Hardware

HP today announced that Cuestión de imagen, based in Mérida, Spain, has installed an HP Scitex FB6100 Printer to encourage the expansion of its digital printing services across Spain.

Cuestión de imagen was established in Fuenlabrada, Madrid, in 1994, to service local customers from the architecture, interior design, marketing and advertising industries. As part of the company's plan to extend its services across Spain, it moved to new premises in 1997 and developed a policy of investing in technologies that create new business opportunities. After successfully producing general commercial print items, including digital photo prints and photo-specialty items, the company decided that it wanted to offer its customers an extended portfolio of products. The new applications the company can produce include indoor and outdoor signage; point-of-sale and point-of-purchase displays; billboards; building wraps and display graphics.

The HP Scitex FB6100 Printer is highly versatile. It can print directly onto almost any rigid media, or heavy specialty media, including; foam board, PVC, corrugated plastic, MDO, MDF, glass, wood and metal. Its ability to convert from a flatbed to a roll-to-roll machine enables Cuestión de imagen to print on flexible substrates such as vinyl, paper, mesh and banners. The simple changeover mechanism enables fast and easy switching between the rigid and roll-fed printing modes.

"When we decided to purchase a large format printer we conducted a comprehensive assessment of the different technologies on the market, to find one that inspired trust in not only the printer but also the company behind it," said Pedro Torres, creative manager, Cuestión de imagen. "After visiting HP's demo centre in Sant Cugat, we had every confidence that its after-sales care and support would meet our needs, so we opted for the HP Scitex FB6100 Printer. Our investigation showed that its combination of high-quality and adaptability - printing on an almost unlimited range of substrates - is focused to a versatile production environment such as ours and perfectly matched our needs. We believed that this printer would enable us to win new business and this has already proven to be the case. Now more than 80 percent of our production uses rigid substrates."

The FB6100 enables users switch between four- and eight- colour or six-colour plus white printing, for increased flexibility and cost-effectiveness, depending on the job that is being produced. Designed to maximise productivity, the FB6100 offers Cuestión de imagen fast print speeds of up to 100m2 per hour in four-colour, combined with multi-sheet printing for rigid media such as pre-cut boards with a 3.2x2m table. The printer eliminates drying time, using highly durable UV-curable inks. Printed output can be handled, stacked and finished instantly, for immediate delivery.

"Since installing our FB6100 we have experienced a significant productivity increase," said Torres. "We have worked hard to establish a reputation for finding innovative and creative solutions for our customer's requirements. Many of the jobs we are now asked to produce are urgent, short-run work and by using our new press, we can offer faster turnaround times and high quality. Our customers are delighted."

 

 

Roland DG Corporation, a leading worldwide provider of wide-format inkjet printers and integrated print/cutters, has introduced a new dye sublimation solution for its VersaArt series of four-colour CMYK wide-format inkjet printers. The new VersaArt S series printers deliver rich, saturated colours and exceptional print quality while optimising productivity and performance, all at an affordable price. Two models are available: the 64” RS-640S and the 54” RS-540S.

“Sublimated fabric graphics are becoming increasingly popular because they are light weight, easy to handle, cost effective to ship and environmentally friendly,” said Yuko Seki, Roland DG Colour product manager. “With the VersaArt S series, businesses can easily add sublimation to their workflow to achieve a distinct competitive advantage as well as a quick return on investment. Our new VersaArt printers are easy to operate and deliver unmatched print quality and reliable performance for applications ranging from soft signage and apparel to interior décor items.”

VersaArt sublimation printers are flexible production tools featuring Roland’s proven SBL2 sublimation inks and patent-pending Roland Intelligent Pass Control technology for exceptional print quality in every mode. VersaArt sublimation printers produce vivid colors and image well at print speeds up to 31.8 m2/hr (342.6 sqft/hr.). VersaArt printers are also available as eco-solvent models featuring Roland ECO-SOL MAX ink. All Roland inkjets come complete with VersaWorks, Roland’s professional RIP software for precision color management.

