Masterpiece Graphix

Fenton, MO June 12, 2012 –

HEADLINE:

Masterpiece Graphix (MGX) has added innovative industry-leading technologies for coating applications, serving a multitude of industries including aerospace, electronics and the medical field. This allows MGX to provide an extensive range of unique coating solutions like anti-corrosive, anti-glare, anti-static, heat-resistant, lab trials, pre-print, post-print, and other functional coatings.

FULL STORY:                            

Masterpiece Graphix (MGX) has added equipment to their St. Louis, MO facility for applications focusing on functional coatings. Now MGX can serve the converting industry with an extensive range of coating capabilities and converting technologies for a wide variety of applications.

Utilizing their new state-of-the-art equipment, Masterpiece Graphix can now apply a variety of functional coatings to many substrates, including anti-corrosive, anti-glare, anti-static, heat-resistant, gel, lab trials, pre-print, and post-print coatings. These capabilities allow MGX to apply bottom-end to top-end coat weights, from thin aqueous solutions to heavy coat weight gels. MGX can also offer pilot and demo runs for organizations that want to test coatings without utilizing their in-house equipment.

“We are extremely excited about the formal announcement of our functional coatings capabilities,” said Dan Lawellin, vice president of business development, MGX. “What you’re seeing is the next generation and evolution of our services, building on our reputation of world class coatings for a variety of applications and letting our coating experts do what they do best.  Masterpiece Graphix is going to bring the same service, quick change capability, and application driven development that we have provided the print community to the rest of the coated materials world, including electronics, aerospace, and medical coatings. We have an absolutely incredible, efficient, and innovative team paired with some of the most sophisticated coating technology in the industry.  That combination will bring new products, applications, and revenue streams to our partners and end users by allowing them to explore new developments that would have traditionally been cost prohibitive or otherwise difficult to justify on traditional coating equipment.”

MGX’s expanded capabilities also include a full portfolio of turnkey sheet converting solutions: sheet-to-sheet, roll-to-sheet, and custom sheeting, as well as traditional full roll-to-roll applications.  Masterpiece Graphix can serve roll and sheet opportunities with proprietary technology that outperforms conventional techniques.

For additional information, material images, or samples, please contact:

About Masterpiece Graphix:

Masterpiece Graphix (MGX) is the premier digital substrate manufacturer and functional coating provider, providing solutions for digital press users and converting operations. As the first and only HP-Certified Indigo Treatment Center established in North America, Masterpiece Graphix has successfully treated hundreds of digital sheet and roll materials for the HP Indigo press. Masterpiece Graphix offers turnkey, ready-to-run digital material solutions for HP Indigo, Xeikon, EFI Jetrion, Kodak Nexpress, Memjet RapidX, and Xerox iGen digital presses, as well as solutions for other digital press technologies, flexo and offset machines. As a digital material manufacturer and treatment center, MGX is a one-stop-shop for all traditional commodity stocks and exotic materials, opening up new revenue opportunities for digital press users.

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If you haven’t already heard, Masterpiece Graphix has partnered with 3M Commercial Graphics to treat and distribute digital sheet and roll materials. This new relationship will give MGX customers access to digitally-treated roll and sheet substrates from 3M Commercial Graphics, including wall graphic, floor, countertop, digitally printable materials, as well as overlaminates. Under this new relationship, Masterpiece Graphix will also be able to offer proprietary custom material solutions to MGX customers.  In addition, MGX will toll-coat products for 3M Commercial Graphics through this partnership.

