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Ricoh to Show Wide-Format Printers, Cutters, and More at ISA Sign Expo

At the ISA Sign Expo 2019 in Las Vegas April 24-26, Ricoh will showcase a portfolio of printing and cutting devices that sign shops can use to make indoor and outdoor signage and displays, customized T-shirts, promotional products, and more.

The RICOH Pro L5160 Latex Roll-fed printer uses safe, non-toxic inks to print everything from backlit graphics and wallcoverings to window displays, textiles, and floor graphics. It is available in CMYK or CMYK plus White ink configurations.

With the white ink, you can print full-color images on a range of clear and dark substrates without sacrificing vibrant color or durability.

“From hospitality to hospitals, many industries are starting to more fully embrace wide format. When we designed the RICOH Pro L5130/L5160 series, we were engineering a platform specifically to equip printers to reliably excel at meeting those diverse needs,” said John Fulena, Vice President, Commercial & Industrial Printing Business Group, Ricoh USA, Inc. “Through the combination of Ricoh inks, Ricoh printheads and Ricoh design, these devices empower users to deliver the kinds of applications their customers are looking for – and do it better and faster than the competition.”

Ricoh Pro l5160 printer
Ricoh Pro l5160 Latex Wide-Format Printer

The RICOH Pro TF6250 UV-LED Flatbed Printer can print graphics and images on a wide range of substrates up to 4.3 inches thick, including wood, metal, glass, styrene, corrugated cardboard, and stone. In addition to CMYK inks, the printer can apply clear, white, and primer inks. The low-heat LED UV curing enables you to print on thin substrates without the risk of warping.

“In wide format, the difference between an application that stands out and one that does not often comes down to the inks that deliver the highest quality with adherence to a wide variety of substrates,” said Fulena. “With the RICOH Pro TF6250, we developed a technology platform that can handle the wide range of applications our customers’ customers are seeking.

Ricoh Pro TF6250 UV-LED Flatbed Printer

The RICOH Ri 1000 Direct-to-Garment Printer from AnaJet (a Ricoh company) can help sign shops diversify their offerings. With this fast, accurate, easy-to-use printer, you can decorate T-shirts, hats, bags, socks, and more. With just a three-step process (design, print, cure), you can fulfill orders for hundreds of customized T-shirts or a personalized one-off.

The RICOH Ri 1000 prints full color graphics at 1200 x 1200 dpi on garments of a diverse array of sizes, colors and materials. Quick-change magnetic platens, available in multiple styles and sizes up to 16 x 19.6 inches, provide a variety of print options. These platens easily snap on and off the machine, so switching between different garment styles and sizes requires virtually no downtime.

“Ricoh and AnaJet understand our customers’ need to diversify revenue streams through new printing technology,” said Karl Tipre, CEO, AnaJet, Inc. “With the RICOH Ri 1000’s affordable price point, automatic maintenance features and built-in Interactive Operation Guide, capitalizing on the garment market opportunity has never been so attainable. We’re proud of its speed, versatility, ease of use, and ability to deliver vibrant, high-resolution graphics. The RICOH Ri 1000 is our most user-friendly, full-featured DTG machine yet.”


Ricoh Ri 1000 Direct to Garment Printer

Other equipment displayed in the booth will include:

Colex Sharpcut SX Series Flatbed Digital Cutters. With work tables up to 10 feet by 10 ft., these powerful systems can cut: two-dimensional signs, decals, and lettering; three-dimensional point-of-purchase displays; package prototypes using corrugated, paperboard, chipboard, and folding cartons. The system can also be equipped to cut fabrics and other fibrous materials.

EFI Pro 16h UV-LED Hybrid Printer. With this space-saving wide-format printer, you can run rolls of flexible materials up to 65 inches wide and 65-in. sheets of rigid substrates up to 2 inches thick. It can print day/night backlit displays, exhibition graphics, indoor signage, long-term outdoor signage, point-of-purchase graphics, posters, and more.

EFI Pro 16h UV-LED Hybrid Printer

A pop-up shop in the Ricoh booth will show the wide range of products and graphics that can be printed and customized as needed.

