Print.IT - issue 50

32 PRINT.IT 01732 759725 PRODUCTION PRINT At the end of 2014, Ricoh opened a world of opportunities for print service providers (PSPs) and corporate print rooms with the launch of the first five colour- enabled light-to-mid production colour cut sheet press, the Ricoh Pro 7100S. A little over three years later, it is bringing out an updated five- colour model for graphics arts applications, the Pro C7200X, as well as an economical four-colour version for enterprise print rooms, the Pro C7200. As you would expect, the new versions offer better print quality than their predecessors, with higher resolution images and improved colour stability and registration through automatic monitoring and adjustment. They are also five pages per minute faster (85/95ppm), more productive and more versatile (with expanded media and toner support – see panel) and easier to use, with time-saving features such as a new Android-based 17-inch operator panel and LED lights inside the press that show the location of a paper jam or other fault. The Art of the New In April, Ricoh held a customer event – The Art of the New 2018 – at its European Innovation Centre in Telford where it demonstrated the new devices and highlighted some of the applications they support, from on demand book printing to neon party invitations. Two features of the new machines that it singled out were the wide variety of substrates supported, including synthetics, window clings, metallics and rich linens, and an expanded range of fifth colour options. These now include clear toner; white toner, which can be printed with CMYK in a single pass rather than the old two-pass process; neon yellow; neon pink; and, most recently, invisible red, which has entry-level security applications. To help users make the most of the fifth colour, Ricoh is introducing a Touch7 plug-in for Photoshop that makes it easier to add neon yellow and neon pink to artwork; a series of swatch books featuring colours made up of CMYK plus neon yellow or neon pink; and a Color-Logic tool that does a similar job for metallic shades. Ricoh was also showing workflow management and personalisation solutions that help customers get the most from its new devices (e.g. TotalFlow, TotalFlow BatchBuilder and FusionPro VDP), as well as specific workflows, such as book printing and the Printed Memories ‘reminiscence therapy’ initiative developed in conjunction with Alzheimer’s Research. Based on Ricoh’s TotalFlow solution and MarcomCentral web2print technology, Printed Memories is a web portal where friends and family of dementia sufferers can create, preview and send personalised postcards. Cards with a favourite photo on one side and a personal message on the other are printed and posted at Ricoh’s Telford facility, with money raised going to Alzheimer’s Research. In addition to the new Pro C7200 Series models, Ricoh was showing a replacement for the Pro C9100 colour sheetfed press for CRDs and commercial printers planning to switch volume from offset to digital. Like the Pro C7200 devices, the Pro C9200 Series of digital sheetfed colour presses is faster (115/135ppm) and more productive than its predecessor, with better image quality, more consistent colour output and expanded media support. With added Wow! Ricoh’s new Pro C7200 and Pro C9200 cutsheet colour presses give print service providers (PSPs) and corporate reprographics departments (CRDs) more opportunities to add value and reduce TCO. James Goulding reports At a glance: Pro C7200 n 95ppm or 85ppm output n 2400 x 4800 dpi print quality n Simplex printing of long sheets up to 1,260mm n Auto duplex for long sheets up to 700mm n Auto duplex media up to 360gsm at rated speed n Auto calibration n Auto registration n Inline finishing, including wire-binding for the first time