Masterpiece Graphix

In case you missed our Dscoop webinar on Space Branding July 27, you can watch it here!

Use Space Branding to Create a One-of-A-Kind Marketing Experience

Dan Lawellin, Masterpiece Graphix; Jeff Sarenpa, Express Image Inc.; Adam Larson and Troy Kilfoyl, 3M Commercial Graphics; John McGowan, PRM Films Inc.

SpaceBrandingWebinar072711

Masterpiece Graphix supplies are available through Tailored Solutions’ Label Traxx as a supplier partner. MGX became available on Label Traxx earlier this year and customers have enjoyed issuing PO’s and tracking inventory from their software with ease. Label Traxx makes ordering the full line of MGX’s digital materials easy, fast and reliable with the convenience of automatic inventory updates.

Label Traxx is a job management software system created by Tailored Solutions specifically for narrow web printers and printers who specialize in in-line roll converting. It enables different departments within a printing company to communicate easily via twelve user modules including Estimating, Job Costing, Quality Control, and Job Coster. Each module is a complete end-to-end solution that contains everything needed to streamline communication throughout the organization and to efficiently manage the print business. MGX customers using the Label Traxx system are able to reduce their order entry time by connecting directly and securely to Masterpiece Graphix, eliminating double entries and greatly reducing erroneous entries.

MGX, through Label Traxx, provides immediate order confirmation and advance shipment notice data. Utilizing the convenient bar code scanning feature of Label Traxx, users have the ability to scan incoming and work-in-process MGX material to maintain an accurate inventory count with ease. Many MGX customers that utilize Label Traxx have noticed that keeping track of material inventory is much easier and that ordering MGX material through the software is fast, convenient and easy to do.

For more information on Tailored Solution’s Label Traxx, please visit their website. For MGX-specific information about the Label Traxx system, please contact Masterpiece Graphix’s customer service at 636.349.6401 x211, or via email.

Question From An MGX Customer & HP Indigo Roll Press Operator:

Our company has experimented with cheaper digital stocks from other suppliers. While attempting to print on some of these products, we are experiencing inconsistent UV coating and frequent web breaks. We’ve also noticed a shorter blanket lifespan: we are finding that we need to replace the blanket more often then we used to. All of these issues are causing downtime on our press and the UV coating inconsistencies are resulting in rejected labels, reprints and waste. Why are we experiencing these problems with non-MGX stock?

Answer:

It is likely the stock that you are describing hasn’t been treated with a contiguous coating. Every MGX digital material is optimized with the best contiguous coating process in the industry, which will give you the best possible print quality, consistent UV coating, and long blanket life. Other materials on the market are not coated; rather a digital solution is mixed in the pulp at the time of manufacture. This method of treatment is usually less expensive but can cause a multitude of digital press issues including brittleness, web breaks, inconsistent UV coatings, and shortened PIP and blanket life. Here’s a little more detail on the issues raised in the query above:

Coated vs. Non-Coated Materials

Substrates can be digitally treated when the paper is manufactured by mixing digital coating with the paper fibers. This creates a substrate with digital coating “peppered” throughout the entire substrate. Digital inks will adhere to this coating during printing; however, this coating method leaves many areas of the substrate untreated for digital printing. As you can see in the diagram on the right, the black orbs in the diagram illustrate the digital-receptive coating. As the picture shows, many microscopic areas of the material’s surface will be left without digital treatment. Because of this, digital inks will only adhere to the portions of the material that contain the digital coating, leaving many uncoated “holes” within the material. Therefore, digital inks can lift off of the non-coated portions of the substrate which can cause picking and ink lift-off. Ink lift-off from the substrate can also stick to the digital press blanket, leading to more frequent blanket replacement and press downtime.

