By DPS Staff
Media considerations aid in high-quality output. In the July/August issue, we feature a resource guide offering a quick look at media options for both electrophotographic (EP) and production inkjet presses.
From envelopes to magnetic media, solutions exist to tackle everything from everyday requirements to out-of-the-box ideas. Here, we highlight a variety of digital substrates on the market.
Appleton Coated
Appleton Coated stocks a variety of digital sheet sizes in Utopia Two and U2:XG that are all Hewlett-Packard (HP) Indigo Certified and guaranteed for all laser/toner production and mid-level devices. In addition to these stock items, digital sizes are available in all Utopia C2S product lines, including Utopia Premium—excludes 130 lb Cover and 150 lb Cover, Utopia U1X, Utopia One, U2:XG, and Utopia Two. All of which are guaranteed for laser/toner platforms. Roll products in these lines are also available for the roll-fed EP devices.
Appleton Coated C1S Litho is HP Indigo Certified—sheet-fed—for basis weights 60 through 100 lb. In addition, C1S Litho products are compatible with all EP-based platforms and are available in digital making sizes from 11×17 inches to the full size for the HP Indigo 10000.
Appleton Coated features an extensive line of coated and uncoated papers for web inkjet platforms. Utopia Inkjet Gloss and Dull are optimized for the HP T-series presses. Stock items are available in multiple basis weights of the Gloss product line. Utopia Inkjet Matte works on HP and Kodak Prosper and a PE version is available for modified versions of the Ricoh IPS-5000. Visit Appleton Coated’s website to view the What Works Where brochure for detailed information on the coated and uncoated products available for a variety of production inkjet web presses.
Avery Products Corporation
The rapid growth of the digital printing industry has professional printers seeking innovations and solutions that go beyond the printing press. With the launch of AveryPRO, a new line of professional print solutions for digital presses, Avery Products Corporation gives digital printers the extra tools they need to drive sales, gain market share, and increase customer loyalty.
The introductory line features professional-grade, full-sheet and pre die-cut label stock in 12×18-inch sheets; free Press-Align design templates for accurate prepress alignment; and vertical selling tools that help printers generate incremental revenue.
Ideal for short-run, print-on-demand requirements, the introductory line of pressure-sensitive stock is three-star RIT certified for HP Indigo digital presses. The premium stock offers consistent pre die-cuts and long-lasting adhesives, along with the flexibility to cut sheets down to 8.5×11 inches for more print jobs and easier delivery.
Convertible Solutions
Convertible Solutions offers pre-converted products. The substrate—most available on sheets, and with appropriate volumes in rolls—goes to the printer with all perforations, scores, die cuts, and cohesives pre applied or pre converted.
Its PEP-based solutions, for engines such as the HP Indigo, Xerox iGen, Canon imagePRESS, Konica Minolta Bizhub PRO, and Xeikon printers, include solutions from its Fold ‘N Go, MultiLoft, Double Thick, and TRU-Flat lines
The Fold ‘N Go line features a return mailer with perforations and cohesives to combine a mailer with a response page and return envelope in one piece; a 6-Pull-Tab Mailer with perforations, die cuts, and cohesive combined in one sheet; and door hangers with pre-converted die cuts allowing the printer to fold, trim, and go—no post-press die cutting required.
MultiLoft sheets and inserts allow printers to assemble and layer the sheets to reach 64 points and beyond. The sheets are coated on one side with a proprietary cohesive. The MultiLoft E-PHOTO Sheets, which are only designed for HP Indigos, enable high-quality photo quality prints that can be married with another MultiLoft E-PHOTO sheet, or any other sheet available in the MultiLoft line. MultiLoft Soft Touch Sheets come to the printer with the soft touch coating pre-converted without the need for post soft touch application.
MultiLoft Magnet Sheets allow you to create finished magnets with a variety of choices—Kraft, Soft Touch, E-PHOTO, Whites, and Colortones to allow for photo-quality finished magnets. The magnet sheets do not run through the press, they are joined to the printed top sheet during finishing.
MultiLoft Magna-Cling Sheets cling to a variety of surfaces and are repositionable, dependent on dryness, cleanliness, and type of surface. The Magna-Cling sheets do not run through the press, they are joined to the printed top sheet during finishing.
