Category Archives: Testimonials

Exceeding Expectations: A RIP and Workflow Story

Exceeding Expectations: A RIP and Workflow Story

Article provided by Xitron

One of the best things about helping a customer get up to speed with new RIP and workflow products is getting to see the difference it makes in their production. Having the opportunity to make a difference more than once at the same shop isn’t a common experience but when it happens it’s especially satisfying.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with John Zell of Camera Graphics in Portland, Oregon and the topic of discussion was how Xitron software had made a difference in his business; not just once, but twice. You can read his story along with several others on the Xitron website here: http://bit.ly/2AzriXF

John’s application is pretty unique in that it requires him to output to film. As most of you know, this is not as easy as it sounds as imagesetters are the horse and buggy equivalent to today’s SUV’s. The point is, even though a piece of software might be written for a more pedestrian application or function, a little creativity may allow for a profitable adaptation.
John had the foresight to recognize a niche to which few people had paid attention, and then he capitalized on it. He also called on a partner who had helped him almost 15 years earlier and found we were up for another challenge. Speaking to the support team about an OS-related issue sparked the rest of the conversation.

Satisfying? Yes, but fun also. A lot of interesting things can happen when someone asks the question, “I wonder what would happen if we did this . . .”

Mid-State Litho
5459 Fenton Rd.
Flint, MI 48507
www.midstatelitho.net

Xitron Navigator – “This Workflow Has Exceeded All Our Expectations”

Xitron Navigator Workflow

Xitron Navigator – “This Workflow Has Exceeded All Our Expectations”

In 1996, John and Christy Zell purchased Camera Graphics in Portland Oregon. Established as the first pre-press house in Portland, CG had been in operation since 1967. The Zells turned it into a full-featured shop specializing in film output; a somewhat rare specialty given the industry’s move to CTP over the last few years.

Specialize, they do, however. They are currently running three Linotronic imagesetters and an Agfa Avantra 44. One of the main reasons is a niche service providing custom dry transfers, which is a way to apply graphics to just about any item, large or small. “Think old school Chartpak or Letraset,” John explains. Their regular customers for these “rub on” graphics are industrial model shops that produce prototypes of new products, which help the prototypes more closely resemble their intended final appearance.

In 2002 John and Christy purchased their first RIP and workflow from Xitron, the Xenith Extreme based on an Adobe core. It served dutifully for a full fourteen years before the Windows NT computer became unsupportable. At that point they made the decision to investigate Xitron’s Navigator Workflow, based on the popular and speedy Harlequin RIP platform.

>> Click here to read the full article

Xitron Navigator Harlequin RIP

Xitron’s Navigator Harlequin RIP is a best-in-class implementation of Global Graphic’s Harlequin RIP technology. Providing prepress environments with fast, predictable, and reliable interpretation of PostScript, PDF, and EPS format files, Navigator is the most trusted name in RIP architecture with over 35,000 installations worldwide.

>> Learn more here

MSL
5459 Fenton Rd.
Flint, MI 48507
www.midstatelitho.net

Perrin Resort and Collegiate Apparel calls Xitron’s Navigator Workflow a “very good investment.”

Xitron's Navigator Workflow

Perrin Resort and Collegiate Apparel calls Xitron’s Navigator Workflow a “very good investment.”

Xitron’s Navigator Workflow

What do you call a project where saving about 37 hours of labor each day is an unexpected side benefit? Robert Kern, Illustrator and Designer at Perrin Resort and Collegiate Apparel calls Xitron’s Navigator Workflow a “very good investment.”

Perrin is an employee-owned screen printer, located in Comstock, Michigan, with over 200 employees. Perrin’s customers include theme parks, museums, airports, sports teams and resorts worldwide. To meet the demand, twenty M&R screen printing presses are fed by three M&R i-Image ST computer-to-screen imaging units that produce up to 900 screens a day.

Prior to the Xitron system being installed, color transitions (gradients) were a problem, according to Kern. “It wasn’t smooth transitioning between, for example, 10% and 40%.” The need for improved quality sent Perrin looking for solutions that would complement the built-in software on their CTS systems. Industry consultant Lon Winters of Print This, Inc, recommended the Navigator workflow.

