PrintWeek India Quality Awards 2016 Winners
Book Printer of the Year (Academic and Trade) 2016: SFA Print.
07 Nov 2016 | 13908 Views | By PrintWeek India
Sivakasi-based SFA Print wins the prism for the second year in a row. Last year, the company won its maiden PrintWeek India Awards in the same category for recreating a series of rare edition of books originally published in 1867. This year, the company has created something impressively similar.
The Holy Quran is an exact replica of an old text, which was scanned and reproduced to keep its antiquity intact. Each page was individually scanned and cleaned to remove dust and scan evidence. It was then printed on 40 gsm ITC Quran paper on the Komori LP 40. The challenge was to restore an old book to its original glory and it was achieved brilliantly.
The Bible was printed and bound with gild edging and spine embossing with a natural shade maplitho paper. The Nitnem Gutka Sahib and Devia Deshna are tiny prayer books inside a slipcase. The company said it was a challenge to print a book of this size with all the qualities intact. The pages were printed on multiple ups with 60 gsm ITC Hi-brite was bound manually. The case was also made manually using imported plasticised covering material.
SFA Print is one of the top book printers of Sivakasi. Located on a nine-acre plot, surrounded by peacocks and rare flora, the unit is housed in a 37,000-sq/ft build-up area. The SFA Print team, comprising 250 people, is equipped with Heidelberg Surprasetter A105, Heidelberg Speedmaster SM102P, Mitsubishi Diamond LS 1000, KBA Planeta V45, Komori LP37, Komori LP40, and a raft of pre-press and finishing kit.
SFA Print (Sivakasi)
Tel: +91 8220633111 | srinivas@sfaprint.co.in
Commended
Burda Druck
International Print-o-Pac
Jak Printers
Manipal Technologies
Parksons Graphics
Replika Press
Repro India
Tholasi Prints
Thomson Press
Book Printer of the Year (Specialty) 2016: Jak Printers (Tie)
Mumbai-based Jak Printers shares the honour with Hyderabad-based Pragati Offset. Jak, the winner in the category last year, has crafted a series of breathtaking books using its Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102 seven-colour plus coater, Heidelberg Prinect workflow and Suprasetter CTP.
Dhirubhai Ambani: The Man I Knew, the memoir of Kokilaben about her late husband, was printed on Jayraj velvet hi-bulk in CYMK plus Pantone metallic 872 gold. The jacket uses Sappi paper and went through thermal velvet lamination and hot foil stamping.
Asia’s Most Promising Brands was printed on Sappi mango satin in CYMK plus online aqua matt varnish. The first 16 pages were printed on Prism Sirio Pearl Polar Dawn. The cover has CYMK and special white and MetPET silver foil lamination.
Chandigarh is in India was section-sewn and the hard cover was screen printed and debossed.
The Oneness Temple was printed on Jayraj Rendezvous Super White in CYMK plus Pantone metallic 872 gold, with online aqua silk varnish. The cover is printed on a Sinarmas Royal matt art paper. The book blocks were fitted manually and the binding includes spine creasing and back-to-back pasting.
Jak Printers (Mumbai)
Tel: +91 9820011958 | kpp@jakprinters.com
Commended
Brilliant Printers
Manipal Technologies
Parksons Graphics
Prodon Enterprises
Replika Press
Silverpoint Press
Thomson Press
Viraj Prints
Book Printer of the Year (Specialty) 2016: Pragati Offset (Tie)
Hyderabad’s Pragati Offset is synonymous with specialty, no two ways about it. The company shares the honour in the category with Mumbai-based Jak Printers.
Five Morsels of Love is a cookbook by Archana Pidathala based on her grandmother G Nirmala Reddy’s 1974 cookbook Vanita Vantakalu. The book was printed on 130 gsm Renoir using CYMK on Komori Lithrone G740, and was section-sewn and perfect bound.
Silver Paintings by Himmat Shah contains photographs of the art works by the Gujarat-born, Jaipur-based artist. The high metallic look and texture of the work is replicated in two gatefold posters pasted in the book with cold foiling and micro-embossing.
