Half-size The Ideal Press?

"That is bucking up against the 40˝ market size," Bence says.

"Many printers feel this is the ideal size—they can get one press that can do everything without having to invest in a 40-inch."

—Tim Kirby, xpedx Printing Technologies

As for five- and six-color presses, xpedx's Kirby notes they are more popular for PMS colors and metallics, as well as the special effects that can be done with a varnishing in the fifth unit. Also popular is the ability to do a coating such as gloss-on-gloss, matte-on-gloss or tone-on-tone effect.