Packaging
Labels/Wrappers, Paper
Product: Bush’s Grillin’ Beans
Submitted by: Mundet Tennessee Inc.
Bush Brothers, which spent several months of R&D perfecting the foil stamping and dual varnish system, took full advantage of Mundet’s 10-unit press, using extra stations to accommodate double varnishes, high-gloss black, true metallic gold, logo colors, and the process colors. Mundet also added dimension to the product photo and logos with a gloss varnish, and enhanced the smoky aspect of the product with a matte varnish. Gravure provided print richness, depth of color, consistency, and tonework with flame vignettes, all while achieving excellent edge quality for all small type and reversed copy. A foil stamp outlines and embellishes the Bush logo.
Designer: Deskey Branding
Separator, Printer: Mundet Tennessee Inc.
Engraver: IPC&L
Press Manufacturer: Schiavi
Substrate: New Page
Ink: Sun Chemical
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Packaging
Flexible Packaging, Film
Product: “popchips”
Submitted by: Innovative Packaging Solutions, Inc.
Once chip photos were isolated and proofed for correct contrast and the design was completed, Mayor Packaging used an in-register matte varnish to achieve the matte look with registered glossy areas. Technicians provided sharp reproduction of the photos as well as precise registration for the matte varnish. At the last station of the nine-unit gravure press, operators had to accurately calculate the matte varnish to achieve the correct contrast of matte and glossy on the film surface; the last station on the press flips the material so that the matte varnish is printed on the surface. The most difficult step, registration, had to be carried out by eye as the transparent coating is undetectable by the press.
Company: Popchips
Designer: Turner Duckworth
Engraver: Dongguan Yuncheng Plate Making Co. Ltd.
Printer: Mayor Packaging Enterprises (1968) Ltd.
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Packaging
Flexible Packaging, Film
Product: Green Mountain Single Origin, 10 oz.
Submitted by: Fres-co System USA, Inc.
With a palette of match colors laid over a metallic substrate, detailed illustrations with multicolored lines and delicate vignettes, and engravings from SGS, Fres-co printed the clean-edged contours and details on a wide-web Cerutti press, reverse printing eight colors. The packaging, which consists of four separate films, including a plant-based layer replacing a polyester internal layer, achieves product protection, ease-of-opening, graphics presentation, and machinability on packaging equipment.
Designer: Miles Hyman
Engraver: Southern Graphic Systems Inc.
Printer: Fres-co System USA, Inc.
Press Manufacturer: Cerutti
Ink: Siegwerk USA, Inc.
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Packaging
Labels/Wrappers, Film
Product: Agro Labs Naturally
Submitted by: Seal-It Division of Printpack, Inc.
Labels made of plant-based Earthfirst polylactic acid (PLA) resin had to be sleeve-shrunk on narrow-neck glass bottles for this line of nutraceutical beverages, so the label designs had to be manipulated so they could be gravure printed in eight or nine colors. The process is praised for better ink consistency and resolution, higher quality output, and better vignettes and process colors. In addition, an overall white was printed on the film for high opacity. Product facts, nutritional information, bar codes, and statements about source reduction appear on the back of each label.
Company: Agro Labs, Inc., division of Integrated BioPharma, Inc.
Designer: Made by the Girl
Separator, Engraver: Image Print Technologies
Printer: Seal-It Division of Printpack, Inc.
Press Manufacturer: Bobst-Rotomec
Substrate: Plastic Suppliers, Inc.
Ink: Sun Chemical
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Packaging
Labels/Wrappers, Film
Product: Noble 100% Pure Tangerine Juice
Submitted by: SleeveCo., Inc.
For this beverage bottle, the customer chose to use a plant-based film on the label to match the Ingeo bottle and closure so that the entire container could be compostable. Gravure printing reproduced the lifelike tangerine images on the front and side of the label, and created distinct delineations between text and graphics. The amount of lettering required tight registrations to make it legible; the bright colors complement the juice, which is visible through cut-outs at the top of the label.
Designer: Tailford Mitchell
Separator: SleeveCo., Inc.
Engraver: Alliance Graphics
Printer: SleeveCo., Inc.
Press Manufacturer: W.R. Chesnut Engineering
Substrate: Plastic Suppliers, Inc.
Ink: Sun Chemical
Noble 100% Pure Tangerine Juice
SleeveCo., Inc.