Kanu’s Gandhi (Nazar Photography Monographs 03) features photographs of the Mahatma clicked by his grand-nephew in Sevagram Ashram. A special archival print of Gandhi’s picture is pasted on the first page of the book, which is visible through a window in the brown cloth-lined case.
Prabuddha Das Gupta (1956-2012), featuring some of the best works of the celebrated photographer, was printed on 130 gsm Renoir, and was section-sewn and perfect bound. The black and white photographs were reproduced in tri-tone.
Pragati Offset (Hyderabad)
Tel: +91 9849066991 | harsha@pragati.com
Commended
Brilliant Printers
Manipal Technologies
Parksons Graphics
Prodon Enterprises
Replika Press
Silverpoint Press
Thomson Press
Viraj Prints
Brochure and Catalogue Printer of the Year 2016: Silverpoint Press
Silverpoint Press is back. These samples show why Silverpoint is the one to beat when it comes to brochures and catalogues. The samples, with run lengths of 500 and more, were printed on Heidelberg LX five-colour plus online coater, with an Apogee workflow and Agfa CTP system.
Donald Trump may be the epitome of controversy right now, but the ‘Trump Tower’ brochure, with a lizard black 115 gsm slipcase, is a work of art. The text is printed on 225gsm Leykam matt card. It was printed with standard density to produce high-quality colour depth. It also went through a series of finishing processes such as gold foil stamping, spot UV, matt lamination, and laser cutting.
The ‘Taj Lake Palace’ brochure was printed on a Natural Evolution white 145 gsm with CMYK plus special gold. The cover is 260gsm Stardream Diamond with a 150gsm Gateway tracing paper. The cover also had silver foil stamped and embossed. The inside pages were given satin aqueous treatment.
The ‘Parkside’ brochure was printed on a Renoir extra white 190 gsm. The jacket printed on Renoir extra white 130 gsm has silver foil stamping. The brochure was pasted on 2.5 mm Jinboy grey board and all the pages have satin aqueous.
The ‘Raffles Park’ brochure was printed on laid white 50% recycled 220gsm with CYMK plus special gold and special copper. Pasted back-to-back on 2.5mm Jinboy grey board, the brochure can be opened from both sides. It’s total length is 27.5 feet. Besides spot UV, the pages also feature satin aqueous.
Silverpoint Press (Mumbai)
Tel: +91 9819886478 | sales@silverpointindia.com
Commended
Akruti Offset
Almats Branding Solutions
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Progressive Printing Press
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Thomson Press
Unik Printers
Vishwakala Printers
Digital Photo Album Printer of the Year 2016: Capital Color Lab (Tie)
The competition is between Canon DreamLabo 5000 and HP Indigo 10000 and both are the winners. Mysuru-based Capital Color Lab is the joint winner in the category along with Surat-based Klick Digital Press.
Not just that. Both firms are new entrants to the PrintWeek India Awards.
Mysuru-based Capital Color Lab printed the eye-catching photo albums on its Canon DreamLabo 5000, which it acquired in the second half of 2015. Incidentally, Capital’s is Canon’s third DreamLabo installation in India.
The albums are of varied sizes, ranging from 6x8-inch to 15x25-inch. All the albums were printed on lustre paper on both sides in sRGB. One sample was printed on glossy paper on both sides.
Capital Color Lab (Mysuru)
Tel: +91 9845165522 | capitalartgallery@gmail.com
Commended
Mazda Imaging
Sri Sivarama Digital Press (Printonica)
Thomson Press
Digital Photo Album Printer of the Year 2016: Klick Digital Press (Tie)
The competition is between Canon DreamLabo 5000 and HP Indigo 10000 and both are the winners. Surat-based Klick Digital Press is the joint winner in the category along with Mysuru-based Capital Color Lab.
Klick Digital Press, which received a commendation in the same category last year, comes up trumps this year on the strength of its sustained quality work on its HP Indigo 10000.
The company invested in the machine earlier this year, becoming the first firm in Gujarat to have the kit, and looks like the investment has paid off.
The four samples from Klick together illustrate how beautiful wedding albums can be made. The samples are printed on different papers, such as Leycam, Montblanc, metallic non-tearable, and lustre. In one sample, the photos were treated with velvet thermal lamination. The albums come in boxes which are equally delightful. One box was made using fabric and leather; another was made from ply and leather and had hand engraving on the cover pad. The fourth box sample was printed on wooden board.
