CLIQX is the newly launched Australian innovation set to shake up the printing industry here and around the world. With the current renaissance of specialty embellishments in the print industry, this patent pending embossing system is demystifying the traditional print craft of embossing. It is giving printers the opportunity to offer more to their customers by having the capability to emboss in-house.
The CLIQX embossing die system consists of a water washed-out male and female photopolymer die set held by a magnetic mount. The magnetic mount can be used on any existing die cutting machine, cylinder or platen. With CLIQX™ technology, the make-ready process is simple and takes just minutes and the material cost is significantly less expensive than using traditional metal dies. Die sets can be used for short or long runs.
Melbourne lithographic printer, Andrew Cook of AJC Printing, has been in the industry for 30 years. He signed up for a CLIQX license 18 months ago because seeing it as an opportunity to expand his businesses offering.
“The attractive thing about the product is that it’s an attachment that can get us into a market we weren’t already in without needing to outsource the work,” Cook says.
The CLIQX embossing system can also be run inline as a die cut/emboss, which is ideal for long runs. The detail that can be expressed with a CLIQX emboss is comparable to single-level brass dies, making it a simple economical means for braille embossing and line work. CLIQX can be used to emboss an array of substrates from non-synthetic materials (such as Tyvek) light or heavy paper stock, thick cards for packaging and recent uses have included embossing polypropylene sheets.
The technology is now available to any printer who purchases a license from the company. Inventors, Alan Fawcett (pictured) and Ange O’Dea developed the process with usability and cost savings for printers in mind. CLIQX removes the need to outsource to a specialty finisher and extends the product offering of printers to include specialty embossing.
“CLIQX is not about just replacing the existing embossing demand but expanding the market to allow all printers the ability to offer their existing and new customers the added value of affordable embossing,” explains O’Dea. “In an age where printers are looking at putting more than just ink on paper CLIQX is an affordable, simple system to integrate into lithographic or digital print services.”
The quality CLIQX is capable of achieving was highlighted last year when the second issue of boutique Australian design publication, Justus Magazine, was printed using the system. It claimed wide praise and accolades from the graphic design and printing industries (including the Printovation Awards) and was a wonderful showcase for the crisp emboss and deboss that this new technology can achieve.
Likewise, Watermarx Graphics, a specialty print shop in Sydney run by Fawcett and O’Dea, won a Gold and Silver award at the prestigious 2012 Printing Industries Craftsmanship Awards (PICA) with a self-promotion piece which used CLIQX. Andrew Cook is preparing to enter CLIQX pieces into competitions in the future.
“I’ve been in the industry a long time and seen some great embossing work,’ says Cook, ‘but have never thought my business would be able to produce anything like it. Now I know that we can do that kind of work and produce something even better, which is exciting.”
The website www.cliqx.net has just launched and is already attracting interest from the printing industry Printers who are interested in learning more about how CLIQX can change their business should contact Alan Fawcett to discuss on: +61 2 9905 8127 or email: info@cliqx.net.