca Digital and Fujifilm introduced a range of robotic automation options for the former’s OnsetX HS range of high performance flatbed printers, from semi- to fully automatic loading and unloading of boards, allowing overall throughput to be increased.

Canon brought out an entry-level version of the Colorado, the 1630

June saw the arrival of Konica Minolta’s C7100/7090 toner presses that offer 100/90ppm with a variety of automation and quality control feature and completed the revamp that began with the 2019 introduction of the high-end C14000, some of whose features made their way into the new midrange machines, including a new toner – though the August explosion in the company’s Tatsuno factory in Japan has caused ongoing problems with toner supply.

That month also saw the newly independent Kongsberg PCS add the C20, a compact 1.6 x 1.4m cutting table to its C Series, with which it shares features aimed at increased accuracy and consistency.

One of the big stories of the summer was the acquisition by Global Graphics of packaging design and workflow developer Hybrid Software, which doubled the group’s size and turnover; the company subsequently rebranded as Hybrid Software Group and in late October acquired German colour management developer ColorLogic to extend its capability in multi-colour / extended gamut packaging print production.

The autumn saw a further flurry of introductions, with Kodak launching the Ascend, a five-colour toner press aimed at PoP / PoS and small packaging applications, a 120ppm press that can also handle long sheets to 1.2m and stocks up to 762microns thick. A wide range of special fifth colours will be available. The company also announced a web browser-based version of its Prinergy on Demand workflow offering that brings the established workflow within range of smaller print shops. Both the press and the software will be available in 2022.

Morgana held one of the first in-person events of the year with a mid-September open house at its Milton Keynes headquarters, at which Premier and Konica Minolta / MGI participated, showing a complete packaging production line. It also showcased the new Docubind Pro VFX twin-wire binder for lay-flat products.

Another event that went ahead was Fespa, which was used by Roland DG to introduce the VersaStudio BN20A entry-level print-and-cut device, suitable for stickers, labels and heat transfer sheets for garment printing. The company also upgraded and reopened its Danish and UK showrooms.

Screen didn’t introduce any major new products under its own name. However in late November it did announce a partnership, encompassing both the USA and Europe, with envelope converting and inserting specialist Winkler+Dünnebier to sell complete direct mail systems built around the TruepressJet 520 web inkjet press and W+D’s equipment.

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Every professional level digital press you can buy these days comes with some kind of colour management capability, either bundled with the Rip/DFE or available as an option from the manufacturer, whether it’s their own development or something they licensed from a third party. So it’s obviously something that’s expected and perhaps even taken for granted, but is it worth stepping back and asking the fundamental question ‘what is it for?’, as the answer to that has changed over the years, and particularly in the context of digital print.

Fundamentally it’s about getting colour right (though ‘right’ by which criteria will be discussed in a bit) and keeping it there from day to day, job to job and from press to press. Consultant Paul Sherfield refers to the Common Colour Appearance concept adopted by Fogra, which he says can be boiled down to ‘printing the expected’ across a range of print technologies and applications.

Andy Campbell, Ricoh, looks at it from a manufacturing perspective, saying, ‘Colour management is about lean [manufacturing], repeatability, getting the closest result.’ The efficiency idea is also embedded in a comment from Roland Kampa, senior product line manager at EFI, who says, ‘PSPs fumble with graduation curves… [when] it would be easier to schedule linearisation/calibration, but operators are under pressure to run the next job.’ Mr Kampa notes that colour management is ‘deeply integrated’ into the Fiery DFE software, making it simpler to use these features in a routine way.

Kodak’s Cloud, Color & Content Products manager, Software Division, William Li says ‘Calibration is the bedrock.’ He’s also a fan of standards, pointing out that you might need to work to a standard for a competitive bid or to please a particular customer, but that working to common standards enables companies to compete on efficiency. ‘People are waking up to the idea that the craft shouldn’t be in making the tools behave, it should be about meeting customer expectations. Consistent standards make for a better market,’ he argues.

The Color Profiler Suite is at the heart of EFI’s colour management offering and is tightly integrated into its Fiery DFEs

Self-regulation

Xerox UK’s Kevin O’Donnell agrees, and advocates what he calls ‘closed loop automation’ as a way of achieving it – with presses that feature built-in spectrophotometers, he argues that getting them into a stable and calibrated state can be a ‘one-part process’ and that on-the-fly measurement and adjustment can correct for drift during production.