Klick Digital Press (Surat)
Tel: +91 9825144305 | navapara@yahoo.com
Commended
Mazda Imaging
Sri Sivarama Digital Press (Printonica)
Thomson Press
Digital Printer of the Year 2016: Avantika Printers (Tie)
Okay. It’s official. New Delhi is the digital printing capital of India. This year, we have two winners in the category and both are from Delhi. Chanakya Mudrak is back for the second time after clinching the title last year and Avantika Printers is back for the fourth time after making a hat-trick of the category a few years back.
Avantika Printers’ ‘C800 Media Catalogue’ for Canon was printed on the Canon ImagePress C800 boosted by the EFI F200 server. The media catalogue showcases this kit’s prowess to print on different substrates using different image outputs.
Thus, a variety of papers were used. Colour consistency was maintained through robust process control on different substrates. The PUR-bound book has a screen-printed cloth cover.
The 20 copies of ‘Ek Nayi Subah’ coffee-table book was printed on the C800 using 190 gsm Rendezvous paper. And it comes with a seven-inch screen and a port to charge, to play a video, all within the book.
According to the company, the client wanted to give its customers the feel of the event they are promoting and so the video screen was important. The ‘Hindustan Times Leadership Summit’ coffee-table book is an example how digital can do everything that offset can. It was printed in accordance with the same book printed in offset, on a C800 and media profiling with the Xrite i1Process Control on Iris 60 gsm. The cover in Antique gold paper had screen-printed patterns with the titles in white raised UV and metal prototyping.
For the 100 copies of the sample ‘Van Vismay’, the client wanted to give the end-users a feel of nature for their housing project. So the job was conceptualised on wood instead of printing on a wood textured paper.
Avantika Printers (New Delhi)
Tel: +91 9873934560 | himanshu@appl.in
Commended
Comart Lithographers
Pragati Pack
PrintStop India
Silverpoint Press
Replika Press
Universal Print Systems (The Manipal Group)
Digital Printer of the Year 2016: Chanakya Mudrak (Tie)
Okay. It’s official. New Delhi is the digital printing capital of India. This year, we have two winners in the category and both are from Delhi. Chanakya Mudrak is back for the second time after clinching the title last year and Avantika Printers is back for the fourth time after making a hat-trick of the category a few years back.
Chanakya Mudrak is the master of short-run, helped by its HP Indigo.
The ‘Monkey Shoulder’ poster has a run length of five. It was printed in CYMK and was treated with digital UV finishing.
The ‘NCERT special accessible children’s books’ were unique – 40 different books with five copies each; total 200 copies. It was a collaboration between NCERT and Chanakya Mudrak, with the company providing the production technical know-how. The company also received a mention in the credit page of the book. It took almost six months of R&D and pre-press processing for the books.
The entry ‘Vision of Hope’, with a run length of 200, used Natural Evolution 145 gsm for the inside pages and imported art paper for cover.
The ‘Vodafone Thank You book and box’ contained specimen from each of Vodafone’s monthly campaigns in the year.
Chanakya Mudrak (New Delhi)
Tel: +91 8860881616 | puneet@chanakyamudrak.com
Commended
Comart Lithographers
Pragati Pack
PrintStop India
Silverpoint Press
Replika Press
Universal Print Systems (The Manipal Group)
Fine Art Printer of the Year 2016: Marvel Graphic Studio
Isn’t there any other firm who can stop Marvel Graphic Studio’s homerun in this category? It is a tall order, though. The company is now a record-holder of sorts, winning this category for the sixth consecutive year. The reason? They are really, really good in what they do.
At five feet, the serigraph ‘Peehu’ by the artist Salve is one of the longest serigraph in the history of Indian screen printing. It took 60 layers and 45 days to complete the job. According to the company, the USP of the job is the white water stroke effect in the background, for which the company did the colours, layers, textures in the background and the white transparent colour effect. Marvel produced 125 editions in 45 days using Fabriana 300gsm paper and mesh 80,100,120 (nylon) 140.
