The eco-luxury packaging company will further expand highly specialized packaging applications range with digital press

Itasca, IL, – Xeikon, an innovator in digital color printing technology, announced today that Meritage Specialty Packaging Ltd., a Vancouver, B.C. based provider of value-added printing and packaging solutions and systems, has purchased and installed a Xeikon 3500 digital color label press to help expand the company's production of packaging components for the luxury goods industry.

Meritage provides leading edge visual packaging, helping graphic designers create highly differentiated brand packaging for their clients. Meritage uses the Xeikon 3500 to produce pressure sensitive labels and packaging for wine & spirits labels, cosmetics, health & beauty, retail fashion and other proprietary engineered structures.

Jay Tapp, co-founder and CEO of Meritage, said the exceptional color consistency and registration accuracy, along with the format flexibility, high productivity and 1200 dpi imaging quality, as well as the environmental benefits, were among the key deciding factors in selecting the Xeikon 3500. Superior color reproductions with intense decorating treatments in exact register are hallmarks of the company's work.

"We listen to what graphic designers tell us they want, and aim for technical innovations that will knock their socks off," Jay Tapp said. "The Xeikon 3500 is an ideal combination of high productivity, industry-leading imaging quality, and functional technologies that continue to evolve. We're excited to work with brand packaging designers to push the limits of color reproduction and decorating enhancements."

Dawne Tapp, co-founder and President of Meritage, said the embedded anti-counterfeiting features of the Xeikon 3500 are important tools for Meritage's clients. "In today's tough economy, the last thing our customers want to worry about is having their hard won brand integrity counterfeited," Dawne Tapp said. "We can provide them with fabulous looking graphics and decorating as well as peace of mind that their label or package is genuine." In addition to producing highly decorated labels and packaging, Meritage emphasizes integrating security & anti-counterfeiting, variable imaging technology and tracing and tracking systems into its decorated products.

"Meritage is the company that designers turn to when they want highly customized packaging that differentiates their brand from their competitors," said Michael V. Ring, president of Xeikon America Inc. "The versatility and high productivity of the Xeikon 3500 will enable Meritage to create more compelling packaging products, and allow its clients to take their brand marketing campaigns to the next level."

With a top speed of 63 feet/minute, the Xeikon 3500 is ideal for the production of label and packaging applications. Equipped with high-precision LED-based imaging heads, it features true 1200 dpi resolution with variable dot density, generating excellent image quality. The Xeikon 3500 is equipped with five color stations, four for the standard process colors and the fifth one for the use of spot colors, a one-pass opaque white toner or a security toner for anti-counterfeiting applications. Print speed of the press is unaffected by the number of colors used or the size of the labels.

The Xeikon 3500 can produce up to 6,135 square feet of printed material per hour in four or five-colors on a wide range of substrates. It runs on Xeikon's QA-I toner which is FDA-compliant for indirect and direct contact with dry food.

For more information on the Xeikon 3500 digital color press, please visit: http://www.xeikon.com/solutions/digital-printers/xeikon-33003500