A few days ago, Xerox made an exciting announcement with the launch of its Xerox Iridesse Production Press – bringing an expanded set of metallic colors to market and greatly upping the creative possibilities for personalized printed applications. With the ability to create designs using metallic and mixed metallic gradients, specialty enhancements or spot colors, you can use color as a stunning variable to take your personalized printed applications to the next level.

It can be used to add dimensional impact to direct mail, empower your brand representation in the enterprise space, enable securitization for packaging or event marketing and even draw attention to personalization, production information or calls-to-action.

The new six-color press combines CMYK printing with up to two specialty dry inks – gold, silver or clear – all in a single printing pass. If you’re a print provider, this means you can offer your customers a whole new palette of metallic colors that shine bright and stand out from the crowd. If you’re a marketer or designer, this means you can let your creative imagination run wild with metallic colors, bringing new pizazz to your printed products.

Personalized Printed Applications

And if you’re an XMPie customer, you can take full advantage of these new color capabilities to offer a truly striking service.  By using XMPie software to power the Xerox Iridesse Production Press, not only will each customized document match your clients’ exact brand colors, but you can make an extra splash by adding mixed metallic tints or clear finishes to any design elements.

XMPie software is built-in to Adobe InDesign CC, so the graphic designer has infinite design possibilities to create brilliant effects with the Iridesse’s special colors.  Working natively through their familiar design-layout tool the designer defines Iridesse’s special colors as spot colors which are sent as standard to the print controller. And because XMPie can drive variability into every aspect of the InDesign document, these effects can vary for each individual recipient or customized version.

It also means that the superior color quality will not need to be compromised for the sake of creating personalized documents. With XMPie, the native quality of InDesign is carried through in all elements of the document. XMPie software works intimately with the Adobe platform and doesn’t require any format conversion; the designer can add amazing customized vignettes, or top-quality personalized images, without damaging the color management or any other quality measures managed by Adobe.

Here are a few examples:

Personalized catalog

For retailers producing personalized catalogs, these dry inks can help create a personalized touch by placing direct emphasis on specific products, perhaps those inspired by previous purchases. You can design the layout to place emphasis on products using silver dry ink with an overlay of clear dry ink to create an eye-catching effect. These will immediately jump out at consumers as they are flipping through the catalog.

Direct mail postcard

If you’re looking to stand out in your customers’ mailbox, these metallic inks can help create that “wow” effect that can’t be missed. Let’s say you’re running a promotion on a new coffee maker and want to offer your customers a coupon via a direct mailer. You can add depth and dimension to the coffee pot image and personalized discount text using gold dry ink and then finish by adding a clear spot overlay to the discount text make the mailer really pop!

Business cards

Business cards may be small in size, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make a big statement. Add a new look and feel to business cards by printing personalized text with vibrant mixed metallic hues achieved using gold and silver dry inks.

Even as the variable elements are brought in from one recipient to another, within the same print-run every piece can be uniquely finished with the combination of XMPie and the Xerox Iridesse Production Press.

Congratulations to our friends at Xerox for the launch of this exciting new press!