Canon Océ Touchstone was launched at FESPA 2018 and enables the use of an Océ Arizona flatbed printer to print multiple layers, resulting in printed effects that mimic textured surfaces, embossing, metallic accents and raised lettering.
Océ Touchstone is an end-to-end solution comprising four individual components: a plug-in design tool for Adobe Photoshop; the ONYX Thrive workflow solution; the Océ Touchstone software using Océ Advanced Layer Printing System (ALPS) technology; and an Océ Arizona 1200 or 2200 series wide format flatbed printer.
The complete solution has been carefully integrated to make high quality elevated printing simple and reliable, enabling print service providers (PSPs), as well as companies in the packaging, display and industrial sectors, to add value to customer projects and produce high value applications.
Mark Lawn, director, graphics & communications group, Canon Europe said, ‘PSPs are looking for innovative ways to differentiate themselves from their competitors and create additional value for their customers. In turn, designers and print specifiers are increasingly willing to pay a premium for more stylish and impactful finishes. The trend for this is supported by recent research from InfoTrends which found that 89% of print buyers and 43% of PSPs expect to pay a premium for textured or elevated prints.
Materials printed on the Océ Arizona can now be enhanced with unique textures, low relief or metallic accents for eye-catching effects, with broad appeal for a number of markets, including signage, décor and packaging. It takes a flatbed technology with perfect registration, such as one of the Océ Arizona Series printers, to achieve the reliable and accurate dot placements for optimum elevated print results. Océ Touchstone enables PSPs to add an exciting, tactile element to their offering.’
Océ Touchstone can be used to recreate a range of textured surfaces with potential applications in interior and exterior décor, for example, stone, brick, wood and tile effects.
For PSPs using flatbed printing technology to produce short-run customised packaging, Océ Touchstone can be used to reproduce the effect of embossing.
With Océ Touchstone, conceptualisation and design takes place in Adobe Photoshop, supported by the plug-in. A 3D preview enables users to pre-emptively identify potential adjustments that need to be made to the design and the level of elevation.
Once finalised, the design is transferred to a standard PDF file, making it easy to share for production. The ONYX Thrive workflow solution performs colour management and passes the file and height information to the Océ ALPS engine, which processes the 2D and height data into an elevated printing file, ‘slices’ it into the individual layers to be printed, creates a batch job and sends the batch file to the flatbed printer.
The Océ Arizona system prints the individual layers in perfect registration, by raising the print head gantry automatically. The outstanding accuracy and registration of the Océ Arizona flatbed printers, combined with the Océ ALPS technology, ensures customers get pristine quality prints with every job.
Océ Australia
www.oce.com.au
