What narayana does

Narayana Press is a privately held Danish offset printing house founded in 1955 and headquartered in Gylling, near Odder, Denmark. It produces high-quality hardcover and softcover books, exhibition catalogs, art books, magazines, folders, and other graphic printed matter for institutional publishers, museums, cultural organizations, and artists, with notable customers including Aarhus University Press, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Statens Museum for Kunst, Cappelen Damm, Arkitektens Forlag, and Plethora.

The company operates an integrated in-house workflow spanning prepress through finishing. Prepress includes high-resolution scanning via a Phase One iXG 100MP camera, DTP and layout in Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress, Adobe Illustrator and Capture One, color-managed proofing on a GMG ColorProof ISO 12647-2 system, and plate output on two Agfa Avalon CTP machines. The pressroom runs KBA Rapida 106 LED-UV 8-color presses plus a Roland 705 5-color press, with binding and specialty finishing outsourced to subcontractors. A differentiated scanning/reproduction service targets photographers and artists requiring color-critical reproduction of original artworks.

The business model is quote-based, project-driven, and sales-led: each customer is assigned a dedicated project manager who manages the job from quote through delivery, with customers invited to participate in prepress (layout, color approval, plate creation). Pricing is bespoke and not publicly disclosed, but environmental certifications (Nordic Swan since 2001, ISO 14001 since 2003, FSC and PEFC since 2008, ClimateCalc since 2022) are bundled at no extra cost, as are per-job CO2 footprint calculations. Geographic reach is primarily Scandinavia with documented projects into Norway and DACH-region support documentation. Revenue is not publicly disclosed. The company also operates an organic farm on the same site (Jersey dairy cows, beekeeping, greenhouses) that is brand-aligned with its sustainability positioning but is not the core business.

Name

narayana

Legal name

Narayana Press

Website

https://narayana.dk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1955

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Narayana Press is a Danish offset printing house producing environmentally certified hardcover books, art catalogs, and museum publications for publishers, cultural institutions, and artists using integrated in-house prepress, color-managed proofing, and LED-UV press workflows.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Printing Services

NAICS

Books Printing (323117), Printing (32311)

SIC

Book Printing (2732)

akta.pro primary industry

Commercial & Offset Printing (Sheetfed/Web) (MPAJALAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Prepress & Composition Services (Typesetting, Layout, Color Management, Proofing) (MPAJALAA)

Keywords

• Offset printing services
• Book printing
• Prepress services
• Color management
• Sustainable printing

Headquarters

HQ city

Odder

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Book Printing Services: Production of hardcover books, softcover books, saddle-stitched booklets, magazines, folders, loose sheets, posters, and custom printed materials. Projects are managed from quote through delivery with dedicated project managers.
2. E-book Production: Creation of e-books in ePub, Fixed Layout ePub, and PDF formats for web use. Preparation of manuscripts for digital publication including formatting and style application.
3. Prepress Services: Scanning, image processing, color correction, DTP layout, file preparation, PDF creation and comparison, and proof generation services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Narayana Press produces offset-printed books and other graphic printed matter with integrated prepress and finishing services. Core offerings include high-quality offset printing on KBA Rapida 106 LED-UV 8-color and Roland 705 presses, supported by in-house prepress (scanning, DTP, CTP, proofing), outsourced finishing and binding, and ancillary e-book production for publishers, museums, and cultural institutions.

