Judges in New Zealand’s Pride In Print awards praised the quality and impact of winning work honoured at this year’s gala event in Christchurch.

Otago Daily Times publisher Allied Press won the newspapers category for its February 17 edition, with Blue Star’s Auckland Print & Packaging winning the magazines category for Sage Journal.

Among the process awards, Stuff’s The Post Your Weekend supplement won coldset offset, with the heatset process award going to Webstar Auckland for the Franklin Times (both above). Staff at the Petone printing plant which produces The Post and its supplements were told in March that the site would close in 2027, with production moving to Christchurch, but day shift printing supervisor Andy Brown says the team was “still producing work of an exceptional standard. This award is a testament to (their) skill and professionalism.

“Your Weekend is always a nice product to print. It has a tidy layout and the colour reproductions are always great. Print quality, web alignment and registration achieved for this job on a double-width, high-speed press was outstanding.”

The supplement was printed and stitched on the manroland Geoman at Petone (which had been relocated from Fairfax Media’s Tullamarine site in 2016) and trimmed on a Ferag SNT480 drum. It used Kodak Sonora Xtra plates, Boyer 52gsm newsprint and Huber inks, with design and layout from Stuff Petone.

Judges praised the “excellent print, stitch and trim, amazing accuracy in registration and lovely colour reproduction.

It was also “well laid up, using white space nicely, alongside awesome imagery. Of all of the papers we had before us – and there were more preprints, catalogues and commercial products this year than possibly ever before – it was the first one we all agreed on – just a great paper,” they said.

Judges praised the Otago Daily Times as “a great paper” printed in production conditions without time to fix problems. “With presses running at about 35,000 copies per hour, they have expertly managed a high level of difficulty to achieve vibrant colours in great registration.”

Quality control manager Robert Baxter says the paper entered – in the now-rare broadsheet format – was picked randomly from 25,000 printed copies.

Heatset offset process winner Webstar Auckland was praised for the “exceptional colour reproduction” of the Franklin Times, with “vibrant, punchy tones that remained controlled throughout the copy”, as well as clean ink laydown and impressive finishing. The publication is printed twice a month to tight deadlines, alongside the Eastern Times, which was highly commended.

Webstar Auckland business analyst Daniel Frost says they are rightly proud of the publication: “It is a fabulous example of quick-to-print advertising in a shrinking print advertising media world.”

An “arresting” production of the Sage Journal earned Blue Star Auckland a publications magazines category win, with customer services manager Emma Selwood describes the journal as “a premium publication” in which the physical print experience is “central to the overall impact of the piece”.

“The journal is designed to be held, read and revisited, so the quality of the print, stock and finishing needed to reflect the calibre of the content inside,” she says. “From the outset, the focus was on producing a publication that felt refined, considered and beautifully crafted.”

That meant working closely with the client on stock selection, colour reproduction, image detail and finishing, ensuring the final result delivered both strong visual impact and a memorable tactile experience.

Judges praised “an absolutely beautiful print job throughout, beginning with excellent stock choices in Sumo Offset and the textured Via Felt Pure White.

“They have captured the blacks really well, it has great colour definition, with full coverage on most pages. There is a beautiful, clean foil on the cover which gives the masthead good definition. It is really arresting – they have done incredibly well.”

The last word belongs to Emma Selwood: “while not an overtly technical or gimmick-led piece”, its innovation sits in the “craft and restraint of the production.

“Every production choice had a purpose, from the paper selection through to the finishing, with the aim of elevating the publication without overcomplicating it.”

For the client, Sage Journal was a “great example of how print can add depth, value and credibility to a brand or publication”, she added. “For the reader, the combination of sharp imagery, rich colour, carefully-selected stocks and refined finishing creates a more immersive and memorable experience. It is a strong reminder of the role premium print still plays in a world where so much content is consumed digitally. To have Sage Journal acknowledged in this way is a fantastic result for everyone involved.”

The Pride in Print Supreme Award went to Brebner Print for its New Zealand Birds series, which also won the business print category.

PrintNZ awards presented during the evening included Apprentice of the Year to Travers Dobson (Leading Label), and Trainer of the Year, jointly to Rhys Fauvel (Blue Star Wellington) and Matthew Moore (Opal Fibre Packaging Christchurch).

Pictured (from left) are Allied Press print manager Steve Taylor, Blue Star Auckland print & packaging sales manager Pearl Vea, and Webstar Auckland business analyst David Frost.

Stuff staff and other Wellington-based members of the print industry were largely unable to fly on the day to the Christchurch event due to severe weather.