After a six-month evaluation and study, Perrin determined the Navigator workflow greatly exceeded expectations.

>> Click here to read the full article

About Xitron Navigator Harlequin RIP

Xitron’s Navigator Harlequin RIP is a best-in-class implementation of Global Graphic’s Harlequin RIP technology. Providing prepress environments with fast, predictable, and reliable interpretation of PostScript, PDF, and EPS format files, Navigator is the most trusted name in RIP architecture with over 35,000 installations worldwide.

>> Click here to learn more

MSL
5459 Fenton Rd.
Flint, MI 48507
www.midstatelitho.net

Gatherall Bindery Invests in Game Changers

Gatherall Bindery Invests in Game Changers

Investments in Standard Horizon technologies open new markets and opportunities

Gatherall Bindery Invests In Game ChangersSince 1968, Gatherall Bindery of Wixom, Michigan has been serving southeast Michigan’s small and mid-sized businesses with quality binding of print from more than 200 regional, small and commercial printing plants. Much of that work today is digital in nature, with short print runs and fast turnaround expectations.

Mark Culley and Brian Johnson lead the business, and noted that some of the greatest challenges a bindery faces today are keeping pace with the fast-turn workflow and managing the array of paper and substrates that come through the door. That’s why the decisions they make regarding binding and finishing equipment are so critical. “As far as bindery goes, the equipment is our business,” Culley said.

Working with local dealer Mid-State Litho of Flint, Michigan, the company has built an impressive, coordinated workflow based predominantly on equipment supplied by Standard Finishing Systems. In fact, the company has a more than 20-year relationship with Standard Horizon technologies.

“Back in the mid-‘90s, we were in the market for a binder, and we looked at a Standard Horizon system and also at the competitor, which was slightly cheaper. Back then, we were still green and thought that every single penny we spent up front was the most important thing,” Culley recalled. “And then we discovered that the Standard Horizon solution was a much better product.”

Today, Culley and Johnson field questions from colleagues all the time about equipment dilemmas, and inevitably they’ll suggest, “Just buy the Standard Horizon. You’re not getting a tinker toy. You’re getting a machine that’s going to last,” Culley said.

Among the Standard Horizon investments Gatherall has made are: a BQ-270 Perfect Binder; an SPF-200L Bookletmakerwith VAC collating towers; a StitchLiner 5500 Saddlestitcher with four VAC collating towers installed in 2006; and the newest installation, a BQ-470 Perfect Binder with PUR adhesive.

The StitchLiner 5500 has been a workhorse. “It’s used 10 hours a day, five days a week, and it has allowed us to create thicker books that we weren’t able to do before,” Johnson said.

“For example, I was just able to quote a 120-page self-cover saddlestitched book, and in the past, because of the page count, that may have been sent out to another bindery. Now, we can do that with confidence and quickly,” Culley explained.

The most significant “game changer” investment came in the form of the Standard Horizon BQ-470, according to Johnson and Culley. “It has opened up a whole new market,” Culley said. The same could be said for the SPF-200L Bookletmaker, which enabled the bindery to produce landscape-oriented publications. But it’s the BQ-470 with the PUR adhesive that was truly transformative.

“Because we receive jobs from so many printers, and are asked to perfect bind books with all different weights and grades of paper, we were finding that EVA glue wasn’t always the best option,” Culley recalled.

“We didn’t want to turn jobs away, and there was a period when we lacked confidence that the binding would hold up over time. The BQ-470 with PUR glue gave us that confidence, as well as the quality, speed, and consistency we needed. It was a game changer and problem solver,” he added.

The team at Gatherall Bindery applauds their representatives at Mid-State Litho and at Standard Finishing Systems, who they noted are unwaveringly knowledgeable, responsive, and trustworthy.

“To have a team of resources like that is huge,” Johnson said. “Installations have all gone smoothly, and any time we’ve had a question or needed a part, they have been incredible. They bend over backwards for their customers.”

Visit Gatherall Bindery online at www.gatherall.net

Mid-State Litho, Inc.
5459 Fenton Rd.
Flint, MI 48507
www.midstatelitho.net