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Packaging
Paperboard, Covers
Products: Tobacco Journal International & Formes de Luxe
Submitted by: Van Heertum B.V. Design in Communication
The cover designs for these two different magazines were, coincidentally, for separate exhibitions held in France in 2007. While the Tobacco Journal cover was printed by gravure and the inside cover by offset, the project utilized a total of 34 colors applied in eight press runs, including violet and orange and hot foil in black and dark purple over black. The Formes de Luxe cover emphasizes the special white color of the paperboard, made of wood logged in the Igessund forests in Sweden; graphic designers say they chose gravure for the process’s “very high intensity of color.”
Designer: Van Heertum B.V. Design in Communication
Engraver: GRT GmbH & Co. KG
Printer: Gundlach Verpackung GmbH
Substrates: 1. Iggesund; 2. Hot Foil Supplier: Leonhard Kurz GmbH & Co., KG; 3. Hot Stamping Tools: Hinderer & Muhlich France S.N.C.; 4. Crystal Elements: D. Swarovski & Co.
Ink: Siegwerk
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Packaging
Paperboard
Product: 15-lb. Miracle-Gro
Submitted by: Packaging Corporation of America
PCA printed this package in a one-up image on a 52²-wide web and 82²-circumference Cerutti press, on cylinders that had taken seven to 12 hours each to engrave. The complex image was printed in four fine-screen process colors, plus a metallic silver, match blue, and water-based coating. Tight registration and color control ensure the impeccable detail and color balance on the package, says the submitter, which adds that the superiority and quality of the gravure process are clearly evident in the design.
Company: Buddy’s Plant Plus Corporation
Separator: Southern Graphic Systems Inc.
Engraver, Printer: Packaging Corporation of America
Press Manufacturer: Cerutti
Substrate: MeadWestvaco
Ink: Sun Chemical
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Packaging
Up to 26² Web, on any substrate
Product: Letica’s Holiday Packaging
Submitted by: Multi-Color Corporation
Letica Corporation, which designed its promotional package as a holiday gift for loyal customers, notes that the decorative label was applied using a therimage flameless heat-transfer process, which it calls a “revolutionary” heat transfer label application. By eliminating the pre- and post-flame requirement, flameless preprinted labels allow for safe, economical decoration in a more sustainable and friendly environment while still offering wet-flex properties, good product resistance, UV light stability, and compliance with packaging safety standards.
Company: Letica Corporation
Printer: Multi-Color Corporation
Press Manufacturer: Bobst Champlain
Substrate: Therimage
Ink: Polyamide Nitro /Solvent-based inks
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Product
Floor Coverings
Product: Peruvian Slate
Submitted by: Armstrong World Industries
The gravure-printed design of this multicolored slate flooring pattern shows the maximum detail and high fidelity within each slate piece. Created using Masterworks Technology to achieve maximum realism, the design is said to have more detail than most flooring patterns in the marketplace. The product (shown here in Pebble Beige color) was printed on a six-station Egan press featuring cylinders four meters wide and registration tolerance of .010².
Designer: Mark C. Zeamer
Separator, Engraver: Suddekor Art Design & Engraving GmbH
Printer: Armstrong’s Teesside Plant, England
Press Manufacturer: Egan Gravure
Substrate: Armstrong Glass Products
Ink: Penn Color
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Product
Stamps/Security
Product: “Stamps of the United States”
Submitted by: Avery Dennison SPD
This stamp issue—“The Forever Booklet of Twenty” featuring a lighthouse motif—was printed on seven units of Avery Dennison’s 10-color press with the same image in four process colors plus copper on the front and five colors on the back, within register on each side of the sheet and from front to back. An added security feature, visible under a magnifying glass, is the microprinted word “Forever” in each stamp image. Line screens for the booklet ranged from 300 dpi to more than 425 dpi for the black.
Engraver: WRE/ColorTech
Printer: Avery Dennison SPD
Press Manufacturer: Dai Nippon Kiko
Ink: Siegwerk
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Product
Gift Wrap
Product: “Thomas Kincade” Gift Wrap
Submitted by: Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Exceptional color separations and print detail amplify the depth and beauty of the artist’s paintings, according to Hallmark Cards, while the background print in the pictures gives the illusion of a real canvas texture. The artwork was reproduced in the sequence of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow, with an added gold verse and highlight. Screen rulings were 285 lines per inch for black, 190 for cyan, 200 for magenta, and 155 for yellow.
