Scotland's First 46 Karat Brings In 4-Colour Work

Footeprint UK is the first printer in Scotland to install a 46 Karat digital imaging press from A B Dick.

Footeprint UK is the first printer in Scotland to install a 46 Karat digital imaging press from A B Dick.

The Jedburgh company also incorporates Border Print and Packaging.

A traditional litho printer with two B2 and a smaller format two colour press, Footeprint looked seriously at installing a computer-to-plate system before adopting the fully digital route.

"It was speed and ease of use that finally persuaded us to buy the Karat.

We were printing a range of stationery, leaflets and brochures in spot colour in-house while virtually all short run four-colour jobs were outsourced.

We wanted to bring this work back in-house but more importantly we wanted to be able to respond to customersû requirements.

It's not unusual to get a full colour job in the morning that has to be completed the same day, if not the following day.

The make ready time on litho didn't give us the option to turn some of the jobs round that quickly.

The Karat enables us to go straight to press with no need for film or chemicals and we can produce up to four full colour print jobs in an hour.

Customers will have the option to email their jobs to us and we can turn them round by return," Kevin Douglas of Footeprint explained.

He added that the company looked at a competitive DI press but felt that the Karat has better rolling power.

It has been installed just over three weeks and Douglas said that the company was running some excellent quality production work on it.

"I can't praise A B Dick enough for the support they have given us during the installation and training phase.

Although it's new technology, our operators picked it up very quickly.

Although you do need some experience in the printing industry, it doesnût need a specialist operator, which is good for us as we are a small company and the more people that can operate it, the better," he added.

Footeprint is confident that the Karat will give it the means to increase its business by at least 50 per cent.

"We have the first installation in Scotland, so that has to give us a competitive edge to take in both trade and end user jobs.

Although we are focusing on short run full colour jobs in runs up to 20,000, I think that the Karat will also be running some of our spot colour jobs as well, particularly where they are time critical.

We will be heavily promoting the fact that it is chemistry free and meets all the current environmental requirements as this is an important factor to many companies, especially our local government customers," commented Douglas.

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