The Double Thick line includes Double Thick Cards, available coated or uncoated, perforated or non-perforated with twice the thickness of a typical postcard. Users can print on the 12-point sheet one sided and join it with another printed sheet to create a 24 point card. The Double Thick Reveal Card comes with perforations, die cuts, and choesives pre converted in a two-up sheet.
The TRU-Flat Line features the TRU-Flat Panoramic Photo Book Sheets, which are pre-converted with Convertible Solutions proprietary cohesive glue pattern, which allows the printer to finish in eight unique book sizes from one sheet. When TRU-Flat sheets are printed and finished, the final book lies flat and delivers digital photo reproduction without the traditional gutter running down the middle of the page. Crossovers are eliminated and color matches across the spread. Additionally, the company offers the TRU-Flat Panoramic Vellum End-Sheets, which act as a partner sheet for the TRU-Flat book sheets, and include two unique designs that are available in traditional and pressure seal.
Domtar
Domtar offers a full line of reliable digital uncoated products in its Cougar Digital Color Copy, Cougar Digital, Lynx Digital, and Husky Digital brands.
Both Cougar and Lynx are members of Domtar’s EarthChoice family of environmentally responsible papers, which are Forest Stewardship Council Certified and Rainforest Alliance Certified.
The company says its digital products are guaranteed to run on digital production presses, laser and inkjet printers, copiers, and plain paper fax machines within the limitations specified by the equipment manufacturer. The guarantee excludes issues related to form design, converting, post-processing, or equipment. Selection, handling, and conditioning of digital papers consistent with equipment manufacturing recommendations is the responsibility of the end user. Domtar encourages testing of digital papers prior to purchase of large quantities.
GPA
GPA offers solutions for EP-based presses and specialty media, as well as wide format.
For EP, the company provides coated and uncoated papers, specialty fine papers, C1S and C2S boards, pre-converted substrates, pressure-sensitive papers, and synthetic substrates.
The company offers a diverse range of specialty media products for HP Indigo and toner digital presses. It includes Ultra Digital color, pearlescent and textured papers; Ultra Digital Fine Art Papers made from alternative materials such as bamboo and cotton; Ultra Digital Canvas Substrates; Ultra Photo Photo Lustre Papers; Ultra Digital Security Papers with anti-counterfeiting features; Ultra Digital Pre-Converted Substrates with built-in perforations, scores, and glue strips; Ultra Digital label papers, including a variety of facestocks and kiss cut layouts; Ultra Green Film made from rocks—including limestone and calcium carbonate; Ultra Digital Heat Transfer Paper; DigiMag Flexible Magnet Material for strong magnets that are easy to print; ClingZ static-charged polypropylene; Ultra Digital pressure sensitive and non-adhesive synthetic substrates; and Ultra Digital Mounting Films and Laminates.
International Paper
International Paper provides a variety of media options for both EP and inkjet production presses.
In the EP space, the company provides substrates for the HP Indigo. The substrates are Accent Supersmooth 3 Star product in 50#,60#,70#,80#,100#,65# Cover, 80# Cover, and 100# Cover. It also makes a 120# cover in Smooth.
The company also carries the Accent Smooth 2 Star product, again in the above weights, except for the 120# Smooth standard grades are compatible on Xerox iGen, Canon imagePRESS, Konica Minolta bizhub PRO, and Xeikon printers. International Paper also offers its Hammermill brands, which work on the presses mentioned. Its Color Copy Grades work well for the presses as well.
On the inkjet side, the company carries its Accent and Williamsburg Grades, which feature ImageLok. International Paper also has a partnership with HP on ColorPRO Technology, which is recommended for the HP T-Press. ImageLok is suited for the pigment press market.
The company also makes Accent Dyemond, which is the grade recommended for the dye-based inkjet presses. Accent Dyemond provides a waterfast print with dye-based inks.
MACtac
A variety of pressure-sensitive paper and film options can be found within the MACtac Starliner and MACtac METRO product families. Starliner features premium and specialty facestocks with customer-preferred patented Starliner scoring. METRO brings quality and value together for a robust offering of pressure-sensitive products. Both Starliner and Metro offer facestocks optimized for either offset, HP Indigo, or toner fusion printing. Every sheet is manufactured with exemplary squareness, non-ooze adhesives, and layflat liners to ensure a consistent and efficient print every time.
