Consumables

Ilford has announced two new introductions to its Omnijet range of commercial printing materials at drupa 2012.

The first addition to the Omnijet range is the recyclable Screen Print Separation Film, a high-performance alternative in the UV and visible light screen print separation market. The inkjet receiving layer ensures high levels of resolution and density, offering an exceptionally high Dmax of up to 4.5 (UV) and 3.1 (Visual). In addition, the product offers multi-printer compatibility, instant drying, good registration thanks to accurate feeding, a dimensionally stable base, ease of use and good water resistance.

Secondly, in response to sustained market demand for thicker roll cores, Ilford is pleased to introduce 3-inch cores across its Omnijet range on products including Omnijet Glossy Portable Display Film 400gsm, Self-Adhesive Vinyl 180gsm and Glossy 255gsm, Satin 200gsm/255gsm and Pearl Photo 250gsm RC Paper. The thicker roll cores bring the additional benefits of increased productivity and reduced memory curl.

The focal point of Ilford's activity at drupa 2012 will be at Hall 07/E15 in the Green Printing section of drupa innovation park, an area which is dedicated to innovation within sustainable printing. Ilford will present its sustainable substrate solutions offered for environmentally responsible commercial printing.  In addition to the recyclable Omnijet Screen Print Separation Film, this includes the recyclable paper-based Omnijet Photo Realistic products which have been certified as responsibly sourced in compliance with the requirements of the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC® C107238). Available in gloss and satin finishes and compatible with aqueous printers, Omnijet Photo Realistic features an instant dry porous ink-receiving layer and is suitable for printing posters, exhibition panels and graphic displays.

Ilford will also be showing the BioMedia range of biodegradable and recyclable substrates. The range will be printed on across the show at the stands of leading industry manufacturers. Details of new products and drupa 2012 partners are still to be announced.

Arlon has launched a 'new and improved' version of its DPF 4560GTX media and an 'all new' DPF 4500GX product.

DPF 4560GTX is a 3‐mil (75 micron) calendered film with a new brighter white finish and a light grey tinted air egress adhesive. The new improved adhesive is specially designed for opacity to directly cover existing graphics or dark substrates while removing cleanly up to 2 years. DPF 4560GTX is very easy to install and suitable for a wide variety of applications including fleet and vehicle decals and POP displays.

The new DPF 4500GX is a 3‐mil (75 micron) bright white calendered film with clear bubble releasing permanent air egress adhesive. The high quality, cost-effective film is a low cost solution that combines vibrant prints with ease of application for short and medium term graphics.

“Arlon always looks for ways to improve its product performance and we are excited about the new and improved version of our DPF 4560GTX,” comments Linda Babilo, senior product manager, Arlon Graphics, LLC. "DPF 4500GX is also a great new low cost film for sign makers' day to day applications."

For more information, please visit www.arlon.com

 

MACtac Graphic Products has announced it is now offering its IMAGin B-free GRUV GV929BFD and PERMACOLOR RAYZor LF3648G media in single vehicle wrap bundles. Available in rolls of 54" x 75', the new size enables printers and installers to purchase the right amount of material for smaller wrap jobs.

"IMAGIN GRUV GV929BFD and PERMACOLOR RAYZor LF3648G are the ultimate wrap system," said Mary Ann Kucera, product marketing manager, MACtac Graphic Products. "The bundle allows printers and installers the option of purchasing only the material they need to complete a vehicle wrap without waste. The GRUV GV929BFD and PERMACOLOR RAYZor LF3648G combination provides great-looking — and long-lasting — results."

IMAGin B-free GRUV GV929BFD is a 2.1-mil gloss white vinyl designed for permanent vehicle markings and long-term outdoor signage on flat, curved, complex and riveted surfaces. It features an opaque, B-free air-egress acrylic adhesive for easy installation and removal and a bright white face for accurate color reproduction. GRUV GV929BFD offers an outdoor durability of up to nine years for the unprinted film.

PERMACOLOR RAYZor LF3648G is a 1.5-mil cast pressure-sensitive overlaminate film that provides fast, efficient processing without the need for heat, drying or messy coating operations. Ideal for use with GRUV GV929BFD, PERMACOLOR RAYZor LF3648G is a highly conformable laminate with a high-gloss finish that not only protects vehicle graphics, but also adds body to the graphic for easier installation. PERMACOLOR RAYZor is designed for up to five years outdoor use.

For more information regarding MACtac products or graphic solutions, please visit www.MACtac.com/Graphics and www.TheApplicationNation.com

Metamark has launched a new 'e-Brick' app for iPhone which makes it even easier to select and match Metamark SignVinyl colours.

Metamark’s hefty “Brick” SignVinyl and Speciality Materials swatch now has a somewhat lighter-weight e-cousin. The e-Brick takes a useful chunk of Metamark’s Brick’s contents, the 4 Series and 7 Series SignVinyl ranges, and packs it into an intuitive and easy-to-use iPhone app that makes material colour selection and specification even easier still.