The ‘Vishwaroop, Chapter 11, Verse 20’ sample was produced in 60 days. The goal was to be nearer to the feel of acrylic colour effect. The different tones were created using the right effect – be it foil, watercolour, or acrylic. No part of this serigraph is without layers, nor colour is direct. There are over 72 tones of colour/screens. The company produced 125 editions using Magic Touc, Korea, 280 gsm paper and mesh 80,100,120 (nylon) 140 (polyester).
The original artwork for the serigraph ‘Ganesh’ was created through reverse painting on glass. The luminosity of glass and the brilliance of colours are evident in the sample. There are over 54 tones of colours/screens. In 60 days, the company produced 125 editions, using Bocking Ford 300 gsm paper and 80,100,120 140 (nylon) 100 (polyester).
The serigraph ‘Achal’ has 74 tones of colours/screen and was completed in 41 days. The company produced 300 editions, using Schollershammer fine art paper 200gsm and 80,100,120 (nylon) 100 (polyester).
Marvel Graphic Studio (Ahmedabad)
Tel: +91 9824058696 | marvelartgallery@gmail.com
Commended
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Industrial Product Printer of the Year 2016: Parksons Graphics (Tie)
This category too has joint winners – Parksons Graphics and Viraj Prints, both from Mumbai.
Parksons Graphics’ ‘Royale Play’ kit is a rigid box, also containing a section-sewn, softback cover booklet with gatefolds, with aqueous coating and matt lamination.
Simply too many processes! The job was printed on a Heidelberg CD 74 plus coater. ‘Acetech 2015’ brochure is a job with multiple pop-ups and special features.
According to the company, it was one of the most intricately planned and executed assignments that involved the latest technologies alongside manual processes. The four-colour offset job was printed on multiple substrates with different grammages and styles. The post-press included lenticular sheet mounting and various pop-up innovations.
The ‘Royale Green World’ pop-up is a showcase of the company’s expertise in pop-up engineering. Printed on Invercote card 350 gsm paper on a Heidelberg CD 120 plus coater, the pre-press involved TechNova Elite plates outputted on a Creo eight-up Trendsetter using Prinergy workflow. Post-press included back-to-back pasting, thermal lamination, and pop-up engineering. The most intricate part of the ‘Majirel Big Shade Card’ was that the hair meshes were coded to specific shades and had to be specifically positioned. On top of it, the client provided limited amount of wire meshes. So there was no scope for wastage.
The job was printed on a Heidelberg CD 120 plus coater. Post-press included insertion of the hair meshes, magnets and thermal lamination.
Parksons Graphics (Mumbai)
Tel: +91 9967024057 | animesh@parksonsgraphics.com
Commended
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Spectrum Scan
Industrial Product Printer of the Year 2016: Viraj Prints (Tie)
This category too has joint winners – Parksons Graphics and Viraj Prints, both from Mumbai.
Viraj Prints receives a Prism for the work it did for the Lakme products, among others. Keeping with the tagline of the product, the Lakme 9to5 CC counter-top unit was developed in-house to match the colour transformation of the product. It took the company 30 days to assemble the electronic lit panel with interval programming to light up the tube.
The rotating counter-top unit for the brand ‘Scalppure’ was designed and visualised in-house. The idea was to achieve metallic finish and a premium look. It took 17 days to assemble the electronic panel along with the hardbound box with metallic effect and drip-off. From visualisation to making the box with holographic effect, it took the company 20-25 days to complete the ‘Lakme Radiance’ unit.
The box is designed such that the inside lid lights up as soon as you open it. In addition to backlit and holographic effect, the hardbound CYMK offset-printed box was given screen-printed shimmer to achieve the ‘radiance’ look. It took 30-35 days from visualisation to completion of the ‘Lakme Shimmer’ counter-top unit. The box adds the metallic effect to resonate with the wedding season requirements.
Viraj Prints (Mumbai)
Tel: +91 9820021551 | info@virajprints.com
Commended
Astha Packaging
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Kohinoor Printers
Neat Graphics
Spectrum Scan
Innovative Printer of the Year 2016: Jayna Packaging
Jayna Packaging is the ‘Steve Jobs’ of innovation. Plus the innovations are desi and economical.
