Hardware - Wide Format Print

The introduction of the Mimaki UJF-3042HG flatbed printer brings even greater capability to desktop LED UV inkjet printing. The new printer will be released in February 2012 at FESPA Digital in Barcelona and is expected to also show at Sign & Digital UK 2012 the month after. Maximum height for printing materials is expanded to 150mm, and Mimaki has also added the capability to benefit from 6-colour plus white printing by incorporating two additional ink slots.

“The introduction of the UJF-3042HG underscores our commitment to continuing innovation in the development of wide format printing products,” comments Mike Horsten, marketing manager at Mimaki Europe. “This desktop LED UV inkjet printer expands the thickness of materials that can be used for print to 150 mm. Even most larger, more expensive printers can only print on materials with a thickness of up to 51mm, making this a huge breakthrough for the industry. The printer can print directly on A3 media (420 x 297 mm).”

Evolutionary LED UV Inkjet Printer raises the bar

The UJF-3042HG is able to print on substrates that are impossible to use in a conventional model such as plastic, metals and wood; all of which continue to improve business opportunities. Its small environmental footprint is another differentiating factor for this printer, with long-life, low power consumption LED curing. With the introduction of the Mimaki UJF-3042HG, two print channels have been added to enable 6-colour printing plus white and clear inks. This produces attractive, higher definition output with high quality gradations that cannot be achieved as easily with 4-colour printing. In addition, white and clear inks add value to printed products by providing under/over-coating on transparent or coloured materials, as well as gloss or matte finish.

Mimaki is distributed in the UK & Ireland by Hybrid Services Ltd and national sales manager, John de la Roche welcomes the new machine. “Adding the ‘HG’ model to the Mimaki UJF-3042 product line-up provides customers with even greater choice dependent upon their application. With tangible performance and process advantages, Mimaki’s UV print capabilities are unsurpassed, so it’s well worth a visit to the upcoming spring exhibitions just to see them in action.”

The Mimaki UJF-3042HG also features a newly developed white ink circulation system that prevents pigment sedimentation. This not only improves the yield of white ink for more efficient consumption and reduced waste, but it also benefits production throughput with less risk of wastage of expensive substrates. The UJF-3042HG also incorporates a nozzle recovery function that temporarily restores print quality, reducing potential downtime if maintenance issues should arise.

Automatic Inkjet Primer application function expands substrate range

With the printer’s automated primer function, Mimaki’s PR-100 inkjet primer can be applied through the inkjet system, as opposed to the previous manual application method. This primer improves adhesion and allows the use of materials that are not necessarily optimised for inkjet production, without affecting the look and feel of the substrates. Inline application allows for improved registration and faster production times – spot priming only the areas of the substrate that will be accepting ink means less primer needs to be consumed, reducing costs while ensuring quality remains high.

The Mimaki UJF-3042HG supports three different ink types in addition to the primer:

• Mimaki LH-100 hard UV ink excels in scratch and chemical resistance as well as colour reproduction.
• Mimaki LF-200 flexible UV ink enables stretching of ink up to 200% (new to the UJF 3042 family).
• Mimaki LF-140 offers strong gradation in 6-colour printing (CMYK + LcLm) and is more flexible than LH-100 hard ink.

Opaque white and high gloss/matte clear inks are also available.

“Gloss and matte inks add significant value to the printed product,” says Horsten. “These inks enable the designer to highlight specific areas of the piece, making images literally pop off the page and adding other special effects to increase both quality and production value. White ink, of course, is a critical component of printing in the sign and display industry, especially when using transparent or dark substrates. Our opaque white ink meets both requirements – blocking the transmission of light through transparent materials so that the overprinted colour stands out resulting in a broader colour gamut, as well as providing full coverage over darker materials, delivering a crisp image without any muddiness. We believe the ability to print using both white and clear inks on a desktop device is a first in the industry and we are proud to bring this capability to market.”

For more information on Hybrid Services, please visit www.hybridservices.co.uk

For more information on Mimaki, please visit www.mimakieurope.com

[photo shows Mimaki UJF-3042HG flatbed printer]

Turnhout, Belgium-based Digiforma NV - situated close to the border with The Netherlands - is not your everyday printer. With 12 permanent staff, this company, which is clearly going places, has a history firmly steeped in packaging, or to be more precise ‘re-board’.

