More vibrant colours, deeper blacks, faster drying time and improved printing economy. How does that sound?
ColorLok is a new standard supported by HP, Kodak and Epson, as well as by Stora Enso, and applies to all office printing technologies – laser, inkjet and copiers. Attaining more vivid colours and bolder blacks places demands also on office paper.
“In simple terms, the ColorLok technology means that the ink is locked onto the surface of the paper,” says Bengt Ringdahl, Director at Stora Enso Fine Paper. “Adapting the paper to this standard involves treating the surface with certain additives.“
One of the drivers of the new standard is HP. Juan Castellanos, Strategic Alliance Manager for ColorLok in Europe, says: “The OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) have made significant developments to provide higher levels of print quality and reliability. However, the final product is the paper, which the customers hold in their hands to judge the print quality. The ColorLok standard includes the paper in the equation. The paper must comply with a concise set of print quality, physical and electrostatic standards for quality and reliability.”
A paper must pass independent tests performed by Rochester Institute of Technology – Printing Applications Laboratory (RIT-PAL), and also meet certain environmental requirements to be labelled with the ColorLok logo.
“Stora Enso and HP both see the benefits of the ColorLok standard to the end users, the industry and the companies themselves,” says Juan Castellanos. “As an early supporter of the ColorLok paper standard, Stora Enso will have an advantage in providing its retailers and customers with the benefits of ColorLok papers.”
ColorLok-labelled products from Stora Enso will include MultiCopy, Berga, Zoom, Ocean, Clio and Multilaser.
