Digitally Printing Mono And Highlight Colour

Xerox's Docutech Highlight Colour System is now available in the UK after its global launch at Graph Expo in the US last October.

Xerox's Docutech Highlight Colour System is now available in the UK after its global launch at Graph Expo in the US last October.

Its claimed cut-sheet speed of up to 180 pages per minute (ppm), is said by Xerox to be almost twice as fast as the previous Xerox benchmark speed of 92ppm and provides the flexibility to print in mono, as well as adding highlight colour to a finished product.

Xerox also claimed that the press is up to three times faster than competing models and is available in three versions, running at claimed speeds of 128ppm, 155ppm, as well as 180ppm.

The first UK installations have already been completed at transactional mail and electronic communications specialist, Adare Lexicon in West Yorkshire and Document Outsourcing in Glasgow (Scotland).

The company said that it expects more UK installations over the next few months, with the latest announcement coming from insurance company Allianz Cornhill, which has ordered two HC155 machines, with an option to upgrade to the HC180 in future, if print volumes demand it, at its UK print centre in Guildford.

The Xerox 180 Highlight Colour System is designed for print-on-demand and publishing applications, such as newsletters and reports as well as invoices and statements that use data from transactional databases.

The new highlight colour platform is built on the technology of Xerox's Docutech for mono printing and incorporates technology from the iGen3 digital press for highlight colour imaging.

The system creates two images in sequence - first the black image, then the colour image - in a single pass and it is said to deliver at the fully-rated print speed, in monochrome and highlight colour applications.

The technology from the iGen3 press incorporated in the new highlight colour products, includes Smartpress image management systems, such as trickle development that delivers toner and developer in one user-replaceable bottle and cyclone cleaning, which automatically vacuums leftover toner particles from the imaging system, enabling a so-called 'white glove' change of highlight colour toners.

The system's red and blue toners enable the impact of colour with monochrome on a single page for under a penny per print at up to 180ppm, claimed Xerox.

Print resolutions are said to be 2,400 dots per inch (dpi) x 600dpi for monochrome and 600dpi x 600dpi for colour.

Paper capacities range up to as many as 12,100 sheets for input and 10,100 for output.

Paper sizes range up to 14" x 17", a size required for many publishing applications.

The Highlight Colour family uses the same Xerox DocuSP controller as the 32 other Xerox digital printers and presses, delivering Postscript and PDF printing, print management capabilities and easy operator training.

The new systems are compatible with the full portfolio of the Xerox Freeflow digital workflow collection, added the company.

Order taking and installations for the Xerox Highlight colour systems are already underway in Europe with list prices ranging from £230,000 - £340,000 depending on configuration.

Anoush Dowlatshahi-Gordon, the director and general manager of the production systems group at Xerox UK, said: "The highlight colour is a powerful system that allows printers to focus reader attention on the most critical information, enhancing the presentation of its documents.

The technology of printing in mono, as well as colour, means that printers can maximise their digital equipment by being able to tap in to an entirely new highlight colour revenue stream, which will improve a document's impact, reader comprehension and response rates.

For in-plants, such as Allianz Cornhill, it allows them to increase customer perception and improve response rates to mailings, billings or promotional items, thus helping companies to profit and grow.".

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