Olivier Ceulemans, managing director at Digiforma, explains just how the company came to look for a large format digital printer, and in doing so, opted for Fujifilm’s expertise with the Inca Onset.

“Cardboard has been in my family’s blood since just after WWII – my father had created a highly viable company that made cardboard boxes, which he sold in 1989 to Smurfit Kappa. I suppose it was from him that my brother and I learned that you need to invest in the best to stay ahead of the game."

“In 2002, Philippe and I decided to give up our old jobs and branch out together, still in cardboard as both of us had experience of this material. But, we weren’t content to stick with the traditional methods and wanted to develop a product which would let us glue the cardboard more easily. At this time the main ingredient for cardboard gluing was being given a lot of press as it was discovered to be very harmful if inhaled. We managed to develop and patent a product which is being widely used today.”

During the course of this work, Olivier and his brother hit upon a new material which they recognised as a huge opportunity in the making. That material was re-board. At this time, no mainland European country other than Scandinavia was using it. Digiforma, with its background in cardboard and knowledge of printing and finishing, was able to steal a march on its competitors by demonstrating just what could be achieved with this printable, strong, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective product.

“We took a risk, and decided to employ a sales person to go and knock on the brand owner’s doors, the exhibition organisers, designers, whoever you can think of,” explains Olivier. “Eventually two big high street brand names decided to take a chance, and we haven’t looked back since.”

“Today we have designed sets from concept through to final installation for our major TV channel, we make furniture, we kit out exhibition stands, we design for retail houses, you name it, we do it – we’ve never turned a job down. But, as we’ve grown (from two buildings to six) our old printer was letting us down from a quality and speed perspective. There was only so long I could expect my staff, however loyal they may be, to work through the night because the printer couldn’t keep up with the work.”

To this end Olivier decided to undertake a thorough research into all of the major large format printers available. He soon became convinced that the Inca Onset made sense for him, with its fixed print-heads and moving table. The quality and speed he saw in demonstrations has been repeated in situ.

“We’ve had our Onset S20 or just over three months now,” he says, “and while we never expected it to be close to full capacity at the start (we are only running it for an hour a day), it completes all of the work that our old printer would take a whole day to do. It’s also eliminated the banding problems we’d been experiencing beforehand.” He continues, “My aim is to fill the rest of the day with new re-board jobs and with some large format signage work too - it really has opened up new opportunities for us.”

The Inca Onset was launched into the marketplace four years ago as a high end inkjet printer that would change the way print was produced. This proven technology has fast become the most successful platform in digital wide format printing, and Fujifilm is able to prove that making an investment in the most powerful flatbed family in the world can pay back in record time.

“Some of the big brands we work with had no idea what was available to them in terms of the speed and quality that digital print can provide, and so we are now in the excellent position of being able to lead the way. For us, despite the difficult economic climate of the last few years, re-board has really held its own. Where many companies have struggled, Digiforma has gone from strength to strength. Re-board is the perfect alternative to heavier and more expensive wood, and our customers not only save money in materials but also in set up time.”

He continues, “Our relationship with Fujifilm is excellent. We have always received exceptionally good service, and people have always been on hand to provide advice.”

In the future, Digiforma is planning on taking its ideas to a new level, as a brand new e-commerce web site will allow customers to order items such as large format puzzles, photographs and even personalised coffins, all to be printed on the Onset.

[photo shows Olivier Ceulemans, managing director at Digiforma, with the Fujifilm Inca Onset S20]

Perfect Colours, a London-based value added reseller of large format digital printing solutions, has supplied and installed a HP DesignJet L25500 printer at Fast Signs Gloucester’s premises.   The new printer will enable Fast Signs Gloucester to improve its productivity and expand its solutions into the ‘green’ product arena.

Fast Signs Gloucester designs, prints and installs bespoke signage solutions including vehicle wraps, exhibition displays, outdoor banners, site and traffic signs and corporate logo signage.  The company needed to upgrade to a new printer that could handle increased workload without compromising the quality of output.

Perfect Colours recommended the HP DesignJet L25500 printer.  The L25500 delivers unrivalled versatility for the production of a wide range of both outdoor and indoor sign and display applications.

The HP DesignJet L25500 printer was deemed an ideal solution as it produces high quality output and is able to print onto a broad range of media including most low-cost uncoated media as well as coated media compatible with eco-solvent inks.  The printer enables sign and display shops –such as Fast Signs Gloucester – to meet all their customers’ needs with a single, cost-effective device.