Designer, Separator, Engraver, Printer: Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Press Manufacturer: Cerutti
Substrate: Verso Paper Corp.
Ink: Flint Ink
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Product
Party Products
Product: “MVP Baseball” Party Set
Submitted by: Hallmark Cards, Inc.
In producing this coordinating party set, Hallmark Cards reproduced the artwork using four process colors in black, cyan, magenta, and yellow sequence. Say technicians, maintaining a coordinating unit across two very different substrates and four different pieces was a challenge but made possible by way of exceptional color separation as well as bringing in inks at different color gradations to give operators added versatility.
Designer, Separator, Engraver, Printer: Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Press Manufacturer: Cerutti
Substrate: Verso Paper Corp., Sonoco Plate Board, Potlatch cup stock
Ink: Flint Ink
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Product
Other, Gravure
Product: Automotive Tip Printing
Submitted by: Canadian General-Tower Limited
The automotive interior trim industry was seeking a way to emulate expensive genuine leather while differentiating their vehicles through advanced design. Print-over-print processing pushed rotogravure technology to the limit. Darkening the peaks of the grain and lightening the valleys—and lightening the peaks and darkening the valleys—while ensuring sheet profile consistency (edge-center-edge and lengthwise down the sheet) required ingenuity that did not exist. Obstacles have now been overcome; the product is in mass production at the company’s rotogravure print and top finish application, as well as in the automotive interior trim industry.
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Publication
Newsprint
Product: USA Weekend, April 1, 2007 Issue
Submitted by: Quebecor World Atglen
Each week, Quebecor World produces and delivers to more than 130 cities upwards of seven million copies of this weekend edition, printed on 33-lb newsprint. Utilizing quality-controlled multicolor gravure with a front-cover flexographic imprint, Quebecor typically produces the product from digital files to engraved cylinders, utilizing just two pages of customer-supplied copy provided for press evaluation reference and performing no internal color proofing. The printer can imprint dealer listings within the paper, so advertisers can identify their local merchants within a specific city or market. Total weekly production output: 24 million copies.
Substrate: Kruger Three Rivers
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Publication
Supercalendered, Retail
Product: Kohl’s Insert, September 23, 2007
Submitted by: Quebecor World Atglen
Each week, Quebecor World Atglen produces more than seven million copies of Kohl’s nationwide retail inserts in multiple versions. The inserts are printed on 35-lb. SCA stock on 3.5-meter-wide press equipment. Start-up color utilizes a press-side batching program allowing ink and sump presetting, then maintained during the run with X-Rite densitometers and a five-step control device on each form. The piece was produced directly from digital files to engraved cylinders, with no press-side correction; at each version or cylinder change, operators check gray patches to ensure ribbon engraving balance. Quebecor uses these practices to maintain consistent color at multiple print sites for a weekly production run exceeding 20 million copies.
Substrate: Madison
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Publication
Supercalendered, Catalog
Product: Venus Swimwear 2008 Catalog
Submitted by: Quebecor World Franklin
In the changeover from coated paper to SCA stock for the body portion of this catalog necessitated by limited allocations and rising costs, the printing company used coated gravure inks, an all-purpose extender, specialized engraving parameters, and high-level pressmanship to achieve the rich color and smooth flesh tones the customer was accustomed to. The printer also developed an engraving curve to successfully print remaining inventory of coated stock as well as the SCA paper. The customer continues to print on the SCA sheet with satisfactory results.
Designer, Separator: Venus Swimwear
Engraver, Printer: Quebecor World Franklin
Press Manufacturer: Albert-Frankenthal AG
Substrate: Irving Forest Products Inc.
Ink: Sun Chemical
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Publication
Supercalendered, Magazine
Product: The Boston Globe Magazine, January 13, 2008
Submitted by: Quebecor World Richmond
In a production crunch, Quebecor World Richmond engraved cylinders, ordered paper, and started up the run, producing a near-perfect match that pleased the customer from start to finish of the run and achieved record time for all deliveries without delay or problems. The 125²-wide Albert-Frankenthal TR-8 press, rated at 50,000 impressions per hour and equipped with automatic inking, viscosity controls, and electrostatic assist, printed the magazine, then stitched, trimmed, strapped, and stacked copies in line without aid of a bindery or human hands.
