Shridhar Khanolkar of Konica Minolta with the AccurioPress C83hc at the company booth
Konica Minolta India demonstrated its AccurioPress C83hc digital press at the Sign Today expo that was held at Bombay Exhibition Centre from 8-10 April. The company booth also displayed a wide variety of samples printed using the AccurioPress C83hc digital press.
“We are highlighting the photo printing capabilities of the AccurioPress C83hc at Sign Today as this expo is mainly for the photo printing segment. The AccurioPress C83hc has a high chroma print system and has the ability to produce high-impact vivid colors. This is especially beneficial for the photo album printers and photo lab operators,” said Shridhar Khanolkar of Konica Minolta India.
Khanolkar stated that by utilizing the wider color gamut in the press, colors closer to RGB can be obtained. That is good for studio photo, photo book, nature photo, illustration, CG, and web to print, among others.
AccurioPress C83hc digital press, which was launched globally in 2019, has high-speed production print output of 81 pages per minute in color and black and white. Its Screen-Enhancing Active Digital Processing (SEAD-II) uses two real-time sensors to maintain color stability during long press runs on the production printing equipment.
The press has thick paper weight compatibility of up to 350 gsm and handles a variety of media such as banners and textured stocks.
Printed samples at Konica Minolta booth
Talking about the Sign Today expo, Khanolkar said that the footfall during the three days was more than satisfactory. He added that there was a lot of enthusiasm among the visitors because Sign Today was the first offline expo in Mumbai post the pandemic.
“We got visitors mainly from tier 2 and tier 3 towns. This shows that the photo printing segment is recovering across the board. This segment was severely hit during the Covid-19 pandemic as large gatherings such as weddings were not taking place or were heavily restricted. Weddings across the country were mostly low-key affairs for almost two years. This impacted the photo labs. Now, with the restrictions lifted across the country, the segment is recovering fast. We have managed to close a few deals for AccurioPress C83hc during the expo,” Khanolkar concluded.
2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India
Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and
multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.
The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry.
While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately
their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book
printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.
The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.
Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.
Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.
Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.
