“Digital print enhancement is a sure-shot way of increasing profit margins”

The appeal of digital enhancements is the intriguing design options that create a visual “WOW” factor. This helps in boosting a brand’s image by attracting attention, amplifying content and captivating the recipients. Brand owners can benefit by adding digital enhancements to their print material. Here, Vineet Gehani, Director Channel Sales, Xerox India, shares more about it. Excerpts.

P&P: How is digital print enhancement changing the way we print?

Vineet: The digital enhancement of print is projected to be a $25 billion market. Digital print enhancements have ushered in added capabilities to print a new range of colours, specifically metallic and whites, while also increasing quality and flexibility. Coatings, metallics, white inks, spot colours and gamut extenders are some of the digital print enhancements that are revolutionizing the printing industry.

According to Keypoint Intelligence/Infotrends, print buyers are willing to pay from 24 per cent up to 89 per cent over traditional CMYK for digital print enhancements. Less volume but more value per page. Digital print enhancements can help print providers grow margins by saving time and costs of expensive post-print embellishments. They need to have the capability to grow revenue and margins by keeping this work inhouse. Mainly as demand grows for smaller print runs and rapid turnaround times.

Our Xerox Adaptive CMYK+ Kit adds shiny metallics, bold whites, and glowing fluorescent colors to a Versant 180 or PrimeLink C9065/C9070 printer, extending the color palette to more than a million colors using 11 new toners.

P&P: How important is it for brand owners?

Vineet: For brand owners, the digital print enhancement is a sure-shot way of increasing profit margins from anywhere between 50 and 400 per cent versus ordinary print, according to Keypoint Intelligence research. The appeal of digital enhancements is the intriguing design options that create a visual “WOW” factor. This helps in boosting a brand’s image by attracting attention, amplifying content and captivating the recipients. Brand owners can benefit by adding digital enhancements to their print material – such as marketing collateral, brochures, business cards and signage – and use the extraordinary results to cut through the clutter.

P&P: How is Xerox leading the way with its innovative new Adaptive CMYK+ kits?

Vineet: While digital printing offers substantial benefits over offset printing, everyone is looking for more – something special that can make their print stand out. Xerox Iridesse was the first xerographic digital press outfitted with Colour FLX technology that layers CMYK with up to two Speciality Dry Inks in a single press.

Now, Xerox has brought its innovative Adaptive CMYK+ Kits that can transform a four-colour Xerox Versant 180 Press into an 11-colour Beyond CMYK press capable of creating a million colour hues and shades by adding gold, silver, white, clear and fluorescent colours of yellow, magenta and cyan. The Adaptive CMYK+ Kit is a ground-breaking innovation from Xerox as it empowers print providers with the ability to produce higher-quality prints without significant investment.

P&P: Why is it a better option for print providers and designers?

Vineet: The Xerox Adaptive CMYK+ Kit ensures that designers have more freedom to imagine, create and bring ideas to life. Using white toner, it is possible now to design and print on dark substrates such as black or dark blue for higher a contrast between fonts and images. Clear toner enables the designers to emphasize photos and images with a spot clear to draw greater attention.

With the advantages of digital embellishment options, there exists a wide range of high-value opportunities for print providers. Xerox Adaptive CMYK+ Kits can help in meeting the demands with swap-and-go simplicity and effectively double the versatility of the print hardware.

P&P: How does it increase the profitability and deliver higher margins without needing new press?

Vineet: Customer expectations are changing when it comes to printing labels, business cards, book covers, marketing collateral and gift boxes, among others. This demand directly translates into an opportunity of more high-value jobs for print providers.

Earlier, this required a considerable investment in a digital press that could achieve the needed versatility. However, Xerox Adaptive CMYK+ Kit gives the print providers the ability to simply switch toners in their existing digital press to print more colors and enhancements. In three simple steps—and under 15 minutes—you can remove CMYK toner set and replace it with exciting embellishment opportunities created with gold, white, silver, and clear toners. Print providers can easily convert, enhance, and print more volumes with superior quality without needing to invest in a new press. They can gain an affordable entry into the high-value print enhancements market without sacrificing short-run digital printing.

P&P: Printing industry has suffered due to Covid-19. What message would you like to give to printers to tide over these times?

Vineet: We’re going through an exceptional time which has challenged us to be better and demonstrated that we can only improve this situation when we work together.

Our print providers are exceptional, and we want to help them grow and transform their businesses in the current circumstances and beyond. We understand the challenges they face with print volumes impacted and want to give them the capability to secure higher profit margins on less volume. Value-added services such as these kits enhance their offerings, affordably and differentiate them from the competition.

P&P: How can digital printing help in this direction?

Vineet: Print providers are likely to delay the high-capital investments due to ongoing uncertainty and reduced profits in the past few months. Digital printing is low-cost and provides the ability to produce short-run outputs. It also provides high-quality colour and an opportunity for print providers to increase their profitability.

Digital print enhancement is a high-value market where demand is continually increasing. Offering these enhancements can provide a competitive advantage as well as an opportunity for premium prices for the output. Digital printing can add up to brilliant opportunities for developing new revenue sources while simplifying production.