Koenig & Bauer : “Under the deep blue sea” unites high quality print finishing and digital media for first time

Coating manufacturer ACTEGA Terra, KBA-Sheetfed Solutions, Sappi and Rudolf Reproflex have joined forces to create a calendar for 2016. The highly finished, large-format monthly calendar titled 'Under the deep blue sea' displays fascinating underwater scenes and simultaneously unites print with the online world. This new approach delivers added value while at the same time creating a meaningful symbiosis between digital and print media.

The 'Under the deep blue sea' calendar from ACTEGA Terra and KBA unites a high quality finished print product with digital media. The result is considerable added value (1)

The title page sparkles with the first highlight: extraordinary 3D effects with an impressive perception of depth are rendered with the unique application of the magnetic special coating from ACTEGA Terra on a transparent protective film. The coating contains metallic effect pigments that can be aligned magnetically by means of a special magnetic foil on the impression cylinder. Various types of finishing with water-based and UV coating, including drip-off, matt/gloss, pearlescent gloss, cold foil and metallic effects as well as combinations of these can be seen on all of the following 12 monthly pages. The sophisticated calendar was printed and finished on a Rapida 105 PRO with six inking units, twin coaters and ColdFoil Infigo SF 110 cold-foil module in the KBA-Sheetfed training centre.

The calendar was printed and finished on a medium-format KBA Rapida 105 PRO with twin coaters and cold-foil kit (2)

This is what makes the calendar so unique: every sheet is linked via a QR code to a microsite developed by ACTEGA Terra and KBA (www.calendar-insights.com/en/). Further information about the individual pictures can be found here as well as on the finishing technique used. Users can find out what production steps are necessary for creating the individual finishing types, and also which coatings were used. Short, clear video clips inform users about the steps involved in producing the individual images. What is more, interactive animations show the colour separations and coating formes used. The calendar and respective website thus build the ideal platform for finishing experts and printers who have yet to fully get to grips with inline finishing technology. Information on the KBA Rapida 105 PRO rounds off the process technical contents and contribute in this way to an almost playful transfer of knowledge on details regarding how the calendar was produced.

KBA print instructor Marcus Söll inspects the quality of the finishing on one of the calendar pages (3)

3,500 copies of the 'Under the deep blue sea' calendar were produced exclusively for customers and partners of the companies that worked together to create it. No further copies are available. This year's calendar is already the fifth to be produced as part of a joint project by ACTEGA Terra and KBA-Sheetfed. While a highlight of past calendars were aerial pictures, now the focus has been turned to the fascinating underwater world.