New Products

Pantone has announced that it is entering the ink-jet market with a series of products, including inks, papers, and specially developed profiles. According to the manufacturer, the products are designed for applications that require the most accurate color reproduction and widest possible range of color.

Pantone ColorVantage inks offer a larger color gamut, resulting in more saturated, richer, and deeper hues. ColorVantage papers, available in a variety of finishes, include high-gloss photo, semi-matte proofing, matte, and fine art. Says Pantone, they offer the best white point and most accurate reproduction when used with ColorVantage inks. ColorVantage printer profiles, available free of charge with the ColorVantage Starter Kit, are optimized for use with Pantone's inks and papers.

Circle No. 1 on Reader Service Card, or click "Reader Service" at gammag.com

Badger Tag & Label Corporation has developed a combination tag and label stock using the company's Badger-Tuff material. The one-piece product offers the uses of both a tag and label, cutting down on costs, according to the manufacturer.

The tag/label is UV stabilized, waterproof, and chemical resistant, and can be printed on using thermal transfer. The stock can be printed in four colors, and can handle diecutting, scoring, perforation, and self-adhesive glue.

Circle No. 2 on Reader Service Card, or click "Reader Service" at gammag.com

Heath has introduced its Pak-to-Pak press, designed specifically to fit the needs of printers producing continuous forms and laser checks. The machine allows continuous forms and laser checks to be produced in a single pass, including offset, numbering, and MICR encoding.

The Pak-to-Pak press can run jobs as small as 200 profitably, claims the manufacturer. Its patented turret system minimizes makeready time and reduces downtime between jobs. Plate changes typically take 30 seconds, and repeat lengths may be varied in less than a minute from 2" to 14", in 1/60" increments. Stock also may be changed in 30 seconds or less, says Heath.

The offering can print two offset colors, MICR and gothic numbers, crash imprint, cross and lineal perforate, collate, crimp, and refold or sheet in one pass.

Circle No. 3 on Reader Service Card, or click "Reader Service" at gammag.com

Transilwrap has introduced its improved MXM synthetic paper, a new printable plastic solution for beverage manufacturers and label printers.

MXM synthetic paper has been manufactured with a brighter, whiter opaque surface, says the company. When used with appropriate inks, ink can withstand water, moisture, and constant handling. The offering also features excellent lay-flat characteristics and superior dimensional stability for precise color registration for flexo or sheetfed offset printing, claims the manufacturer.

Circle No. 4 on Reader Service Card, or click "Reader Service" at gammag.com

MetaCommunications, Inc. has announced a major upgrade to its Production Pack software for Virtual Ticket. Production Pack 3.0 now adds support for Adobe InDesign and the Adobe Creative Suite on Mac OS X.

Virtual Ticket Production Pack 3.0 offers users the ability to access related production and digital asset information from within their production tool of choice. The software consists of Adobe Plug-Ins and QuarkXPress Xtensions that automatically capture detailed multi-page document previews and rich XML metadata.

Circle No. 5 on Reader Service Card, or click "Reader Service" at gammag.com

Prisco (Printers' Service) has announced the availability of Prisco Velocity Plate Cleaner, a heavy-duty cleaner/scratch remover. With cleaners, desensitizers, and a mild abrasive, Velocity offers a deep-cleaning action that ensures complete ink removal, according to the manufacturer. After an application of Prisco Velocity, plates are ready for storage, says Prisco.

Circle No. 6 on Reader Service Card, or click "Reader Service" at gammag.com

Spartanics has introduced its 30"-wide, optically registered M500 wide-format diecutting system. The offering is designed to allow printers and converters to obtain the greatest throughput for wallet-size or smaller pieces in 72- or 96-up sheets, claims the manufacturer, as well as to get unsurpassed ±0.1-mm or better registration precision in X, Y, and Theta axes.

Spartanics M500 turnkey systems also re-register at every press stroke at production rates of up to 165 strokes per minute.

Circle No. 7 on Reader Service Card, or click "Reader Service" at gammag.com

Adobe Systems Inc. has introduced its InDesign CS PageMaker Edition, an extension to InDesign CS. The new extension is meant to help PageMaker users make a quick and successful transition to InDesign, according to the manufacturer.

The product includes a full version of Adobe InDesign CS software, plus a PageMaker Plug-In Pack, templates, and training materials. It supports PageMaker workflows, Mac OS X Panther, and has native file support for Adobe Photoshop CS and Illustrator CS assets. A Story Editor feature provides integrated word processing functionality, while the context-sensitive Control Palette efficiently formats text, edits objects, and fine-tunes tables in one location within a workspace.

Circle No. 9 on Reader Service Card, or click "Reader Service" at gammag.com

Unlimi-Tech Software has announced the availability of DocTera 2.0, the latest version of its Web-based file transfer platform that is designed to streamline on-line file transfer, job submission, job ticketing, and workflow management.

The latest version includes custom templates that are specifically developed for commercial printers, quick printers, and digital photo labs. It also features an advanced pricing module that affords custom pricing, cross-volume discounting, and state tax calculations. As part of the new release, Unlimi-Tech has included a server manager that simplifies the control and management of DocTera from the administrator's point of view.

Circle No. 10 on Reader Service Card, or click "Reader Service" at gammag.com

Base-Line Inc. has expanded its line of pre-ruled orange vinyl masking sheets to include material for popular 29" and 30" presses. The pre-ruled sheets are useful for sheetfed printers seeking an archival-strength stripping base with the same familiar grid found on Base-Line pre-ruled paper masking sheets.

Printers who frequently reuse flats, as well as those who repeatedly handle and file flats, can benefit from the durability of the sheets.

Circle No. 11 on Reader Service Card, or click "Reader Service" at gammag.com