The MGX/3M Commercial Graphics partnership will give digital press users access to many sheet and roll materials that were previously unavailable to the industry. Here are just a few of the 3M Commercial Graphics product options that are now made digital-ready by MGX:

Specialized Adhesives for Every Application: 3M is most well known for their tapes and other adhesive technologies.  3M Commercial Graphics is able to leverage these technologies into adhesives that work in a multitude of different graphic applications.  3M Commercial Graphics specializes in vehicle wraps, fleet graphics, and a variety of unique applications like floors, sidewalks, countertops, and textured surfaced walls.  These different applications require an adhesive to be strong enough to adhere to each substrate, and also in many cases remove easily so that the substrate can be used again.  3M Commercial Graphics has extended these changeable and removable adhesive technologies to the MGX partnership, now allowing for narrow web customers to offer digitally-printed graphics in locations they could not previously service.

3M Commercial Graphics knows that brand owners want their graphics and images to look flawless after installation.  Whether that means the graphics perfectly align when overlapped or that there are no bubbles in the finished graphic, 3M has a technology to help the installer accomplish these criteria.  Controltac™ is a 3M brand name for films with pressure-activated adhesive. Controltac™ adhesive is slideable and repositionable until firm pressure bonds it to the substrate.  3M Comply™ permit air bubbles to escape through channels in the adhesive as a film is being applied.  This feature allows a novice installer to apply graphics virtually bubble-free.

Overlaminate Options: As a distributor of 3M Commercial Graphics products, MGX is pleased to offer a multitude of overlaminates to provide graphic protection options for digitally-printed substrates. Through this partnership, MGX will be offering several textured overlaminates specifically for floor and sidewalk graphics. These non-slip overlaminates offer protection and traction to digitally-printed graphics, and comply with many workplace safety standards. For more information on the multitude of overlaminate options from the MGX/3M Commercial Graphics partnership, please contact your MGX sales rep directly to find an option that best fits your project.

A Diverse Mix of Application Possibilities: In our recent Dscoop webinar on space branding, MGX and 3M Commercial Graphics showcased specialty products from 3M that were specifically designed for space branding applications. 3M™ Scotchcal™ Graphic Film with Comply™ Adhesive IJ40C is the perfect 3M Transit Ad Graphic film IJ36, another intermediate film, is an ideal choice for short-term space branding graphics, as the material removes cleanly without adhesive residue. In addition, many specialty products like premium films 3M™ Controltac™ Graphic Film with Comply™ adhesive IJ180C or IJ180Cv3 are available for outdoor commercial fleet vehicles, watercraft, and transit graphics, as well as many other applications. Each 3M Commercial Graphics product is specially formulated to perform well under its recommended usage. For more information on some of the readily available space branding products from 3M Commercial Graphics and MGX, check out this 3M spec sheet on available materials.

Is there a 3M Commercial Graphics product you would like to see digital-ready for your press? Let Masterpiece Graphix know! Email our sales team to get more information on any 3M Commercial Graphics product, made digital-ready by MGX.

Some of the most challenging printing projects require substrate attributes that seem to contradict one another. For instance, a customer may require a material that has the look and feel of paper, but is also tear and water-resistant. Synthetic substrates are a good go-to choice for many digital press projects like prime labels, commercial print projects, photos, gift cards, tagging, and in-mold labeling. Synthetic materials are an ideal choice for applications in which durability and resistance to water and chemicals are important. Label printers and commercial printers are also looking to synthetic substrates to improve brand image, and to increase margin on their highest-quality jobs.

One market that is especially suited for synthetic materials is plant and horticultural tags. Plant tags need to be tear and weather-resistant with a bright white print surface. One MGX client produced a series of unique plant tags, complete with tear-off outdoor planting calendars for a large national green house. A synthetic paper was the right choice for this project for its durability, bright white finish, and its ability to be micro-perforated for easy tear-off.

