A digitally-printed copy of UK daily ‘The Guardian’ took an industry development award for Printstop in the 2012 New Zealand Pride In Print competition on Friday evening.

The Wellington company has New Zealand’s first Screen Truepress Jet520 inkjet web.

Printstop’s concept is to reproduce overseas titles including the ‘Financial Times’ and ‘Washington Post’ as newspapers for the local market, delivering copies at the same time as the originals are being printed overseas. The publications are being printed within minutes of PDFs being received in Wellington.

Market potential of the idea was proven during the Rugby World Cup when there were many overseas visitors in NZ, and an agreement with a marketing company allowed local distribution.

Judges felt it was an excellent concept as well as a good print job, agreeing it “breathed life into tactile newspapers”.

Design judge Kerenza Smith said production of ‘The Guardian’ in New Zealand met a commercial need in the marketplace: “This could reinvigorate newspaper production in an age where all newspaper runs are reduced and people are getting lots of their news online. The success in the Rugby World Cup proved the concept and it has shown there is a commercial niche for this kind of innovation,” she says.

The entry was printed by Printstop for The Magazine Marketing Company on Octane stock from BJ Ball.

This year’s web-offset category was won by APN Print Hastings for ‘Hawke’s Bay Today’. The entry December 17, 2011 edition was printed for Hawke’s Bay Today, on Norske Skog Nornews 42gsm stock, using Agfa N91V plates and DIC inks.

APN Print New Zealand also picked up two gold medals for its Ellerslie plant (for Driven magazine and the Peninsula Press) and another two for its Tauranga plant (for Indulge magazine and the Bay of Plenty Times). In addition, an entry from Hastings and Ellerslie entries were highly commended.

Other category winners were: Publications– Service Printers for DHL, Delivering Rugby to the World; Business print– Permark Industries for TSL Group business card; Packaging– Sealed Air Hamilton for Regal Smoked Salmon; Labels– Rapid Labels for The Colour Pinot Noir 2009 (Embossed); Display print– Original Print for SP Wella; Promotional print (and Supreme Award winner)– Logick Print & Graphics for Jacob's Creek Logo Proofs; Specialty products– Sentra Printing for Matins Vesper CD Pack.

Process winners: Digital– Soar Printing for Olympus Fan Swatch; Inkjet– Geon Kingsland for Rubi Struted Boards; Letterpress–GTO Printers for Marguerite Luker wedding invitation; Sheetfed– Service Printers for DHL; Web offset– APN Print Hastings for ‘Hawke’s Bay Today’ December 17; Flexo– Sealed Air Hamilton for Regal; Screen– Original Print for SP Wella; Reel-fed offset– Panprint for Greywacke Pinot Noir; and Finishing– Sentra Printing for Matins Vesper CD Pack.