Canon announced the beta facility at its maiden digital forum, held at its Brussels showroom last Thursday (20 November), in which it brought together various customers to discuss digital printing and growth areas within the sector.

The debut forum follows on from the release of the Frank Romano-produced Insight report launched at Drupa.

Kall Kwik has taken on the new imagePress C1+ to produce a range of marketing work for clients such as watchmaker Ebel.

The nine-staff company has been printing short-run pieces using the press's clear toner fifth colour.

Garry Nelson, chairman of Kall-Kwik Camberley, said: "We've been an early adopter of Canon kit in the past, so taking on the new imagePress made it ideal for our operation."

"You have to be proactive, not reactive with your clients," added Nelson.

The Camberley operation, which takes in Kall Kwik and a design arm K-Design, also runs a Canon imagePress C1, Canon imagePress 7000VP and the Canon imagePrograf iPF8400.

Nelson said: "We have been able to push the printer to its limits and produce great results on short-run printing that normally could only be done on litho presses. The applications are particularly design-led and some of the effects are fantastic."

The imagePress C1+ can print at resolutions up to 1,200x1,200dpi at speeds of 14ppm in colour operation and up to 60ppm in mono mode. Spot coatings and metallic effects can be applied during printing, which runs at 11ppm.