As part of its series on small and micro-printers and prominent printing districts in different cities, Indian Printer & Publisher took note of Waka Digital from Ludhiana, Snap Kosh from Varanasi, and Upadhyay Colour Copier from Lucknow. Operating from different cities, one factor binds them — all three started by trading printed commodities and then invested in a digital press, running the business as a sole proprietor, and later on expanded as per market demands and trends.
Waka Digital Ludhiana
We met Paramveer Singh and his father, Haridayal Singh of Waka Digital, in April 2025. Established in 1988, Waka Digital offers a variety of products, including photo albums, photo frames, pamphlets, and more. Waka Digital also works extensively for the apparel industry, providing DtF printing on textiles and labels and tags for packaging.
Haridayal Singh explained how he started the business as a photo color lab for wedding photography and albums, which has been revolutionized by digital printing.
“We kept adding value to our wedding album products over the years with technology and premium finishing. However, photographic services, which have been our core, saw more opportunities with sample booklet printing for the garment industry. We have many hosiery manufacturers as our regular customers. They demand printed samples of how the clothing will look when worn. We do the photography and printing, which they distribute to their customers.”
The company, using an AccurioPress C4080 from Konica Minolta, integrated calendar-making into its production as an advertising sub-division, where they include photographs of hired models wearing garments of its hosiery clients. This gave the business an additional push as the quality of its products attracted nearby schools for printing prospectuses and annual magazines. The company plans to add an embellishment machine to better market its products.
Snap Kosh Varanasi
Snap Kosh is a veteran user of offset technology and an early adopter of digital in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi. It was founded in 1969 when Padmashree Dr Badrinath Kapoor decided to establish a book printing press to print his books, which he used to get done in Prayagraj.
Vinamra Kapoor, the third-gen director of Snap KoshA printer advised Kapoor to set up his press to save him the trouble of traveling long distances at fairly regular intervals. Over time, his son Deepak Kapoor joined him in his business. Deepak Kapoor manages the day-to-day affairs at Snap Kosh along with his son Vinamra Kapoor, a third-gen director whom Indian Printer & Publisher spoke with.
Vinamra Kapoor joined his family business in the year 2012 after quitting his job at a media house in Delhi. Till that time, it was a traditional printing press with standard machines and equipment. The plant underwent modernization and shifted to digital printing after he joined the family printing press. The digital portfolio began with a Xerox press, and then a Canon production machine. An AccurioPress C7090 was the latest addition in December 2024.
The business, which began with the need for self-publishing, moved toward printing religious books with Deepak Kapoor at the helm. After Vinamra Kapoor’s joining and its digital adoption, the company began to be recognized as a one-stop solution for all printing requirements. The add-ons are short-run printed literature, ID cards, visiting cards, specialized sticker printing, and more. With Vinamra’s expertise in photography, photo and album production became a heavily demanded commodity in the pilgrimage city.
Upadhyay Colour Copier Lucknow
During our visit to Lucknow last monsoon, Pawan Upadhyay, proprietor of Upadhyay Colour Copier, stood out as an optimist. In the UP capital, where several commercial printers said venturing into commercial printing would be a fool’s errand, Upadhyay felt Lucknow printers were shy of incorporating digital embellishments, foiling, and embossing techniques even to this day.
Embellishment is a specialty of Lucknow’s Upadhyay Colour Copier. Photo IPP“If printers have a growth mindset, they will know that new technologies with automated features and cloud computing are the way ahead. Traditional printers seldom change their operational machines. Older businesses are reluctant to revamp their infrastructure if a machine runs smoothly. Adoption and open-mindedness are necessary; unwillingness to advance technologically could be fatal as customers only desire what’s latest,” he said.
Established in 2009, the business is located in Lucknow’s Haiderganj area. Upadhyay, who started as a photocopier, noticed the growing customer demand for more printed products. The commercial printer initially invested in a 4-color machine. Visiting cards, leaflets, letterheads, wedding cards, greeting cards, and projects for school and college students are some of its products.
Students living near Haiderganj are repeat customers. “The students told us that their faculty was quite impressed with the projects that had embellishments or foiling and even set that as a minimum standard for any submission,” he said.
Digital embellishments made him stand out as a premium provider of projects and reports. The printer also serves Firozabad, Lakhimpur, Kanpur, Gonda, Varanasi and other nearby cities. In February 2025, the company invested in another MGI embellishment machine.
