The business, which operates from a 929sqm site in Hull, took delivery of the additional kit, supplied by Roland DG distributor Revolution Digital, around three months ago. The company installed its first LEC-540 in 2016.

Established four years ago, Litmus Mockups began as a two-person team when its founders spotted a gap in the market for high-quality packaging prototypes.

It has since grown to a £1.4m-turnover business that employs 20 people at its Hull base and a sales office in London. Its clients include blue-chip brands, design agencies and large reproduction houses.

Prior to 2016 Litmus had been using two Roland VS eco-solvent printers for longer runs but relied on traditional printing and tooling methods including wetproofing, cold and hot foiling, embossing and debossing and die-cutting to create initial design prototypes.

These processes contributed to turnaround times of two to four days for a typical carton mock-up.

The company’s first LEC-540 immediately reduced its turnaround times from days to hours. Costing around £50,000, the machine is suitable for the creation of packaging prototypes as well as labels, special effects decoration and a range of other applications.

Capable of printing resolutions up to 1,440dpi, it can produce custom textures with white and gloss ink.

Litmus sales director Melanie Vickerman said the business took on a second LEC-540 to improve its workflow.

“We were trying to manage everything to our clients’ timescales and the bottleneck we had on the machine meant that we had to have a second one.”

Managing director Gareth Hartley added: “The printer has incredible functionality; it's able to produce effects like foils, spot varnishes and embossing far quicker than the traditional techniques we were using – and in accurate, real-world colours, using a unique RIP and colour management solution.”

As well as its two LEC-540s and two VS printers from Roland DG, Litmus operates a Fujifilm Acuity flatbed for printing on fluted board.