New ways to differentiate
The event at the Inforum in Heidelberg, Switzerland, focused on high-fidelity color and security printing.
Event High Fidelity Color and security printing were the focus of the Inforum at Heidelberg Switzerland How can print shops distinguish themselves from the competition, offer customers added value and retain added value in-house? Heidelberg Switzerland recently held a customer event in Bern to discuss answers to these questions. Practical demonstrations at the Inforum showed corresponding solution scenarios. Spot colors and extended color spacesFor example, Exact Colour Print from Petzold Concept GmbH uses modern process technology to print with higher color densities. With just four inking units, it is possible to substitute spot colors, which previously required an additional unit. The four process colors eliminate the need for color changes and time-consuming washing of the rollers.
A wide range of metallic colors can be simulated on a five-color press by adding silver or gold underneath - with a sixth unit, the printer keeps the option of a final coating or the application of pearl effects open. Thanks to the higher densities, the ECP system produces a significantly larger gamut image across the entire color value range.
If the ECP color space is only to be used partially within a printing form, image areas can be reduced to the color space according to the ISO 12647-2 printing standard using an ICC profile supplied in the ECP package. The continuously expanded ECP package includes several fans with 4200 color tones as well as CMYK compositions stored on a DVD. As an alternative to purchasing the entire library, individual recipes can be requested via the Internet.
The ICISS color separation system was also demonstrated in Bern. With the Interactive Color-Independent Separation Software, separations can be created from any combination of printing colors. Individual color separations can be calculated from RGB or CMYK data as CMYK with spot colors, as duplex, triplex, hexachrome or hi-fi color. The settings made are stored in a script and assigned to the desired image file via hotfolder, leaving the original data unchanged. ICISS is suitable for defining your own recipes in conjunction with Exact Color Print and other systems such as MetalFX.
Hologram application on a Kama TS 74 as a world premiereA hologram application was presented as a world premiere in Bern on the new TS 74 die-cutting machine from Kama. The control of the foil feed via special mark readers and servo drives ensures that the hologram subject matches the embossing cliché precisely. The TS 74 combines die-cutting, creasing, perforating, blind embossing, hot and cold stamping foil printing and hologram technology in a single machine.
A hot-cut device enables the processing of plastic materials. The automatic die-cutter processes sheet formats up to a maximum of 74 x 54 cm and, according to the manufacturer, is an alternative to the platens and cylinders that have been widely used to date, whereby practically all existing tools can be used.
Holograms can be used to protect products against counterfeiting. Other effective measures to protect against counterfeit products were discussed at the Inforum (see box "Product and brand protection"), which, with a share of up to ten percent of total global trade, represent a considerable security risk and cause major damage to the economy. This is another way in which print shops can differentiate themselves.
Product and brand protectionFor effective protection
In the face of piracy, product packaging can be used as a carrier of authenticity features. The available processes are numerous and range from special printing inks that react to thermal, optical, mechanical and other influences, to the coupling of complementary codes, self-destructing labels and the repro-technical integration of hidden microelements in the color separations. An exciting field is holography with various security levels, from relatively simple 2D subjects to highly complex 3D holograms, which combine all the optical effects that can be realized today in one image. Own formulations with ICISSICISS (Interactive Color-Independent Separation Software)
is a special software for creating separations from any combination of printing colors. Individual color separations can be calculated from RGB or CMYK data as CMYK with spot colors, as duplex, triplex, hexachrome or hi-fi color. The settings made are stored in a script and assigned to the desired image file via hotfolder, leaving the original data unchanged. ICISS is suitable for defining your own recipes in conjunction with Exact Color Print and other systems such as MetalFX. Jürg Marti
A wide range of metallic colors can be simulated on a five-color press by adding silver or gold underneath - with a sixth unit, the printer keeps the option of a final coating or the application of pearl effects open. Thanks to the higher densities, the ECP system produces a significantly larger gamut image across the entire color value range.
If the ECP color space is only to be used partially within a printing form, image areas can be reduced to the color space according to the ISO 12647-2 printing standard using an ICC profile supplied in the ECP package. The continuously expanded ECP package includes several fans with 4200 color tones as well as CMYK compositions stored on a DVD. As an alternative to purchasing the entire library, individual recipes can be requested via the Internet.
The ICISS color separation system was also demonstrated in Bern. With the Interactive Color-Independent Separation Software, separations can be created from any combination of printing colors. Individual color separations can be calculated from RGB or CMYK data as CMYK with spot colors, as duplex, triplex, hexachrome or hi-fi color. The settings made are stored in a script and assigned to the desired image file via hotfolder, leaving the original data unchanged. ICISS is suitable for defining your own recipes in conjunction with Exact Color Print and other systems such as MetalFX.
Hologram application on a Kama TS 74 as a world premiereA hologram application was presented as a world premiere in Bern on the new TS 74 die-cutting machine from Kama. The control of the foil feed via special mark readers and servo drives ensures that the hologram subject matches the embossing cliché precisely. The TS 74 combines die-cutting, creasing, perforating, blind embossing, hot and cold stamping foil printing and hologram technology in a single machine.
A hot-cut device enables the processing of plastic materials. The automatic die-cutter processes sheet formats up to a maximum of 74 x 54 cm and, according to the manufacturer, is an alternative to the platens and cylinders that have been widely used to date, whereby practically all existing tools can be used.
Holograms can be used to protect products against counterfeiting. Other effective measures to protect against counterfeit products were discussed at the Inforum (see box "Product and brand protection"), which, with a share of up to ten percent of total global trade, represent a considerable security risk and cause major damage to the economy. This is another way in which print shops can differentiate themselves.
Product and brand protectionFor effective protection
In the face of piracy, product packaging can be used as a carrier of authenticity features. The available processes are numerous and range from special printing inks that react to thermal, optical, mechanical and other influences, to the coupling of complementary codes, self-destructing labels and the repro-technical integration of hidden microelements in the color separations. An exciting field is holography with various security levels, from relatively simple 2D subjects to highly complex 3D holograms, which combine all the optical effects that can be realized today in one image. Own formulations with ICISSICISS (Interactive Color-Independent Separation Software)
is a special software for creating separations from any combination of printing colors. Individual color separations can be calculated from RGB or CMYK data as CMYK with spot colors, as duplex, triplex, hexachrome or hi-fi color. The settings made are stored in a script and assigned to the desired image file via hotfolder, leaving the original data unchanged. ICISS is suitable for defining your own recipes in conjunction with Exact Color Print and other systems such as MetalFX. Jürg Marti
