In Italian, the word ‘bellissima’ means “most beautiful.” And at Catapult Print, a label manufacturer in Orando, FL, this is a fitting name for what the company feels is some of the most exciting printing technology to come along in a decade.

“Bellissima helps us to deliver unrivalled print quality for our customers, and is changing the industry as we know it,” says Catapult CEO Mark Cook.

“Here at Catapult Print, we are in the unique position of having 25 years’ knowledge and experience under our belts while at the same time being the fresh-faced disruptor in the industry. This is a place we are thrilled to occupy, when you consider that our goal from the outset has been to transform the industry – both in terms of delivering an unrivalled final product and setting new standards around the design process and production speed,” Cook says.

Innovation has a huge role to play in achieving this objective, which is why Catapult is thrilled to possess state-of-the-art programming and machinery in-house, including the award-winning Bellissima DMS. Says Cook, “Straight off the starting block, we knew that this flexographic screening technology, Bellissima Digitally Modulated Screening, would represent a game-changer, not just for Catapult Print, but also for the wider industry, since it offers a fusion of the best characteristics of AM (Amplitude Modulation), FM (Frequency Modulation), XM (Cross Modulated), GS (Geometric) and CS (Concentric), while avoiding their limitations and problems.”

In 2018, Bellissima was awarded the Flexographic Technical Innovation Award by the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA). This prestigious award, which recognizes technology that has contributed to the growth of the flexographic industry and demonstrates potential to shift the future of flexography itself, underscores just how groundbreaking this patented screening is.

Dramatically reducing noise and moiré (the degradation with regard to quality or resolution affecting graphic images which have been superimposed), often to complete elimination, Bellissima greatly enhances the quality and stability of flexo presswork. “Clients are guaranteed the crispest imaging achievable anywhere on the market today, delivering impressive packaging that catches eyes and wins customer loyalty,” Cook says.

How it works
With the power to match and even exceed the print quality of gravure, Bellissima DMS is challenging digital as the future for flexible packaging and labels, Cook says.

Bellisima’s screening modulates every pixel it produces, precisely controlling the dots in each separation while its “stochastic rosette” interposes the dots between the separations, and it’s this process which ensures noise and moiré are eradicated. In addition, the stochastic rosette maximizes the ink-on-paper area and minimizes the amount of ink-on-ink to expand the available color gamut while eliminating color shifts due to misregistration.

Bellissima DM Screening’s carefully controlled dots produce presswork equivalent to a traditional 350-450 lpi screen with incredible image detail from highlights to shadows. Flat tints are “flat,” while vignettes fade smoothly to nothing enabled by printed highlight dots as low as 1.0% and shadow dots up to 99.5%.

Working optimally at 4,000 dpi, the patented screening includes features such as 100% solid surface patterning options and solid object protection. Common printing press issues including bounce, barring and slur are all reduced significantly.

‘The future of printing’
“It only takes a moment viewing ‘before and after’ image examples to quickly see the potential of this advancement to take hold in an industry as competitive as ours,” Cook adds. “With unprecedented clarity, we can grasp the difference Bellissima is making, and our clients recognize it too.

This new technology has been integral to our success in delivering incredible results for our customers, and in the future we look forward to using Bellissima DMS technology to lead the US market in flexo printing. The combination of technological innovation, our ingenuity and production efficiency, together with our clients’ vision, will ensure successful growth and tenacity in a quickly changing retail landscape,” Cook concludes.