The company, which took home the prism in the same category last year for its kid’s furniture made of corrugated board, again wins the honour for another innovative product – the Loo Box – made entirely of corrugated board.
It was the cover story of PrintWeek India 10 August 2016 issue, and rightly so!
The kit consists of a portable commode and a sleeve for privacy. It also has compostable, biodegradable bags, hand sanitiser and tissues. It is light-weight, foldable and convenient to hold as a carry pack while travelling. It can be used anytime, anywhere during emergencies, when nature’s call cannot be ignored.
Jayna Packaging (Mumbai)
Tel: +91 7506737498 | jaynapkg@gmail.com
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Label Printer of the Year 2016: Any Graphics
We ask again. Isn’t there any label converter who can stop Any Graphics’ homerun in this category? The Noida-based label giant has been winning this category since 2012. The reason? Any Graphics has turned label printing into an art form.
The ‘Eye Care Studio’ labels were designed in-house at the Any Graphics design studio. The reason the label works is the feel of the eye, which looks so original that the person looking at it can see his/her own reflection on the eye’s retina. The label was printed on metallic film with a letterpress and digital combination.
The goal of the ‘Dabur Honey’ label was elegance and attractive value-addition. The highlight is the feel of the honey dripping, which was achieved with offline thick screen coating.
The ‘Unique Designer Stocking’ labels were designed in-house based on a customer brief. As the customer gave the company a free hand, it decided to develop some unique concepts. The highlight was that the labels were kiss-cut using conventional flexible dies and the waste was removed online without any full cut. No laser cutting was used.
The ‘Authentic Seal’ labels were developed to use on top of bottles and cartons for beautification. Simple design and multiple levels of coating not only resulted in an excellent label but also added to its beauty.
Any Graphics (New Delhi)
Tel: +91 9873241844 | naveen.goel@anygraphics.in
Commended
Domex
Maharshi Labels
Pragati Pack
Prakash Labels
Sai Packaging
Saptagiri Packaging
Update Prints
Wintex Flexo (Print Division of Signode India)
Label Printer of the Year 2016: Mudrika Labels (Special Jury Award)
In a recent feature in PrintWeek India, we called Mudrika Labels a jewel in India’s label crown, and the company deserves the moniker as the Special Jury Award proves it.
For the ‘Colgate 3X Buy 2 Get 1 Free’ label, the client had supplied a challenging artwork to avoid counterfeiting. The company added the lens effect to add to its uniqueness. It was printed on a Gallus ECS 340 which can re-register on pre-embossed lens.
The idea behind the ‘King’s Dates’ labels was to give it a natural look and also exhibit a cultural heritage. It was printed on laminated silver matelised paper using CYMK plus two Pantone colour plus white.
For ‘Mala’s Strawberry Preservative’ label, the goal was to showcase the fruit and focus on the preservation part. Thus, laser 3D effect was used around the strawberry. For ‘Malvi’s Kiwi Crush’ label, the company used silver metallised paper which went well with crystal clear PET bottles the client was using.
Mudrika Labels (Mumbai) (Special Jury Award)
Tel: +91 9820025220 | manish@mudrikalabels.com
Commended
Domex
Maharshi Labels
Pragati Pack
Prakash Labels
Sai Packaging
Saptagiri Packaging
Update Prints
Wintex Flexo (Print Division of Signode India)
Magazine Printer of the Year 2016: Thomson Press
Thomson Press (India), a previous winner in the category returns to claim the honour. After all, the company has been printing some of the country’s most best-looking and quality luxury magazines, month after month.
The company uses a Goss web offset and Mitsubishi sheetfed machines to print the magazines.
The GQ magazine uses Nova press art paper, 80 gsm for text and 200 gsm for cover. The outer cover has UV varnish. The special feature of the samples is the post-binding, including two gatefolds and an insert tipping. All these, keeping intact the excellent picture quality!
The Cosmo October 2015 issue was printed on 70 gsm paper. The cover was 250 gsm and had UV varnish. This sample too features a lot of post-binding, such as tab, FPC tab and French window.
The Harper’s Bazaar Bride February 2016 issue uses CYMK plus gold. Post-press features include gloss spot UV varnish and matt aqueous coating. The special features of this gorgeous issue include a square back, bound with head and tail band and gold gilding on top and bottom edges.