The new app uses the iPhone’s camera to capture images of anything its user might want to survey. The captured images can be saved and subsequently examined in close detail using a touch-controlled cursor. The app dynamically calculates and displays the closest available Metamark SignVinyl matches for the image area under the cursor’s focus.

Captured images and corresponding selected matches can be saved for future reference and the entire swatch can also be browsed without making a match reference to an image. Full product data sheets are also stored within the app and it’s possible to e-mail Metamark directly from the application too.

A Metamark spokesperson says, "It’s unlikely that the e-Brick will replace the real-world article, but it's just another example of how Metamark strives to make itself easy to deal with, and its products easy to choose and to buy. There’s also no doubting that the iPhone is a very powerful and useful tool and its talents are put to good use by Metamark’s app."

The app is available now, free of charge on Apple’s app store by searching under e-Brick.

For more information, please visit www.metamark.co.uk

Metamark has announced the availability of new Digital Media and SignVinyl Product and Price Guides. The new guides continue to detail the full range of Metamark Digital Media, and the company’s range of SignVinyl and speciality materials. Both material ranges have grown and the new guides also detail the new material and media introductions.

Class-leading value, shipping costs and pricing policies remain unchanged according to Metamark.  Metamark also adds that, if it’s in the price guide, it’s on the shelves and ready to despatch the day it’s ordered.

In support of maintaining this level of service, Metamark has relocated to larger distribution premises which are better able to accommodate the company’s larger inventory and handle increased order traffic.

In addition to despatching customer orders the day they’re placed, Metamark says it will despatch sample rolls of the materials and media in the new product and price guides the day they are requested.

Both guides are available free of change by contacting sales@metamark.co.uk

Lakeside Films Ltd, a road traffic and safety distributor for Avery Dennison Graphics and Reflective Solutions, believes that the quickest route is not always the best route to achieve optimal business results.

Based in Clevedon, Somerset, Lakeside Films is involved in all aspects of the road traffic and safety sector and stocks the appropriate specialist Avery Dennison products, including micro-prismatic Avery Dennison T-7500 MVP (Maximum Visual Performance) reflective and fluorescent sheeting and Avery Dennison HV 1302 REV metallised reflective films.   With a carefully-selected platform of five certified specialist converters, Lakeside Films decided to promote these particular products as practical, cost-effective solutions for emergency vehicle markings in today’s quality-conscious, but cost-conscious, marketplace.

Lakeside Films’ Managing Director Scott Horne, who has extensive experience in the self-adhesive signage and graphics industry, considered that the best way to achieve real market penetration was to work directly with the police authorities, and to conduct trials that would prove the efficacy of the films in direct comparison with other solutions. 

Partner police authorities

Using the specifications created by the scientific development branch of the UK police as a starting point, which the Avery Dennison products meet in full, Lakeside Films set up formal long-term trials with two UK police authorities.  "The aim", says Scott Horne, "was to create a market awareness that there are real performance differences between products available in the emergency vehicle markings market – and ultimately to convince the fleet managers of the police authorities that the Avery Dennison materials that we stock offer a better cost/performance ratio over the whole life of the vehicles.  We knew we could prove it."

Working with certified converters, Lakeside Films created markings using the chosen Avery Dennison films for a total of 12 emergency service vehicles within the vehicle fleets of their two partner police authorities and embarked on field trials of the materials that were to last 12-18 months.

The requirements

"While the ultimate visual appearance and daytime/night-time visibility of the markings were what really interested the police authorities’ fleet managers, we were just as concerned to prove the Avery Dennison retro-reflective materials in terms of conversion, finishing, reflectivity values and resistance to water ingress," continues Scott Horne.  "Avery Dennison T-7500 MVP fluorescents and Avery Dennison HV 1302 REV retro-reflective films are high-performance, micro-prismatic products, offering exceptional convenience and economy in conversion – and the only such products available for emergency vehicle markings.   Omni-directional films mean that the chevron markings can be neatly “nested” on the signshop plotter to save waste – up to 7-10% of material costs.   And because there are no visually-dead spots in the films’ construction, they are brighter once applied – both by day and by night.  These factors – including the use of an appropriate edge seal where required – are also part of the police specification."

The trials have been an unqualified success.   Scott Horne concludes, "The fleet managers of both police authorities loved the end results, both visually and in terms of the financial savings they represent.   Both authorities have both now switched their material specification to Avery Dennison."

Lakeside Films and its certified converters are confident that they will benefit from increasing business in the emergency service vehicles service sector as a result of these trials – and have proved beyond doubt that a slow, measured approach to the market can bring real benefits.  

Full details of Avery Dennison traffic and safety products are available via the website, www.reflectives.averydennison.com; from www.lakesidefilms.co.uk, and from Avery Dennison distributors throughout Europe.