Masterpiece Graphix

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.

On September 14-16, the label industry will gather in Chicago for Label Expo 2010 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center to meet with their peers, promote their offerings and to learn the latest industry trends.  Digital technology is poised to have a huge presence. Masterpiece Graphix will be on hand to meet with digital printers and learn about the new press technologies and capabilities in the label marketplace.

Label Expo attendees have the opportunity to see MGX materials in action and on press on three different digital presses. Masterpiece Graphix will be supplying the HP Indigo WS6000, EFI Jetrion 4380 and the Xeikon 3500 demo machines with MGX digital material at Label Expo. MGX digital material experts will be available on all three days of the conference to personally meet with printers interested in digital substrate solutions and resources for their business.

If you would like to meet up with MGX at Label Expo, please contact us! We want to meet you! Email MGX, call 636.349.6401 x225, or directly contact your MGX sales rep. MGX is also on Twitter! If you are a Twitter user, follow MGX and direct message us to set up a meeting at the show. MGX digital material experts will be on hand to meet with you, and to help your company select the best MGX digital substrates for all of your innovative and demanding print applications.

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.

Anywhere you look on retail shelves, flexible packaging, or flexpack, is emerging as an economical and practical option for prime packaging. According to the Flexible Packaging Association, the total size of the flexible packaging industry was $25.6 billion in 2008 (see article). With the trends that are emerging in digital packaging, there is no reason that the flexpack market will not increase along with digital press use in the coming years.

Flexible packaging presents an opportunity for narrow web digital press users who currently print pressure-sensitive tags and labels to expand their product offerings for additional revenue streams.  Its unique characteristics make it an ideal digital substrate.

There are many reasons why a brand manager would select flexpack for a digital press application:

• Short Runs: Printers can produce small quantities of flexible packages economically, making the design ideal for smaller brands or sample sizes. Short run packaging also allows for mass customization of products tailored to the specific needs of the consumer. Combined with the variable data technology of digital printing, customization can be taken a step further. Digital press users can create unique packaging graphics with different dynamic data such as serial numbers and barcodes for each item printed. With fast on-demand digital printing, printers can produce lower quantities on an as-needed basis, reducing inventory and warehouse space.

• Cost-effective & Greener Packaging: Packaging constructed with flexpack technology can reduce material costs as well as the size and weight of the finished package. Smaller, lighter packages take up less space, reducing warehouse space and transportation costs as a result. In addition, reduction in packaging materials can be economical, cutting material costs. In combination with digital’s profitable short-run advantages, flexible packaging presents itself as an economical choice in today’s market.

• Barrier Construction: Flexible packaging contains layers of materials that create a functional barrier, lending itself to many product applications. Barriers keep contents fresh in food packaging. Barriers are also useful in chemical packaging to keep potentially hazardous material within the package.

• Convenience: Flexpack is the ideal way to produce snack containers or smaller single-use portions. The economical advantages to flexible packaging make it an excellent choice for shorter-life products or convenience items. 

Masterpiece Graphix is the one-stop resource for digital flexible packaging materials and information, and can supply all of the substrates you need for your specific application. Digital-ready heat-sealable films, cosmetic web, co-ex, LDPE, BOPP, polyester, and snack web are just a few of the flexpack substrate options that MGX offers. MGX substrates are of the best possible quality, featuring superior printability, excellent ink adhesion and can be customized to your packaging requirements.

Customers continue to purchase MGX materials to produce flexible packaging for candies, bread bags, food items, potato chips, and hazardous materials. With our expertise, MGX can help you select and build a material specifically for your flexpack application. For more information on flexible packaging substrates from Masterpiece Graphix, please contact your MGX sales rep.

