Consumables

Drytac now offers EarthSmart Premium Bond, a heavyweight presentation paper certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC).

FSC is an independent, non-profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests. It certifies products based on responsible manufacturing and distribution practices.

EarthSmart Premium Bond is a bright white, 9.2 mil thick, matt coated bond paper for aqueous inkjet printers with width options of 36, 42, 50, and 60 inches. It is ideal for poster prints and mounted graphics.

Paired with eco-friendly film laminate lines like Drytac Interlam Bio and Interlam Eco laminates and a mount board like ReBoard or Xanita, EarthSmart Premium bond can complete a completely eco-friendly project.

InteliCoat Technologies has announced that it will be transitioning from its current white box packaging to an eco-friendly brown box alternative as part of the company's ongoing initiative to reduce its impact on the environment. The new packaging will be employed across all InteliCoat brands, including the Magic, Magiclée, Museo, and JetSet lines of digital imaging media.

Composed of up to 100 percent post-consumer recycled materials, the new boxes are constructed with 30 percent less material than current packaging with equal structural strength, do not require the use of harmful bleaches or other whitening chemicals during the manufacturing process, and are 100 percent recyclable. In addition to the new boxes, InteliCoat will be changing its core plugs to offer better support at the box ends to prevent damage.

"We are continually working to improve InteliCoat's environmental performance, and are proud that our environmental procedures, processes and planning activities have produced measurable results, including reduced waste generation, increased recycling of solid waste and raised consumer awareness," said Ed McCarron, director of marketing at InteliCoat Technologies. "This change in packaging is just one more step on our environmental journey. Beyond dramatically improving our environmental impact, the new packaging ensures that customers can continue to source digital imaging media and packaging that has been made responsibly."

Hot-on-the-heels of the launch of new eco-friendlier poster papers, Sihl has announced new, high quality large format coated canvas media for the UK signs, advertising and art print sectors.

The Bern-based inkjet media specialist says it has developed Miro Gallery Canvas white 340 and Fortuna Artist Canvas white 400 specifically to meet growing demand for highest quality media in the artist sector.

Both materials have a bright white coating, providing a very wide color gamut, ranging from transparent color gradients to exceptionally high color densities.

Sihl said prints on the new media boast 'photorealistic appearance and outstanding form stability.'

"The special coating on these very high quality canvas products enables them to absorb large amounts of ink. This means that even critical, dark and uniform areas of color or grey can be homogeneously reproduced. The matt inkjet coating is water-resistant allowing users to print durable, waterproof motifs," said Sam Iliaifar, Sihl Group UK area sales manager.

Key features and benefits:

Sihl Miro Gallery Canvas white 340matt 3580-340 gsm

• 1:1 structure guarantees highest print quality.

• Polyester/cotton base provides excellent dimensional stability and rigidity.

• Exceptionally flexible coating will not break when stretched over a canvas frame.

• Coating can be further refined with varnish or spray.

• Guaranteed long-term picture quality with pigment inks.

• High quality results across all standard printing systems.

Sihl Fortuna Artist Canvas white 400 matt 358 – 400 gsm

• Matt surface 400 gsm canvas provides optimum print quality for the art print market.

• 2:1 linen structure creates 'valuable and exclusive' appearance.

• Resistant to cracks.

• Printed picture impervious to water splashes.

• Strong contrast print possible using small quantities of ink.

• Perfect for the indoor sector.

• Printer compatible—but with a sharp focus on latest printer systems using pigment inks.

• Canvas can be treated with varnish or spray.

"The polyester/cotton base of the Miro Gallery Canvas white 340 provides superb dimensional stability and rigidity. This canvas will satisfy the most demanding customers searching for solutions in the indoor sector of the advertising market—but also those working with framed works of art," said Iliaifar. "The new Fortuna Artist Canvas white 400 gsm is just the perfect answer in the art print sector. It's highly flexible, waterproof and delivers a compelling' expensive-looking' finished product."

Both media are available now in various widths and 12 meter lengths.

Drytac has added a recyclable blockout banner material, for UV flatbed printers to its line of print media.

Made of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), EarthSmart™ Eclipse can be recycled in commercial plastics recycling programs to become raw material for products like trash bags and landscape fabric.  It is also certified by ASTM International (ASTM) to biodegrade in most landfills.

