Features

Best of British: Elephantine ambitions

Metallic Elephant is an Essex- based company that says it’s the only UK based manufacturer of new-design hot foiling and embossing machines.

RGB and extended-gamut workflows

When CMYK workflow hampers more than helps

Ever since digital workflows started to hit the industry in the early 1990s, the default has been to work in CMYK colours for linework at the design stage, and to convert digital photographs and scans...

“Disappearing packaging”

Star product: Notpla food cartons and paper

Super-sustainable containers, films and papers manufactured from a “miracle crop” – seaweed – by a British
manufacturer.

Wide gamut at entry-level pricing

Star product: Konica Minolta AccurioPress C84hc

The fifth generation of Konica Minolta’s high-chroma CMYK dry-toner press is a highly cost-effective option for those who offer wide-gamut printing applications.

Developing a lucrative niche

Me & My: Inkcups Helix ONE

Like many businesses, the machines at The Branding Lab’s premises in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, were particularly quiet during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Barnsley boy

Q&A: Wayne Barlow, recently retired head of Professional Print at Canon UK

Wayne trained as a precision toolmaker in Yorkshire after leaving school aged 16. He studied electronics and control engineering until his mid-20s, then took the plunge and moved south to begin his...

Gaga supplier

60 seconds with Dynamic Print

Dynamic Print was founded in 1990. The company was one of current managing director Sarah Smith’s very first customers when she worked on the inside sales team at James McNaughton Paper.

Creative impulses

Rising star: Jordon Conroy, general operative, Nuneaton Signs

Jordon is 26 and has worked at Nuneaton Signs since 2021. The Warwickshire business became a social enterprise six years ago, and currently 66% of employees have a disability.

Employment perks

For the benefit of all

While individuals clearly work to earn a living, it’s the small things in life that an employer offers that can make all the difference as to whether employees feel cared for, go the extra mile, or...

Legislative changes

Labour, print, employment law... Discuss

It cannot be said that the Labour government, not yet a year in office, isn’t trying to shake up society.

Printers' charitable giving

Do good and share with others

It’s notable that the foundations of the three Abrahamic religions – Christianity, Islam and Judaism – are each bedded on doctrines that require their adherents to do good for others.

Recreating an icon

Killer app: Moss vamps up Monroe show

Putting Marylin Monroe into print is one thing – who on this planet hasn’t seen her face? – but doing her justice is quite another.

Overmatter: Marketing genius or genuine blooper?

The team at Surreal, maker of high protein, low-carb adult cereals, certainly made the most of a post-Christmas promo error – if it really was the latter.

Masters of the craft

Best of British: Preserving print's heritage

Letterpress is no longer a mainstream commercial process, but it’s still appreciated for the look and feel of its results, appealing to traditionalists, craftspeople and enthusiasts.

Low-cost business booster

Why you should make room for a baby flatbed

Small flatbed inkjet printers first hit the market 12 years ago. They are compact, affordable and versatile devices that could help virtually any size of commercial printer to diversify, enter new...