The Robb Report October 2015 cover is printed on 350 gsm art paper and is treated with rainbow foiling and UV. The special feature of the cover is crystal pasting in 164 places.
Thomson Press (India) (New Delhi)
Tel: +91 9810440960 | rpiplani@thomsonpress.com
Commended
Dhote Offset Technokrafts
Indigo Press
Jak Printers
Manipal Technologies
ST Reddiar & Sons
Silverpoint Press
Spenta Multimedia
Tholasi Prints
Newspaper Printer of the Year 2016: Divya Bhaskar (Ahmedabad)
DB Corp: 5.3 million copies, 62 editions, 52 print sites. This was on the cover of PrintWeek India 10 September issue. It is a statement of intent.
The group’s flagship Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar is India’s largest selling daily newspaper. However, the company takes home the award on the strength of the quality of Gujarati daily Divya Bhaskar. The paper was launched in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in 2003. Today, Divya Bhaskar is the largest circulated daily of Gujarat and has the most editions by any newspaper in Gujarat. It is published from Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Mehsana, Bhuj, Bhavnagar (as Saurashtra Samachar) and Junagadh (as Sorath Bhaskar).
Divya Bhaskar is designed in Adobe InDesign and Photoshop and is printed on a KBA Prisma DWDC press with nine towers and three folders. The plates are fired on a Krause CTP system. The newspaper is printed on Panasia 48.8 gsm in CYMK.
For the 26 January issue, the layout was specially designed for the occasion of Republic Day. The issue carries two mastheads and each page of the issue has a touch of the three colours of the national flag. Total 335,000 copies were printed.
In another sample, for which 335,870 copies were printed, all the advertisements were corrected and improved by the in-house design team.
Divya Bhaskar (Ahmedabad)
Tel: +91 9825610123 | s_rakesh@dbcorp.in
Commended
Dainik Divya Marathi (Solapur)
Divya Marathi (Aurangabad)
Jagran Prakashan
Malayala Manorama
Navodaya Times
Punjab Kesari
Packaging Converter of the Year (General) 2016: Mandagini Seals
The category is the dark horse at this year’s PrintWeek India Awards as Chennai’s Mandagini Seals wins the prism edging out our roster of previous winners which includes giants such as last year’s winner Parksons Packaging, Manipal Technologies, Pragati Pack, Spectrum Scan and so on.
Mandagini Seals’ speciality is to print on surface of aluminium foil with special character. This can withstand heat up to 320 degrees celcius, and is crush resistant.
This is exemplified in the ‘Kellogg’s’ sample, which was printed on Cerutti five-colour rotogravure press. The job, printed on paper, foil and film, uses CYMK plus Pantone plus Pantone metallic. Post-press treatment include varnishing, embossing, scoring, plotting, micro perforating, lamination and extruding. The other three samples, ‘Danone Foods’, ‘Nestle’ and ‘Reckitt Benckiser’ were designed in-house and they follow the same processes. After the rotogravure printing, the job was sent for punching. The sensor sensed the eyemark and helped punch automatically.
Mandagini Seals (Chennai)
Tel: +91 9444454777 | daniel@mandaginiseals.com
Commended
Creative Offset Printers
ITC Limited - Packaging and Printing Division
Multiflex Polybags
Param Packaging
Parksons Packaging
Pragati Pack
Printmann Group
Rich Prints
Packaging Converter of the Year (General) 2016: Jain Offset Print (Special Jury Award)
Jain Offset Print receives the Special Jury Award on the strength of its quality samples which feature fine textured effects without use of any chemical.
Plus there is the reflection micro embossing and unusual colour combination like MYK, magenta and black, CMY and spot colours printed on LWC duplex board and ITC Sapphire paper. The company uses TechNova plates to print on Komori and Heidelberg six-colour plus coater printing presses.
Jain Offset Print (Surat)
Tel: +91 9328002057 | rprintnpack@yahoo.com
Commended
Creative Offset Printers
ITC Limited - Packaging and Printing Division
Multiflex Polybags
Param Packaging
Parksons Packaging
Pragati Pack
Printmann Group
Rich Prints
Packaging Converter of the Year (Luxury) 2016: Manipal Technologies (Tie)
The joint winners in this category are Manipal Technologies and Mumbai’s Perfect Packaging.