Masterpiece Graphix has supplied hundreds of synthetic substrates to digital press customers, and offers not only BOPP, but other specialty solutions to suit specific needs. Here are just a few of the flagship digital-ready specialized synthetic products that Masterpiece Graphix offers:

• Masterpiece Premium Synthetic Paper: MGX offers several grades of synthetic paper in thicknesses ranging from 8 mil to 15 mil. Masterpiece Premium Synthetic is a bright white synthetic paper, and is available in sheets or as rolls. It’s a perfect product for tear, chemical, and moisture-resistant applications. Converting MGX synthetic paper stock is easy; the material can be cut, perforated, laser die-cut, folded, and punched. Its properties make it a superb choice for menus, children’s books; hang tags, safety tags, and horticultural tags. This material is available as unsupported stock or in conjunction with various specialty adhesives and liners.

• Masterpiece Premium Clear Polyester (PET): This material offers the same performance of our white synthetic paper in a crystal clear construction. An optional white tipped-on sheet allows the material to feed trouble-free through the HP Indigo sheet press engine, and removes cleanly for the final application. HP Indigo users can combine the clarity of the substrate with the white ink system to create a wide range of opaque and transparent effects. Masterpiece Premium Clear Polyester is available in sheet or roll form through the MGX/Transilwrap partnership. MGX can offer HP Indigo-compatible polyester roll and sheet stocks, as well as options for the Kodak Nexpress and Xerox iGen.

• Masterpiece Premium 6 mil Wall Graphix: While not traditionally considered a “synthetic paper”, Masterpiece Premium Wall Graphix is an extremely popular product for HP Indigo digital press users. The product features an ultra-removable adhesive that removes cleanly without residue. The material is repositionable, allowing the graphic to be reused or adjusted. This product is RIT-Certified for use on the HP Indigo 5000/5500, and is available in sheets or as HP Indigo-compatible rolls. This material is also available as a Kodak Nexpress or Xerox iGen-compatible product; please specify your press model when ordering.

If you are in the market for a specific synthetic material, or if you need a specialty material that will resist chemicals, moisture, and damage, MGX can help you get the digital-ready synthetic material you need. MGX has compiled a database of hundreds of synthetic substrate constructions, so we can help you find the best possible choice for your digital print project. For more information on synthetic options, please contact your MGX sales rep or email the sales team.

HP Indigo digital printing technology is well-suited to digital photo production, and is gaining popularity in the digital photofinishing industry. Photo-specialty printing is one of HP Indigo’s fastest growing markets, with a 30% year-over-year increase for new HP Indigo press placements in photo specialty applications in 2009. In addition, HP Indio saw a 40% year-over-year increase in photo specialty page output during the photo industry’s peak-production season, October 1 to December 31.  Applications for photo specialty products are endless, and more products are hitting the marketplace all the time. Some possibilities include photo books, accordion folders, high-end cards, photo prints, and wall graphics.

Digital technology has “caught up” with traditional silver halide photo production: the HP Indigo can now offer archival-quality printing options, small runs, and inline finishing options. A print permanence study by Wilhelm Imaging Research (WIR), the respected industry authority on digital print longevity, gave HP Indigo pages printed on a gloss stock a WIR Permanence Rating of approximately 45 years, which outperforms the best silver halide paper on the market. The study also shows that HP Indigo photo book prints received a WIR Album/Dark storage rating of greater than 100 years.

To meet this exploding demand, HP has developed several flagship solutions specifically for the photo production industry. Many HP Indigo users are currently utilizing the HP Indigo WS6000, 5000, 5500, 7000 and 7500 to produce photo-specialty products. In addition, the HP Indigo 7200 offers improved color management and consistency specifically for high-volume printing of photo-specialty products like photo books. This digital sheet press offers blazing-fast production speeds of 240 four-color letter-size pages per minute, and volumes of up to 7.5 million pages per month. Other features include linked color management utilities and optional finishing systems for inline cutting; offset stacking of book blocks, and lamination.  Dry toner presses like the Xerox iGen and Kodak Nexpress also are capable of producing photo specialty products like books, prints, and cards.