That idea is being increasingly adopted by other digital press manufacturers, though for some it’s an optional inline extra. Konica Minolta debuted its IQ-510 Intelligent Quality Controller in 2017, and Ricoh added the similar ACD this year, also offered by Heidelberg for its Versafire. These also look for a range of print and page defects. 

Achieving stable and tightly-controlled printing conditions is only part of the story, though. Part of getting the colour right is to know how a particular combination of press, toner and substrate behaves and to tweak the values fed to the writing engine to allow for the limitations and idiosyncrasies of each. This is what colour profiles are for, and while presses ship with a range of generic ones for different paper types and print settings, they can’t cater exclusively for each press, toner and paper combination, so tools are usually provided for creating colour profiles. Mr Sherfield estimates that only around 20% of printers actually make their own profiles, however, and then usually only because of client requirements.

Ready, aim …where?

With the press stable and calibrated and the right profiles in place, the question then arises of what target are we trying to hit? There aren’t really any universal standards for digital print colour, so ones based on offset tend to be used, particularly if there’s a need to match work across analogue and digital presses. There’s the ISO 12647 series which is as much an overall quality control standard as a colour-specific one, plus more regional variants such as the Fogra standards developed in Germany and adopted across much of Europe, or the Idealliance-derived ones in the US. The Fogra profiles are specific to paper types and the recent Fogra 51 and 52 allow for the use of optical brighteners in coated and uncoated papers respectively, and are gaining traction in commercial print, though GMG’s UK product manager Paul Barnes notes that most in the packaging sector stick to the older Fogra 39L, ‘because that’s what their customers expect’.

Canon supports Fogra, Swop, Gracol and Japanese Standard input profiles and offers X-Rite spectrophotometers for calibration and profiling. Its latest PrismaSync DFEs support Fogra and G7 verification values, allowing test pages to be printed to check conformance. Business development manager Chris Aked says that most UK customers ‘adhere to Fogra standards, generally F39 or F52’. Kodak’s Mr Li suggests that between a third and a half of printers worldwide are working to some standard or other, either because their client specifically require this as a condition of winning the work or because it’s just a good way of getting predictable and efficient results.

The G7 standard, which originated in the US, is gaining ground, too. It’s said by Kerry Moloney, product marketing manager at EFI, to be easier to implement, being principally concerned with managing grey balance. ‘Fogra is more about certification, G7 is more a process,’ she comments, adding, ‘It’s easiest to maintain in the long run,’ but accepts there’s an education issue which the company is trying to address via webinars and e-learning, to promote the concept of ‘overall colour maintenance’.

HP Indigo’s Gershon Alon notes, ‘The requirement for colour standards adherence is getting lower, as result of the type and source of applications. More is being driven through e-commerce, where professional requirements are less, or are defined differently,’ though he acknowledges there is still a ‘traditional’ print base for whom it’s important.

HP Indigos can accommodate up to seven ElectroInks, allowing spot, metallic or gamut-extending colours

Xeikon offers consultancy-based support under its Custom Colour Services banner, which draws as necessary on the expertise of its Aura network of specialist partners. It’s aimed at customers running multiple sites and with multiple devices and where matching colour and/or extended gamut printing are requirements. Four levels of support are offered, from a basic site visit and recommendations, through G7 compliance with Alwan Standardizer and Verifier software, Xeikon Color Control licensing (essentially the same but without G7 tools) and the full Custom Color Services.

But there’s also a conflict with working to offset-based standards, because most toner presses can print to a wider colour gamut with their standard CMYK toners than offset so in a sense are being wasted by being restricted to what offset can achieve. For presses with additional colours, particularly neons, this is even more so (see article on page 34). For papers that do yield a larger colour gamut just with CMYK, it’s possible for Canon users to build a large gamut Media Print Mode, according to Mr Aked, but Ricoh Europe’s application and innovation manager Andy Campbell goes further and asks, ‘Why limit yourself to Fogra 51? If you’re not matching offset, you can run to a bigger gamut [and] can really push boundaries. We’ve seen some really good results done this way.’

This view is backed by Mr Alon, who points out the consistency of colour across the Indigo line, which shares the same ElectroInks and imaging technology across its various generations, speeds and formats, and says that ‘more are trying to leverage the full Indigo gamut’. This idea is supported by colour management on Indigo presses being split between the DFE, where Global Graphics technologies are used for the transformation of print data

into the Indigo inkset (which may include any additional colours, though these are treated only as spot colours), together with any manipulation needed to hit a specified colour standard, and then the media ‘fingerprint’ is applied within the press, allowing jobs to be re-routed to different machines or substrates changed at the last minute.