Magnum Magnetics
Magnum Magnetics provides direct-printable magnetic media, including sheets and rolls, for a variety of digital presses. Magnum Magnetics has helped to pioneer post-print magnetization, which allows printing directly to magnetic media that is un-magnetized, and then magnetizing as a finishing step post-print using one of the company’s patented magnetizer solutions.
Mitsubishi HiTec Paper Europe GmbH
Mitsubishi HiTech offers Thermoscript, Giroform Digital, and Supercote EP products to the European market.
Thermoscript is a dedicated range of direct thermal papers, tested and certified for HP Indigo, that require no additional primer. Giroform Digital is a range of unique carbonless papers for the digital production of personalized forms and documents including special lightweight version Giroform Digital Light, designed for dry toner applications. Giroform Digital is aapproved for HP Indigo, Kodak NexPress, and recommended for many other digital printing systems. It is available in white and five tints. Supercote premium cast coated label papers feature high gloss and a smooth surface. It is printable with HP Indigo systems with inline primer unit. A wet-strength version is available.
For production inkjet, Mitsubishi HiTech features its Jetscript, which includes a range of coated and treated inkjet papers for digital high-speed printing. Unique features, such as the special ink-receiving layer, the wide color gamut, high sharpness, and detailed reproduction, deliver optimum performance even in full-page color prints. The universal dye and pigment ink compatibility are quick drying and suitable for hybrid printing. The ink-receiving layer significantly reduces ink consumption. It is well suited for a variety of applications, such as transaction and TransPromo, direct mail, envelopes, publishing, and security.
Mohawk
Mohawk offers a substrate solution for virtually every digital press platform on the market and is a single source for all digital print needs. Mohawk offers a comprehensive package of digital resources, including fine papers, specialty products, production papers, a team of dedicated and knowledgeable digital specialists, the website mohawkmakeready.com, downloadable templates, a digital product finder, and digital equipment/substrate compatibility matrix.
Mohawk offers a unique collection of specialty substrates for digital printing including synthetic, polyester, PVC, vinyl, dimensional, pressure sensitive, magnetic, embedded, panoramic, and pro photo products.
Mohawk synthetic products are ideal for applications that require a high level of durability, like menus, manuals, maps, ID cards/badges parking passes, road race bibs, outdoor tags/signage, all-weather manuals, luggage tags, point of purchase (POP) displays, and table tents.
Known for high-quality, high-performance traditional offset and digital cutsheet fine papers and substrates, Mohawk recently introduced a unique surface technology to synthetic materials specifically designed for emerging Memjet-class wide format inkjet printers. The new Mohawk Inkjet media line consists of four substrates designed to support a variety of printing applications. New products include Mohawk Inkjet DuPont Tyvek, a waterfast matte inkjet receptive coating; Mohawk Inkjet Polyester Pressure Sensitive Permanent Adhesive, an aqueous matte coated polyester; Mohawk Inkjet Matte Backlit Film, an aqueous matte coated polyester backlit display film; and Mohawk Inkjet Textured Lightblock Film banner lightblock film.
Mohawk Inkjet substrates deliver high-performance, durable and vibrant print quality for use as banners/signage, POP displays, graphics, display panels, and posters, in a variety of vertical markets including education, healthcare, travel/tourism, events/conferences/tradeshows, retail, and hospitality/restaurants/spas/hotels.
Neenah
Neenah offers a selection of digital textures, finishes, and colors for digital printers—including 19 brands, 51 colors, 15 finishes, and 20 weights. With more than 400 items in total, the company’s most popular colors and textures are available for all digital presses. The lineup includes some of the most unique finishes in the industry, including Stipple, Linen, and its new RAW finish.
Neenah’s Universal Digital Finish is guaranteed to perform on leading digital printing presses including the HP Indigo, Xerox iGen, Kodak NexPress, Canon ImagePRESS, and Konica Minolta bizhub PRO. Precision cut digital sizes, environmentally certified options, and matching envelopes are available.
