In conjunction with Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, on 22 April 2010 Papierfabrik Scheufelen, Lenningen, invited a select group of creative and production specialists to the Print Media Academy in Heidelberg.  In heaven 42 Scheufelen has created what is by a long way the whitest coated paper on the world market. It is a paper that offers almost un-limited scope for development to creativity and implementation. In se-lected presentations, guest experts went into detail on the special fea-tures of heaven 42, focusing on the importance and print requirements of the paper. At the same time the Heidelberger team and the Print Media Academy venue offered the opportunity to experience first-hand the print-specific requirements at the pre-set stage and of the currently most productive sheet-fed offset press in 3b format, Speedmaster XL 105-6+L. The information and creative inspirations gave rise to stimu-lating discussions among the guests and with specialists from Scheufe-len and Heidelberger.

In his words of welcome, Dr. Michael Spallart, CEO of Papierfabrik Scheufelen, spoke of the company's innovative spirit that was steeped in tradition. It was this passion that created heaven 42 in the soft matt and soft gloss finishes. High-quality paper will continue to be the medi-um for conveying messages of lasting value in the future. The com-pany will continue to be committed to innovation, differentiation and uncompromising quality-consciousness. In Scheufelen's view, heaven 42 is a paper with considerable potential for success, as it has count-less possibilities for applications.

The event presenter, Britta Schweinhage, said that the role of paper was also "to be seductive, to sell seductively". She then handed over to the first guest speaker, Jean Jacques Schaffner. He is the founder and co-owner of Schaffner & Conzelmann, designersfactory, based in Basel/Switzerland. For over 30 years he has been getting to grips with fundamental questions and interdisciplinary concepts on imparting knowledge, conveying messages and brand images. As he sees it, paper is not hardware; it is part of the entire communication process. Schaffner regards Corporate Paper as the opportunity crucial to sur-vival for companies to create differentiation in a saturated market. In a practical project specifically with heaven 42, his designersfactory tested the optimum use and technical handling of the paper. The absolute white soft matt and soft gloss paper is ideally suited for combination with uncoated papers. For him, price discussions are a toothless killer argument, which he refutes with examples of calculations. Pictorial material shows the quality of a designer to professionally control con-trasts of picture and perception in the interplay with the selected paper in the pre-press via a modified print profile. Paper is something one touches, feels, sees and evaluates. There are hard-and-fast definitions for advertising media like television, radio and the Internet, whereas print can be freely defined. Schaffner encourages the use of this freedom.

This was precisely the right moment for Britta Schweinhage to open the practical part of the event for participants after lunch. Workshop I – Live Demo on the Printing Press – with Ulrich Erber, Press Product Manager for the 3b division, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, and Ralf Schmid, Key Account Manager, Papierfabrik Scheufelen. In conversa-tion with Britta Schweinhage, participants learnt essential details of the Speedmaster XL 105-6+L from Ulrich Erber. Numerous configurations can be selected, such as four-colour to ten-colour print, finishing, etc. In addition, the printing press meets the highest standards in packag-ing, label and job printing; printing material thicknesses of 0.03 to 1.0 mm can be printed on. An integrated print-shop workflow, the Prinect Press Center, makes the entire workflow transparent; the Press Center guarantees comprehensive control of the print-shop with ease.

During his demonstration, Ralf Schmid explained the ranges of applica-tion of both surface variants of heaven 42. The paper is not only ex-traordinarily white, compared to other coated papers it has an even, velvety surface that is pleasing to the touch. Unlike the well-known be-haviour of other coated papers, the print colours remain matt. Even with all-over finish, the touch and feel remain practically the same. Shiny metallic effects are achieved in the print colours with supporting measures. On the new soft gloss surface, print colours shine in the customary gloss, again they stand out clearly from the uncoated paper surface. It is precisely metallic colours that reveal their typical metallic shimmer. With its new multiplicity of variants, heaven 42 opens up new horizons for creation and printing.

During the conversation at the printing press, the group participants were able to watch a change of jobs and observe the printing process. Two different forms of printing were printed: a printed sheet with three technical, cool motifs and another one with three emotional, warm pic-tures. The six images were each reproduced in three different ICC pro-files. This enabled the impact of the different profiles on the individual image to be easily recognised and assessed. The two forms of printing were printed on both heaven 42 paper variants and, for the purposes of comparison, on BVS another type of Scheufelen paper.  Erber and Schmid are agreed that heaven 42 can be printed on the XL 105-6+L without problems.

Workshop II – HEI-light-Tour Colour & Quality, Tobias Laubmann, Technical Consultant Prinect, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen. On the printed sample of the preceding presentation Laubmann explains the different colour profiles. ISO Standard, Heidelberger and Scheufelen. Step by step he demonstrates how profiles are created, why and how they can be modified. For instance, precisely with heaven 42 the blue component has to be reduced with emotional motifs to make the col-ours softer when printing. With practical examples he shows how source data are associated directly via Device Link Profiles with a cor-responding value in the target colour space. For each change in the transformation channel, e.g. another target colour space, a new Device Link Profile has to be produced, either dynamically or manually, de-pending on the software. This Device Link technology offers great reli-ability in printing, as the incoming data (PDFs) can be improved in their colour structure.

No practice without theory. Thomas Egenolf, Print Media Center, Qual-ity Service, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, speaks on the topic of "Re-liable production outside the ISO Standard". "Standards have their place when it comes to producing a printed work on a foreseeable, controllable and reproducible 'good quality level' in a printing process based on the division of labour", explains Egenolf. In his opinion there are many parameters that affect the printed result.  First and foremost, different paper produces different results. heaven 42 is accorded a CIE whiteness value of 155. The absolutely whitest coated paper in the world allows for a great deal of application options thanks to its huge light/dark contrast. In accordance with the ISO standard, heaven 42 deviates clearly from the tolerance with its -b*- value. With this value, optimisation can be achieved in the print preparation by removing gradual blue components. In conclusion, Egenolf refers once again to the Heidelberger and Scheufelen recommendations so that quality re-sults can also be achieved for heaven 42 outside the ISO Standard.

After this compact programme focusing on heaven 42, Irmgard Glanz, Scheufelen's Head of Marketing and Communication thanked the large number of active participants for coming, Heidelberger for its co-operative collaboration, the speakers, the teams and the event pre-senter for their professional contributions and the smooth running of the event. The upshot of the day: with the right technology, the right paper and the users' know-how, perfect printing products of the highest quality can be achieved.