Redacción Alabrent
This lifelong commitment is why Winchester Print offers a comprehensive, end-to-end experience for its clients. From design to delivery, the company specializes in high-impact productions that wow across the corporate, media, general print, and signage landscapes.A self-proclaimed 'technology hound,' Raistrick is constantly scouting for the latest innovations. He recently hit his stride with a winning combination from ECO3: SPIR@L, InkTune, and SolidTune. This suite of screening and software technology has revolutionized his operations—making print cleaner, more cost-effective, and significantly easier to manage and maintain.
Lowering production costs: boosting quality and speed
“The combination of SPIR@L screening, InkTune, and SolidTune has been a game-changer—drastically cutting my ink usage while actually boosting our quality and speed,” Raistrick explains. SPIR@L screening technology replaces the traditional ink dot with a more efficient spiral shape, improving print quality. SPIR@L holds a 1-99% dot, guaranteeing vibrant colors and reducing image slur, resulting in clear image rendering. Less ink is required to fill in the exact same area. This speeds up drying and limits see-through when printing on thin paper.
“We’re seeing a much sharper, crisp product with SPIR@L. We’ve got less dot gain because it produces a modified ink dot. The technology carries less ink and less water. Essentially, we’re leveraging dot gain. It’s fantastic.”
Winchester Print is lowering production costs by strategically integrating InkTune and SolidTune. By optimizing ink consumption and streamlining workflows, these tools deliver lower overhead, superior print quality, and faster output.
“Adding SPIR@L screening, InkTune, and SolidTune has reduced my ink consumption by up to 27%. A huge savings for me while improving print quality and turnaround.”
InkTune software uses Grey Component Replacement (GCR), which substitutes the more expensive CMY inks with the more economical black (K) ink while reducing overall ink usage. This improves color stability on the press, as well as image quality and consistency. There is less interference from different inks, the inks dry faster, and printing speeds improve. SolidTune applies a unique ink-saving algorithm to solids and text before final output, while ensuring their edges are preserved to keep print clean and crisp.
“InkTune makes the registration easier, especially when comps come in with black eight-point text on an ad that’s never going to work on newsprint,” states Raistrick. “When you can get all that GCR done automatically, it just becomes black. And then you don’t have to register black, because it’s there, it’s great.”
Streamlining production from a single user interface
InkTune is integrated into Winchester Print’s Apogee prepress workflow, streamlining production from a single user interface. The software provides Winchester Print with a comprehensive, reliable solution that enhances functionality.
“I value ECO3’s innovative and accommodating approach,” Raistrick noted. “Apogee’s intuitive design ensured a fast, painless onboarding process. It’s a system that encourages experimentation, allowing me to dial in the perfect balance of efficiency and performance.”
Delivering significant productivity and environmental gains
Raistrick describes these transitions as the 'golden opportunity' of upgrades—anchored by ECO3’s Avatar T-ZP printing plate. This durable, thermal, zero-process plate is designed specifically for newspaper and coldset web applications, delivering significant productivity and environmental gains. As a robust, long-run solution compatible with both conventional and UV inks, it offers rapid clean-ups and restarts. Avatar T-ZP demonstrates that printers don’t have to sacrifice durability to deliver environmental benefits.
“That plate has been rock-solid,” Raistrick explains. “The cleanup on press is incredibly fast, and I no longer have the burden of disposing of hazardous waste. That’s a massive win, both financially and environmentally."
"We’ve eliminated about 2,500 liters of chemistry annually, bringing our usage down to zero. We’ve decreased water usage in the process, too.”
The Avatar T-ZP plate reduces water usage by up to 20% through lower dampening settings, minimizing web breaks and resulting in cleaner, sharper prints. This isn’t just technology for technology’s sake—it’s a strategic investment that saves time and capital. By leveraging ECO3’s innovations, Winchester Print reinforces its position as the premier choice in the region, ensuring that every gain in production speed and cost efficiency is passed directly to the client as outstanding service.
Raistrick sums it up: “We don’t have the luxury of spending days to turn around a job in the publication printing business. Our turnaround is measured in hours. In some cases, files come in, and an hour and a half later, the product is out the door."