Manufacturer of decorative and functional coatings, Leonhard Kurz, is launching its Digital Metal product, a system for applying metallic layers in the digital printing process.
The company is offering an all-in-one solution comprising of a transfer machine, the DM Liner, an associated web-based software, and a Digital Metal foil that has been specially tailored to this process.
The DM Liner transfers the foil at speeds between five and 30 m/mins. It can process paper with grammages between 90 and 350 grams/sqm, and formats from 210 x 297 to 390 x 500 mm. The foil is available in gold or silver, as well as diffractive designs with a rainbow colour play or holographic continuous structures.
The Internet-based software provides an overview of the consumption and available stock of the foils. Based on a pay-per-stamp principle, the user is only invoiced for the actual amount of foil used.
The Digital Metal process involves three stages. First the desired design is printed onto the paper substrate using dry or liquid toner. Then the DM Liner is used to transfer the foil to the pre-printed surface. Next digital or offset colour printing is performed, whereby the Digital Metal foil can be overprinted in any desired manner, thereby enabling a wide variety of metallic colour tones to be generated.
The technology allows partial metallisation, which produces a very high gloss level that is not achievable using metallic pigment inks. This process is economical to use for small-run jobs, and can also be used for personalisation and serialisation.
