‘The University is aiming for a vendor-agnostic workflow and has chosen Ultimate Impostrip for its flexibility and resulting benefits that it will bring to our print production processes,’ commented Ollie Renshaw, business and systems manager at the University of Leeds. ‘We are using the XML-driven workflow which integrates seamlessly with our online ordering and Enfocus Switch workflow. The system also enables data driven, custom banner sheets, resulting in improved productivity and consistency. The integration with our Duplo DC 648 cutter creaser and slitter, which is barcode-driven, further enhances the post-press operations of processing hundreds of orders per day. It’s great to be working with Transeo Media and we look forward to continuing our partnership.’

Neil Bather, managing director of Transeo Media, added, ‘We are delighted that the University of Leeds chose Transeo and Ultimate Technographics as their software partner for their imposition automation solution. Impostrip can handle complex imposition tasks and integrate seamlessly with other workflow systems, therefore we are confident that it will help the University streamline their operations and improve overall efficiency. It was a pleasure collaborating with Ollie and the University on this project and we look forward to supporting their future growth.’

The post University of Leeds invests in Impostrip via Transeo Media appeared first on Digital Printer.

Ms Philpot has over 15 years’ experience in the print industry, having previously worked for Ricoh and Océ, and so brings sector knowledge and experience. She said, ‘It’s a great time to have joined Transeo Media. There are so many exciting opportunities in the creative software market, not just in print but the wider markets of packaging, gifting, personalisation and digital marketing.  The company is in a strong position, and I look forward to helping secure further growth opportunities.’

Neil Bather, managing director, added, ‘We are proud to be trusted by the world’s leading software companies, and have a very loyal customer base in print, photo, marketing, personalised gifting and greeting card markets.  As we start the next chapter of our growth story, and continue to expand our client base, we are delighted to welcome Helen on board to help us reach our goals.’

The post Transeo takes on Philpot appeared first on Digital Printer.

EPS’s omni-channel marketing software MarketDirect Cross Media, featured by UK distributor Transeo Media, will allow artwork to be personalised for printing by ASL Group on its stand via a Ricoh cut-sheet toner press, with files supplied and managed by an EFI Fiery Controller. Paper and board stocks supplied by Antalis will be used, with cutting and creasing carried out on Morgana equipment.Pre-registrations will be available from 1 September and the complete workflow will be showcased at The Print Show.

John Morley, global channel director, EPS, stated, ‘Partnerships are key to success and working closely with these fantastic industry brands has been pivotal to the success this project. Although similar has been done in the past, nothing like this has been attempted live at a show. From a full pre-event personalised targeted marketing campaign, web-2-pack order acquisition, personalised print then finished into a beautiful gift for lucky Print Show visitors. We are excited to show what our technology can do, especially when integrated into an industry ecosystem and collaboration with excellent industry partners.’

Digital Printer’s preview of the The Print Show is available online here.

The post Have a G&T on EPS appeared first on Digital Printer.

They say it’s the thought that counts when it comes to gifts, but it’s never been easier to turn the thought into physical reality when it comes to personalised products that demonstrate at least some degree of individual consideration. Examples range from coasters, mugs, mouse mats and notebooks to T-shirts, cushions, photo blocks, canvas prints, notebooks and of course the ubiquitous photo book.

From the big name consumer-facing e-commerce sites and eBay shops to smaller and more boutique operations selling via virtual outlets like Etsy or Not On The High Street, there are plenty of sources for consumers or businesses, but all of them need a fulfilment operation. While the big players own or run their own, that leaves a lot of space for the smaller businesses who don’t want to be printers but who do need to partner with one.

And then there’s the direct sales opportunity to work with existing clients, who may have come to you for other things but are open to buying more from a printer they know and trust. This is very much the situation at Fordingbridge Print, located near the picturesque New Forest, where relationships are everything.

The company was established a decade ago, as part of a conscious lifestyle decision by managing director Lorraine Whitburn and production director Andrew Wilson. The pair previously ran a major Agfa dealership, also selling Zünd equipment and print, which gave them useful experience on both sides of the industry, but decided to move out of the city in order to enjoy running a business of a ‘nice’ size.

