5th color station weigh-in

[dabob]

We used to print LoTac clings for point of sale. they wanted a tear pad of coupons at the bottom and the photo/ad to be UV coated . . .the pads two sided tape didn't stick to the UV so we had to mask where the pads when and then run them through the UV, then peel the "masks" off, then apply the pads . . . with our 5th color clear gloss we just do a "spot" gloss over the images/info, no masking, no removal of masking and you don't have to run them through the UV machine ( which doesn't like the flimsy substrate the clings are made of and like to eat a sheet of 5) . . . turned that job . . . a whole lotta had work into a once and done situation . . . worth it just for that alone.

 

[KopyBoss]

On the 1000 you run a program that changes the NVMs for whatever color you swap out. The mechanics take about 5 minutes to changes colors, the software is about 10 to complete. The RIP treats it much like a spot color on a press. Any overprints are handled as you would think. In other words you can over print a color on silver to get a metallic red look.

We did a promotional brochure that went through the 1000 14 times in total to print gold, silver, spot clear and dimensional clear. It really is pretty impressive when it's done.

When you swap out the colors gold to silver or clear do you have to dump the developer or just change the 5th station marking module & toner disp.?

 

[Craig]

No waste in anything. Each color has its own developer housing, drum, corotron and toner housing.

 

[wonderings]

I was at a print/graphic shot in Toronto on the weekend and was talking with a guy from Ricoh as I was curious about the 5th colour station. I had assumed (wrongly) that the 5th colour was either a metallic, white or clear. Turns out you print on metallic paper with white, so it is not actually printing a metallic colour. Is this how the other devices do it as well from Xerox? Not sure why I had the impression that it was laying down a metallic colour.

 

[PrintIT]

I was at a print/graphic shot in Toronto on the weekend and was talking with a guy from Ricoh as I was curious about the 5th colour station. I had assumed (wrongly) that the 5th colour was either a metallic, white or clear. Turns out you print on metallic paper with white, so it is not actually printing a metallic colour. Is this how the other devices do it as well from Xerox? Not sure why I had the impression that it was laying down a metallic colour.

No, the Xerox actually has gold and silver toners.

 

[wonderings]

No, the Xerox actually has gold and silver toners.

That is what I thought. Sounds like it might cheaper that way then buying metallic paper to print on as well... just an assumption with zero facts to support!

 

[jrsc]

For those that have the 5th color on the Ricoh, do you find the cost of the toner to be problem? It seems pretty expensive but I don't know how it translates to real world cost for prints.

 

[Shawnd]

As mentioned before it depends on the customer, Ricoh gave us a cost calculator to use and we price the clear/white accordingly, some customers have gone for it but most opt to not have the 5th color once we give them the price.

You want expensive, I actually just ordered a sample Metallic paper set from MTM to give it a try, a customer wants some business cards printed on the gold with black and white ink. A 12x18 sheet is over a $1.50 per sheet!

 

[Shaare]

The shops that sell this well have trained their own customers on the opportunity. You go see them with samples, have your designer adapt jobs with clear and show both. It takes time but it you educate your customers many will buy in and see the value. "Build it and they will come really doesn't work in this world/..."