Neenah Packaging offers a selection of Neenah Box Wrap papers, digital ready, for premium packaging including expanded palette of colors, textures, and calipers. Available in popular digital sizes, Neenah’s Universal Digital Finish is compatible with all digital presses such as HP Indigo, Xerox iGen, and Kodak NexPress.
Relyco
For both EP- and inkjet-based production presses, Reyclo offers a range of solutions.
It’s EP line includes REVLAR Waterproof Synthetic Paper, REIMAGE Carbonless Laser Paper, ULTRASEAL Pressure Seal Forms, DigiPOP Digital Packaging, blank laser checks, ID and membership cards, ENDURA Labels, ENDURA Shipping and Integrated Labels, and DURASEAL Envelopes.
REVLAR waterproof synthetic paper for laser applications is designed to provide near photo-quality results on a “virtually indestructible” paper. REIMAGE carbonless paper is designed to print multi-part forms on demand for invoices, statements, receipts, inventory, shipping, or other applications that require extra duplicate copies. ULTRASEAL self-mailer forms eliminate the time and costs associate with folding, stuffing, gluing, and heating of mailings and envelopes. DigiPOP solutions are comprised of specially designed flat sheet flexible and foldable packaging templates and are optimized for many large format laser and standard digital press equipment.
The company also offers a full portfolio of premium laser checks in over 50 layouts with up to 17 security features to deliver high-quality MICR documents. Designed to be laser/digital compatible and easy to set up and print, its ID and membership card products are available in a range of materials.
ENDURA LABEL comes in hundreds of shapes, sizes, and rolls for applications of all types. ENDURA shipping labels and integrated labels combine multiple processes or functions in a single, easy-to-use form DURASEAL envelopes are available in #9 and #10 envelope sizes.
In terms of inkjet products, the company offers its DURASEAL Inkjet Envelopes, ENDURA LABEL Digital Inkjet Labels, ULTRASEAL Pressure Seal Forms, REIMAGE Carbonless Paper, REVLAR Waterproof Synthetic Paper, EZ-Card ID and Membership Cards, and inkjet cutsheet stock.
DURASEAL Inkjet Envelopes are available as standard #10 and 6×9-inch booklet 24# envelopes, with or without windows. ENDURA LABEL comes in hundreds of shapes, sizes, and rolls for applications of all types. ULTRASEAL Pressure Seal Forms are designed as a cost-effective way to create, process, and deliver TransPromo and transactional mailers by eliminating the time and costs associated with folding, stuffing, gluing, and heating mailings and envelopes. REIMAGE Carbonless paper enables printing of multi-part forms on demand for applications that require duplicate copies. With a special inkjet-compatible coating, Relyco offers its REVLAR waterproof synthetic paper for inkjet applications. Available in a range of styles, sizes, and inkjet-compatible materials, EZ-Card from Relyco enables users to print ID and membership cards for many different applications.
Specialty coated inkjet papers and card stocks are great for promotional mailers and postcards that need to stand out.
Verso Corporation
Verso Corporation is the result of two respected paper manufacturers, NewPage and Verso, joining as one company to provide powerful new resources to its customers. Verso continues to focus on the digital print market and align the grades designed to better meet the needs of digital press owners. From its extensive premium offering, Futura, Sterling Premium Digital, and Productolith Pts. Digital to its economy grade, Blazer Digital, Verso offers one of the broadest lines of digital coated papers in the industry with over 200 SKUs for small format presses, direct-to-press installations, production color, B&W digital presses, high-speed color, and B&W copiers.
In addition, Verso manufactures TrueJet, a line of coated papers for commercial print on production inkjet presses designed to meet the growing need for high-speed, personalized print runs.
TrueJet offers solutions for full-color variable inkjet printing and an offset-like glossy coating to meet market expectations. Verso coated digital papers are readily available through more than 300 merchant distributors across the U.S. and Canada.
Media Options
While many print providers rely on tried-and-true offerings, new substrate options are constantly emerging. Be sure to view our Target Chart on digital paper for an extensive list of brands that serve the spaces you’re looking to expand into. Additionally, our Buyers Guide is a searchable resource for a variety of products, including media and substrates. dps
Click here to access the digital media Target Chart.
Jul2015, DPS Magazine