Have you recently installed a new HP Indigo WS6000, or are you considering the purchase? MGX wants to provide you with FREE certified material to run on your new machine! All you have to do is contact MGX and request our WS6000 Welcome Kit. We will send you a whopping 10,000 feet of FREE HP Indigo-Certified material for use on your new 6000, including:

• 2500’ Masterpiece Premium 100# Gloss Calibration Paper (R1341)
• 2500’ 60# Unsupported Setup Paper (R1267)
• 2500’ 2.6 mil White BOPP/Perm/40# (R0440)
• 2500’ 60# Semigloss/Perm/40# (R1332)
• 500’ Acpo Polypropylene Digital Overlaminate (410DIG)
• 2500’ 2 mil Clear BOPP/Perm/40# (if available) (R1126)

All the substrates in our welcome kit have been certified by HP to run on the WS6000. To request your free HP Indigo WS6000 Welcome Kit, please call 636-349-6401 x225 or email sales@mgxdigital.com.

Recently it has come to our attention that there are a few rumors making the rounds about Masterpiece Graphix. As a digital treatment center, we take great pride in our reputation and want to dispel any misconceptions about our business. Below are the actual facts about Masterpiece Graphix, so don’t believe any misinformation to the contrary!

MGX Offers More Than Just HP Indigo Roll Materials: Masterpiece Graphix has been coating HP Indigo roll materials for over a decade. However, MGX is also now offering sheet materials for HP Indigo presses. We keep many stocked sheet material solutions in-house, ready to order and run on your HP Indigo sheet press. In addition, MGX also offers material solutions for the EFI Jetrion industrial label roll press, as well as compatible substrates for dry toner sheet presses like the Xerox iGen and Kodak NexPress. We are continuously adding new digital press technologies to our list of coating capabilities, so if a customer brings a desired material/digital press combination to us, we can help formulate a coating solution.

MGX is More Than Just a “Custom House”: Masterpiece offers turnkey, ready-to-run material solutions for all available HP Indigo press models. Since we’ve successfully coated over 800 different facestock/adhesive combinations for the HP Indigo, we are confident that we can offer HP Indigo-compatible substrates that will run flawlessly the first time. In addition, MGX offers RIT-certified material solutions for many press models like the WS6000. Certification means that the material has been thoroughly tested by the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Printing Applications Laboratory to run trouble-free on a particular HP Indigo model.

MGX Offers Toll Coating, And More: Masterpiece Graphix can ship you digitally-coated, ready-to-print stock from nearly every industry supplier. Of course, you can always ship your desired material to us for coating, but it’s not necessary. Substrates can be ordered directly from us and quickly shipped to you once the material has been coated. Many materials arrive at your location six business days after your order.

MGX Carries Material Mainstays As Well As Exotic Substrates: In fact, MGX carries ALL the industry mainstays like semigloss and BOPP, as well as the tricky, hard to coat substrates. Masterpiece Graphix is essentially a one-stop-shop for Indigo-compatible materials, offering everything from papers to plastics, pressure-sensitives to polycarbonate. No matter the material you desire, MGX has the material you need, at competitive prices. More on this below…

MGX Offers Competitive Pricing on Industry Mainstays: MGX can offer excellent pricing on all the digital material you need, including industry staples like papers and films. You can rely on MGX to provide competitive pricing on all of your needed materials, not just the exotic, hard-to-find stocks. Please don’t hesitate to contact MGX for pricing on any material; we will get it to you quickly, and can answer any questions you have on a particular material. Ordering materials from MGX cuts your bottom line in other ways: running MGX substrates provide increased pip and blanket life on your machine, which in turn lowers your downtime and maintenance costs. Our materials also offer the longest shelf life in the industry.

MGX Provides Customized Stocking Solutions For Your Company: MGX can create a custom stocking option to fit your business model. Substrates can be ordered from us directly, or materials can be drop-shipped to us for coating. If you plan to regularly order the same material, MGX can help you develop a custom stocking solution, ensuring that you always have digital-ready material in-house, the way you want them.