If you are looking to integrate photographic products into your press offerings, Masterpiece Graphix can help with substrate selection, production consulting, and product development. Digital printers that desire a traditional high-gloss paper or cardstock product can achieve this by applying a UV or high-gloss laminate over the printed stock. These finishing options also add longevity to the print. If you are looking for a unique, luxurious look, MGX can also supply textured roll or sheet substrates that mimic the look of canvas, cloth, linen, metal, or vellum. Any substrate can be varnished or laminated to add durability and permanence to the printed product, or printed without a finishing solution to create more cost-effective option.

The possibilities for photo production are anything but limited to card and paper substrates. Emerging technologies include fabrics and pressure-sensitive stickers and wall graphics. Your Masterpiece Graphix sales rep can help you source and treat the digital materials you need for your specific photo application, whether it’s a traditional or off-the-wall product. For more information on all of our photo production substrate solution, please contact your MGX sales rep or email the sales team.

As you may know, Masterpiece Graphix currently stocks nearly thirty turnkey, ready-to-run sheet solutions for HP Indigo sheet press users, as well as multiple in-stock materials for the Xerox iGen and Kodak Nexpress. But did you know that MGX can also provide custom treatment solutions tailored to your digital press and application? Many digital sheet press users come to Masterpiece Graphix for a specific stock they can’t get digital-ready anywhere else. In addition, MGX can get a tricky digital-ready substrate to pass the most rigorous requirements, source a hard to find material, or even toll-coat your supplied stock. Masterpiece Graphix can even help you pursue HP Indigo certification for any stock you request.

Time and time again, digital press users have asked MGX to solve complex treatment issues that adhere to strict testing standards on the material they desire. One example is a high-end custom photo book printer that utilizes the HP Indigo 5500. The printer was utilizing an untreated high-quality 100# cover matte stock for producing their matte photo books.

The production team was experiencing issues with ink adhesion on the uncoated stock: The books sell at a high price point, so the company expected the printed material to pass more rigorous requirements than a standard book manufacturer. The printer opted to not overlaminate the pages because the beautiful texture and appearance of the matte stock would be compromised. When printed, the uncoated substrate would exhibit fish eyes and flaking on the scoring lines as well as poor tape test results. The company tried treating the stock in-house, but the treated stock would yellow over time, and the issues with fisheyes and poor ink adhesion still remained.

The frustrated digital department took their desired matte stock to Masterpiece Graphix so our team of treatment experts could find a solution that would fit their needs.   Masterpiece treated the stock and sent it back to the photo book printer for review. In their thorough test procedures, the material treated by Masterpiece Graphix outperformed both their uncoated material and the in-house treated stock, passing very aggressive humidity and tape tests. In addition, the MGX material exhibited none of the fish eyes or scoring issues that was inherent of the other stocks.

Masterpiece Graphix has several options for sheet customers who desire a custom product. MGX can help you select, trial and even certify a product for the digital press of your choice. If you have a desired stock in-house, send it to MGX to be custom treated for your application. Do you need help sourcing and securing a hard-to-find stock at a fair price? Call Masterpiece Graphix! We have relationships with all the major suppliers and can help source and treat your material on one purchase order. MGX can even supply custom stocking options to keep your pressroom floor clear, and ship material so it arrives just in time for your big job. For more information on Masterpiece Graphix custom sheet material options or stocking programs, contact your MGX sales rep or email the sales team.

Metalized prime labels combined with high-impact digital graphics are an eye-catching way to dazzle your customers. MGX offers a full line of digital-ready metalized substrates including iridescent, foil, metalized paper and holographic materials. Many MGX metalized options are competitively priced and can be on your pressroom floor ready to print in a matter of days. No matter your desired product appearance, specific material requirements or budget, Masterpiece Graphix can provide a metalized substrate to suit your digital application.

Silver Metalized Paper/All-Temp Perm/40# SCK(R1172): This premium finished metalized paper material features a bright silver high-sheen face with an acrylic topcoat and excellent HP Indigo printability. The permanent adhesive bonds to many common substrates, is FDA 175.105-compliant and performs well in all temperatures. The material’s versatility makes it an ideal choice for many prime label applications. Masterpiece Graphix is proud to offer R1172 as a readily-available, compatible material solution for the HP Indigo.