UV Coating Inconsistencies

The entire surface grain of these other materials is not consistently coated, which can lead to inconsistent UV coating. One MGX customer experienced these problems when using a cheaper, non-coated product –  a glossy UV coating appeared matte and splotchy on the finished printed product and was subsequently rejected by the client. Another downside to this coating method is that the digital treatment is embedded throughout the substrate and not just on the surface of the material. This can cause the substrate to be brittle, causing web breaks, downtime, and potential problems on your press. One MGX customer using a non-coated material experienced three web breaks and over an hour of downtime on their machine due to the brittleness of the non-coated stock.

Digital materials coated with a contiguous coating method are evenly coated throughout the surface of the substrate. You can see the difference in the graphic (right), with the digital coating pictured in black. As the diagram illustrates, contiguous coating leaves no breaks or “holes” in the coating so the ink is always in contact with the digital treatment. Substrates with contiguous coating feature heavier ink coverage so colors have the potential to be as rich and vibrant as possible. Items digitally printed on contiguous-coated substrates are also more robust and durable with little to no ink lift-off in tape tests and less web breaks during production.

Extended Blanket Life

Contiguous-coated materials also extend the life of your blanket as there is less residual ink that adheres to the blanket. Digital ink that flakes off the non-coated portions of the substrate will stick to the blanket, leading to more frequent blanket replacement and less downtime. Extended blanket life saves you time, money and maintenance hassles.

With advances in digital printing, photography and scanning technologies, counterfeiters have more tools than ever to mimic a product.  These technologies make it easy to copy a brand and hard to discern a genuine product or document from a counterfeit. As new security printing and packaging technologies emerge, copycats quickly take note and scramble to produce reproductions of the new process. Therefore the brand protection and security market is constantly developing new technologies and processes to stay one step ahead of criminals.

Why do counterfeiters take such extreme measures to produce realistic copies of a product? It’s profitable to copy a successful product, piggybacking on the item’s sales and stealing potential revenue from the original manufacturer. According to the International Authentication Association (IAA), the illegal practice of counterfeiting costs industries anywhere between $200 billion and $600 billion dollars per year (see L&NW article). All industries are susceptible but some face more risks than others: Pharmaceuticals, software, music, automobile/machinery parts, and movies are all markets that currently combat fraudulent reproduction of their products. Even brand-name commodities and licensed products face the risk of counterfeit.

Essentially there are four categories of brand protection strategies that printers and manufacturers can choose to implement individually or as a combination for security printing:

• Overt: This category is obvious to both the customer and the manufacturer, and is classified by the unique packaging or look of the product or brand. One of the most common forms of overt security packaging is tamper-evident labeling. Other examples include complex label graphics that are difficult to replicate, or the use of hard-to-attain holographic or exotic material within the design. This strategy is coincidentally the most complex because in many cases the unique packaging is exactly what the counterfeiter is trying to copy.

• Covert/Forensic: These security features are hard to identify by the customer or even the naked eye. However, covert features are hard to mimic because they are hard to identify without specialized equipment. One application of covert packaging is to incorporate security ink into the printed product so the image fluoresces when placed under ultraviolet (UV) light Kodak Nexpress recently released red florescent ink that is invisible to the naked eye but can be used for security printing applications. A printer may also choose to utilize security paper into the product which when copied, displays a message that deters counterfeiters.

• Numbering/Coding: Digital printers are perfectly poised to utilize variable data as a security feature for their customers. Setting up a system that is unique to each item is a way to be certain that each product is unique and therefore hard to mimic. Utilizing algorithms, sequential numbering or custom barcodes to create a custom label for each product is a way to integrate security as well as information into the product. These forms of variable data can contain useful data such as print date or product origin.

• Information Linkage: Advances in digital technology has allowed manufacturers to use embed “smart” sensors within their products so they can track and identify their items easily. The most common form of information linkage security packaging is radio-frequency identification (RFID). These smart sensors can be embedded in the packaging upon manufacture, which allows for scanning of an item to determine authenticity. RFID tags can even track movement of items within a certain area with the right equipment. RFID technology is an emerging and developing tool which may come to replace conventional barcodes in the future.