Pop-Up Shop in Ricoh Booth

For the full range of products, services, and software available from the Ricoh Commercial and Industrial Production group, visit https://TakealookatRicohProduction.com

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Roland’s New TrueVIS VG2 Wide-Format Printer/Cutters Use TR2 Eco-Solvent Ink

Roland DGA has launched its TrueVIS™ VG2 series of 54-inch and 64-inch wide-format eco-solvent inkjet printer/cutters. Engineered for demanding sign and graphics printing projects, the new TrueVIS VG2 printers offer comprehensive color choices, improved machine efficiency, and increased print-and-cut accuracy for true unattended production.

Roland TruVIS VG2 wide-format inkjet printer/cutters with graphics
54- inch Roland TrueVIS VGS2-540 and 64-inch TrueVIS VG2-640

In addition to incorporating a host of technological advancements for optimum overall performance, the VG2 series uses Roland’s new specially formulated TR2 ink.

The inks are available in three different configurations:

  • 8 colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, Light Cyan, Light Magenta, Light Black, and White
  • 8 colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, Light Cyan, Light Magenta, Light Black, and Orange
  • 4 colors: Two sets of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black

The ink choices, including new Orange ink, allow for a wider color gamut and more color control than ever before.

A new Multiprocess Color Function enables Orange to be used as a process color. A new True Rich Color preset allows you to combine vibrant color with neutral grays, smooth gradations and natural skin tones for stunning graphic output.

TrueVIS VG2 printer/cutters with TR2 ink are certified for long-lasting results by the 3M™ MCS™ Warranty providing assurance of the quality and durability of graphics on qualified 3M materials.

The VG2 with TR2 ink has also earned Avery Dennison’s ICS performance guarantee, and is certified GREENGUARD Gold for safe indoor graphic applications.

For unsurpassed image quality and printing precision, VG2 printer/cutters are equipped with Roland DG FlexFire™ print heads that produce neutral grays, vivid colors and smooth skin tones, even at high speeds.

The VG2-540 and VG2-640 also feature improvements for increased printing and cutting accuracy as well as reliable, unattended operation. For example:

New middle pinch rollers raise automatically prior to starting the cutting process. New crop mark options for cutting laminated printed materials, combined with optimized pinch roller pressure, ensure maximum cutting stability.

A new, included TU-4 take-up unit supports two modes according to the type of media being used. This further stabilizes the machine for a smooth post-printing process.

Roland’s Most Powerful RIP

New VersaWorks® 6 RIP software, included with the VG2 series printer/cutters, boasts the latest Harlequin® dual core engine with PDF 2.0 and native 64-bit processing. Other features include a new icon-based interface with drag-and-drop functionality, and other easy-to-use capabilities. that make it Roland’s most powerful RIP ever.

“Roland DG’s original VG series won prestigious 2019 Pick Awards from Buyers Lab for their outstanding color and productivity,” notes Daniel Valade, Roland DGA Product Manager, Color Products and Cutters. “With the VG2 series, we’ve created a new generation of printer/cutters that are even more advanced, productive and easy-to-use. These innovative inkjets aren’t designed to simply meet customer expectations, they’re built to exceed them.”

2019 ISA International Sign Expo Innovation Award

On March 29, the International Sign Association announced today that Roland’s TrueVIS™ VG2 series eco-solvent printer/cutters won the 2019 ISA Sign Expo® Innovation Award in the “Printer” category.

The ISA Innovation Awards recognize the most unique and outstanding product launches at ISA Sign Expo 2019. The VG2-540 and VG2-640 impressed the judges – an outside panel of experts – with technological advancements, comprehensive color choices, improved machine efficiency and increased print-and-cut accuracy.

“The ISA Innovation Award winners truly represent the most creative and innovative products available on the ISA Sign Expo floor,” said Lori Anderson, ISA president and CEO. “Attendees at ISA Sign Expo have come to expect groundbreaking products and the latest solutions. These raise the bar.”

Roland DGA President and CEO Andrew Oransky was quick to point out the importance of winning this coveted award. “To have ISA recognize our new TrueVIS VG2 series as a standout product for 2019 is quite an honor, especially considering the stiff competition.”