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Printing Applications Laboratory has certified two Masterpiece Graphix materials for use on HP Indigo industrial roll presses: Masterpiece Premium Estate Label #9/Perm/44# PK (R1232) and Masterpiece Premium Estate Label #8/Perm/44# PK (R1233). Both materials are certified for use on the HP Indigo ws4050, ws4500 and the ws6000, and both passed the RIT HP Indigo certification test with high performance ratings.

Masterpiece Premium Estate Label #9/Perm/44# PK is a bright white, 60# wet strength vellum paper. Masterpiece Premium Estate Label #8/Perm/44# PK is a cream, 60# wet strength paper. Both materials share the same permanent emulsion acrylic adhesive, which removes from most substrates in 100° F water. The adhesive adheres well to glass, HDPE, PVC, PET, Lexan®, and stainless steel. The facestock texture and printed appearance of both substrates make them ideal for wine labeling, as well as premium beverage and high-end grocery applications.

Samples of both materials are available by contacting Masterpiece Graphix at (636) 349-6401 x225, or sales@mgxdigital.com.

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.

Masterpiece Graphix made a big splash at DScoop5 in Dallas, Texas February 18-20: the company introduced three new business partnerships, and showed off new products and its coating expertise at their booth display.

HP Indigo users had the opportunity to see MGX materials run on the HP Indigo WS6000 demo machine. MGX provided two of its HP Indigo Certified materials: Masterpiece Premium 18 pt. Board Stock (R1275), and Masterpiece Premium 100# Gloss Calibration Paper (R1341).  Both substrates ran flawlessly on the HP Indigo 6000 demo machine and received rave reviews from observers of the print demonstration.  MGX’s 18 pt. Board Stock was even used by HP to create colorful chewing gum packaging with a country-western flair.

Both acpo and Masterpiece Graphix showcased their new distribution agreement at their respective booths. Recently, both companies entered into a distribution partnership, allowing MGX to sell and distribute acpo’s new line of digital overlaminates.  Acpo’s digital overlaminates are unique in that they adhere securely to oil-based digital ink, fixing a recurring issue with laminated digital materials that would eventually de-laminate in the field.

Masterpiece Graphix was also promoting their availability on Tailored Solutions’s Label Traxx version 5.5. MGX materials and services will be available as a pull-down material supplier in the newest version of the software. MGX is currently testing its integration into the Label Traxx system and should be available in version 5.5 within the week.

Document Security Systems (DSS) and Masterpiece Graphix also touted their new distribution partnership, although it wasn’t officially announced until after DScoop. Masterpiece Graphix will coat and distribute DSS Authentiguard® security paper, a unique RIT-certified substrate with embedded features to combat fraudulent reproduction. The partnership was officially announced by DSS in March.

Masterpiece Graphix offered an exciting promotional package at DScoop: sign up as a new MGX Platinum Customer, and receive a free Apple iPad! This promotion does require a six month contract and a minimum material order per month. MGX is extending this offer for a limited time; please contact us for more information.

To learn more about MGX’s DScoop participation and new distribution partnerships, please visit the MGX NewsRoom. Hope to see you at next year’s DScoop6!

Longtime MGX customer Lightning Labels is featured in the February 2010 issue of packagePrinting, as a HP Indigo user and digital printer. An all-digital label printer based in Denver, Colorado, Lightning Labels has found success in producing short-run, high-quality label jobs using HP Indigo technology.

Lightning Labels has been a faithful customer of Masterpiece Graphix for some time, utilizing MGX’s coating technology to optimize their digital substrates.  Peter Renton, company founder and director of business development, had this to say about Lightning Label’s relationship with MGX:

“As with the great majority of substrates printed on HP Indigo presses, the substrates need to be top-coated before printing. ‘We outsource our top-coating to Masterpiece Graphix (www.mgxdigital.com) in St. Louis,’ reports Renton. ‘They order uncoated material from the material vendors, coat it themselves, and then ship to us. It is a system that has worked well for many years.’”