Color Logic, Metallic inks for the rest of us

The beauty of this system is that you can use what ever screen you like and the principle idea of the system is that every printer has their own tried and tested print method, from the paper they print onto, CMYK ink sets from various vendors (which vary greatly) press running speeds, plates, chemistry, printing ink density, dot gain based on inks and substrates chosen, ink lay down sequence on press and the tack ratio of the inks on press right down to even the ambient room temperature and humidity. All these factors effect the end result... Hence why we let the printer produce the color charts as opposed to telling someone to try match a standard that nobody can!



Their integrated system starts in the pressroom and is then communicated back to the designer. Most of the traditional color and metallic systems of the past would try to characterize all printers into the same box. For any color communication system to work in the real world you must take into account the key variables of paper, ink, plates, printing press and process control. The Color-Logic Process Metallic Color System will work with clients who print to standard printing conditions such as ISO™, G7™, GRACol™ or their own in-house printing standards.

Color-Logic provides the printer with a form for printing their own color guides. The printer then provides their designers, brand managers, and agencies with the Color-Logic metallic color guides printed in a known printing condition along with the Color-Logic Metallic Design Suite™. The Color-Logic Metallic Design Suite is compatible with all major design software programs. The suite has plug-ins with hundreds of metallic shades which correspond to the color guide provided by the printer.

For more information, please contact us or visit Color Logic's website by clicking here.

EasyBook is now 64 bit compatible

EasyBook is an ideal tool for printing jobs on a laser printer when the features of the manufacturer's print driver are not enough. Perfect for printing brochures, booklets and step & repeat business cards. You can create saddle stitched booklets, perfect-bound booklets, or 2-up print-outs with cut-and-stack, step-and-repeat or simple page pairing styles. It is designed to be easy-to-use and yet as feature rich for digital production. Unlike other simple booklet creation software which only offers basic capabilities, EasyBook offers advanced features such as support for creep, gutter, inner and outer spread, placement of crop marks, color bars and print labels.

Highlights
• Ideal booklet creation tools for digital color printers
• Fully supports PDF version 1.3 to 1.6.
• Output size up to 13 x 19 inches (330mm x 480mm)
• User defined code for easy identification of output
• Support wide range of booklet styles
• Automatic pages correction
• User defined margin
• Advanced marks setup
• Runs on Windows 7 and XP Pro



Contact your preferred Compose reseller or Compose directly, our e-mail is sales@composeusa.com

Printing Labels across the Pond

This week I've been in our UK office. I've learning about the iSys Apex 1290 digital label printer. A machine designed to print photo quality images along with variable data on a variety of media products, which include tag stock up to 12 point in thickness, adhesive label stock and various synthetic medias.

The Apex 1290 digital label printer is driven by Express Label Print, a nifty software solution from Compose. Express Label Print or ELP, can handle a multitude of different stocks and optimizes label layouts to reduce media waste. You can print on pre cut media or also import your CF2 die cut files for the best possible layout.
You can add variable data to your print jobs on the Apex 1290 digital label printer with Compose Variprint.

Below is a video of the Apex 1290 digital label printer in action:

On this trip I've also visited customers to talk about press calibration and the advantage of having presses and proofers matching common specifications and standards. I've also taken the opportunity to learn from my European colleagues about their experience with ISO 12647-2.



Simon, Tom and me at BHF in Dartford responding to our customer's questions.

Tonight I'll have pint thinking not thinking about the flight back to California.

Contact me if you have any questions about the Apex 1290 or anything else that catches your eye on this blog.