Designer, Separator: The Boston Globe
Engraver, Printer: Quebecor World Richmond
Press Manufacturer: Koenig & Bauer AG, Frankenthal Facility
Substrate: Myllykoski North America
Ink: Sun Chemical
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Publication
Supercalendered, Magazine
Product: The New York Times Magazine, February 11, 2007
Submitted by: RR Donnelley
The editorial pages of this publication, the printer’s representatives contend, illustrate numerous striking examples of the gravure process at its finest in creating mood and emotion: stunning portraits that showcase exceptional detail, soft-focus photography, vibrant colors, spectacular lighting techniques, and detailed reproduction of Gael Garcia Bernal’s jacket and adjacent chair. RR Donnelley printed The New York Times Magazine on 33-lb. supercalendered stock.
Designer: The New York Times
Separator, Engraver, Printer: RR Donnelley
Press Manufacturer: Cerutti and Koenig & Bauer AG
Substrate: Madison Paper
Ink: Flint Ink
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Publication
Lightweight Coated (under 40-lb.), Retail
Product: JCPenney: Every Day Matters
Submitted by: Quebecor World Richmond
Quebecor World Richmond produced this retail publication on its 125²-wide Albert-Frankenthal TR-8 press, which is rated at 50,000 impressions per hour and is equipped with automatic inking, viscosity controls, and electrostatic assist. Quebecor printed the insert, then stitched, trimmed, strapped, and stacked copies in line without aid of a bindery or human hands; representatives note that such advanced technology presents customers with the competitive advantage of a later press-start date, along with the cost savings of not tieing up the job in the bindery.
Designer, Separator: RR Donnelley, Elgin
Engraver, Printer: Quebecor World Richmond
Press Manufacturer: Koenig & Bauer AG, Frankenthal Facility
Substrate: UPM
Ink: Sun Chemical
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Publication
Lightweight Coated (under 40-lb.), Catalog
Product: JCP Media Specialty Catalog with Soft Proofing
Submitted by: Quebecor World Franklin
To help its client reduce cycle time in the color-critical production of specialty catalogs, Quebecor World Franklin eliminated the intermediate step of creating a hardcopy color proof by going straight from color monitor to press. Once the printer creates a “soft” proof, it saves subsequent iterations as a record of the page, eventually using final approved images to create an approved certified soft-proof PDF. Quebecor, which is installing a second soft-proofing system, will soon process all JCP catalog work using the virtual proofing process. (In the publication shown, virtual proofing was used for body pages only.)
Designer: JCPenney Media LP
Separator: JCPenney Company
Engraver, Printer: Quebecor World Franklin
Press Manufacturer: Albert-Frankenthal AG
Substrate: Verso Paper Corp.
Ink: Sun Chemical
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Publication
Lightweight Coated (under 40-lb.), Magazine
Product: Ladies’ Home Journal, July 2007
Submitted by: RR Donnelley Mattoon
One of the oldest women’s magazines in print features a wide variety of tones and color combinations, from soft flesh to dense gardens and from two- to four-color tight-register reproduction of editorial copy and crisp reverse type. While the inking system controls temperature, ink strength, and viscosity, these factors must constantly be reviewed and adjusted to maintain consistent high quality. Fold and line-up are also crucial in production of the magazine to a consistent, high-quality level.
Company: Meredith Corporation
Designer: Steve Johnson
Separator: Hudson Yards, Two Rivers Corporate Centre
Engraver, Printer: RR Donnelley Mattoon
Press Manufacturer: Cerutti/Motter
Substrate: Verso Paper Corp.
Ink: Flint Ink
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Publication
Coated (over 40-lb.), Retail
Product: Ethan Allen Autumn Magazine 2007
Submitted by: Quad/Graphics
Quad/Graphics printed separate versions of this piece for domestic use, use in Canada, and international use, printing the 36-page body on 67.6-lb. UPM Star Plus Silk. The company initially achieved a customer-requested matte finish by using special “ink-flattening” extenders obtained from a local vendor, but by the third printing Quad/Graphics had worked with its ink supplier to eliminate any need for extenders. The company uses offset to print a center-bound insert and the covers, the latter on 80-lb. Opus Web Dull Coated Cover stock with a satin varnish applied to the front and back covers. Quad also ink-jet prints store locations and/or driving directions to the consumer’s nearest Ethan Allen store.