‘The aim was to run a profitable but enjoyable business,’ explains Ms Whitburn.

This background explains the umbrella business Time2Display, under which Fordingbridge Print sits, alongside X-Consumables, a business consumables supply service and Paper Meadows, which provides wedding and celebration products as well of orders as service for funerals.

As events don’t get much more personal than weddings or funerals, it’s here that a lot of bespoke work is done.

Sales director Nicola Anten comments, ‘We do get pigeonholed, having won a lot of business on the bespoke side, on time-sensitive or labour-intensive work,’ but it’s clearly a successful formula, as the company doesn’t sell online and doesn’t even have a web portal for job submission.

‘We’re not Amazon,’ says Ms Whitburn, ‘We want people to pick up the phone.’ She goes on to add that 95% of deliveries are made by their own driver, who is the face of the company for many customers. It seems very much the antithesis of the automated ‘hands off’ approach often championed these days – ‘we proof everything back, and even correct spelling mistakes,’ says Ms Anten, adding that they will train customers on artwork production and advise on materials and options, encouraging customer visits to see and feel the materials, something particularly relevant for the Paper Meadows brand.

‘There’s nothing we can’t print, we have it all under one roof,’ adds Ms Anten, pointing out that customers typically can’t buy all the things they want online from one supplier anyway. Understanding the deadline-sensitive nature of event-related products, Fordingbridge staff will make calls at weekends if necessary, to ensure that everything arrives in the right place at the right time.

The ‘everything under one roof’ philosophy means that there’s quite a mix of equipment at the Hampshire site. For wide-format work, HP Latex printers are used, though Mr Wilson notes that the company waited for the second generation of these, before replacing its solvent machines.

A 1.6m HP Latex 365 has replaced an earlier 330 model. It’s used to print vinyl banners, papers and floor sticker materials and is complemented by a Seal 600 laminator.

Future plans may include a hybrid or flatbed machine to print directly to rigid media and textile printing via direct to-film technology is also under consideration. From the company’s origins in wide-format work, Mr Wilson says the mix between that and commercial is now around 50:50.

On the smaller format side, there’s a Ricoh Pro 7100 sheetfed toner press with the fifth colour option, mostly used to print white which Mr Wilson says works very well on textured materials and is popular in wedding products. He praises the registration of the press, along with the support, both reactive and proactive, from Ricoh. Complementing this is a Vivid Matrix 530 laminator which handles foil-overtoner work, again popular in wedding items, a Morgana Autocreaser and a Plockmatic booklet-maker, plus a Plockmatic collator feeding a Duplo perfect binder, though the latter is used for pad work rather than books.

The most recent addition is a Veloblade Volta 69+ digital cutter from Vivid, equipped with a tangential head, creaser and drag knives for through- or kiss-cuts. ‘We absolutely love it,’ says Mr Wilson, explaining how it’s been put to work on small cartons and tiny swing tags just 38mm square and needing 4mm holes, that were too small to be handled on the Ideal guillotine.

Personalised or branded items that the company can supply include mugs, pens, lanyards, caps, and T-shirts. A Ricoh desktop printer is used to print dye-sublimation or thermal transfer sheets as appropriate, for use in a dedicated mug press or by transfer via a FreeSub heat press, with further cutting as necessary on a Summa unit. A GCC Spirit laser cutter has also been added to produce more intricate paper products and engraving on wood, another product that has become popular in the weddings side of the business.

On the materials side, brands such as GF Smith and Fedrigoni feature prominently and suppliers ‘who see us as important’, such as Premier Paper, are regarded as valued partners, the latter being willing to bring in samples ‘at the drop of a hat’.