According to David Riddle, owner of Fast Signs Gloucester, “The L25500 printer not only gives us the outstanding quality we expect from Hewlett-Packard, but also helps us deliver faster turnaround times as we are able to laminate immediately after printing.”

The green issue was also important in Fast Signs Gloucester’s selection of the L25500.  “To be able to offer a range products printed on recyclable media was a huge advantage as many of our clients are environmentally-focused.  The new printer creates odourless output and requires no ventilation,” says David Riddle.

The installation of the new printer went well and Perfect Colours was on site throughout the transition.  David Riddle comments, “The help and advice we received from Perfect Colours throughout the installation was invaluable.  As a long-standing supplier of the Fast Signs Group, Perfect Colours understood the needs of our business and had the expertise to seamlessly integrate a new solution without disrupting our workflow.”

He concludes, “Perfect Colours also gave us some excellent product training at the time of installation and we know – in the unlikely event that any difficulties arise – Perfect Colours’ support staff are only a phone call away.”

Perfect Colours recently announced that it had been ratified as an official HP-authorised service partner for DesignJet printers.  The organisation is able to service and support all HP DesignJet printers under the HP warranty.

For more information on Perfect Colours and the products and services it offers, please visit www.perfectcolours.com

UniGraphic Inc., a full service one-stop marketing fulfillment shop offering the highest-quality products and services, has experienced explosive growth. Having tripled its revenue in the last eight years, the company is currently experiencing its best year ever. For over 45 years, this results-driven company has been delivering digital printing, commercial printing and customer delivery services to prominent brands across North America. Today, UniGraphic announced the next step in revolutionising its Large Format printing business with the implementation of the new EFI VUTEk GS3250LX printer that offers expanded capabilities along with UniGraphic’s state-of-the-art production equipment, including the VUTEk 5330 and VUTEk QS3200.

With the addition of the EFI VUTEk GS3250LX, UniGraphic advances its capabilities in large format media design and production. Clients from major advertising firms and retailers have been requesting the ability to produce higher quality images even faster to enable the national launch of retail marketing campaigns.

“The VUTEk GS3250LX represents a powerful extension to UniGraphic’s full-service large format solutions, maximising our speed, flexibility and accuracy from production to fulfillment and into retail outlets,” said Bob Quinlan, President of UniGraphic. “This new printer nearly quadruples our capacity to deliver simultaneous campaign materials to national retail chains. Our clients are constantly demanding expanded reach in producing their retail point-of-purchase displays, and EFI offers us the technology to meet this need."

With its innovative ink-curing system, the VUTEk GS3250LX is consistent with UniGraphic’s commitment to green technology as it contains no VOCs, uses less consumables, produces less waste, uses less energy and has the ability to print on recycled and other materials with ease. UniGraphic is reducing its impact on the environment through responsible choices in equipment and supplies.

Meeting increased demand for large format printing, UniGraphic recently added the world class EFI VUTEk GS3250LX digital printer to its already extensive suite of digital print equipment. The GS3250LX boasts innovative digital advancements with significant increase in production speed combined with true 1,000 DPI print capability. This enables UniGraphic to quickly achieve consistent print photo-quality images, crisp text, vibrant colours and advanced three-layer white ink printing on an extended range of supported substrates. VUTEk’s innovative ink curing technology delivers high quality and high adhesion in order to maximise the visual allure of promotional materials, from window clings, exhibits and in-store signage to POP / POS displays, billboards and fleet graphics.

“EFI is dedicated to advancing the possibilities of large format marketing with technologies that provide the marketplace, including our partners like UniGraphic and their customers, creative flexibility, superior visual quality and efficient operations,” said Ken Hanulec, VP Marketing Inkjet Solutions, EFI. “We couldn’t be more pleased that UniGraphic elected to add our latest high-quality LED based VUTEk printer to its production capabilities, enabling the company to enhance its position as an industry leader throughout North America.”

For more information on UniGraphic’s integrated marketing products capabilities, including the new VUTEk GS3250LX Printer, please visit http://www.uni-graphic.com/

For more information on The VUTEk GS3250LX Printer and EFI, visit www.efi.com

Delta Display has installed two further HP Scitex FB7500 Industrial Presses and has been beta testing the HP Scitex FB7500 Industrial Press Upgrade Kit.