“The cutting-edge technologies and features of these next-generation printer/cutters put them in a class by themselves,” Oransky added. “An amazing amount of research and effort went into the design and development of these machines, ensuring that every VG2 is built to exceed the needs of the most demanding graphics professional.”

For More Information

To learn more about Roland’s award-winning new TrueVIS VG2 series wide-format printer/cutters, visit http:// https://www.rolanddga.com/VG2. For more information on Roland DGA Corporation, or the complete Roland product line, visit https://www.rolanddga.com.

Kornit Atlas Industrial Garment Decorating System Handles Higher Production Levels

The Kornit Atlas is a heavy-duty system for industrial garment-decoration businesses. Capable of running to 350,000 impressions per year, the Atlas is being marketed to highly productive garment decorators, mid- to large-sized screen-printing firms, and innovative businesses. 

The Kornit Atlas direct-to-garment printer can print images and design on garments made
from cotton, polyester, cotton-polyester blends, lycra, viscose, silk, leather, denim, linen, wool and more.

“This is a huge leap forward, not only for Kornit, but also for the direct-to-garment printing industry as a whole,” said Omer Kulka, Kornit’s VP of Marketing and Product Strategy. “Simply put, the Atlas is the best and most cost-efficient direct-to-garment printing technology for high-quality and high-quality production requirements.” 

The system is equipped with ink-recirculating printheads and features a newly developed NeoPigment™ Eco-Rapid ink that meets global sustainability standards. The new ink carries the Oeko-Tex Eco-Passport certification and is GOTS pre-approved. It provides a white-ink opacity similar to those of conventional screen-printing inks and meets high durability standards on multiple fabric types. Its increased color gamut and saturation allow for deep, full tones and precise spot-color matching.  The Atlas system features six colors (CMYKRG) plus white. 

The unique print engine on the Kornit Atlas features an enhanced version of Kornit’s ink-saving HD technology and is complemented by professional RIP software that produces prints that meet high standards of retail quality and print durability.

Kornit Atlas with operator

The Kornit Atlas comes ready for the cloud-based business, productivity analytics, and optimization software platforms that are scheduled to be released in the second half of 2019. The platforms will allow for future network connectivity required to support fleet management and optimization of global multi-printer systems and multi-site enterprises.

Companies that participated in beta testing included DTG2GO and T Shirt & Sons. 

According to Deborah H. Merrill, president of the DTG2GO’s parent company, said Kornit Atlas innovations such as wrinkle detection and pallet ergonomics, present clear productivity benefits.  

“The new Eco-Rapid ink provides impressive brilliance and color gamut,and meets all wash test standards with no discernible scent,” said Merrill. “We are glad we had the opportunity to beta test the Kornit Atlas and are certain it will become a key component in DTG2Go’s production line.” 

Jon Lunt, co-founder and director at T Shirt & Sons, said, “Using the Atlas, T Shirt and Sons achieved a significant boost in garment decoration production through the peak holiday season. In several weeks of rigorous testing in a high-volume production environment, the Kornit Atlas was a revelation, doubling our output with very high-quality prints and the reliability the high-pressure season demanded.”

The Kornit Atlas will be demonstrated at the Fespa Global Print Expo in Munich from May 14-17, 2019 and at the ITMA textile and garment technology show in Barcelona from June 20-28, 2019. You can also see the Atlas at a Kornit Open House event in Las Vegas in April and at its regional subsidiaries.

About Kornit Digital 

Kornit Digital, headquartered in Israel, develops, manufactures, and markets industrial digital printing technologies for the garment, apparel, and textile industries. Kornit’s complete digital printing systems are enabling innovative business models based on web-to-print, on-demand, and mass customization concepts. Kornit serves customers in more than 100 countries and has offices in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.kornit.com 

Roland Introduces Its First DTG Printer

Roland DGA has released its first direct-to-garment (DTG) printer. The new VersaSTUDIO BT-12 makes it easy, efficient, and cost-effective to print directly on cotton apparel and accessories. Users can print full-color graphics (including photos, logos and text) directly on T-shirts, tote-bags, and interior décor items made from fabric that is at least 50-percent cotton.