Series 4 and 5 Indigos all have built-in spectrophotometers and can work with the ColorBeat Cloud-based colour tracking and scoring software, part of the Print OS suite, which Mr Alon says provides a competitive aspect to company performance in this area: ‘Once this is visible, magic happens,’ he says. EFI’s ColorGuard aims to offer something similar, though without the public visibility aspect.

Printing to maximum gamut requires images that haven’t already been stripped of the colours outside offset CMYK, so usually need to be supplied in RGB, with ECI RGBv2 being a good choice for high-end print according to Mr Sherfield. GMG also offers an ‘RGB to max gamut’ conversion option for those who want to use it.

Even with an expanded gamut, hitting some Pantone or similar reference colours can be difficult, however. This is compounded by the fact that the Pantone reference guides are offset printed using specially mixed inks, so there’s an inherent technology mis-match. Doing a good job with these is central to many colour management solutions, notably those from GMG and EFI, though they’re generally less of an issue in commercial print than in packaging. Systems like Extended Colour Gamut (ECG) printing, in which orange, green and violet inks are added to CMYK to provide an all-round expanded gamut and so cover more Pantones are also used in packaging, but very few commercial sheet-fed digital presses can support this many colours in a single pass, with only HP Indigo qualifying.

Digital does digital

There’s also the proofing role, where digital devices normally simulate analogue ones for proofing or prototyping. This is where GMG initially built its business, becoming very much a technology of choice for offset proofing via Epson roll-fed printers, and the company’s current technology, based on its OpenColour model and ColorServer products still serves this market, particularly in packaging applications where not just litho but flexo may need to be simulated.

But there’s still a role for proofing in an all-digital production environment as Mr Barnes points out that it’s not always practical to stop a production machine to run off one sheet to test for a job, and staff in the prepress studio may need to test work before sending it for the production run. The OpenColor technology, which is based on spectral colour data, allows a job to be proofed for a digital press just as for an analogue one.

The arrival of additional colours such as fluorescents/ neons brings some exciting new capabilities but presents challenges, both in terms of raising client awareness of the possibilities and for prepress and production. Education is key to the former. As part of its CMYK-Plus campaign, Xerox is running what it calls Project Genesis, a mix of tools, training and webinars to help make designers, specifiers and brands aware of what is possible, which will include live in-person events from this September. ‘We haven’t gone out and shouted it from the rooftops enough,’ argues Mr O’Donnell, though he adds, ‘Clear toner now being used intelligently, as part of the design process and fluorescent is staring to become interesting; the pink on the Iridesse has caught the imagination.’

Similarly, Ricoh is promoting the creative possibilities of its additional colours via its Digital Works ‘inspiration guide’ and its Business Booster Edge online events. Mr Campbell says the usage has grown but ‘not as fast as we’d hoped. Printers have to go and market it, something they’re traditionally poor at.’

Even if you’re not in the market for printing with extra colours, colour management has a role to play in streamlining your production processes, minimising waste and giving your clients what they expect.

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Announced late last year, the web-fed toner press is Xeikon’s flagship digital press for the graphic arts and also makes use of the company’s Sirius dry toner technology.

Grandville, which already had an arsenal of eight Xeikon presses, will be using its new machine for applications such as retail shelf strips and tags, newspaper inserts and other traditional commercial printing jobs.

‘Many of our jobs require 24-hour turnaround, and we were truly impressed by the Xeikon SX30000’s speed and the quality of its output,’ explained Grandville’s manufacturing engineer Bruce Beery. ‘We acquired our first Xeikon press in 2011, and the reliability of Xeikon – both the presses and the people who support them – has unquestionably proven itself over the past decade.’

Donna Covannon, director of marketing at Xeikon America, added, ‘We at Xeikon are avid believers in the power of dry toner, and Grandville’s continued success is a testament to the quality and flexibility of that technology.’

In addition to the X30000 Grandville has also acquired a Xeikon CX500 label press that runs at 30m/min and features a web width of 20.47 inches.

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Designed to help meet consumer demand for personalised home interiors, the CX50 is part of Xeikon’s Wall Deco Suite, an all-in-one streamlined solution which includes inline finishing. 