 

 

Niggemeyer Bildproduktion, one of Germany’s largest and most successful large format print suppliers, signed an order for a five metre Fujifilm Uvistar superwide format printer at FESPA 2010. The device will not only be used to satisfy a growing demand for indoor and outdoor graphics, but as an inherent part of the company’s service offering and will also be utilised to print fine art and fabrics.

Roland Niggemeyer, managing director, comments: “We looked at a number of devices that would be able to produce outdoor banners at great speeds, while also able to print high quality indoor POS displays. The Uvistar was by far the most flexible machine on the market, so we decided to meet Fujifilm to look at it in greater detail.”

Roland has visited Fujifilm’s demonstration facility in Broadstairs, UK, a couple of times to carry out various tests on the machine and discuss modifications for Niggemeyer’s specific printing requirements with the technical team. “From day one, we were very impressed by Fujifilm’s commitment to excellent service”, he says. “The technical team was very happy to make the necessary modifications to meet the very stringent high quality printing needs of our customers, and was always available if we had any additional questions.”

The Uvistar is available in four different models, producing high quality output at throughput speeds in excess of 300m2/hour. A proven multi-roll system with a highly intuitive user interface, it provides fast and efficient start up with low media wastage, and has the ability to handle rolls of varying widths up to five metres. In combination with Fujifilm’s new Uvijet QK inks, the printers can produce jobs on a very wide range of flexible media, including polyethylene (PE), with no curing or ink starvation issues and with excellent inter-coat lay down for backlit and solid prints

Roland continues: “For us, the Uvistar is a perfect ‘workhorse’ and can adapt to our different high quality wide-format requirements. This, together with the fantastic customer service we’ve received from the Fujifilm team, made the decision to invest with them a perfect one – they offer the ‘whole package’.”

During the visit to FESPA, Niggemeyer also looked at Fujifilm’s newly launched process independent colour control system, Pro-File, as a solution to link all of its print processes together to match the colour of any print job on any of its printers.

“We have invited Fujifilm to do an audit on our current colour management processes, as Pro-File looks like a fantastic solution. We are eager to look into this further with Fujifilm and are confident of a positive outcome,” concludes Roland.

 

Officials of Rusty Wallace Racing (RWR) and Mutoh America-a manufacturer of wide format printers- announced today a partnership in which Mutoh will serve as an associate sponsor of RWR in the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series.

As part of that agreement, the RWR facility currently houses Mutoh's ValueJet 1614 Printer-"The Wrappers Choice"-the Mutoh SC PRO Cutter and a Royal Sovereign Laminator.

Noted RWR team owner, Rusty Wallace, "With the 2010 race season in full swing, Mutoh's ValueJet has played a big role in preparing graphics for our No. 66 and No. 62 teams.  Our team has a lot of momentum right now and we're hoping that 2010 will be a record breaking year for our team.  We're proud to be using Mutoh's ValueJet 1614 printer and SC PRO Cutter to produce graphics for our race cars."

With 55 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins under his belt, Wallace knows first-hand what it takes to be successful on the racetrack. As owner of RWR, he has put this knowledge to work even further.  "Ensuring that our sponsors' logos look their best is extremely important to us," said Wallace. "We know and trust Mutoh.  With the prints produced by the ValueJet 1614, the colors and logos on cars really pop."

"Rusty first approached me after seeing our printer in West Coast Customs booth at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas last year.  He was looking for a solution to wrap his race cars fast, without failure and they needed to look great.  After visiting Mutoh America Headquarters he chose our most popular printer for producing wraps, the ValueJet 1614.  This is going to be a great relationship and we look forward to working with Rusty and his team for many years ahead," said Brian Phipps, Mutoh's General Manager.

HP today introduced a Large Format Photo Negative application that allows professional photographers using the HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer series to produce fine-art quality prints or hardcopy image archives.

HP is showcasing Large Format Photo Negatives and prints produced with the negatives for the first time at Les Rencontres d'Arles 2010 in Arles, France from July 3-13, and at ArtHamptons in Bridgehampton, NY from July 9-11.

