Stuart & Marks are direct importers of all their own products and the company converts from jumbo reels to custom length rolls for the printing industry. The company will exhibit its comprehensive media range at the FESPA Africa and Sign Africa Expo, taking place from 11-13 September at the Gallagher Convention Centre, 9am-5pm.

The company offer an extensive range of large format digital printing media, which include dye-sublimation papers, tissue protection papers as well as DTF films.

The company’s most recent addition to its dye sublimation paper range is its 29gsm and 42gsm printable paper for sublimation. Also included in the range is solvent, eco solvent, Latex and UV printable substrates such as vinyls, poster papers, canvases, photo papers and backlight films.

The company’s director, Dylan Gordon, said, ‘Our 29gsm and 42gsm dye sublimation papers are coated sublimation papers tailored for high speed and volume based digital transfer printing. These ultra-light grammages are introduced specifically to enable reduced ink consumption, allowing higher productivity, faster drying times and reduced costs. Our products have an excellent ink carrying capacity with bright, vivid colours that are uncompromised.’

‘Whether you are producing promotional material, personalised apparel, or striking visual displays, our paper delivers consistent results that meet your demands. Our dye sublimation papers are the go-to choice for professionals in the industry.’

FESPA Africa and Sign Africa Expo, taking place from 11-13 September 2024 at Gallagher Convention Centre from 9am-5pm, is sponsored by Stixo and Roland. Entrance is free, please register online.

STUART & MARKS (PTY) LTD
+27 11 807 6301
dgordon@sandm.co.za
www.stuartandmarks.co.za

JG Electronics will showcase its newly released Silhouette Cameo 5 cutting machine at the FESPA Africa and Sign Africa Expo, taking place 11-13 September at Gallagher Convention Centre, 9am-5pm.

The Silhouette Cameo 5 is the fastest, most accurate and quietest electronic business cutting machine in Silhouette’s line-up. With advanced engineering and powered by Silhouette Studio®, it’s perfect for both beginners and pros.

It is a more robust machine with a quieter operation​, smooth-opening lid and enhanced registration mark reading for flawless print and cut jobs. Cut up to 305mm wide. Whether adding to an existing branding business or starting a small to medium business, the Silhouette Cameo 5 is the ideal cutting solution.

The cutter can be used for heat transfer vinyl (videoflex) for branding T-shirts and fabrics; sticker vinyl for business branding and wall murals for rooms and more. The full range of pre-printed sublimation patterns can be cut and transferred to decorate sublimation coated products if you don’t own a sublimation printer. It can also be used for stencils for acid etching (glass etching), wood burning gel, fabric paint, wall art, stamp making, and sandblasting; users can draw words/designs with standard gel pens (needs a pen holder); and draw sublimation words and sketch designs using Sublimation Craft Marker Pens (needs a pen holder), in the vinyl cutter.

With sublimation ink already in the pen, it allows users to transfer sketches on a wide range of blank sublimatable items from JG Electronics. Sketch foil designs (foil stamping) for award certificates, business cards, event invites and more on cardstock using the VC Foil Heat Pen with Heat Transfer Stamping Foils. Emboss logos (raised mark on the surface) on business cards, birthday cards, Christmas cards, invitations for special occasions, cardstock bookmarks, and much more using the Silhouette embossing tool in conjunction with the Cameo 5 embossing mat. Users can cut paper, cardstock, some fabrics and more.

Features include a maximum cutting depth of 0.3cm/3mm height clearance for thicker materials​ and users can cut with and without a cutting mat. The maximum cutting length is 61cm with a cutting mat. The cutter offers a 300% speed increase compared to previous Cameo models. The maximum cutting force for carriage 1 is 300 gf and carriage 2 is 5 kgf (highest in machine class). The powerful free software is versatile yet incredibly easy to master and SilhouetteStudio® is perfect for both beginners and pros. Interface: USB 2.0 (full-speed)/Bluetooth® and multiple blade options.

Should a user’s business expand and the Cameo isn’t able to cope with the volumes, simply upgrade the free edition to the Business Edition software. This upgrade provides the ability to connect multiple machines to the same PC and run multiple jobs simultaneously. Software upgrades can be purchased online.

Silhouette Cameo 4 blades fit and work in the Silhouette Cameo 5 vinyl cutter, which features automatic cutting tool detection in that the auto-set blade is adjusted to the correct depth by the software according to the substrate being cut. Cameo 5 is Mac and PC compatible, with three levels of software upgrades that give users functionality such as barcodes, plug-ins for CorelDRAW®, advanced tracing, tracing by colour, tiling, nesting, advanced warping, puzzle generation, embroidery files imports, and more. JG Electronics repair the machines locally, with free training at their offices in Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and Cape Town.

The optional VC Cameo 5 electrostatic mat uses static electricity to hold the media being cut in place – perfect for thin items which can be damaged by a standard mat. The optional VC Cameo 5 electrostatic cover sheet protects the electrostatic tray or mat surface from damage. It also helps to create a static layer to hold material in place during machine operation.

FESPA Africa and Sign Africa Expo, taking place from 11-13 September 2024 at Gallagher Convention Centre from 9am-5pm, is sponsored by Stixo and Roland. Entrance is free, please register online.

JG ELECTRONICS
+27 11 789 6033
sign@jge.co.za
https://www.jgelectronics.com/

In the inaugural episode of The Switch podcast series, Timothy Thomas, Country Manager at Epson South Africa, and Samantha Choles, Communications Specialist at the Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA) share their thoughts, as well as industry-based evidence, to bust the prevailing myths surrounding print and the manufacture and use of paper.

