One of the joys of exhibitions is the chance of stumbling across something ingenious and useful that you've never heard of before. Taking the prize for unexpected gem at this year's Northprint was Dryprint and its natty UV-cured printer and coater. Keith Wells, managing director of the Andover-based firm, is pleased as punch with the reaction that he received at the show, and in the aftermath.
"We didn't stop at all over the three days, and lots of things are developing from it," says Wells.
Dryprint's clever cost-effective coating capability came to the attention of PrintWeek associate editor Jo Francis, who blogged on the machine, while in Harrogate, which drew visitors directly to the stand still clutching their Blackberrys.
"People came to the stand because they'd heard about it from Jo's blog," says Wells. "It's the first time I've seen that happen, and it's generated further good leads from the UK and around the world."
The Dryprint isn't a new machine, but the ability to spot and flood coat with it is, which is why it has recently hit the headlines. Dryprint was originally developed eight years ago as a simple printer offering black and special colours with a UV-cured ink - hence ‘Dryprint' as sheets come out cured.
In its original incarnation the machine established a niche in the US, where imperial sheet sizes are common. However, as it couldn't handle SRA3 sheets it wasn't adopted over here. The firm has now extended the format to handle sheet sizes up to 460x320mm and a print area of 455x300mm making it ready for Europe and for coating as well as printing.
"We've refreshed a technology that's been around for donkey's years so that it meets printers' needs to handle heavier stocks and larger sheet sizes," says Wells. "It can sit alongside a digital press and handle all the output to enhance and protect the print."
Wells believes that the time has come for Dryprint as firms look for multi-purpose machines.
"Lots of people want to do flood coating, but they can't justify a machine that stands idle when it's not coating," he says.
While flood coating is important, it's the ability to quickly and cost-effectively spot coat that is the real USP of the machine.
"Spot coating is very interesting, it reduces material cost but it increases the value of the job and therefore the price that you can charge," he says.
With material costs of 50p to make a new plate, it is cost-effective to spot coat ultra-short runs, which should prove attractive for printers, especially those using digital presses who are looking for one machine that can flood coat and spot coat work. And it can take simple single-colour static work off a litho or digital machine that could be better used for more sophisticated work too.
In operation
Thanks to the suction feeder the machine has an accuracy of +/-0.25mm, and sheets can be passed through the machine multiple times to print additional special colours, which are supplied in a range of pre-mixed colours, or can be supplied to specific Pantones.
Dryprint describes the machine as being a rotary screen press, and it's a fair description. A paper/plastic stencil, which is produced in the separate platemaker, is mounted on the drum, and the ink or coating is transferred through the holes in the screen onto the substrate, which is wrapped around the drum. From the drum the stock travels through the UV curing unit to the delivery.
According to Wells the firm decided to separate out the plate maker from the printing/coating unit because "printers don't like the printer to be down while doing makeready".
So even though it only takes two minutes to make a new plate, it's possible to image plates for subsequent jobs while printing or coating the current one, if you have multiple drums. Plates are supplied in rolls of 200. To image a plate you mount the drum from the machine in the platemaker and a new plate is loaded on and imaged. There is a choice of two resolutions, 600dpi and 1,200x600dpi, to suit requirements. Plates are made using a very simple software RIP, which is supplied as part of the overall price, but it does need a host PC that it can be run on.
If you're changing the plate but not the colour you only need to load the drum back in the printing unit, which takes 90 seconds, and you're ready for the next job. If you're changing from coating to printing, vice versa or changing the colour of the ink then you need to run the machine on for 200 sheets to ensure all the last vestiges of ink or coating have been cleared ready for the next.
Dryprint supplies a single coating, which has a finish that it describes a ‘soft sheen".
"The problem with high-gloss coatings is that they are very prone to showing up fingerprints," says Wells. "With a soft sheen the visual appearance is not degraded by handling. People see that as a huge benefit that they've been looking at for a long time for coating books and booklets. Basically anything that is going to be handled lots but you want the cover to keep looking fresh."
Beyond protecting and enhancing a job's appearance it is also possible to use the Dryprint for security printing.
"We've had interest for both overt and covert security print, which you can't do on an offset press," he says. "It almost competes with gravure, but is much cheaper."