A more narrowly focused business is YoPhoto, an online photo products brand trademarked in 2007 by Tunbridge Wells, Kent-based Copytech, which was one of the first in the photobook sector. Managing director Nick Baldwin says that since then ‘a lot have jumped on the bandwagon but they are more marketeers than printers’, typically selling the product but not producing it themselves. While this does put pressure on his business, it also allows it to differentiate itself via its speed of turnaround. ‘If an order comes in before 12 noon, we can dispatch the same day,’ he says.

While the bulk of the work is photo books for consumers or photographers, YoPhoto also offers children’s books that enable the child’s name and pictures to be incorporated and which carry an ‘eco edge’ message. ‘We offer a zero plastic policy and use FSC-certified and recycled papers,’ notes Mr Baldwin. While he says that these features ‘make people feel good’ he’s not certain that they drive more business, though he notes growing demand for sustainably sourced materials on the corporate side.

The photo books and related items are printed on an SRA3 HP Indigo press chosen for its image quality. The photobook business was originally set up to fill spare capacity on the machine, though Mr Baldwin observes that some consumer customers have also become business ones as the Indigo quality is popular for professional portfolio work. The company plans to upgrade the Indigo in the not too distant future, to reduce operational costs, and is considering acquiring a second digital press as business levels return to pre-pandemic norms. This will probably be a dry toner model, for less quality-critical jobs but also able to handle long-sheet work for dust jackets and the like; items too large for the Indigo are currently produced on Canon ProGraf roll-fed printers.

The photobooks are created using Taopix software supplied by Transeo Media, which is integrated with the YoPhoto website by the company’s in-house developers. Mr Baldwin says the Cloud-based software is very flexible and likes how it integrates into the website behind the scenes.

YoPhoto has standardised on two papers for its photobooks, GenYous uncoated, which is favoured by photographers, and Symbol 3 silk, both supplied by Premier Paper. The Indigo press is profiled for both to achieve optimum results. The light magenta and cyan toners were tested but not felt to yield a sufficient quality improvement to warrant their extra cost, but the EPM (three colour) mode didn’t give the desired depth of blacks, so all work is done in standard CMYK.

On the finishing side, the company is geared up for case-bound books in-house and carries out a lot of hand finishing, which has in the past included foil blocking but Mr Baldwin notes that there has been a longer-term trend away from linen or other textured covers with foiling to more ‘printed’ ones.

While expecting to use silver ink on the company’s next Indigo machine, and interested in the possibilities of metallics on dry toner presses like the Xerox Iridesse or Ricoh Pro C7200, he feels that digital foiling alternatives ‘aren’t quite there yet’

The post Pictures of home appeared first on Digital Printer.

Available exclusively in the UK through Transeo Media since 2020, printQ is described as ‘a fast, intuitive, and flexible e-commerce solution that offers the industry-leading print buyer experience designed to win new business, deepen and nurture existing business relationships, acquire new customers and grow existing business.’

Transeo managing director Neil Bather told Digital Printer, ‘What interested Transeo to partner with CloudLab was actually a few reasons: the openness and flexibility of the technology, their calibre of existing customers such as Cimpress, Avery Labels, Flyeralarm and Saxoprint – some of Europe’s largest online printers – along with their 3D online packaging design module, to allow customers to design, preview in 3D and order packaging, which opens up a completely new market for us. Custom development is also a key part of the offering, so printers can modify any part of the software to work for their business.’

The software supports both B2B and B2C print selling and with the v6 release, users can configure the web-to-print and online design elements with the underlying e-commerce technology of their choice:

‘We understand that today, customers strive to have a modern, open and flexible architecture to build and future-proof their online businesses,’ explained Mr Bather. ‘As standard, printQ is delivered with the leading enterprise-class Adobe Magento 2 e-commerce solution, however customers can now choose others, such as the popular Shopify solution, connected via our open APIs.

‘The engineering team has done an amazing job at delivering what I believe is the most open and flexible web-to-print and web-to-pack software available for the online print and packaging industries.’

CloudLab’s software is available either as a hosted software-as-a-service (SaaS) package or via self-hosted licensing.

The post CloudLab W2P update brings e-commerce choice appeared first on Digital Printer.