Fenton, MO – Masterpiece Graphix (MGX) of St. Louis, Missouri, has partnered with Xeikon, a pioneer in digital color printing, to offer metalized substrate enhancement services for the Xeikon label presses. Xeikon-authorized MGX Brilliant Metalized Paper/Perm/40# (R1361) will be one of the substrates running on the Xeikon 3500 digital press at the Labelexpo 2010 show in Chicago, IL. Xeikon is exhibiting at Booth 6135, Hall F at Labelexpo.

MGX's R1361 has been enhanced with a digital topcoat and is authorized for use on all the Xeikon label presses for the best possible image quality and toner adhesion.  MGX also offers Xeikon-authorized enhanced metalized material solutions for synthetic substrates such as BOPP and polyester.

According to Filip Weymans, Business Development Manager – Labels & Packaging, Xeikon, "We are excited about our partnership with MGX. Our presses work exceptionally well with most standard self-adhesive label substrates without any pre-treatment or coating (Paper and BOPP). In case of MGX's R1361 Metalized substrate, a digital topcoat is required to optimize the image quality and adhesion. All the MGX substrates that we have tested work really well with our presses. We will demonstrate this at Labelexpo."

"We are all about creating materials that enhance digital printing performance," said Doug Watson, President of Masterpiece Graphix. "We have a high regard for Xeikon and it is a privilege to develop materials for them."

The Xeikon 3500, launched at IPEX 2010, addresses the need for more production capacity. It can handle scalable media widths up to 20.3 inches, a significant size increase that allows label converters to digitally address a wider range of applications with 1200 dpi imaging quality. In addition, it can handle monthly duty cycles up to 3.8 million square feet.

The Xeikon 3500 is ideal for the production of self-adhesive and heat transfer labels. Equipped with high-precision LED-based imaging heads, it generates excellent image quality. The press is equipped with 5 color stations, 4 for the standard process colors while the 5th allows the use of spot colors. Print speed of the press is unaffected by the number of colors used as well as the repeat length of a label. The Xeikon 3500 can also apply a special security toner for anti-counterfeiting applications, and 'one-pass' opaque white to create a desired 'no-label/label-less look' on transparent labels. It runs on Xeikon's new QA-I toner, which meets all the applicable FDA standards for indirect and direct contact with dry food items.