Roland DTG printer
Roland_VersaSTUDIO_BT-12_direct-to-garment printer

Because of the printer’s small footprint and attractive pricing, individuals and businesses can personalize products with a low initial investment and in locations where space may be limited. For example, the BT-12 can be set up in retail shops, kiosks, gift shops, tourist destinations and special event venues.

The footprint of the BT-12 is 15.7 inches wide and 29.9 inches deep. This includes a finishing unit stacked with the printer unit. This clever design dramatically reduces the installation space typically required for a traditional DTG printer and finishing unit.

The Roland Design Software included with the BT-12 makes the printer easy enough for novices to use. With the intuitive software and hardware interface, anyone can create unique personalized apparel and accessories with minimal training.

“Roland has been a key player in the production of graphics for custom apparel and fabric goods for many years,” said Lily Hunter, Roland DGA Product Manager, Textiles and Consumable Supplies. “The addition of the BT-12 to our product line satisfies growing demand for a compact, value-packed direct-to-garment printer that offers outstanding performance alongside the benefits of Roland’s renowned customer service and support.”

Capable of producing a product from start to finish in as little as five minutes, the BT-12 is the designed to suit the needs and budgets of newcomers to the fast-growing garment-decorating market.

To learn more about the new VersaSTUDIO BT-12 direct-to-garment printer, visit www.rolanddga.com/bt-12.  For more information on the complete Roland product line, visit www.rolanddga.com.

Konica Minolta Introduces AccurioWide Printers

At the 2018 SGIA Expo, Konica Minolta showcased two new wide-format UV LED inkjet printers. Both printers are designed to give sign shops, screen printers, photo labs, commercial printers, and franchise printers the image quality and reliable performance they need to produce a variety of products, including:

  • Backlit signs, billboards, and banners
  • Art or photographs on glass or textured canvas
  • Window clings and floor graphics
  • Industrial labels for hazard communications,pipe marking, and equipment panels
  • Vehicle wraps or fleet markings
  • Vinyl or textile banners
  • Yard signs and other corrugated substrates
  • Wood, metal, glass, and PVC objects such as promotional products or gifts

The Accurio Wide 160 and Accurio Wide 200 printers can output images on both flexible roll materials and rigid media up to 1.77 inches thick.

The Konica Minolta Accurio Wide 200 can print on material up to 2 meters wide (6.7 feet ). It can print high quality images in six colors (CMYKLcLm). It also includes 2 channels of white ink. The printer includes large media tables that can accommodate  printing on large, rigid materials up to 10.5 ft.long.

AccurioWide 200

The Konica Minolta Accurio Wide 160 can print on materials up to 1.6 meters wide (5.4 feet). This printer can be configured to print in either 6 colors (CMYKLcLm) or 4 colors (CMYK) plus White (2 channels). The media tables are available as an option.

AccurioWide 160

The printers use Konica Minolta’s own 1024i printhead nozzle technology and powerful, air-cooled UV LED for ink curing. The KM1024 printhead technology enables simultaneous emission from all 1,024 nozzles with a high-density structure that features four lines of 256 nozzles aligned with high precision for accurate positioning.

The UV-LED lamps save production time, reduce costs, and are environmentally sustainable. Because the LED curing lamps are cool to the touch and have minimal heat output, the Accurio Wide printers can print on heat-sensitive substrates such as thin film, self-adhesive sheets, or stretch PVC materials.

“Our wide-format printers, using our industry-leading printhead technology, produce superior quality images while reducing the cost of ownership,” said Dino Pagliarello, vice president of product management and planning at Konica Minolta. Many features of the printers are designed to reduce the use of consumables. 

