design info
reprographic
St Ives Westerham Press places much emphasis on Colour Management. This commitment has reaped benefits for many of our clients, who rely on the quality of their catalogues or books to sell their products.
At St Ives Westerham Press, predictable and consistent colour controls are maintained constantly throughout the printing workflow, using state-of-the-art equipment.
Scans are separated into the CMYK colour-space using a predetermined ICC profile, which was created by fingerprinting Westerham’s presses. This method allows us to maintainaccurate, predictable and cosistant colour when separating and printing your images. This ensures they are reproducing to the exacting standards of our clients.
All of our digital proofers have also been ICC profiled. We initially output colour plotter proofs that allow you to check content and make any necessary changes without incurring huge costs.
To ensure that approved proofs are exactly replicated we have invested in two fully automatic Heidelberg Computer-To-Plate systems. These systems ensure that our plates offer the sharpest and most consistent results achievable. Not only has this enhanced our quality but it has also helped us to reduce costs.
printing
All three of our Heidelberg 102 machines offer you the most advanced technology currently available. This makes our presses the most efficient in terms of running speed and make ready times.
Equally as important as the speed is the quality our presses produce. This quality really is the cornerstone of St Ives Westerham Press and the impeccable results that we deliver are the basis of our long-standing relationships with our clients. To ensure that we produce this quality time and again, jobs are monitored constantly whilst on press.
St Ives Westerham Press uses Heidelberg’s Image Control system, which encompasses all areas of Closed Loop Colour Management within the production process. This is the only system in the world that spectrophotometrically measures the entire printed image. The result from these measurements are fully utilised for setting the ink zones on every sheet. Image Control analyses the four process colours (CMYK) special and spot colour, and automatically derives adjustment recommendations, which can be directly passed to the press.
Furthermore, image data, transferred by our networked pre-press interface, produces a fast and accurate facsimile of the poofing sheet. Once the section has been signed off, Image Control produces a digital reference sheet that ensures unparalleled levels of quality and consistency throughout the entire run of the job.
quality
Quality is the cornerstone of what we seek to achieve in every product. To reach this goal we offer bespoke solutions to individual projects. This could simply involve standard screens using CMYK, however it may involve the latest and most innovative techniques.
These developments mean that today we get great results and can improve the appearance and visual impact of the printed piece. We are able to expand the range of printable colours, improve detailing and eliminate moiré patterning. Please find some detail about the various techniques, which we frequently employ.
stochastic screening
Stochastic screening is a method of printing using randomly arranged dots of varying size. The level of detail that can be achieved using a stochastic screen is equivalent to that of using a 600 line screen. Another useful application of this form of random screen printing is that it enables you to eliminate moiré patterning (screen clash) which can particularly be a problem when adding extra colours.
nova space
The Nova Space process begins at the repro stage, where special curves are used. As for the printing, special high intensity versions of CMYK inks are used. The Nova Space curves and inks allow you to achieve greater depth in your images, with colours that jump off the page.
This is becoming an increasingly popular process and the results speak for themselves and our clients are thrilled with them. “The Nova Space inks look fabulaous” (Ione Minnet, Merchant Group Ltd). Most recent we used Nova Space inks to produce the ICI Report and Accounts.
hexachrome
Hexachrome is a recent development from America. This system utilises modified CMYK colours and adds special green and special orange. This process enables you to access 90% of the colours in the Pantone spectrum (standard CMYK separations achieve approximately 60%)
metallic integrated process printing
Incorporating metallic inks into the four process is a relatively new process. MIPP can enhance the way metallic objects are represented and add further dimensions to the image by the way light is reflected by the metallic inks.
vegetable based inks
Soya, or vegetable based, inks are used mainly for environmental reasons as their sources are organic and renewable.
We currently use vegetable inks for all of Cadbury's work, including the annual report, the interim and the Corporate and Social Responsibility Report.
Whatever production method we employ, the same exacting standards of production apply.
To illustrate the range of our services, of necessity, we have reproduced customers' registered and unregistered trade marks and representations of their brands. The rights that our customers have in their respective trade marks and brands are fully acknowledged.