Part of the Delta Group, Delta Display is a provider of full promotional services for leading brands, retailer and entertainment companies providing print, distribution, logistical, installation and compliance services.  Maintaining performance, quality and reliability is critical to the Delta Group, and the new presses provide additional redundancy to ensure production deadlines are met.

"Campaigns for our customers can run up to 250 pieces and can be anything from multi-sheet graphics, canvas banners, self-adhesive vinyl graphics, corrugated POP displays, to leaflet and tabletop items," said Martin Shipp, executive director, Delta Group. "The FB7500 press gives us the flexibility we need to respond quickly since it can handle thin papers and plastics as well as thicker substrates for POP/POS displays."

The HP Scitex FB7500 Industrial Presses are capable of handling a wide variety of substrates ranging in thickness up to 1in (25mm) at speeds up to 95 sheets per hour, with a production mode for indoor and close viewing applications of 48 sheets per hour.  Delta Display has its HP Scitex FB7500 Industrial Presses at three locations: four at its Black Horse Road headquarters; one at its premises in Leeds, and two a new plant in Waltham Cross.

The beta testing of the upgraded HP Scitex FB7500 Industrial Press at Black Horse Road has enabled the company to see the benefits offered by the recently launched HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Printer. New features include a POP55 mode for 15 per cent greater throughput; improved thin substrate handling; a multi-sheet feed capability to print four sheets simultaneously; edge-to-edge printing to reduce substrate waste and save finishing time, and a new HP FB225 Scitex Ink that offers increased flexibility and reduced chipping.

"The accuracy and speed of the multi-sheet option is impressive and double-sided printing can be done much more quickly and easily," Shipp said. "It shows great forward thinking in the development."

"The Delta Group is an important customer for HP," said Mark Rowland, HP Scitex County Manager, UK & Ireland. "The repeat orders of the FB7500 industrial presses, as well as the presence of multiple units of other HP Scitex, HP Designjet and HP Indigo presses and printers at Delta Group's production plants are indicative of the strong strategic relationship we have with the company and we are pleased to see its continued strong growth."

"By offering complete, integrated services, we have made it possible for our customers to have one supplier they can rely on," says Shipp. "This saves them time and, ultimately, money.  Our skills, our equipment and our ability to adapt to change in a challenging market are the foundations of our success."

Delta Group operates a broad portfolio of HP printers and presses, which in addition to other HP Scitex printers, includes HP Designjet and HP Latex Printers, as well as HP Indigo Digital Presses.

More information is available at www.youtube.com/hpgraphicarts or follow HP on www.twitter.com/hpgraphicarts.

Sabur Ink Systems is now the exclusive UK and Ireland distributor for the Gunsjet R4 range of printers, featuring the new RICOH GEN4 print head technology.

Available in three widths - 1900, 2600 & 3300mm - the Gunsjet R4 printer comes with 8 printheads staggered in two lines. The Gunsjet R4 printer is fully upgradeable to 12 printheads, allowing the Gunsjet to reach a maximum speed of 96sqm/hr and a true production speed of 72sqm/hr at 1200x600dpi 4pass.  All three models are capable of printing multiple rolls of paper at the same time, enabling the customer to achieve maximum productivity from the machine.

Every R4 printer comes equipped with an intelligent two stage heating ink supply system which ensures the ink is at the optimum operational temperature and viscosity during printing. The printer also comes equipped with an active negative pressure ink system which ensures high stability of ink supply to the heads. The operator can easily monitor the system through digital display gauges. Additionally, the bulk ink tanks are installed with level sensors to warn the operator of low ink levels thereby minimising operator problems during use.

Sabur Ink Systems will be primarily selling the sublimation model which has been developed alongside Manoukian sublimation inks. However, with the Ricoh Gen4 printheads being extremely versatile, the Gunsjet printers are also available in solvent and UV models - both roll to roll format and flatbed.

According to Sabur Ink Systems, “We feel the Gunsjet range of printers will fit into our portfolio perfectly as the printer enables us to offer our growing customer base a wider and faster printer and enables the customer to print multiple rolls at the same time. We are aiming this printer at the sportswear, flags, retail point of sale and exhibition graphics markets.”

The new Gunsjet printer is available immediately.  Sabur Ink Systems will have a 3.3m wide model available for demonstrations at its South Yorkshire premises from January 2012.

For more information, please visit www.saburink.com