Our cover this month is pretty sharp, isn’t it? Did you look at it closely? Yes, it’s foiled stamped, but it’s not just any foil stamping—we printed the cover in partnership with Manroland using its Roland inline cold foiler Prindor.
 

This is a special process Manroland has had available for some time, and it brilliantly suits how striking we wanted to make the cover of this issue—our ranking of the largest printers in Canada. The Gold List is a special issue for us and we’re always trying for a little buzz around it, but more about that later. 
 

The Prindor technology applies cold foil inline, in one production step, and it creates a slew of special effects. The Manroland ad on the back cover also uses the same technology. 
 

Here’s how Prindor works: Two printing units are required. The first printing unit puts down an adhesive ink to the areas of the substrate where foil is to be applied. This is done via the inking roller system using a conventional offset plate. The adhesive ink is coloured so that the amount applied can be measured. 
 

A foil unwinding station is mounted on top of the second unit. Here, the blanket cylinder presses the foil onto the areas of the sheet covered with the adhesive ink. Whatever foil is not used is carried to the rewinding station. The foiled substrate is then overprinted in subsequent units. Overprinting creates unique visual effects through the combination of foil and different coloured inks.

Our printer, chosen by Manroland, was Carlson Print Group in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, southwest of Minneapolis. The staff there worked closely with our production department and did a spectacular job. We send out a big thank you to them.

From our perspective this partnership with Manroland works for several reasons. Not only does it give us access to a unique printing application, but it also allows us to showcase the benefits and value that exceptional printing can bring to a project—as a magazine about printing that’s a particularly rewarding endeavour.

 

For more about the Prindor: 

manroland.ca/Products/sheetfedoffset/InlineFoiler.htm
 

The other buzz around the Gold List is the new approach we’ve adopted this year in creating it. Last year, we received 79 submissions, instead of our usual haul of more than 100. This year, we pulled in 79 again.
 

The economy, time constraints, and a general reluctance to disclose sales information have conspired to make it more difficult than usual to get the numbers we need to put the list together.
 

So we decided to tackle the problem a little differently. We went to our database and pulled out the names of print shops with more than 50 employees, figured out how many employees each actually had and then estimated their annual revenues. 
 

This is a new step for us, and one that may draw criticism from companies who didn’t wish to be included. But, our goal was not to embarass, anger or expose anyone. We simply believe it’s important to have as much data available about the printing industry as possible. And to get a fix on exactly how it’s composed. 
 

We may have overestimated or underestimated sales for some companies, but if we are wildly off base, we hope you’ll help us correct our figures.