Xeikon-Authorized Brilliant Metalized Paper/Perm/40# (R1361): Masterpiece Graphix is has partnered with Xeikon to offer metalized substrate solutions for the Xeikon digital press series. Xeikon-authorized MGX Brilliant Metalized Paper/Perm/40# (R1361) is enhanced with a digital topcoat and is authorized for use on all the Xeikon label presses for the best possible image quality and toner adhesion.  MGX also offers Xeikon-authorized enhanced metalized material solutions for other metalized synthetic substrates such as BOPP and polyester.

2 mil Metalized BOPP /Perm/1.2mil PET (R1375): This MGX HP Indigo-compatible material features a bright silver, mirror-like glossy face and a superior wet-out adhesive well-suited for squeezable container applications. Masterpiece Graphix’s R1375 offers resistance to water, oil and chemicals, making the substrate an excellent choice for high-gloss cosmetic and toiletry labeling.

Dull Silver Foil/Perm/40# (R1497): MGX currently offers HP Indigo-compatible Masterpiece Dull Silver Foil/Perm/40# (R1497) as a readily available metalized option. In addition, Masterpiece Graphix offers several other HP Indigo-optimized foil materials. Other available materials include a silver or gold face with a dull (matte) or bright (mirror-like) finishes. Laminated foil offers exceptional durability and excellent color reproduction. Some press operators opt to flood-coat silver foil stocks to produce custom tinted metallic and color matched foils. The permanent adhesive used on MGX laminated foil stock is suitable for virtually all prime label applications.

Holographic Iridescent Metalized Paper/ Perm/40# SCK (R1187): This substrate is one of our most commonly ordered HP Indigo-compatible metalized materials. Featuring a two-dimensional holographic diffraction pattern and an FDA 175.105-compliant adhesive, MGX’s Holographic Iridescent Metalized Paper/Perm/40# SCK is eye-catching and is more economically-priced than many metalized substrates. HP Indigo-optimized MGX R1187 is a competitively priced roll product with that can be quickly treated and shipped to your pressroom.

Custom Material Options: The highlighted products above are just a few of the metalized substrates Masterpiece Graphix can provide for use on your digital press. Do you have a specific material in mind that’s not mentioned here? No problem. MGX can help you select, trial, and digitally optimize the specific material you want with our custom substrate options. Masterpiece Graphix offers short lead times and competitive pricing from the industry’s top suppliers. If you plan on regularly ordering the same metalized facestocks to run on your digital press, custom stocking options are available. For additional information on all of MGX’s metalized material options, please contact your MGX sales rep directly or email our sales team.

As you may have heard, Masterpiece Graphix is doubling the size of its Fenton, Missouri facility and is in the process of installing a fourth digital coating line. These improvements will give MGX more warehouse capacity increased digital treatment throughput, and the ability to coat materials at higher speeds. MGX customers can expect to see many changes and improvements as a direct result of our expansion. What will these new updates mean to your digital material business?

Twice the warehouse space will allow ample storage capacity for stocked digital sheet and roll materials. An increased lineup of in-stock, digital-ready material mainstays are now ready to ship in the MGX warehouse. Lead times for custom material orders are also being reduced as MGX stocks more in-demand materials in their larger facility. Now your business can expect to receive many of your desired digital materials faster than in previous orders.

MGX maintains custom stock programs so we can keep our customers’ unique materials in our warehouse and ready to ship the same day. Because of all the additional warehouse space, MGX can offer more flexibility in supply chain logistics and custom stocking options than ever before. With all of the additional space, MGX can keep your custom materials on hand and ready to ship when you need them. So don’t let material sit on your pressroom floor; let MGX keep all of your materials stocked for you securely in our clean, spacious warehouse. Please contact your MGX sales rep directly for custom stocking options tailored specifically for your digital business.