Company: Ethan Allen
Designer: Jennifer Eyring
Separator: Ethan Allen & Que Net
Engraver, Printer: Quad/Graphics Martinsburg
Press Manufacturer: Cerutti
Substrate: UPM
Ink: CR/T (Chemical Research/Technology)
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Publication
Coated (over 40-lb.), Catalog
Product: Haverty’s Summer Catalog 2007
Submitted by: Quebecor World Franklin
The purpose of this catalog was to introduce Haverty’s customers to home furnishings and decorative accessories that are described as clean, modern, relaxed-looking, and yet sophisticated. The designers used both bold and soft colors, sharp detail, and a crossover design on almost every two-page spread, along with color bars on the face of every page. Achieving the required critical register and squareness of trim helped Quebecor earn praise from Haverty’s CEO for the “beauty and styling” of the catalog.
Designer: Haverty’s
Separator: Quebecor World Premedia
Engraver, Printer: Quebecor World Franklin
Press Manufacturer: Albert-Frankenthal AG
Substrate: UPM
Ink: Sun Chemical
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Publication
Coated (over 40-lb.), Magazine
Product: National Geographic, March 2007
Submitted by: Quad/Graphics
This issue of one of the most recognized magazines in the world illustrates the photographic range of capabilities of the gravure process, from underwater scenes in “An Eden for Sharks,” photographed in the Bahamas and spanning pages 116 to 137 printed in four-color process with a second perfectly aligned application of cyan on each side of the paper, to dark and heavy tones of African elephant photos, bright and intense colors of the galaxy, and finally to rock formations of the desert. The issue also featured two gatefolds.
Company, Designer, Separator: National Geographic Society
Engraver, Printer: Quad/Graphics Martinsburg
Press Manufacturer: Cerutti
Substrate: Verso Paper Corp.
Ink: CR/T (Chemical Research/Technology)
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Publication
Coated (over 40-lb.), Magazine
Product: Martha Stewart Living, January 2008
Submitted by: RR Donnelley Mattoon
Often referred to as the “homemaker’s bible,” this magazine might be perceived as a reference publication, a pinnacle of both quality and content. A broad variety of tone ranges and color families, including subtle flesh tones and vivid garden shots, appears to jump off the page, as do light food pictorials contrasted by heavy ink coverage in outdoor shots. RR Donnelley Mattoon’s gravure press utilizes an inking system that measures and regulates ink viscosity, temperature, and density for superior results on 45-lb. coated paper. The equipment also monitors and corrects fold, line-up, and register, to maintain consistent high quality of graphic reproduction.
Company, Designer: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.
Separator: Hudson Yards
Engraver, Printer: RR Donnelley Mattoon
Press Manufacturer: Cerutti/Motter
Substrate: Verso Paper Corp.
Ink: Flint Ink
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Technical Innovation
Image Preparation (prior to engraving)
Product: Packaging of Chips (Gold)
Submitted by: Ukrplastic
Ukrplastic, Kyiv, Ukraine, is a diversified engraving company, gravure and flexographic printer, and producer of many diverse films and substrates (i.e. three- and five-layer coextruded polyethylene films and barrier polymer films, heat-sealable membranes, plus lamination, metallization, and adhesive labels). In this entry, the company proposes a new gravure application for stochastic screening, a process that uses randomly located print dots to achieve required color density with less ink usage, typically with savings of up to 10%. Compared to conventional screening, stochastic images, says Ukrplastic, look fuller, reproduce halftones with higher realistic effect, and exhibit improved texture.
Printer: Ukrplastic
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Technical Innovation
Image Preparation (prior to engraving)
Product: Project VR (Player’s)
Submitted by: Southern Graphic Systems-Canada, Co.
To create a premium packaging design for male adult smokers, Imperial Tobacco turned to embossing, colored foils, metallic inks, and an iconic design combining bold solids and soft vignettes to achieve in-store impact and product appeal while providing required messaging. The company chose the packaging with which to debut its slide pack design in Canada. Gravure was the process of choice for its high quality and reproduction consistency throughout the run.
Company: Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.