Paper and most plastics can be run on the machine, including some laminates. The only stocks that it has been found to struggle with are high-gloss plastics.
In developing the machine for coating the firm had to create a UV varnish that would cure using a low-powered lamp. This helps to keep running costs low, with the entire machine, including the UV lamps, drawing just 22A and being single-phase. It's also been designed to work without additional ventilation thanks to ozone management.
"The UV is safe and has been tested by the Radiological Protection Board," adds Wells. " No UV leaks out of the machine to burn skin or damage the retina. It was very important to get third-party validation of the machine's safety."
Used plates can be treated as standard waste, although it's advisable to use gloves to ensure you don't touch the inks.
A league of its own
Dryprint doesn't have any direct rivals as no other machine offers the flexibility of spot and flood coating or printing. It's also fast at up to 6,000 sheets per hour. The firm is positioning it as an alternative to UV flood coaters, which are proving popular for digital printers. At £39,950, it's near the top end of the price bracket for such machines, but you do get speed and flexibility.
Strangely, the nearest rival could be a digital machine; Canon's clever C1+, which combines a four-colour press with a flood and spot coating capability, and it comes out at about the same price. However, it's a toner coating rather than UV. While inkjet UV coaters from FFEI and MGi have both been shown, they come in at a far higher price point than the Dryprint and without the tools to personalise the varnish layer in an image don't offer any real advantage over it, yet.
If you need a digital coater, and want to be able to add impact through spot varnish effects then the Dryprint is a way of adding several strings to your bow in one.
SPECIFICATIONS
Max sheet size 460x320mm
Min sheet size 250x70mm
Coat/print area 455x300mm
Stock weight 80-340gsm
Resolution 1200x600dpi or 600dpi
Makeready 90 secs
Running speed 3,000-6000 sheets per hour
Paper feed Top loading suction feeder
Price £39,950
Running costs Black printing 0.2p per sheet
Spot colour printing 0.4-0.6p per sheet
Flood coating 2.5-3.5p per sheet.
Contact Dryprint 01264 320900 www.dryprint.com
DUPLO ULTRA 205-A
Automation is the Ultra 205's trump card, according to Duplo. The firm believes that in the digital market its one-touch operation and 50-program settings will prove popular, as it doesn't rely on a skilled operator to set up.
Speed 4,400sph
Max sheet width 521mm
Stock weight 120-350gsm
Price £44,995
Contact Duplo International 01372 468131
www.duplointernational.com
MGI U-VARNISH
GAE has been selling the U-Varnish for two years, primarily to firms running high-end Xerox and HP digital presses as well as its specialist substrate digital press the MGi Meteor Pro. The U-Varnish can coat paper and plastic substrates
Speed 2,400sph
Max sheet width 360mm
Stock weight 150-500gsm
Price £42,000
Contact GAE 020 8997 8053 www.gae.co.uk
VERSACOATER DOCUMATE
The DocuMate is a manually fed machine that costs a fraction of the price of a Dryprint. However, it is flood coat only. Automatic feeding is optional.
Speed 1,500sph
Max sheet width 305mm
Stock weight 400gsm
Price £12,999 (manually-fed)
Contact Encore Machinery 01582 668900 www.encoremachinery.co.uk
CANON C1+
The Canon is closest to the Dryprint in combining print and coating in one unit, but it's toner based and four-colour, offering more applications. It also offers a choice of matt or gloss coating. However, for coating it's much slower.
Speed 1,200 A3 sheets per hours (coating only)
Max sheet width 330x483mm
Stock weight 80-256gsm
Price engine only £25,395; package including EFI Fiery Q2 and saddlestitcher £40,000
Contact Canon 0800 1218825 www.canon-europe.com
KODAK NEXPRESS 2500 PLUS NEXGLOSSER
The Nexpress with NexGlosser is a cut-sheet digital press that offers toner-based coating and the ability to produce spot-varnish effects. The NexGlosser can also create texture effects more commonly associated with screen-printing.
Speed 2,500 sheets per hour
Max sheet width 356x520mm
Stock weight 60-350gsm
Price Nexpress 2500, five-colour with NexGlosser £298,000, NexGlosser alone £37,000
Contact Kodak UK 020 8424 6514 www.graphics1.kodak.com