Manipal Technologies’ samples were printed on a Heidelberg CD 74. The plates were produced on Screen 8600 with auto loader and online processor. The pre-press work was done with an Esko workflow and Flexicrip from Esko.
The ‘Aalia’ sample highlights the 12-micron MetPET film lamination and gloss UV. The sample was printed using CYMK plus white on 300 gsm paper.
The ‘Rixos’ sample was printed on 170 gsm art paper with special gold and black. Special features includes aqueous coating and gold foil.
The ‘My Purple’ sample features back side printing, back-to-back pasting, both side gloss lamination and top-side purple foil. Post-press includes matt lamination, silver foil and embossing.
The ‘Beau Elegant Women’ sample highlights silver foiling, which was done before printing, and 3D embossing. Post-press includes soft-touch lamination and spot UV with screen.
Manipal Technologies (Manipal)
Tel: +91 9845398587 | shashi@manipalgroup.info
Commended
Any Graphics
Param Packaging
Parksons Packaging
Pragati Pack
TCPL Packaging
Packaging Converter of the Year (Luxury) 2016: Perfect Packaging (Tie)
The joint winners in this category are Manipal Technologies and Mumbai’s Perfect Packaging.
The samples of Perfect Packaging have been a pleasant surprise.
The samples were printed on Sapphire 290 gsm paper on a Heidelberg machine using violet CTP. The ‘Fashion Movement’ sample features a piece of modern art in black and white with a touch of green and pink. Post-press treatment includes crystal UV effect.
The ‘Grace’ box features a peacock created with special concept. The box, used for artificial jewellery, was printed in a combination of offset and screen. The peacock was brought to life with the help of multicolour foils and UV effects.
The ‘Glam’ sample highlights the use of red foil, special UV effects, crystal embossing and pearl lamination. Post-press also includes crystal UV, glitter UV, wrinkle UV, laser silver hot MetPET.
In the ‘Crystal’ sample, crystal UV is used for emphasis for gemstones. With the help of special effects, multicolour stones are brought to life in the form of crystal. Post-press includes silver MetPET, thermal lamination, crystal UV, abrasive UV, gloss thermal.
Perfect Packaging (Mumbai)
Tel: +91 9820268040 | kashyap_thaker65@yahoo.co.in
Commended
Any Graphics
Param Packaging
Parksons Packaging
Pragati Pack
TCPL Packaging
PUR-Book Maker of the Year 2016: Thomson Press
PUR binding is picking up, and how! This year, Delhi’s Thomson Press (India) edges out Hyderabad’s Pragati Offset to win the Award, the company’s second prism this year after clinching the Magazine category. This ends Pragati’s unbeaten run of winning the award for four consecutive years.
If you look at the larger picture, this also shows how top book printers in the country are warming up to the utility of PUR binding. Thomson’s samples are all higher education/ reference books. This also reveals the interest on part of the traditional academic publishers.
The books were printed on Mitsubishi web and sheetfed presses. The covers are CIS art paper between 230 gsm and 300 gsm. The outer covers of two of the samples had gloss lamination and two had matt lamination.
Thomson Press (India) (New Delhi)
Tel: +91 9810440960 | rpiplani@thomsonpress.com
Commended
Lovely Offset Printers
Parksons Graphics
Pragati Offset
Print Plus
Repro India
Silverpoint Press
Screen Printer of the Year 2016: Spectrum Scan
The Spectrum Scan samples were created especially to give a mirror effect to the printed product and make it look classy. Only screen printing could achieve the desired look.
What makes these samples stand out is that these were printed on the reverse side of clear acrylic with four-colour mirror. It needs tremendous skill to achieve perfection in such jobs. It also needs efficiency and technology to maintain the soft tone and contrast. These samples achieve this with aplomb.
The samples, ‘Tiger Beer Premium’ poster (500 copies) and ‘Sibebe’ board (150 copies) were modified to screen printing colour gamut for CYMK plus mirror plus white during pre-press. The job was printed on a semi-automatised screen printing machine one colour at a time, total seven colours.
