As it prepares to enter its fourth decade in business, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based Conlin’s Print is extending its superwide-format graphics printing capabilities with a new, high-end production solution, an EFI VUTEk h3 hybrid flatbed/roll-to-roll superwide-format LED inkjet printer from Electronics For Imaging, Inc.
The recently installed, 126-inch wide printer bolsters longstanding capabilities at Conlin’s Print as a one-stop print provider with even more options for fast-turnaround, premium-quality graphics.
The company is a full-service commercial print business serving the Philadelphia metro area with a broad range of print, finishing and binding solutions, and was an early adopter of wide-format digital inkjet printing. With its latest investment, Conlin’s Print is meeting demand for different types of high-end graphics production applications.
The new printer replaces an 80-inch wide EFI VUTEk QS2 UV inkjet printer that the company selected to first address growing demand for higher-volume graphics production.
“For years, our wide-format graphics work was in traditional signs and banners,” said Bill Conlin, Sr., the second-generation president of the family-owned business. “The QS2 and now the new h3 printer have brought us into different applications including window, wall and floor graphics.”
The quality, efficiency and versatility of the new VUTEk h3 printer meets the company’s longstanding criteria for exceptional results, giving Conlin’s Print the ability to sell a broader range of applications to existing customers.
Versatility to create new print opportunities
Many of the jobs Conlin’s Print produces with its new printer are rigid-substrate flatbed applications, including color graphics printed on clear acrylic, aluminum composite material, and other clear, colored or metallic substrates, using the printer’s highly opaque white ink. But, the h3 printer can quickly switch to roll substrates and delivers high-end quality on a broad range of flexible media – something that has led customers to go beyond display signage needs and unleash their creativity on custom wallcovering and décor applications.
“Instead of having to choose from a set of designs for their office décor, customers can create whatever they want for their offices,” said Conlin.
The award-winning EFI VUTEk h3 printer delivers premium-quality imaging in resolutions up to 1,200 dots per inch, with up to eight colors plus white ink and an up to nine-layer print capability. UltraDrop Technology on the printer, with native 7-picoliter grayscale printhead imaging and true multi-drop addressability, delivers exceptional smoothness in shadows, gradients and transitions. “Cool cure” LED imaging on the printer requires less energy usage compared with traditional UV-cure or latex printers, plus it enables printing on thin or specialty media that cannot withstand the heat of other drying or curing methods.
An X4 Technology option on the printer at Conlin’s Print enables production speeds up to 74 boards per hour in a CMYK x 2 configuration. As production volumes grow, the company also has the ability to complete a field upgrade to an EFI VUTEk h5 model, which offers even higher throughput of up to 109 boards per hour in X4 mode.
Conlin’s Print is a long-time user of EFI Fiery digital front ends, which drive the company’s cut-sheet digital commercial print equipment as well as its wide-format graphics printer. The company’s familiarity with Fiery helped shorten the training time for the new EFI VUTEk installation, according Bill Conlin, Jr., a sales executive for the company. “The quality we get with the Fiery is excellent,” he noted, “especially with its color management features, because that is very important to our customer base.”
