"We'd like the edge of the pages to look as if they've been nibbled by rats". Normally a job being chewed up in a machine would be a nightmare, but this off-the-wall request turned into a genuine piece of production. The desired effect was eventually achieved - after much trial, error and scratching of heads - using an adapted die-cutter, and is just one example of the art and ingenuity of the print finisher's craft.

It's no secret that print finishers in general have had a tough time of it of late, especially those involved in the everyday price and volume field. But elsewhere, finishing firms that have worked to establish niches and specialties are blossoming despite the inclement conditions.

Enfield Print Finishers (EPF) has developed a specialty in miniature books - and when they say miniature, they mean it. Director David Milson cites the example of a "tiny, tiny" PUR-bound book the firm handled that was just 35mm².

"We love tricky, miniature books. The smaller, the better!" he says. "All the printers can do standard finishing, but most can't do miniature stuff because it's much more specialised and difficult. We have altered machines and put a lot of work into developing the expertise to produce these items."

Other examples of exceptional items that have passed through EPF's doors include a 10pp roll-fold product that was also stitched, which Milson describes as "near impossible". Small has turned out to be beautiful for the firm, and has even driven an upturn in work because of client cutbacks. "Some clients have looked to reduce costs by reducing the size of a book or a product in order to use less paper and print - resulting in potentially more work for us," explains Milson.

For those aiming for a little piece of print perfection, the best results, advises Milson, always come from considering the end-process at the beginning of a job. "We have to be involved at the outset so we can communicate with the printer about the dimensions and the way the job is designed. We are creatives as well, in that respect," he notes.

Smallness of a different kind is the focus at Intaglio Print Finishing, in Hyde, Cheshire, which has opted to focus on the fiddly tasks and handwork that printers in the north west tend to need in small quantities, but in a hurry. Its catchment area includes Manchester, Liverpool, Runcorn and Warrington. "We are a small outfit with a specialist team," explains owner Pete Murphy. "Most of our clients are digital and litho printers. People phone up and say ‘can you do this, I need it tomorrow?' and 95% of the time the answer is ‘yes.'"

Intaglio does a lot of highly accurate kiss-cutting and creasing work, as well as the assembly of instruction manuals that involves tab dividers, hand collation, drilling, and insertion, often in very short runs. Another specialty is die-cutting of polypropylene on its Crosland platen, a skill that stemmed from an ad hoc request a decade ago. "My background is repro so I can look at a job and see what the issues are," Murphy adds.

Added-value
The processes and techniques deployed at the finishing stage are often where a huge amount of value is added to prestigious pieces of print, as in the following example cited by Ezra Leverett, sales director at Halesworth Print Finishers in Suffolk. He recalls his firm's involvement in the production of a complex Gucci Christmas card. "It was a six-panel, multi-fold Christmas card and designing the cutter for it was something else - the register was really tight. It was a nightmare of a design, but stunningly good!

"In order to get the cutter to fit we had to allow 0.5mm for the creases, and we worked very closely with the die makers to achieve this. It's all about taking into account the material, the design and the desired result," he adds.

Creativity among the book design community is running high, as evidenced by the limited editions of nine classic novels published this year by Orion imprint Weidenfeld & Nicolson to mark its 60th anniversary. The casebound books, including Lolita, The Shadow of the Wind and Sophie's World, feature end-papers specially designed by different artists to reflect the theme of each book.

What makes this treatment particularly stunning in its execution, though, is the fact that the book covers have been die-cut to create a differently-shaped ‘window' that displays a portion of the image within. "This required a lot of thought. We had to modify the machine to make it possible and had to die-cut the covers three times to get the shapes right. And we couldn't do it until the book was bound because the end-papers had to show through," Leverett explains.

This willingness to invest in finishing R&D and to continually push the boundaries of what convention says is possible, is also evident at Bury St Edmunds-based Coatings Direct, part of the Olro Group. The firm's expertise lies in the complex interaction of coatings, and indeed in the science and chemistry required to make coatings do weird and wonderful things. A recent example was a job for fashion brand Fat Face, with a finish involving an overall gloss, then a spot matt, then spot gloss so that the result "looks and feels like wood" says the firm's operations manager Gary Byrne.

Textured finishes are proving popular among clients looking for something a bit different. And of course the ability to add tactile elements to printed collateral is a key advantage of print over online media. "It's all about adding value and impact," says Byrne.

Among the unusual offerings developed by Coatings Direct is a way of printing a glossy spot coating on the inside of cartons - not usually possible because the varnish would normally sink into the uncoated side of the board. The firm has found a way around this by adding a special ingredient to the coating formula in order to achieve the desired effect.

The company invests a great deal in R&D, and its experts travel far afield to Japan and the US in their constant quest to develop new formulas. Sometimes, though, a solution can be found closer to home, such as using floor tile adhesive in a UV formula to create a sandpaper-like finish. Byrne is particularly proud of a new high-build coating. This has decorative applications such as the creation of leather or crocodile-skin effects, as well as more serious uses beyond that, such as Braille. "It's much thicker than a normal spot varnish, but we can still achieve it in one hit," he explains. "Normally to achieve this sort of height you would have to put the sheet through the machine two or three times, with all the attendant registration issues. We can also add colours so you can feel it and see it. We think it will be ideal for Braille."

Gaining expertise through travelling far and wide has also paid off for Clinical Print Finishers in Leicester. As the firm's name suggests it is expert in the ever-changing requirements of the pharmaceutical industry, a field where keeping up-to-date requires constant vigilance.

"We have to be aware of all the legislation that's in the pipeline, and it's a big job keeping on top of it," explains managing director Jamie Court. "We go to New York every two years for a special members-only meeting held with the US Food & Drug Administration. It's an important network for us and gives us an edge on what's happening. We knew, for example, that there would be a demand for 30% more information on pharmaceutical leaflets."

Staying ahead
As such, the firm has developed a way of piggybacking outserted leaflets together so that additional information and languages can be included. "Fixing the leaflets together is quite a complex thing to do, and we use code scanning to ensure the correct information goes together. Then the piggybacked leaflet can be applied to the product as one piece, making it much easier for packaging."

Another big growth area for Clinical is glued booklets - such items cannot be stitched if they are to be used in the pharma field. "Multiple languages have to be incorporated so it needs to be a physically bigger product, because it still has to use a font size that is legible." Outside of its specialist pharma work the firm is kept busy with promotional items such as folded pocket information cards and the sort of die-cut, shaped, miniature booklets that give brands stand-out way beyond the physical stature of the item itself. 

No matter how clever the solution, though, the work doesn't automatically roll in and finishers always need to be one or two steps ahead, as Court concludes: "With outserts, for example, it was two years after buying the kit before we had any work for it. It takes hard work and determination and we are always looking at the next two projects."

This point is reinforced by Peter Wight, director at Diamond Print Services in Enfield, PrintWeek's reigning Post-Press Company of the Year. "Finishing provides real added-value if customers get the design right and we can get involved at an early enough stage. We run highly automated equipment, for example for case-binding, yet we are producing products that have a hand-crafted feel."

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