Features

AccurioWide printers are engineered to provide state-of-the-art image quality and a high level of productivity. Features include:

A Reinforced Beam that ensures that the printhead shuttle moves flawlessly and provides accurate placements of each droplet;

Shuttle Safety Sensors that prevent recessed printheads from touching the substrate and getting damaged;

Automated Media Handling systems that make loading media a smooth, accurate process;

Ionization Bars mounted on the carriage to remove electrostatic charges on the substrate and ensure accurate ink droplet placement;

An Automatic Ink Refill System controlled by a monitoring system that detects UV ink levels;

A Touchscreen mounted an a swivel arm that allows the operator to view spooled files to be  printed.  The print files are stored on an Internal Server with a hard drive capacity of 1. TB. The internal server ensures fast spooling and secure transfer of large amounts of data.

Inflatable Airshafts on both the unwinding and winding side assure perfect tension and wrinkle-free printing of materials printed in the roll-to-roll mode. (The inflatable airshafts are standard on the AccurioWide 200, and available as an option on the AccurioWide 160.)

Large Media Tables allow printing on large rigid materials up to a length of 10.5 feet.

Konica-Minolta UV-Curable Inks

The AccurioWide series uses high-performance UV-curable inks recognized for the lowest ink consumption per square meter. It’s “pigment-shield technology” is a patented pigment dispersion technology specifically designed for UV-curable inks. It guarantees high color density and ink stability that contributes to a long ink shelf life when stored under normal conditions.

The inks are instantly dry, meaning that prints can be handled immediately. The inks are also designed for superior adhesion, resistance to abrasion and chemicals, outstanding consistency, and no emissions of VOCs (volatile organic compounds).

Advanced White Printing

The AccurioWide series include white-layered printing in pre-white, post-white, and sandwiched white modes. To limit the risk of inks resettling and blocking the lines or printheads, the printers white inks are constantly stirred and circulated.

Production Workflow Software

AccurioPro WideDirector is production workflow software that standardizes processes for printing sign and display jobs. It enables you to control the entire printing process, including preflighting files, managing color, and sending data to automated print finishing equipment.

The automated preflighting checks PDF files to identify and flag potential production issues early in the process. With WideDirector’s intuitive interface, the operator can see what will print and make last-minute changes with ease.

The interface is integrated with the latest version of Adobe PDF Print Engine (APPE). The APPE manages the generation of PDF master files and and eliminates the need for manual intervention.  The APPE helps ensure end-to-end consistency across all printing devices.

Color management tools help ensure color quality, consistency, and accurate reproduction. AccurioPro WideDirector color tools include calibrated print modes, spot-color conversion based on PANTONE libraries, and patented technology to create smooth vignettes.

To provide even more control, you can add Konica Minolta’s FD-9 Scanning Spectrophotometer. This device combines speed, precision, ease of use, and versatility for accurate profiling and color management.

Additional modules support specific needs such as:

An XML to JDF connection to integrate to existing online storefronts;

The creation of one-way vision window-perf graphics on less expensive, easier-to-handle clear films; or

The layout of seamless print designs used for wall coverings and floorings

A browser-based production dashboard for gathering reports on ink and media consumption. It can be used as an estimating and cost tracking tool.

For more information about Konica Minolta’s AccurioWide printers, visit:
https://kmbs.konicaminolta.us/kmbs/technology/wide-format-printer.

Digital Textile Printing Is Rising at Standfast & Barracks

Standfast & Barracks in Lancashire, England is one of the most versatile fabric printers in the world. Established in 1924, the company produces fine-quality prints for design-led home furnishings and apparel brands. It is part of the British luxury furnishing group Walter Greenback Plc and has an international reputation for a commitment to quality, innovation, and advanced technologies.

The company produces more than 150,000 yards of printed fabric per month. And until five years ago, it was all done by conventional printing. Today, digital production accounts for more than half of its business revenues.

Ecofast™ Fabrics

At the Heimtextil show for home and contract textiles in January, 2019, Standfast & Barracks will formally launch their new Ecofast™ line of fabrics. The products are produced on the company’s Durst Alpha 190 textile printing system with One-Step Greentex P inks. The environmentally friendly pigment  and reactive and dispersion inks are based on Durst Water Technology.

The new Alpha Series, a super high-performance multi-pass inkjet printer, features different configurations and print widths for the digital production of clothing, home textiles and fashion.

