Speed Color launches digital printing in Agra

Xerox product priced at Rs 75 lakh

Speed Color Labs, India's first ISO certified color photography development and printing company, has introduced a new concept in printing by launching a digital color printing unit in Agra.

The new unit of the company was formally inaugurated by Agra Divisional Commissioner Ashok Kumar last week near St. John's College.

Talking to Business Standard on this occasion, company director Sanjay Goyal said the new unit was capable of churning out digital colour prints at the rate of 3,000 prints per hour on 130 GSM paper.

Manufactured by Xerox and installed at a cost of Rs 75 lakh, Goyal claimed it to be the first digital printing unit of this scale in entire Uttar Pradesh, and the only unit of its kind to be installed by any photo-lab in the northern and central India.

The unit would help in catering to the demand for digital printing in the entire region, Goyal added.

According to Goyal, the technology used by the new printing unit was unique. Compared with offset printing, the digital printing provided smudge and dot-free colour printing, with the ease of transferring the designs directly from digital media like CDs and flash drives.

Earlier, he said, such printing was only available through "solvent printing", which was a costly process and hence was beyond reach for ordinary printing jobs.

The launch of the new machine would bring digital printing within the reach of small businesses and students, which formed the core of the digital printing market in Agra, Goyal said.

The location of the new unit was also ideal as it was in the vicinity of Sanjay Place, the commercial hub of Agra, Goyal said.

The company had installed a much smaller digital printing machine about two months back, but failing to cope with the rising market demand, it became necessary to install a bigger machine, Goyal added.

The present worth of the company was about Rs 14 crore and with the new printing unit launched on Friday, the total number of the company units had gone up to seven in the Agra division, including one each functioning in the Mathura and Firozabad districts of the division.

The company was further planning to expand its horizons by opening new units in the other four remaining districts of the division including Aligarh, Hathras, Etah and Mainpuri.

A splash of colour

• The new unit was capable of churning out digital colour prints at the rate of 3,000 prints per hour on 130 GSM paper
• Manufactured by Xerox and installed at a cost of Rs 75 lakh, it was the only unit of its kind to be installed by any photo-lab in northern and central India
• The digital printing provides smudge and dot-free colour printing, with the ease of transferring the designs directly from digital media
• The unit is expected to cater to the demand for digital printing in the entire region and introduce a whole new concept of printing