Case Studies

Specialty Digital Materials

The digital market is all about specialty materials. Before Masterpiece Graphix entered the coating field, HP Indigo users could only use a limited number of digitally-coated materials. We’ve made it our goal to provide quality coating on a wide range of substrates. To date, Masterpiece Graphix has coated over 800 individual materials for the HP Indigo press.

Dry-Edge Materials: An MGX Exclusive

Adhesive ooze, a build-up which plagues press vacuum boxes, has been a common annoyance for HP Indigo users. Adhesive along the edge of the web can be the cause of a variety of issues. The vacuum box and rollers will get clogged with adhesive over time, causing unnecessary maintenance and shut-down of production to remove the buildup. Adhesive runoff can also cause breaks in the web, damaging costly substrates and press parts. Masterpiece Graphix has worked diligently to find a solution for this issue, developing an exclusive line of Dry-Edge products to solve the problem. The MGX Dry-Edge line of products features an adhesive margin, leaving a 1/8″ adhesive-free border on the edges of the sub­strate. This allows the adhesive to “bleed” onto the unprinted margin without getting in the vacu­um box or on the machine rollers. For example, a 12″ roll of material has an 11 ¾” printing surface, allowing the adhesive to stay on the material and off of your press’s parts. This keeps the vacuum box 100% clean and adhesive buildup-free. Learn more about our Dry-Edge line of products.

Superior Digital Materials

Several customers have come to Masterpiece Graphix in search of the highest-quality digitally optimized materials that perform flawlessly on their press. Unsatisfied with similar products on the market, these customers now drop-ship material directly to MGX, who coats the material to meet their exact specifications. Thanks to Masterpiece Graphix, these customers now enjoy superior, problem-free substrates.

Lenticular

Not commonly used on the HP Indigo, digital lenticular holds a growing share of the digital market. After unsuccessful attempts by other coaters, one particular customer reached out to Masterpiece Graphix. MGX currently offers 75 and 100 LPI as an in-stock boxed sheet product. Masterpiece Graphix lenticular is guaranteed to be cut squarely, as inferior lenticular with a misaligned cut can ruin the special effect of the finished image. Masterpiece Graphix offers the hard-to-find 100 LPI lenticular, a superior material not available through other sheet suppliers. Learn more about MGX lenticular.

Logistics Solutions

Masterpiece Graphix can help your business solve lead-time, logistics and supply chain problems. MGX can ensure that your material is available when you need it, automatically restocking material and shipping it to your facility. Scheduled release dates can be arranged, and your material will automatically ship and arrive on the day of your choice.  Contact us to learn more about how MGX can help keep your facility stocked with coated, ready-to-print digital materials.

Digital Foils

One HP Indigo customer searched for some time for HP Indigo-treated Foils or a coater who could coat the type of specialty foils they needed. Foils can be a challenge for HP Indigo users, but MGX conducted extensive testing on a variety of foil materials and successfully coated four different types for the customer. Six years later this customer continues to print millions of feet of this material coated by Masterpiece Graphix.

6 Mil Snapback

When it comes to a thick substrate alternative for vinyl and other rigid stocks, Masterpiece Graphix has the answer. Snapback has a beautiful gloss white finish with great opacity. Masterpiece Graphix customers who manufacture magnets use Snapback as a facestock for their applications requiring greater thickness at less cost than traditional magnet facestock. Snapback is available with custom adhesives, including outdoor adhesive.

18 Pt. Tag and Thick Materials

A growing number of companies need thicker coated materials since HP Indigo presses accommodate materials up to 24 mils. Unlike other digital coaters, Masterpiece Graphix can coat both sheet and roll materials up to 24 mils thick. When a major paper company needed 18 pt. tag for a customer, they sent it to Masterpiece Graphix. After a trial run, Masterpiece Graphix began supplying that customer with 18 pt. tag and, subsequently, all of their digital materials.

Shrink Films

Shrink sleeve materials compose a growing market for digital printers. Initially shrink sleeve posed a two-fold challenge to MGX: 1) We could coat the material with proprietary primers and coatings for great printing that could not be welded; 2) We used other coatings to achieve successful welds, but the print quality was less-than acceptable. After considerable R&D, Masterpiece Graphix developed solutions to these challenges with exceptional results.

Lightweight Films and Foils

Lightweight materials (such as shrink films, unsupported films, and Tyvek) can often prove to be a challenge for typical coating equipment because of stretching and material damage. Knowing these problems, Masterpiece Graphix custom designed coating equipment with state-of-the-art computerized load cell tension controls to allow stretchy and easily-damaged lightweight materials to rewind without damaging the product. A supplier of anodized aluminum came to Masterpiece Graphix because other coaters were denting and creasing their fragile foil. MGX’s coating equipment easily handles the fragile material without damage, and we now coat all this aluminum manufacturer’s HP Indigo-ready materials.

Backprinting

More and more customers are requesting their digital materials with custom backprinting on the liner for advertising and product identification. This is an easy way to add value and brand awareness with minimal, or no, cost.