The samples, ‘Sunbean PC’ poster (2000 copies) and ‘ICE Burst’ board (2000 copies) features CYMK plus SPS mirror, reverse printing with anti-scratch vinyl. The Vasai-based company gets full marks for maintaining the tonal balance during the entire process.
Spectrum Scan (Vasai)
Tel: +91 9820049376 | amit@spectrummail.com
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Social Stationery Printer of the Year 2016: Almats Branding Solutions (Tie)
The competition was between the innovative diaries from Mumbai’s Almats Branding Solutions and the visually stunning wedding invitation cards from Delhi’s Lustra Print Process. Both are winners.
This is the season of diaries and there are dime a dozen products. To craft a diary that stands out is indeed tough.
The visually astounding ‘Exquisite Diaries’ from Almats Branding Solutions feature animals and birds, and they come in a box with a pendant corresponding to the animal on the cover. (The diary with a blackbuck has a blackbuck horn pendant) The diaries are printed on 90 gsm JK natural shade maplitho. They are section-sewn and hardcase bound. The diary cover features 3D embossing and gloss spot UV. Printing was done a Heidelberg SM 74 and the boxes were screen-printed with gold.
Almats Branding Solutions (Mumbai)
Tel: +91 8879001861 | vinod@almatsbranding.com
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Social Stationery Printer of the Year 2016: Lustra Print Process (Tie)
The competition was between the visually stunning wedding invitation cards from Delhi’s Lustra Print Process and the innovative diaries from Mumbai’s Almats Branding Solutions. Both are winners.
Wedding cards are the de rigueur of printing today. To do something with the good old invitation card, something that has not been done yet, needs both imagination and skill. Lustra Print Process, last year’s Screen Printer of the Year, has both in abundance. More than printing though, the Lustra samples boast innovative use of post-press. The ‘Goenka wedding card’ is a box containing a card and a book.
The company faced multiple challenges in the making of the card – from gold overprint to binding. There are also numerous pop-ups and cut-outs which had to be manually pasted. Finally, each product of the 400 run-length had to be checked individually for quality control. The highlights of ‘Jiwarajka wedding card’ include vivid orange with gold pattern on screen and a die-cut window to reveal layered laser-cut flowers. The individual layers were hand-pasted.
The ‘Jhunjhunwala wedding card’ has lot of manual fabrication.
The ‘Sanya Akshat engagement card’ comes with a dome-shaped box which adds to its elegance. The parts were laser-cut and were pasted manually with the help of foam to keep its three-dimensional visual features intact.
Lustra Print Process (New Delhi)
Tel: +91 9999974199 | lustra@lustraprint.com
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Wide-Format Printer of the Year 2016: Printech Digital Imaging
What sealed the deal for Printech Digital Imaging samples was its breathtaking beauty. This, of course, is the first rule of wide-format printing – it must make you “ooh”. The samples also featured innovative print processes.
In the grid print sample, the image was made with grid lines to make it work when pasted on glass. Printing was done on an EFI Vutek GS 3250 UV, which has white printing capability. The first layer was printed on white – and eight colours were printed on top. Avery grey black vinyl was used. This was done to achieve opacity. For this, during pre-press, the OnyxRIP created the image with a white layer.
In the door sticker sample, the image was flipped and pasted on the rear side of the glass. The EFI Vutek GS 3250 UV was deployed to print on Avery MBK 9040 clear vinyl. The special feature of the job is that the printed vinyl was pasted on the rear side of the glass to avoid scratch marks and vandalism at ATM counters.
In the ‘Hidesign’ 30x20-ft spot white sample, controlling consistency of print was one of the difficult tasks. To highlight the shoes, Printech printed spot white and increased the deposit of ink pigments.
For the backlit billboard print sample, the customer wanted to have the print on backlit flex, and when lit, the background should not be visible. Only the targeted image should be lit. For day effect, the company printed the full image on the front surface of a hot laminated backlit flex on a HP Scitex XP 5300. For night effect, the targeted image was left open and the rest of the image was covered with black ink.
Printech Digital Imaging (Bengaluru)
Tel: +91 9945500023| prasad_b@mac.com
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