Masterpiece Graphix has many substrate options available for security printing applications. Holographic materials, exotic substrates, security paper and tamper-evident polyester and self-destructive labeling materials are all available through MGX, ready to run on your digital press. MGX carries RIT-certified DeterX® Gray Void Security Paper (R1419 as rolls, MGX-1303 as sheets) for the HP Indigo. This unique paper is HP Indigo-certified for the WS6000, WS4050, 5000, 5500, and WS45000. This paper is stocked with a gray/blue pattern that reads “COPY” when duplicated. This digital substrate is perfect for printing checks, coupons, rebates, event tickets and other secure document applications. Custom colors and hidden messages are also available. For more information on DeterX® papers or custom security solutions for your application, please contact your MGX sales rep.

HP is now accepting entries for its HP Indigo Digital Printing Contest, which showcases high quality and innovative results customers achieve using HP Indigo digital presses.

Judged by a panel of experts, the contest is open to all HP Indigo commercial press users and their customers. The contest will include best-of-category prizes for marketing collateral, photo specialty, direct mail/transpromo, and publications entries, as well as for a “special processes” category: for jobs printed with extreme or demanding criteria.

HP is also calling for entries in a new “environmental” category for exceptional work that has an environmental message, or that is produced on eco-friendly media.

MGX wants to know if your company is interested in entering this contest, and if MGX materials are to be used in your company’s entry.

Hurry! The deadline for entry is March 31, 2010.

Interested HP Indigo users can access registration forms and additional contest information through the “My HP Indigo” online customer login.

C0S, C1S, C2S…each of these abbreviations have important meanings in the paper and HP Indigo coating industry. These terms all sound similar, and are used interchangeably to refer to different stages in the paper manufacturing process, as well as ordering options in the digital coating process. With all of the paper products that MGX coats for its customers, there is bound to be confusion over these common terms when ordering products or requesting digital coating on a material. In order to reduce the confusion on ordering materials, MGX has developed some new terminology to specify a customer’s digital coating preference.

In the paper industry, all papers are produced with a raw, matte surface. In this state, the paper is referred to as a C0S paper, because no coating has been applied to the surface of the paper. In many instances, a high-gloss shine is desired on one or both sides of the paper. In order to achieve this effect, the paper mill passes the material over a series of polished chrome rollers, applying a clay coating to the paper and giving it a high-gloss shine. This glossy clay coating can be applied to one side of the paper, in which it becomes a C1S paper. It is a C2S paper if the gloss coat is applied on both sides.

When Masterpiece Graphix receives a material, we apply a digitally receptive coating onto the surface of the paper. This coating Indigo-preps the material, optimizing the paper for exceptional printability on an Indigo press. This process can be laid on top of the paper mill’s high-gloss clay coating, or on the raw matte surface. This process can also be applied on one or on both sides of the paper, regardless if the paper has a gloss coat.

In some instances, the digital coating process is defined using the same terminology as the paper mill’s clay coat process. This can cause confusion for us as well as our customers. An Indigo material digitally coated on one side of the substrate may be referred to as C1S, or C2S if it is Indigo-prepped on both sides, regardless of the gloss-matte configuration.

With the same terms occasionally being used to describe two very important but very different processes, customers and MGX sales personnel should pay careful attention when a new sheet order is placed.  Thankfully Masterpiece Graphix has incorporated new ordering terminology, to avoid confusion on either end. When specifying what sides to digitally optimize, MGX asks that “Opt1S” and “Opt2S” be used to describe the customer’s coating preference.  The terms C0S, C1S, and C2S should be used only to describe the glossy clay coat on the material, not the digital coating applied by MGX.

So, for example, you could order a C2S paper, optimized to Indigo print on one sides (Opt1S) or both sides (Opt2S). On the other hand, a C1S paper could be ordered as an Opt1S; in this case the Indigo-coated side would need to be specified, ie, either the matte or gloss side. And to avoid any confusion, a person dealing with Indigo treated stocks on either end should always confirm the gloss/matte configuration, and whether the stock will be Indigo printed on one or both sides.