Fabric printed on Durst Alpha 190
“Digital gives us unlimited opportunities and colour variations,” says Stephen Thomas (right) of Standfast & Barracks with Martin Winkler of Durst.

 

The Alpha series offers print widths of 190 – 330 cm (6.2 – 10.8 ft) and can be configured with up to 8 colors and 64 Alpha-S print heads that achieve a native resolution of 600 dpi and a print speed of 460 linear meters/hour (15,800 sq ft/hr). The Durst Alpha series provides continuous ink circulation in all ink circuits in order to guarantee constant ink quality and reliable stand-by availability. A new intelligent feed system has been developed for the Alpha series that adapts automatically to different textiles and roll diameters.

The Alpha Series combines new process technologies to control the interactions of printheads, ink system, textile material, tissue type, pre- and post treatment, thereby making them reproducible, when required – with the aim of further advancing the economic efficiency of digital textile print.

“Our investment in Durst’s digital technology continues to trigger new waves of innovations,” said Stephen Thomas, managing director of Standfast & Barracks. “Digital gives unlimited opportunities and color variations with the ability to develop new application and products and continue to develop our business. Digital is by far our biggest growth area. It’s the future.”

Standfast & Barracks produces stunning colors and designs on their Durst Alpha 190 textile printing system.

“Standfast & Barracks is an exceptional example of how innovative companies are pushing the barriers by continuing to invest in new digital technologies,” said Martin Winkler, segment manager, Durst Textile Printing. “We take great pride in working in partnership with our customers to help them to bigger and better things. And we look forward to continuing to work with Stephen and his great team to further help them grow opportunities that are virtually unlimited with digital.”

 

Epson Releases Compact SureColor T Printers for Designs, Renderings, Posters

The first, wide-format color inkjet printers in the 1990s used aqueous dye inks to produce CAD drawings, GIS maps, and prepress proofs. Today, many new models of aqueous inkjet printers use aqueous pigment inks and are promoted for everyday use in architecture and engineering firms, offices, schools, and design studios.     

Epson SureColor T3170

Epson has continued this trend by releasing two new wireless, easy-to-use SureColor® T series pigment-ink plotters for use in corporate, home, and small-studio settings.  The high-performance, wireless printers deliver commercial-grade reliability and feature an all new, clean and compact design.  

The Epson SureColor T3170 is a 24-inch desktop printer with an MSRP of $995.

The Epson SureColor T5170 is a 36-inch floor-standing printer with an MSRP of $2,395 

These two new printers are designed for professionals and workgroups involved in architecture, engineering, CAD, GIS, and education. The SureColor T3170 and T5170 printers can be used to output blueprints, line drawings, renderings, charts, posters, and simple signs.

Epson SureColor T5170

“Working with feedback from customers and industry design leaders, our goal was to create a modern printer that meets both performance and workplace needs,” said Matt Kochanowski, product manager, professional imaging, Epson America Inc. “The sleek design coupled with dynamic connectivity and fast print speeds make the SureColor T3170 and T5170 printers worthy of display in today’s modern office settings.” 

Features  

Fast Print Speeds: The print engines on the SC-T3170 and T5170 can produce accurate A1/D-size prints in as little as 34 seconds and 31 seconds respectively. (Actual print speeds will vary, because total throughput times depend on the workstation configuration, file size, print resolutions, ink coverage, and networking.) 

Print from Anywhere in the Office: Integrated wireless and Wi-Fi Direct® connectivity allow for easy printing from tablets, smartphones, and more. 

Durable, Vibrant Prints: Next-generation Epson UltraChrome XD2 archival pigment inks produce brilliant colors and crisp lines.  

Easy to Set Up and Operate: The printer can be set up in about 30 minutes. A 4.3-inch LCD touchscreen simplifies print tasks.  

High Performance: Epson’s PrecisionCore® MicroTFP printhead offers Precision Droplet Control for outstanding clarity and precise, sharp detail. Prints drawings and design in resolutions of up to 2400 dpi. The enhanced Nozzle Verification Technology automatically detects and adjusts the operation condition of each nozzle.  

