Screen GP’s September participation at Labelexpo Europe in Barcelona was a resounding success. With one of the largest stands at the show, Screen featured its flagship Truepress Jet L350UV-SAI label press, running live production for eight hours a day, every day of the show’s four days. Printed output was finished on an inline Nilpeter Refine Compact 2, with matrix stripping and rewind.
“These non-stop demonstrations of the L350UV-SAI were a star attraction at Labelexpo. No one else was running real production from the opening to closing of the show,” said Peter Scott, managing director for Australia and New Zealand at Screen.
“Every visitor to the stand, at any time, could see live production running at up to 60 metres per minute, producing vibrant colour labels. New reels of labelstock were spliced in and production just rolled on.”
The message was clear: Screen’s claim of the highest uptime of any digital label press on the market was proven for all to see.
Since the L350 Label series introduction at PacPrint 2013, customers have verbally praised the high uptime. As the series grew with upgrades, white, orange, blue and low-migration inks; web inspection, static control, web cleaning, extra colours, primer and the 2020 introduction of the SAI models, the solid all-Japanese engineering has shone through without compromise.
Adding to this production excellence is colour management by CGS ORIS, now a Screen subsidiary following many years of partnering. At Labelexpo 2025, visitors could see the Truepress LABEL 350UV SAI running continuously with a CGS ORIS technician regularly performing live colour measurements using Certified Results, collected throughout the exhibition and compared with archived data to demonstrate both immediate accurate spot-colour reproduction and long-term colour stability.
Awards galore
This has resulted in awards, such as the 2021 European Digital Press Association (EDP) award for Best Label Printer – the third time a Screen L350 series machine has been so awarded. In 2024, The Japanese Society of Printing Science and Technology recognised Screen’s L350 series for “outstanding contribution to the printing industry, based on factors including innovation, progress, marketability, and growth potential”. In April 2025, the prestigious US Idealliance declared the L350UV-SAI with Equios workflow: “The world’s first UV Inkjet press to receive Digital Press System Certification (CRPC7 Standard)”.
“This is all not by accident. The build, R&D and customer support for the L350 series reflects Screen’s corporate philosophies, as demonstrated in the past with our CTP, screening products, commercial inkjet paper presses and other prepress equipment,” Scott notes.
“It is such a privilege to work with technology such as this, where the customer’s needs are always put first and foremost. Screen equipment is built to last – we have digital presses in our region that were installed 10, even 15 years ago – still supported and going strong. Jet Technologies and Screen currently have four more upcoming L350 installations.”
He adds that Labelexpo Barcelona was probably the best trade show result the company has experienced.
“Multiple orders for the Label 350UV-SAI were taken, plus advance orders for the PAC 520P inkjet press for paper-based flexible packaging,” Scott adds.
“We also showed the new, 100 metres-per-minute Truepress LABEL 520AQ water-based digital inkjet press, still under development, but printing labels with astonishing colour on UPM-supplied optimised media, including polypropylene and BOPP.
“Also of note is that Lombardi showed its Digimax Flexo/Digital hybrid press with Screen L350 digital, and both Rotocon and Nilpeter also offer hybrids with Screen technology as the digital part.”
Screen LABEL and PAC products are sold and supported in Australia and New Zealand through Jet Technologies.
Computer-to-Plate
With all the promotion of digital, it’s easy to overlook Screen’s wide range of CtP devices and screening technologies such as Spekta. Screen offers its PlateRite FX series of high-quality, easy to use and reliable CtP recorders for optimal flexo/letterpress plate output. The FX series can image the black mask layer of photopolymer plates directly, thereby eliminating the need for film and other intermediate processing.
The PlateRite FX870N series produces up to 870 x 762 mm plates is the ideal flexo/letterpress CtP recorder for printing companies that already possess letterpress printing presses, but want higher quality output, as well as for companies looking to improve the quality of labels output from their existing letterpress printing presses, or flexo hybrid presses.
The larger PlateRite FX1524N and FX1200N are designed for a wide range of uses, including the production of labels, flexible packaging, cartons, and corrugated packaging. Flexo plate sizes up to 1524 × 1067 mm can be imaged (1200 × 1067 mm on the FX1200) at resolutions from 2400 dpi to 4800 dpi.
Offset CtP still in high demand
Screen remains very strong in the Offset CtP sector, together with plate partners Fujifilm and Ferag Australia. Globally, over 22,000 Screen CtP devices have been sold across 4-page, 8-page and VLF formats, making it a clear market leader. Screen’s latest PlateRite HD8900 NII, an 8-page B1 format platesetter is available in three speeds – 36, 48 or 70 plates per hour. Sustainability has been a priority, with power consumption reduced by anything up to 90 per cent in standby mode.
“Computer-to-Plate for offset is largely a replacement or upgrade market or where greater productivity and sustainability is called for,” says Scott. “Recently in Europe, Screen CtP with Spekta screening was used for a major art reproduction project printed offset at 650dpi and requiring plates imaged at 4800 dpi.”
Commercial high volume digital
Apart from labels and packaging inkjet presses, Screen holds a strong position in high volume continuous-feed inkjet for transactional, direct mail, pharmaceutical leaflets, on-demand books, magazines and newspapers. The range includes the Truepress Jet 520 and 560 series, referring to 520mm and 560mm web widths respectively.
The latest addition to the commercial digital range is the Truepress JET 560HDX, featuring a wider colour gamut thanks to new SC2 inks and 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution. An innovative drying system cures paper width up to 560mm, and stock weights up to 260gsm. The Truepress JET 560HDX with SC2 inks has made it hard, if not impossible, to tell the difference between images produced on the HDX versus those printed with offset. Even standard offset stocks can be used – from 40gsm to 260gsm.
“The 560 HDX has proven very popular in the North American market, and this is where most of the early production has been or will be installed,” says Scott. “We have good interest here in Australia and New Zealand, particularly in the colour book sector where excellence in photographic reproduction is called for.”
Meanwhile, the original Truepress Jet 520mm series has seen additional models tailored for mono book production, pharmaceutical leaflets and remotely printed same-day newspapers. In June 2025, Miller Newsprint of Malta installed a Screen Truepress Jet 520NX for reprinting a range of newspapers for both local consumption and tourists.
The new press’ advanced ink formulation technology has also enabled Miller Newsprint to print on papers as thin as 45gsm, while maintaining quality and reducing show-through. These advancements contribute to a 10 per cent improvement in paper savings, making their operations more sustainable and cost-effective, while resonating with environmentally aware consumers.
Other Jet 520 models include the 520HD mono for black text book production and transactional overprinting and the standard 520HD. Truepress Jet 520 models were introduced in 2006 and some of the original installations are still in operation in Australia and New Zealand.
This article was first published in the November-December 2025 edition of Print21, page 14.