Fuji Xerox will release its latest high-end digital production printer this quarter, which for the first time includes gold and silver metallic toner.
The Color 1000i Press is essentially an upgrade to the Color 1000 released in August 2010 and maintains the top level model’s focus on the high end professional market with a print speed of 100 prints a minute on media up to 350gsm, along with upgraded software.
It will be released in Japan on February 6 and then be rolled out across the Asia Pacific soon after, available in Australia on March 1.
Fuji Xerox says the new toners make the 1000i the first xerographic production printer to offer either metallic gold or silver colours, and will be able to print on dark-coloured media for the first time.
The manufacturer says printers of catalogues, direct mails, flyers, postcards and business cards will benefit most from the technology as they ‘can add marketing effects and improve the value added to each print, such as giving them a high-class look and seasonal sense’.
However, the metallic toners are not compatible with other Fuji Xerox printers like the Color 1000 or 800 and printers will have to buy the 1000i to use them.
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Fuji Xerox print customers contacted by ProPrint reacted with interest and hope their models are able to use the toners.
OCA chief executive Naresh Gulati, whose Print Bound subsidiary operates two Color 1000s, is already interested in using the new toners to enhance marketing print work.
“I would like to run the clear ink on one and gold or silver on the other depending on production needs,” he says.
“It would be great for getting marketing collateral like direct mail, brochures, and flyers noticed and unlocks many possibilities for creative design. I think it would be best for one-to-one communication rather than posters.
“Look at what Scodix has done with innovative embellishing, it is something that people are really interested in.”
Developed through the company’s Emulsion Aggregation technology, the new gold and silver toners form ellipsoid-shaped inks with the flat reflective pigments completely covered by toner particles.
It achieves a metallic appearance by orienting the reflective pigment particles in parallel to the print media, which allows the reflective pigments to reflect light after the image is fused onto the media.
The reflective pigments do not allow light to pass through, which allows metallic printing on various media.
Fuji Xerox says this process can deliver these printed products, which offset printing has traditionally produced, through a single production printer, adding that this can improve workflow and help print companies to expand their business through widening printing applications with the gold and silver toners.
The 1000i includes Fuji Xerox’s full width array software which automates printing adjustments, such as colour calibration and front and back alignment.
The company says this reduces the operator’s workload and improves working efficiency in making printing adjustments.
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