Oct. 20, 2008—You no doubt noticed that this week's cover was not just a full cover, but was also tipped onto the issue. Printing News had the opportunity to work with several industry players to create this fantastic metallic cover for our Graph Expo show issue.

The cover was a collaboration among the Printing News staff, MetalFX, who created the technology and inks to print metallic from a standard offset press, and Pictorial Offset Corp., who donated the time and the press for the job.

Mark Geeves, MetalFX vice president-Americas, commented, "MetalFX Technology is proud to have been selected to produce the Graph Expo 2008 cover of Printing News."

Over the course of about two months, every detail was examined, the art was chosen, the file was separated, and Pictorial printed the sheets, then sent them to Publishers Press in Kentucky, which handles Printing News' usual work.

"This has been an exciting project for me," said Barbara Pineiro, Printing News art director. "It's very rewarding to see a job like this, something out of the ordinary and very creative, progress from an idea, to a finished, printed piece."

Smooth and Bright
First things first: the paper. To showcase the technology and what it's capable of, Printing News decided to go with something a bit heavier and brighter than our normal stock, which is a 45-pound semigloss. For the metallic cover, an 80-pound text sheet was used. It was Centura Gloss, a number-one sheet, with a brightness level of 96.

"Our customers are always asking for something new that is creative but doesn't cost too much money," said David Luke, vice president of sales, Pictorial Offset. "MetalFX is a good example of satisfying both of those requirements, simply by creating both contrast and dimension on a printed sheet, for only the extra cost of a metallic ink. However, it's important to note that you probably want to use a nice paper stock to get maximum value from the MetalFX process."

The job was run on a manroland 708 press, using CMYK inks, plus the MetalFX silver ink as a fifth color. An aqueous coat was applied to the image area, with a box blocked out for inkjet addressing later.

Setting up the File
Knowing that the cover would be going to Graph Expo in Chicago, Printing News decided early on that we wanted a jazz-themed image. Pineiro created the concept of Jazzing it Up, and mocked up the design, including spicing up the Printing News logo with silver.

Once that was done, MetalFX sent over a copy of its software, which walked her through the initial phases of separation, and how to apply and use the metallic ink. From there, the MetalFX people took the file, making suggestions and adjustments to ensure it would get the most pop.

Counter to what the staff believed, MetalFX noted that making the background metallic, and keeping the foreground image CMYK, would create the most impact. By putting metallic ink where you least expect to find it, you get more of a wow factor, and it makes the overall presentation that much more eye-catching.

"Richard Ainge from MetalFX was especially helpful in the preparation of the files," noted Pineiro. "I sent the raw files to him, and he produced the separations. The software itself was easy to install, and simple to use right out of the box. I would recommend the technology to anyone who wants to take a project to a new level."

The Press Check
On the day of the press run at Pictorial Offset, I, along with Pineiro and our salesperson Paul Zimmerman, went to Pictorial's Carlstadt, N.J. plant to see it being produced, and to sign off on the final sheet. For Pictorial, the MetalFX technology is a new addition to their plant, and this was a fantastic way for the company to demonstrate its capabilities.

Gary Pawlaczyk, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Pictorial, noted that, "The Samuels brothers have always invested heavily in innovation while being mindful of our strong environmental stance. When our clients have a new technology need, they make sure that funding never stands in the way. These MetalFX covers will be great to take to both our customers and our prospects as a way of differentiating ourselves in the marketplace."

Advanced Technology
Surprisingly, the metallic ink is actually laid down on the sheet first. This provides the base for the rest of the effect. Over that, the CMYK is printed, and then the coating, all in line on the press. One interesting thing to note is that because of the order of printing, some areas, like the page number for this article, almost obtain a holographic effect.

MetalFX, a Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corp. acquisition, is a universal process and spot metallic color system that allows millions of metallic colors to be printed by adding only the one base silver or gold ink to the usual CMYK mix.

"MetalFX Technology is now licensed to many printers in the United States, and is the choice of both graphic designers and printers for producing trouble-free metallic effects using standard CMYK inks combined with the MetalFX SilverCoat or Gold ink set," Geeves said.

All in all, this was an incredible project to be involved in, and the results are stunning. This technology, which can run in any offset press, is a fantastic way for commercial printers to expand their value to end customers. It adds pop and sparkle to an image, and makes the printer more of a partner in creating the end result, instead of just a supplier of ink on paper.

"The staff of Printing News is very excited to be delivering this print showpiece to the market," said Michael Zerner, publisher of Printing News. "We're always looking for relevant, innovative ways to make our publication and brand stand-out, like any other end-user. MetalFX Technology provided a significant solution, enabling us to produce a unique, captivating front cover for this edition of the magazine. We appreciate the time and effort of our partners—MetalFX Technology and Pictorial Offset—in this exciting project."