Engraver: Southern Graphic Systems-Canada, Co.
Printer: Shorewood Packaging Brockville (Canada)
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Technical Innovation
Cylinder Manufacturing
Product: Digra USB Microscope
Developer: AABACH Graphic Systems GmbH & Co. KG
The Digra USB Microscope can be easily linked to a user’s Notebook or Personal Computer via USB cable without further hardware, enabling use of the tool anywhere without need for external power. Also, a digital video camera provides excellent colored screen shots of any measurements for use in reports, which are HTML-based and can easily be opened by any computer without installing extra software. The Digra Microscope can measure electromechanical engraved cylinders, etched or embossed cylinders, laser-engraved ceramic and zinc rolls, flexo plates, and intaglio-type security printing applications. The DM2005USB unit features four lenses and digital depth measurement, whereas the lighter DM2004USB can be transported in a small case.
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Technical Innovation
Cylinder Manufacturing
Product: Gravostar 857 Engraver
Developer: Daetwyler R&D Corporation
Daetwyler’s latest engraver fulfills the need for a low-cost machine with the latest electronics, improved productivity, and enhanced engraving quality. Features include the multiple-tune Vision 2 engrave head (rated speed to 5,500 cells per second and cell depth to 90m); Vista cell-measuring system with integrated microscope; and touchscreen display for improved operator interaction. The unit features digital midtone correction, advanced hysteresis correction, and use of Daetwyler’s Transcribe high-resolution engraving system. The Gravostar 857 is built on an existing Ohio B-7XX series frame, which allows reuse of many parts following disassembly, cleaning, inspection, and replacement or updating as necessary. The result: a familiar but updated engraver at about one-third the cost of a new system.
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Technical Innovation
Inks & Substrates
Product: Adhesive Gift Wrap
Developer: Hallmark Cards, Inc.
This new adhesive wrap, created for people not accustomed to wrapping gifts, provides an easy yet professional-looking result. To combine a superbly printed four-color design with coating and adhesive layers requiring no release paper, Hallmark chemists perfected an adhesive with just the right amount of tackiness. Further, the use of water-based inks and unique top coating enable eco-friendly manufacture of the wrap, which requires no added release liner. When combined in gravure, the unique characteristics and precise application of the adhesive and top coating create the desired result. The consistency of the gravure process delivers the right amount of adhesive: enough to hold tight but not too much to cause the paper to completely stick together.
Designer, Separator, Engraver, Printer: Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Press Manufacturer: Cerutti
Substrate: Verso Paper Corp.
Ink: Flint Ink & API Adhesive
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Technical Innovation
Press
Product: UPM iRoll Portable Service
Developer: UPM-Kymmene
The UPM iRoll portable trouble-shooting service provides reliable, real-time analysis of tension or related problems in a printing press, using technology presently in use in paper machine controls. It enables the printer, press manufacturer, and paper supplier to analyze any tension profiles and unusual variations caused by dirty or misaligned rollers, paster cycle problems, printing unit variations, or folder pull. UPM’s concept could include mounting a fixed-width iRoll to the press to improve closed-loop control. Easy, fast installation allows immediate analysis. The service, tested and used in newspaper and gravure printing plants, includes a sensor taped on the selected roll surface, a signal processing module, a transmitter, and a receiver connecting the sensor to a PC.
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Technical Innovation
Press
Product: Scent Varnish Printing
Developer: Editora Abril S.A.
After first developing an in-line method of applying scent varnishes by adding a ninth printing unit to an eight-color Cerutti press, Editora Abril, printing and publishing company of Brazil, has designed a multiple-head device and synchronization system that uses gravure press motors’ panel data as inputs. The system consists of multiple application heads and varnish baths synchronized to the printing press. Editora Abril claims to operate the only printing plant in the world offering Avon up to 20 different fragrances per gravure-printed catalog, now available in a wider range of printing possibilities, structures, and schedules.