The world of print has received its fair share of criticism and predictions about its future in the past two decades, brought on mainly by the digitisation of industries and the disruption this has caused to print as a result. Many have predicted the downfall of print altogether, believing digital content makes print obsolete, which could not be further from the truth.

Myth 1 – The Print Industry Is On Its Way Out

It’s no secret that print in the traditional sense has been on the decline, particularly in the realm of the media where newspaper and magazine circulations have dropped considerably and in many cases, publications shut down entirely. However, print has been around for over two centuries and will always have a place in many ways. Where the pandemic led to people increasing their use of screens and digital devices, many turned to physical books as a way to shut down and enjoy a kind of digital detox. This is not to speak of the importance of paper in other applications: tissues, product packaging, labels, milk and drink cartons, and dosage leaflets for medicines.

People have also realised that reading reams of content from a screen for hours on end was not just uncomfortable but lacked the charm of the familiar feeling and smell of a book. And, of course, being able to surround yourself with printed pictures of precious memories is far more appealing to a lot of people than storing them away in the cloud where you hardly get to see them.

Myth 2 – Paper And Printing Are Unsustainable

With the disruption caused by digital technology, the print and paper industries have been forced to transform their products and other offerings to meet the evolving demands of consumers and heed calls to reduce the negative environmental impact caused by printers. ‘Through the process of print, more trees are planted, which means more carbon dioxide gets sucked up,’ said Choles, while laying deforestation concerns as a result of trees being cut down for mass paper manufacturing to bed. ‘Trees are a crop; just as we farm mielies and grain for food, we farm trees for paper and many things beyond paper too.’

Printers are now also designed to be more lightweight and compact to ensure they take up less space, and incorporate innovations to ensure the printers consume less energy by producing less heat and, as such, requiring less cooling.

Myth 3 – The Printing Industry Is A Major E-Waste Contributor

It’s true that the print industry has historically produced a considerable amount of e-waste in the form of consumables that were either non-recyclable or incorrectly disposed of, causing items such as toner cartridges and even old printer devices to end up in landfills.

However, with the transformation of print to meet modern sustainability standards, print manufacturers are working harder at reducing their carbon footprints. Epson, for example, has committed to stop selling laser printers entirely and is focusing fully on its inkjet printer offering, which consume up to 85% less energy than a similar-speed laser printer.

‘Laser unfortunately does leave a very negative footprint on the environment. In South Africa, we actually fast tracked that decision and two years ago stopped the sale of laser devices in South Africa to really centre and focus our attention on contributing towards both South Africa and the African continent with new technology that lessens the impact on environment,’ said Thomas.

Contrary to common myths, the print industry is anything but dead, it is alive and well, having simply pivoted away from unsustainable practices that don’t serve the eco-friendly agenda of today and the future. Paper, on which print relies, is equally deserving of a more positive reputation, particularly as it does have positive environmental ripple effects.

EPSON SOUTH AFRICA
www.epson.co.za

Laurel Brunner from the Verdigris Project writes that from the artisans with their sustainably harvested honey to producers of handmade kitsch, we should all be asking our partners and supply chains for details of environmental aspects and impacts.

As we move more and more towards a ‘Do It Yourself’ model, the printing industry is gaining all sorts of new customers. From labels on demand for bespoke honey through to ambitious party signage and sportswear, print volumes are rising. Perhaps one of the biggest categories is book printing, as the world of self-publishing explodes. But rarely is the environmental dimension considered in any these categories of print.

The questions to ask is not always obvious and print providers are probably as much at a loss as print buyers. Here are some suggestions to ask of your print service providers whether you are self-publishing your literary opus or ordering leaflets and signage for the local car dealership.

The most basic questions to put relate to the state of their operations in terms of energy efficiency, age of printing systems, error rates, use of colour management and so on. A more ambitious approach would be to also ask your print service provider if they measure their carbon footprint. These calculations should include both the enterprise and individual print runs, using tools such as ISO 16759 (calculating the carbon footprint of print). Find out if they have set emissions targets with a goal to achieve net zero, and if so, when. Targets create a clear path towards continuous improvement and are the obvious way to get emissions down over time.

Questions about substrates can be a bit of a minefield but at least establish what your service provider’s policies are regarding the use of recycled materials and their sources and composition. They should also have a policy in place for waste handling and packaging preferences, such as moving away from plastic packaging. The same goes for special finishes and lamination: the print service provider should at least have considered their environmental aspects and impacts. The use of complex materials in print media production can often be reconsidered for instance with more sustainable designs. Design can make a big difference in energy usage, production efficiencies and recyclability.

There are wider policies to ask about the organisation’s committments to sustainability, such as certification for ISO 14001 environmental management or use of the ISO 12647 series for process control on press. Some print service providers put sustainability training and education to the fore. They may also have made public environmental commitments and have policies in place to support those obligations. Clearly such companies are to be preferred over print service providers who haven’t made such an effort.

Sustainability is a supply chain issue, whether we’re talking packaging and its disposal or signage and exhibition collateral. All parties should at least be aware of the sustainability of the print they commission, produce and use. And customers should reward those organisations committed to sustainability with their business. It’s the only way things can change for the better.

This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. Verdigris is supported by: FESPA (www.fespa.com), Fujifilm (www.fujifilm.com/sustainability/), HP (www.hp.com), Kodak (www.Kodak.com/go/sustainability), Practical Publishing (www.practicalpublishing.co.za), Miraclon (https://miraclon.com), Unity Publishing (http://unity-publishing.co.uk) and Xeikon (www.xeikon.com).

THE VERDIGRIS PROJECT
http://verdigrisproject.com/