Barkers Print is starting to produce commercial work on a new Xerox Iridesse five-colour press. The Dorking company is retiring a Xerox Color 1000 which introduced the company to the concept of an extra toner. In that case it was a clear toner, on the Iridesse it is fluorescent pink.
The company is considering the addition of a silver toner unit, swappable with the pink. The Iridesse will also enable the company to produce extended sheets, says managing director Rob Barker.
“We have previously had to send out covers and print for A4 landscapes,” says Barker. “We wanted to keep this in house.”
The press, supplied by Xeretec, also delivers a smoother finish than the older machine, equivalent to Indigo on some work, says Barker. “When we decided we needed to change the press it was a very close decision between Ricoh and Xerox. That we had always had Xerox swung the choice.” The company also runs its mono work on a Xerox Nuvera 144.
The fluorescent pink was also crucial. It will add punch to reds and enable the business to print difficult to reach oranges. Barkers has been testing this during the training period since installation at the end of June.
“We had the clear toner, but never really used it because the print itself was shiny, so adding the extra varnish did not deliver much benefit,” he adds.
Consequently he has his eyes on silver as the next extra colour for the machine. There are already customers that would use silver, he explains. In the longer term the company can upgrade the five-colour Iridesse to a six-colour configuration.
Before then Barker says the company is looking for equipment to handle finishing of A4 landscape brochures. “We have had to finish them by hand. We like our Watkiss PowerSquare and will be looking at the landscape format version,” he adds.
Most of all though, is the improved quality and the impact that this will have on jobs that have been printed on the Indigo. “This can be every bit as good,” he says.