‘What we have put together is a complete automated Wall Deco factory,’ said Dimitri Van Gaever, market segment director for graphic arts. ‘The Xeikon CX50 digital press fits perfectly into our portfolio for wallcovering applications, midway between the Xeikon 3050 REX entry level option and our high-end Xeikon CX500 digital press.

‘For higher speeds the Xeikon CX50 can be upgraded from 20 to 30m/min. With Xeikon’s dry toner technology and advanced colour management capability with new generation interfaces and cloud connection, the Xeikon CX50 simplex digital press is designed to offer maximum OEE and TCO.’

The CX50 is driven by Xeikon’s X-800 workflow for high levels of automation. The workflow, ubiquitous across all Xeikon dry toner solutions, features a ‘poster layout’ function for murals and wallcoverings to ensure spot-on registration for ‘seamless’ installation.

The press also provides what Xeikon calls ‘superior colour consistency’ and an extended colour gamut. The company’s dry toner is available in CMYK, red, blue, green, orange and magenta, with additional colours, including one-pass opaque white and custom shades available on request.

Finally the inline finishing equipment, specifically designed to work within Xeikon’s Wall Deco Production Suite, includes inline water-based varnishing, slitting, waste removal and coreless rewinding.

‘Part of Xeikon’s ongoing value proposition is to offer the market choices to help customers drive business growth,’ Mr Van Gaever concluded. ‘We believe a successful and cost-effective investment in a digital production solution works best when it is based on expected and realistic print volumes.

‘The Xeikon CX50 press is ideal for those working in wall decoration production with flexible orders and shorter runs. With its capability to upgrade to higher speeds, an investment in this press ensures and secures future business growth.’

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The new colour package includes training and ongoing consultancy support, and is offered on ‘pay as you go’ terms, which should make it more attractive to adopt. The tools in the suite can be set to match industry standards and allow press operators to correct and re-verify print colour quality on-the-fly via the inline spectrophotometers fitted to Xeikon dry toner presses, improving match and consistency in brand colour reproduction as well as accuracy in reproduction of photographic images.

Colour matching to printed examples is supported, even when on different substrates (within limits) and the CxF colour exchange format is used to communicate colour information with tolls used in analogue print, such as Pantone Live and proofing systems.

Xeikon’s colour management expert Bruce Dransfield stated, ‘Historically colour management software has needed an expert to deliver results and this takes time. Xeikon has developed its XCS Pro 2.0 as a ‘no waste’, ‘no expert’ fully automated colour system. Xeikon now has the first digital dry toner web press solution which embraces self-fixing colour control, quality control and ICC profiling plus Pantone/brand colour generation to meet all industry standards.

‘Xeikon has built its new colour management system’s architecture to enable it to remotely analyse, target and fix any colour problem in minutes. Xeikon’s cloud-based analytical tools can diagnose any colour issue and the issue is sorted with no delays which adds to significant time savings in production.’

The system is available for online demonstration immediately.

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The installation marked the Stuttgart-based company’s first foray into digital printing, having previously operated exclusively in the offset market. The company put this change of direction down to several factors, including a desire to be able to produce short runs faster and more efficiently, to produce customised and personalised products and a desire to offer customers more flexibility.

‘We studied the market carefully before we selected Xeikon’s SX30000 press,’ said joint managing director Volker Lück. ‘We were immediately impressed with the machine’s capabilities. The key advantages for our business are the variety of material options the press can handle and the high levels of print quality it can deliver. Being able to maintain our high standards of quality products with the new machine is essential and with a full order book at present, Xeikon’s superior digital press gives us the opportunity to add value for our customers.’

The SX30000 is the first implementation of a new technology platform that Xeikon calls Sirius. The 520mm (printable width 508mm) press runs at up to 30m/min, equivalent to 404ppm or 2500 B2sph, which it can maintain on stocks up to around 200–250gsm; it is almost three times as fast as previous Xeikon presses on 300gsm.

Dimitri Van Gaever, market segment director, graphic arts concluded, ‘Our Xeikon SX30000 system using ground breaking Sirius dry toner technology has been designed to bring about a new era of productivity, lower running costs and a profitable TCO. At Duma Druck, the Xeikon SX30000 will be supplied with an inline and automated cut and stack solution, which is being supported by our Xeikon Solution Services Department. Duma Druck is now fully prepared to take its business to new levels, now and in the future.’

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