New Screening Software Dealership For UK, Ireland

Newspaper and magazine screening technology in the UK and Ireland will be on offer from WRH Marketing UK in a deal that has seen the company take on the dealership for Sandyscreen's products.

Sandy-Professional for newspaper production and Sandystar for magazines, from Swiss company Sandyscreen, are already sold in other parts of Europe by companies within the WRH Marketing Group and this latest agreement is seen as a natural progression.

Sandyscreen's screening technology is for use with CTP systems and is claimed to enhance image quality.

The principle of both screen types, Sandyprofessional and Sandystar, is a deferred dot closure up to 99 per cent.

That is said to result in optimal light and shadow detail in the image and no loss of colour shades compared to the original data supplied.

In addition, for commercial printing, Sandystar enables screen frequency to be doubled without changing plate exposure time.

Sandyprofessional and Sandystar can be used as a substitute for traditional AM screens, or as an alternative to FM and hybrid technologies, said WRH Marketing.

The software can be integrated in most Harlequin-based RIPs and can be used with all modern CTP systems and litho plates.

Customers using a range of presses have reported very reliable image stability even on high print runs, added the company.

The parameters of print, stock, exposure units and plates are reflected within the evaluated gradation curve in the RIP, so that the printer can retain normal production procedures but with an enhanced image quality.

The installation of the software on the customer's RIPs and the creation of gradation curves are carried out by Sandyscreen's engineers, whilst training is normally carried out within a week.

Sandyscreen's chief executive officer, Paul Rhinow, said: "We demonstrated our software to the WRH Marketing Group months ago and this has resulted in several subsidiaries taking on the product for its home market.

WRH Marketing UK has been particularly interested in the software because the potential in the UK is significant.

Our screening technology is already established in some European countries within the newspaper industry and we have just developed a version for the web offset and sheet-fed sectors, which we are very excited about.

The screening technology can also be utilised in the flexo sector." WRH Marketing UK's managing director, Marcus Evans, "We believe there is a huge market for a screening technology that allows the printed image quality to be improved so significantly and yet so simply.

The impact that a printed image makes on the viewer can easily be underestimated.

Research has shown that it takes only around one quarter of a second for someone to decide if they like an image or not, which obviously has a huge significance for both advertising and editorial." He added: "Getting the correct impact is vital if the image is to do its job.

The Sandyscreen technology enables the printer to improve images, whether he is printing a long run on low grade paper or a short run on high gloss art stock.

This makes it relevant across a wide proportion of the printing industry.".

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