This application is generated with a free software package and the HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer series, which allow photographers to use a digital file from a film scan or digital capture to produce a photo negative on a transparent substrate. Large-format photo negatives can be used as masters to produce high-quality fine art prints in a wide range of classic, alternative photographic processes.  These include monochrome or color processes, such as cyanotype, photogravure, platinotypes, dye-transfer, gum bichromate and carbro.

"HP's breakthrough innovation gives fine art photography printmakers an easier way to transform their digital files into high-quality, physical originals of their work, addressing one of the key needs we heard from this community," said Santiago Morera, vice president and general manager, Designjet Large-format Printing Solutions, Imaging and Printing Group, HP.  "We're committed to helping professional photographers simplify and accelerate the process for producing, showcasing and archiving their art."

While writing on film from digital data is not new, the Large Format Photo Negative application, developed by HP Color Scientist and photographer Angel Albarran, offers one of the simplest, least expensive and highest-quality options available on the market today. Any professional photographer with an HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer, the correct substrate and the free software package from HP can produce these photo negatives. The software package will be released at Photokina in September.

Photographer Elliott Erwitt uses Large Format Photo Negatives to create new edition of platinum prints

Elliott Erwitt, a Magnum photographer known for his black-and-white candid shots, recently used Large Format Photo Negatives to create limited editions of some of his most famous and iconic photos. With the large-format negatives, he was able to produce 76 x 102-cm (30 x 40-inch) platinum prints of four of his images on cotton paper, including "California Kiss."

"Platinum printing is the Rolls Royce of photographic reproduction and has traditionally been limited to modest dimensions," said Erwitt. "These new large-format platinum prints with their unusual size are a Rolls Royce and Ferrari combined. They are a new and unique way of seeing and experiencing familiar iconic images. The resulting four pilot photographs have a luminosity that is not achievable with any other process old or new."

Erwitt first worked with Gabe Greenberg, famous in the fine art community for high-quality digital prints, to retouch and adjust the images in a digital format prior to printing. Once approved, the digital files were printed on the HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer in the form of large-format negatives with green and black Original HP Photo Inks.

"The negatives we're getting from our HP printer are unparalleled by anything we've done before," said Greenberg, who has worked with noted platinum printmaker Arkady Lvov for eight years, experimenting with various inkjet printers to find a streamlined method to create large-format photo negatives suitable for platinum printing. "The platinum prints they produce have smooth gradations and even gray areas. These are the crème-de-la-crème of prints. We're ecstatic about the new process!"

With the printed negative in hand, Lvov coated cotton paper with a mixture of platinum salts and various other components to make the substrate sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) light. The coated paper and negative were then sandwiched together in a vacuum frame and exposed to UV light, causing the reduction of the platinum salt back to its metallic state based on the level of opacity from the negative, forming the images. The final prints offer a superior range of gray levels, smooth tonal transitions, excellent contrast and good separation in shadows, highlights and mid-tones compared to other solutions on the market.

Once final, the platinum print was tagged with ARTtrust, a simple self-certification system from HP that allows artists to provide individual identity to any pigment ink print produced on an HP Designjet Z series printer using Original HP Photo Inks and any compatible media, including HP fine art printing materials. ARTtrust provides traceability and control of authenticity, as well as certified information about print longevity, for each pigment print.

Large Format Photo Negatives at Arles and ArtHamptons

Large Format Photo Negatives and platinum prints produced on the HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer and tagged with ARTtrust will be on display for the first time at Les Rencontres d'Arles 2010 and ArtHamptons. HP will also participate in a conference at Les Rencontres d'Arles 2010 titled Fine-Art Photography and Technology: Revolution and Renaissance? at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 8. Attendees can discuss the latest technology advancements for the photography community and meet with photographers, printmakers, art collectors and galleries while viewing the Erwitt prints.