The new high-speed coating line currently being built is state-of-the-art with the latest coating and curing technology for pristine, flawless digital treatment. MGX expects for the line to be fully operational in early 2011. As we plan for our increase in digital treatment throughput, MGX can offer more pricing flexibility not previously available. Contact your sales rep directly for more information and custom quoting.

Plans for other digital treatment lines are also in the works, as demand for MGX high-performance sheet and roll materials has increased dramatically.  Larger office space being planned will eventually accommodate the growing staff in the MGX corporate office. Stay tuned to our newsletter and Twitter for the latest updates as we complete the new improvements to the MGX facility!

Masterpiece Graphix offers many roll and sheet substrate solutions for folding carton production, including two HP Indigo-certified substrates.  Recent innovations in HP Indigo press technology has made folding carton production a new revenue opportunity for both roll and sheet HP Indigo users.

As digital printing evolves, more short-run applications are becoming possible (and profitable) via digital press technology. According to a recent L&NW article, HP Indigo is focused on digital press applications “beyond labels”, and have made improvements to the roll-fed WS6000 and even the sheetfed HP Indigo 5500 to facilitate additional production options such as folding carton. Now, both presses can print on board stock up to 18 points thick with the necessary upgrades, offering new revenue opportunities for digital printers. Currently HP Indigo is the only press vendor that offers both sheet-and roll-fed presses that are engineered to support folding carton substrate printing up to 18 points thick.

Narrow web roll presses are best equipped for producing larger folding cartons. The HP Indigo WS6000 is especially suited for printing folding cartons, with its nearly 12 ½ inch narrow web width and over three foot repeat. These options giving press operators a much larger printing surface to lay out a product carton job. The press efficiently utilizes each repeat frame, minimizing material waste.

Recent developments in HP Indigo sheet press technology have made the HP Indigo 5500 a viable candidate for small folding carton production. Recently HP showcased the Indigo 5500 with its new thick substrate upgrade at Label Expo 2010 in Chicago. Now the HP Indigo 5500 can print on sheets up to 18 points thick. This new capability, combined with near-line systems for diecutting and folding manufactured by HP Indigo partners (see this HP news release), opens up a whole new market for commercial printers who currently utilize the HP Indigo 5500 for their digital press jobs.

Masterpiece Premium 18 pt C1S Board Stock (R1275) is certified for use on the WS6000, and is perfect for folding carton applications as well as business cards, direct mail pieces and postcards. Masterpiece Premium 18 pt Card Stock is available as a C1S or C2S product and can be optimized for Indigo printing on one or both sides of the substrate. The material offers superior printability and excellent ink adhesion on either side. In addition, Masterpiece Graphix offers many HP Indigo-compatible folding carton substrates at varying weights and thicknesses, tailored to your unique application. You can view a partial list of MGX’s roll-fed digital folding carton substrates here.

MGX offers several in-stock solutions for sheetfed digital folding carton production. Masterpiece Premium 10 pt. Card Stock (MGX-1075) is an HP Indigo-certified substrate for the 5000 & 5500, offering exceptional printability and ink adhesion. MGX also stocks many HP Indigo-compatible substrates that are suitable for folding cartons: 80# C2S Gloss Cover (MGX-1326), 100# C2S Gloss Cover (MGX-1327), and Masterpiece Premium 15 pt. Card Stock (MGX-1077). All of these sheet products are always in stock and are also compatible with dry toner technology like the Xerox iGen and Kodak Nexpress. You can view all MGX stocked sheet products here.

Is there a digital folding carton material that you desire, but it isn’t mentioned here or on our website? No problem! Masterpiece Graphix can source your desired material and engineer it to your digital specifications. For more information on all of our options for folding carton production, please contact your MGX sales rep.

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.

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.