Print on Rolls or Sheets: Depending on the model, you can print on rolls of media up to 24 inches or 36 inches. The Auto Sheet Feeder handles sheets up to 11 x 17 inches. 

Replace Ink Less Often: The four colors of ink (CMYK) are supplied in high-capacity cartridges (up to 50 ml for color cartridges and 80 ml for black cartridges).

Denn Engineers, a land survey and civil design firm, is using the SureColor T3170 to create drawings for customers engaged in civil engineering projects.

“We were immediately impressed with the size of the printer,” said George Shweiri, owner of Denn Engineers. “The small, sleek form factor allows us to place it directly on someone’s desk so it’s readily available for use where we’re working. Setup is straightforward and quick, and the print quality is sharp, even in draft mode.”

The Epson SureColor T3170 and T5170 printers are now available through authorized Epson Professional Imaging resellers and channel affiliates. For more information, visit: https://epson.com/surecolor-t-series-plotters

 

CAD BLU Named Dealer for Mimaki Full-Color Industrial 3D Printer

Mimaki USA has signed CAD BLU as the national dealer for the Mimaki 3DUJ-553 full-color industrial 3D printer. With offices in five states, CAD BLU has been leading the 3D printing industry for over 20 years. CAD BLU offers an extensive selection of 3D printer systems, materials, and technologies for customers in a variety of industries.

The Mimaki industrial 3D printer can produce objects with high definition, fine detail and in full color up to 20 inches wide by 20 inches deep and 12 inches high. It is a color-managed device with more than 10 million possible color combinations for photorealistic output. Clear ink is available for creating translucent colors. It uses water-soluble support material that is easy to remove, maintaining fine details.

“The 3DUJ-553 provides unprecedented full-color 3D printing for additive manufacturing and visual prototyping,” said Ken VanHorn, vice president at Mimaki USA. He believes CAD BLU, a leader in 3D printer sales and service, will deliver the 3DUJ-553 printer for use in medical, jewelry, automotive, entertainment, aerospace, and personalization applications.

“This new partnership with CAD BLU will drive exciting growth for both companies and create a competitive advantage for customers across industries,” said VanHorn.

“Our mission is to connect clients with the solutions they need to unlock the 3D printing potential of their business,” said Rich Motto, CEO of CAD BLU. “We are excited about this new partnership with Mimaki because both companies share the same vision. Through the combined efforts and experience of CAD BLU and Mimaki within the 3D printing color industry, we are well positioned to offer our customers a great and innovative product that will add value to their manufacturing process.”

For more information on the Mimaki 3DUJ-553 full-color industrial 3D printer, visit mimakiusa.com/3D.

 

Specialty Printer: Neopost Mach 6 for Direct Mail and Small Packages

Ongoing advances in inkjet printheads and inks have enabled manufacturers to design dozens of different types and sizes of printers for specific markets and applications. If you want to expand the range of products and services your print shop offers, you can find specialty printers for almost any type of application you can imagine.

In this post, we’ll look at the Neopost MACH 6.  Equipped with an 8.77-inch Memjet printhead that spans the width of the printing surface, the MACH 6 is a fast, thick-media printer for mailing, printing, and packaging applications.

 

You can use it to address and print traditional items such as envelopes, stationery, greeting cards, an special-event invitations. Or, you can choose to print on materials up to 3/8-inch thick, including stuffed envelopes, chipboard, corrugated cardboard, and folding cartons. The MACH 6 can print on 10 x 13-inch flat envelopes or mailers up to 10.5-inch wide and 17-inch long.

Unlike conventional inkjet printers in which the printhead traverses back and forth across the media, this system has printhead the remains in place as the media continuously moves beneath it. The “single-pass” system is about eight times faster than the conventional inkjet systems.

It can print as many as 8,000 standard No. 10 envelopes per hour.

Neopost MACH 6 inkjet printer

In the “normal” print mode, the MACH 6 runs at 60 feet per minute at a resolution of 1600 x 800 dpi (dots per inch). The “best” print mode runs at 30 feet per minute at 1600 x 1600 dpi for higher-output quality and deeper colors.

The printer features an electronic media thickness control and wide feeder path for larger envelopes and sheets of packaging boards.