Product overview

Narayana Press is a traditional offset printing house offering an integrated print production workflow from prepress through finishing. The core offering comprises offset printing services using KBA Rapida and Roland presses, supported by prepress departments for scanning/reproduction (Phase One iXG 100MP), DTP/graphic design, CTP plate output (Agfa Avalon), and proofing (GMG ColorProof). Finished products include hardcover and softcover books, saddle-stitched booklets, folders, posters, and specialty print items. Digital publishing is offered through e-book production in ePub, PDF, and Kindle formats. Binding and finishing are outsourced to specialized subcontractors. The company also provides color management, ICC profiling, and press-ready PDF preparation as part of its service portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Offset Printing Services High-quality offset printing using KBA Rapida 106 LED-UV 8-color presses (format 74 x 106 cm) and a Roland 705 5-color press (format 72 x 104 cm), with print-to-edge capability on a wide range of coated and uncoated papers for publishers, museums, and cultural institutions.
• Prepress Services Complete prepress workflow including document checking, print-ready PDF creation in Kodak Prinergy Workshop, page imposition with Kodak Preps, and electronic comparison of produced PDFs against designer reference files for publishers and cultural institutions.
• Scanning and Reproduction Services High-resolution reproduction of original artworks, photographs, slides, negatives, and framed pieces using the Phase One iXG 100MP camera, with specialized color calibration and GCR ICC profiling tailored for art publishers, museums, and photographers.
• DTP and Graphic Design Services Text and illustration layout, cover design, content design, typography, multilingual production, special separations (duotone, tritone, CMYK + Pantone), OCR reading, and script-based automation delivered through Adobe InDesign, QuarkXpress, Adobe Illustrator, and Capture One CH.
• Computer-to-Plate (CTP) Output Plate production for offset printing using two Agfa Avalon CTP machines, delivering faster plate production and reduced chemistry consumption versus the prior CTP setup.
• E-book Production Digital publication in ePub (reflowable and fixed-layout), PDF for web use, and Kindle (.mobi) formats, including style formatting, RGB color conversion, and hyperlink integration for publishers and authors transitioning print titles to digital.
• Finishing and Binding Bookbinding delivered through specialized subcontractors, including hardcover books, softcover books, saddle-stitched booklets, folders, loose sheets, magazines, labeling, Dutchbind, and specialty finishes such as embossing and tipping.
• Proofing Services Color-accurate match prints produced on GMG ColorProof (ISO 12647-2 certified) using an Epson SureColor SC-P7500 Spectro, simulating the final paper quality before production runs are approved.

Quantifiable outcome

• CO2 footprint calculated for each printed matter at no extra cost
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Graphius: Belgian premium book and art catalog printer operating KBA and Heidelberg offset presses with deep prepress and finishing integration. Direct comparable to Narayana in serving museums, art publishers, and quality-focused European book publishers.
• Kösel GmbH: German book printer with integrated prepress, offset, and binding for trade and specialty publishers. Comparable in vertical focus on book production and quality positioning for European publishers.
• Optimal Media: German art and illustrated book printer with in-house prepress, offset printing, and binding. Specializes in coffee-table books, art catalogs, and museum publications — the same premium niche Narayana targets in Scandinavia.
• Stürtz Gruppe: German offset printing group with integrated prepress, printing, and finishing services for books, magazines, and catalogs. Comparable integrated workflow and book/print production focus.
• Druckhaus Nomos: German academic and specialty book printer with strong environmental certifications and integrated print workflow. Comparable to Narayana in serving academic publishers with sustainability credentials.

Emerging players

• Livonia Print: Baltic offset and book printing company with European reach and integrated prepress-to-finishing services. Comparable mid-sized European book printer competing for similar publisher contracts.
• Trento Grafica: Italian art and illustrated book printer with offset and digital capabilities serving European museum and art publishing clients. Comparable niche focus on color-critical art catalogs.

Broad incumbents

• Jouve: French-headquartered printing and content production group with book printing, e-book, and digital publishing services. Comparable integrated print-to-digital offering for European publishers.
• Elanders: Swedish-headquartered global printing group with book printing, packaging, and supply-chain solutions. Overlaps Narayana in book production but operates at much larger scale and across broader end-markets.

Regional players

• Bookpress: Polish book printing house with offset production and binding capabilities serving European publishers. Comparable in scale and offset book production focus, but geographic footprint is Central/Eastern Europe.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about narayana