Press Manufacturer: Cerutti
Substrate: Stora Enso
Ink: Siegwerk, Sun Chemical
Varnish Scent: Siegwerk, Schubert & Arcade
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Technical Innovation
Press
Product: JCPenney, Soft Proof Catalog
Submitted by: RR Donnelley Warsaw
To streamline print file production, minimize costs, save materials and energy required by hardcopy proofs, and incorporate color, copy, and layout changes—all while achieving later deadlines—JCPenney adopted a soft-proof workflow. It now utilizes Eizo CG221 color monitors and Oris software to supply RR Donnelley with final files. In preparation, customer and printer developed press fingerprinting to minimize proof/production variation and devised a 12-step brown scale for interim control. Also, Donnelley utilizes an ICS chart and Eye-One Spectrophotometer for closer color match on press. Most JCPenney forms run on Donnelley’s three-meter-wide presses, which can deliver up to 144 pages or three 48-page signatures.
Company, Designer: JCPenney Media Corporation
Separator: JCPenney Color Systems
Engraver, Printer: RR Donnelley Warsaw
Press Manufacturer: KBA North America
Ink: Flint Group
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Technical Innovation
Press
Product: Lemanic Delta
Developer: Bobst Group
Bobst Group introduced its Lemanic Delta multipurpose gravure press for single-pass, reel-to-output production of high-quality cartons printed on paper or cardboard in medium to long runs. Says Bobst, the compact, cost-effective, and highly productive machine (820 fpm) is designed as a viable alternative to sheetfed offset production; the system accommodates a web width of 32² and a cylinder printing repeat range from 15.7² to 31.5². Bobst debuted the press last year at its initial customer’s plant, Kekai, in China; it has since sold presses in Jordan, Russia, and Ukraine. The press is equipped with an electronic line shaft system, Bobst Registron S 5100 register control, and high-dynamic interface, which enhances waste reduction.
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Technical Innovation
Postpress
Intelligent In-Line Viscosity Control System
Developer: InkSpec
When installed between the ink pump and the printing press, the Intelligent In-Line System (IIS) from InkSpec operates as an in-line viscosity control system said to be equally efficient controlling water- or solvent-based inks. The viscometer reads in real-time and displays actual ink viscosity on the multichannel controller, comparing that to the value desired by the press operator. When a viscosity adjustment is required, a solenoid valve injects a predetermined amount of adjuster fluid, then the system pauses until thorough mixing is achieved. Several hundred print station installations are in operation worldwide.
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Technical Innovation
Packaging
Sonoco “SmartSeal”™ Reclose Package
Developer: Sonoco
Sonoco developed its SmartSeal technology to provide an innovative flexible packaging structure that has a built-in opening and reclose feature, which bypasses the need by consumers to repackage cookies to maintain their freshness. The technology utilizes a lamination of at least two flexible films in combination with pressure-sensitive adhesive and precision scoring. The outer layer is reverse-printed and laminated with pressure-sensitive adhesive to an inner heat-sealable layer. The outer and inner layers are then precision scored in register to create the unique opening feature. When the outer layer is peeled back, a perimeter of pressure-sensitive adhesive is exposed and used to reclose the package. Graphics on the face panel communicates the innovative opening feature.
Company: Kraft Foods, Inc.
Designer: Barker Associates
Separator, Engraver: Southern Graphic Systems Inc.
Printer: Sonoco
Press Manufacturer: Cerutti
Substrate: SKC & Vifan
Ink: Flint Ink
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Technical Innovation
Production
Ecore™ Advanced Wall Technology
Developer: OMNOVA Solutions, Inc.
Ecore technology from OMNOVA Solutions is called the industry’s first “no-compromise,” eco-friendly wallcovering platform utilizing patented nanotechnology in the form of a unique “nano-textile” as a wallcovering substrate. Polyester and polyamide are spun into endless segmented filaments, which are then split by high-pressure water jets into nano-sized microfilaments and subsequently printed by gravure utilizing water-based inks. The technology required completion of more than 50 product development trials. Gravure was used for creating base colors, achieving print fidelity requiring new ink viscosity standards and specific line screen cylinders, and developing new color matching methodology. Cylinder suppliers were required to create cylinders that would print on a rough surface.
The Gravure Association of America conducts the Annual Golden Cylinder Awards Competition to promote the gravure process and to provide peer recognition for technical achievement. The competition is designed to identify the “Best of the Best” in each segment of the industry and to distinguish technical innovations. The Golden Cylinder Awards Competition is open to all GAA members AND non-members. Judges are selected from professionals of recognized knowledge, experience, and reputation in the gravure industry, including but not limited to designers, educators, and publishers. For more information on the Golden Cylinder Awards, please contact GAA.