The long-lasting printhead includes an automated cleaning and capping system to maintain print quality.

A stored-jobs feature can hold more than 60 GB of print jobs. To make additional copies of a stored job, you simply call up the print job via the printer’s 7-inch color touchscreen interface.

The optional mColor RIP and Workflow software is based on Harlequin RIP technology. It delivers the color consistency and accuracy required to match brand colors or Pantone colors. A variable data module makes variable-data printing fast and easy.

Other options include conveyor stackers, infrared dryers, a console table/cabinet, and a kit for handling small media (3.5-in. long x 1 in. wide).

About Neopost

Neopost is a global leader in digital communications, logistics, and mail solutions. Neopost USA provides hardware and software to mailers and shippers of all sizes. Neopost-branded solutions enables businesses to send and receive physical mail, digital documents, and traceable packages.

About Memjet

Memjet develops advanced inkjet printheads, modules, and ink technology to equipment manufacturers around the world. By developing solutions that are fast, simple, and affordable, Memjet is transforming what is possible in digital color printing.

Memjet’s original VersaPass technology platform is an aqueous dye-based, single-pass printing system that enables on-demand printing in a variety of markets, including: desktop labeling, mailing, and addressing; wide-format printing; and commercial printing.

Memjet’s DuraLink digital platform includes a new long-life printhead with 5x nozzle redundancy and durable aqueous pigment ink. DuraLink can be configured to provide single-pass inkjet printing in widths up to 100 inches (2.5 meters). Memjet’s DuraLink platform can be used in a range of commercial, packaging, and industrial printing applications.

iTEK Graphics Adds EFI VUTEk Superwide Hybrid Inkjet Printer for Retail Signs

Six years after first adopting digital printing, iTek Graphics has completed its largest-ever investment in superwide-format inkjet printing. The Concord, North Carolina-based company has installed a 126-inch wide EFI™ VUTEk® HS125 Pro hybrid inkjet press from Electronics For Imaging, Inc. The EFI VUTEk superwide printer uses UV-curable inks to produce graphics on either flat, rigid substrates or rolls of flexible materials.

 

The new press replaces an older hybrid inkjet printer the company used. iTek Graphics will use the added production capacity of the EFI VUTEk HS125 Pro to meet the growing customer demand for high-quality retail point-of-purchase (POP) signage and graphics.

iTek Graphics will primarily print retail display promotional signage on styrene and corrugated plastic. Much of that signage will be for a grocery chain that relies on iTek Graphics for its printing needs at locations across eight states.

‘The most bang for the buck’

“We looked at all the high-volume, high-quality superwide-format inkjet presses in the market,” said iTek Graphics Owner John Rawlins, “and while they all offered high-quality printing, the decision came down to which press offered the best combination of price, speed and price per square foot for ink. The VUTEk gives us the most bang for the buck.”

Printing at speeds up to 125 boards per hour, the VUTEk HS125 Pro has eight channels, including two white inks, and delivers premium-quality, grayscale imaging on a broad range of flexible and rigid substrates up to 2 inches thick. A three-quarter automated material handling system installed with the press ensures faster loading and off-loading to maintain high productivity.

Integrated productivity for high-volume digital print

iTek Graphics also offers sheetfed offset and cut-sheet digital printing. The company has long relied on EFI MIS/ERP workflow software to drive efficiencies in its overall business and production management operations.

The EFI Fiery® proServer digital front end iTek Graphics installed to drive its new superwide-format inkjet press integrates directly with the EFI Midmarket Print Suite workflow the company uses to manage the business.

That seamless connectivity into iTek Graphics’ overall workflow will reduce the time needed to estimate, schedule and deliver jobs printed on the new inkjet press.

“Digital is an important part of our business,” Rawlins said. “When we moved into our current facility 14 months ago, 40 percent of our business was digital. Now, with the new HS125 press, our digital printing revenues should reach the 50 percent mark by the end of the year.”

For more information about superwide-format inkjet graphics production with EFI VUTEk products, visit www.efi.com. To see many of the imaginative applications possible with EFI print technology, visit www.ImagingofThings.com.