More information about HP Designjet solutions is available at www.hp.com/go/designjet and on the HP for Designers Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/HPdesigners

 

Challenge

• Expand business into lucrative high image quality outdoor and indoor signage market
• Obtain production printing speeds while maintaining outstanding image quality
• Price printed products competitively through lower production costs
• Ability to print on a broad range of media, from vinyl to low-cost polyester(6)
• Simple workflow to speed up delivery and keep costs down

Solutions

• HP Scitex LX800 Printer
• HP Latex Inks
• Original HP printing materials including HP Photo-realistic Poster Paper (recyclable through commonly available recycling programs)

Results

• Winning international customers looking to maximise market reach on tight budgets
• Customers are recognising high image quality offered at competitive costs
• Achieving production capacity and application versatility that delivers for regular, broad-ranging printed campaigns

Businesses worldwide have been adopting aggressive strategies to increase their profit margins and grow their market share despite the recent economic downturn. As a result, time to market has become shorter and shorter, budgets are extremely tight so cost and time savings are made wherever possible. Print buyers reflect the wider market conditions and continue to demand many different products, in shorter time, and with reduced budgets, even as the economic outlook brightens.

Benefits to the bottom line

Verdúdigital is a highly successful, full service printing business based outside Barcelona in Spain. They reacted rapidly to deteriorating market conditions by expanding into the higher quality signage market, a new segment for their business. They utilised the HP Scitex LX800 Printer that features HP Latex Inks to print a host of outdoor and indoor applications.

Vicente Verdu, Sales Manager at Verdúdigital describes the business approach they adopted. "In a deteriorating market it may seem counter-intuitive to acquire new equipment but the benefits to the bottom line have far outweighed the investment," says Vicente, adding, "We have made new customers by achieving outstanding image quality while satisfying customer needs to cut costs. We use recyclable HP Photo-realistic Poster Paper for high quality images. We can print directly on economical polyester fabrics and our estimated average HP Latex Ink consumption is 1800 m² (5905 ft²) per set of inks as compared to 800 -1000 m² (2625 - 3281 ft²) using our other, slower printers, on a like-for-like basis. We can now handle the print demands of larger and larger companies on a national and worldwide basis."

For a world-renowned Scandinavian furniture brand, Verdúdigital has been exploiting the HP PVCfree Wall Paper that, together with HP Latex Inks, provides odourless interior wall decorations that meet GREENGUARD criteria for low emitting products and AgBB criteria for health-related evaluation of VOC emissions of indoor building products.

In addition, by using HP Latex Inks Verdúdigital does not require special ventilation equipment or an external dryer and the company can attract environmentally conscious customers because of the printer's ability to produce odour-free(2) prints and the availability of a range of recyclable HP printing materials, many of which can be returned to HP for free and convenient recycling.

Productivity that wins worldwide business

One of their latest business successes has seen Verdúdigital printing worldwide campaigns for an international jeans brand. Vicente describes the scope of the job. "The HP Scitex LX800 Printer produces posters, billboards, point of purchase displays, interior decoration and facades. We print them, mount them, pack them and ship them worldwide. For the latest campaign we printed 1200 m² (3937 ft²) in 10 days, including mounting. The printer is extremely quick and the productivity features add to the overall fast turnaround. The dual roll means we can load two 1374 mm (54 in) rolls and print on both side by side, at the same time," states Vicente. Roll-to-free fall and roll-to-collector capabilities let you print and finish simultaneously.

Edging out competition with unbeatable Combination

Verdúdigital possesses a broad range of printing technology but Vicente believes that the high image quality, production print speeds and the workflow productivity offered by the HP Scitex LX800 Printer are an unbeatable combination. Recently a multinational company that owns a number of famous fashion labels and cosmetics brands invited Verdúdigital to present an offer for its worldwide printed signage campaigns.

Vicente explains how the HP Scitex LX800 Printer is allowing them to undercut the competition. "Their previous supplier was using chemical processes to create the images. Image quality was extremely high, but so were the costs… and delivery times were drawn out. I was convinced that the HP Scitex LX800 Printer could give us an edge by achieving a high image quality that would satisfy customer needs while delivering jobs at greater speeds and lower production costs. We ran some tests and the client was very impressed with image quality… and even more impressed with the cost savings. Prior to the HP Scitex LX800 Printer we wouldn't have been able to compete," states Vicente delightedly.

Today Verdúdigital exploits the HP Scitex LX800 Printer to print all the applications they possibly can. "Once you have used the printer in your business, you realize that you could never survive without it again," Vicente concludes.