EarthSmart™ Eclipse is a bright white 15 mil, curl-free banner material.  It is available in 54-inch, 63-inch and 72-inch wide rolls.

Using the EarthSmart™ Eclipse banner material with Drytac’s Panda Stand™ can provides a complete eco friendly display solution for the end user.

At the VISCOM sign show in Italy (5-7 November at Fiera Milano, Milan, Italy) Hexis will preview 2 new cast vinyl series for car wrapping applications.

The new HX30000 series saw the addition of 2 Variochrome versions that were presented with demos on an Aston Martin DBRS9 GT3 racecar. The 2 shade shift colours, a mother-of-pearl white and an iridescent purple, are cast vinyl films with colour variable pigments carrying a solvent-based adhesive and a structured PE liner with Hex’Press technology that allows convenient air egress during application. Because of its high flexibility and conformability fast and risk free transfers are practically guaranteed. It is particularly suitable for vehicle full wraps and for all long-term applications on complex and compound curved surfaces. With the shade shift feature highly effective colour effects can be achieved.

The standard roll size is 30m long and 1370mm (54in) wide. 63-inch (1600-mm) rolls will be available later.

Also on show will be the new HX30000 “Carbon”, a multi-layered 135µm cast vinyl film with a carbon fibre embossed pattern. It carries the proven solvent-based adhesive and a structured PE liner with Hex’Press technology that allows convenient air egress during application. With its extreme flexibility and high conformability fast and risk free it is principally destined for vehicle full wraps and other long-term outdoor applications. It is the ideal high-end solution for heavily curved surfaces and all substrates with long life cycles.

Swatch books and catalogues are available directly from Hexis or from local distributors.

Hexis manufactures a full line of graphic vinyl and digital printing media used for sign making and vehicle markings. The company is based in Frontignan, near Montpellier, France with subsidiaries in Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States and with affiliate Hexis companies in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK. The group exports some 40% of its sales to over 40 countries worldwide, with a consolidated turnover of EUR 40.1 million in 2008.

Sihl has launched three new 'eco-friendlier' multi-purpose poster papers into the large-format market.

The 'wet-strength' Post-2-Cure Papers have been specially developed by Sihl for use with latest generation latex inks from HP and are suited for both indoor and outdoor use.

"Latex inks are based on an infra-red hardening technique and require their own range of media. Sihl has responded to this need with the launch of Post-2-Cure Paper 125, Post-2-Cure Paper 180 and Post-2-Cure Paper blueback 125 – all high quality wet-strength papers enabling weather and water resistant prints both with the new latex and with UV-hardening inks, whilst remaining compatible with real solvent inks," said Sam Iliaifar, Sihl Group UK.

"This is the eco-friendlier option. These bright white poster papers enable digital services providers to produce prints with a high productivity which are significantly less harmful to the environment and our health than solvent inks. The Post-2-Cure alternatives are in addition to the six solvent-based printing media from the speciality sector which we have already introduced for the HP DesignJet L65500 (the first printer to use the new water-based HP latex ink) and the brand new HP DesignJet 25500," said Iliaifar.

According to Sihl, the poster papers offer impressive color reproduction and correspond to offset-printed posters in terms of surface feel and appearance.

"The heat that has an effect on the paper during processing causes only minimum paper shrinkage—and with these properties the new media promises high-quality, superior poster application," said Iliaifar

Additional features and benefits of the new papers:

Post-2-Cure Paper 125 satin 3741 – 125gsm: This bright white poster paper, with its specially finished surface incorporates a slight barrier coating on the back. It can be used for indoor signs; indoor short-term promotions; city light posters/outdoor light box displays.

Post-2-Cure Paper 180 satin 3742 – 180gsm: This heavyweight poster paper, complete with slight barrier coating on the reverse side can be used for indoor signs and short-term promotions; pop-up displays; city light posters and outdoor light box displays.

Post-2-Cure Paper blueback 125 satin 3740 – 125 gsm: This option with its specially finished surface and barrier coating on the back is suitable for indoor signs and short-term promotions plus billboard and advertising applications. The blue reverse side enhances opacity when wet.

"The new types of print media are also ideal for information signs laminated to panels or with a cold laminate finish or for photorealistic posters," said Iliaifar.