Hardware - Wide Format Print

Océ, an international leader in digital document management and printing for professionals, today introduced the new Océ CS6400 Series of robust and reliable outdoor production printers. The Océ CS6400 Series enables users to grow their businesses by reducing job turn-around time while increasing customer satisfaction by delivering exceptional quality prints. The Océ CS6407 printer model will be shown on the Océ stand at the IPEX Exhibition in Birmingham, UK, 18-25 May 2010.

The Océ CS6400 Series uses mild-solvent inks and includes two models:  the 190 cm (74.8”) wide Océ CS6407 printer, and the 264 cm (104”) wide Océ CS6410 printer. Both models can be used in four-color mode or eight-color mode. Print speeds of up to 100 square meters (1075 ft2) per hour can be achieved.

 

High productivity printers with user-configurable color modes

Newly developed, high frequency print heads with multi-drop technology deliver prints at production print speeds. The eight print heads can be configured in two ways:  2 x 4 mode (C, M, Y, K), with four colors and two heads per color for maximum print speed; or 1 x 8 mode (C, M, Y, K, G, Lc, Lm, Lg), with eight colors and one head per color for superior print quality. The four-color mode reaches print speeds up to 100 square meters (1075 ft2) per hour. With the eight-color mode users can still print at speeds of up to 50 square meters (538 ft2) per hour.

 

Setting a new quality standard

The Océ CS6400 Series offers a perfect balance between high-speed printing and great print quality. Smart Pass Technology onboard every Océ CS6400 Series printer delivers smooth and band-free prints by optimizing pass-to-pass dot placement and alignment.

The four-color mode ensures excellent image density and is ideal for outdoor banner applications. The eight-color mode adds Light Gray, Gray, Light Magenta and Light Cyan ink for smooth transitions and exceptional overall image reproduction. The Gray and LightGray inks make it possible to print real gradations, light shadows and metallic textures.

With the speed, productivity and print quality of Océ CS6400 Series, users can produce rush jobs and manage peak volumes, while still meeting their clients’ high print quality demands and delivery requirements.

Océ IJC640 mild-solvent inks are tuned for the screen and sign industries.  The inks have an outstanding color gamut capable of producing saturated and brilliant colors, and offering excellent outdoor durability of up to three years.

 

Ink and media systems enable long print runs

Océ offers a full range of media for all kinds of applications on the Océ CS6400 Series. Users can visit the Océ Media Guide (www.mediaguide.oce.com) and find the right media for their printer and application, including matching Océ color profiles.

The Océ 6400 Series detects the thickness of the loaded media, and adjusts the printhead height automatically. In combination with the three-level pressure control system of the pinch rollers, media of up to 1 mm thick can be used.

Efficient 1.5 liter ink reservoirs and a sub-tank system provides for on-the-fly ink changes. These large capacity ink reservoirs reduce the need for frequent ink replacement, enabling productive, round-the-clock printing. In addition, the support of bulk media rolls with weights up to 120 kg (264 lbs.) gives users the ability to print long jobs on the same media.

 

HP today announced new HP Designjet multifunction printer (MFP) and scanning solutions to help office users, IT managers and technical design professionals easily shift from a cumbersome, hard copy based project workflow to a more efficient, integrated digital workflow solution that boosts productivity and reduces costs.

"Enterprises and small and mid-sized businesses are facing extreme pressure to develop a leaner, more efficient infrastructure, while still providing high-quality results," said Santiago Morera, vice president and general manager, Designjet Printing Solutions, HP. "HP is committed to providing solutions that allow our customers to collaborate, innovate and achieve success while simplifying the way they manage their printing environment."

Optimise imaging and printing infrastructure with new large-format solutions

The new HP Designjet T1200 HD-MFP extends HP's leadership in the large-format MFP market, offering customers an integrated scanning, copying and printing experience for a variety of documents, including drawings, maps, renders and photo-realistic images. Ideal for reproduction houses, copy shops and planning departments, the HP Designjet T1200 HD-MFP features a four-camera charge-coupled device (CCD) scanner with 600 dpi technology and embedded PostScript capabilities for optimal results.

Customers also can streamline workflow and increase efficiency by bringing large format colour scanning in-house with the new HP Designjet Scanner. A resolution of 600 dpi optical from four CCD cameras creates high-quality images with realistic colours and precise lines even when using poor-quality originals. The HP Designjet Scanner complements existing large format printing capabilities to build a powerful, easy-to-use, in-house scan-copy-print system. It integrates easily with numerous industry-leading third-party scan applications - enabling excellent copy quality and performance.

These solutions help customers drive new business opportunities by delivering higher productivity and print quality, fast print speeds and a powerful in-printer processing architecture that allows workgroups to easily meet deadlines, even during printing peaks.

Software solutions allow customers to capture new business

HP also offers a suite of software solutions for the HP Designjet portfolio that increase productivity, reduce costs and deliver high-quality results. The solutions include Serif Poster Designer Pro for HP, HP Instant Printing, SCP Reprocontrol for HP and HP Designjet Excel Accounting Report.

More information is available at www.hp.com/go/graphicarts, as well as through the HP Graphic Arts Twitter feed.

 

April’s Sign & Digital UK show saw Mimaki’s exclusive distributor; Hybrid Services Ltd, enjoy great success – securing a significant number of sales during and immediately after the exhibition as their reseller network placed confirmed orders for sign & graphics, UV curing and soft signage products.

The exhibition hosted the UK launch of Mimaki’s Tx400-1800D production textile printer – a 1.8m wide, direct to textile machine, sporting latest generation print heads, and Mimaki’s bulk ink system that allows up to 8 litres of ink per colour. Very well received by customers looking for a solution to produce everything from soft signage and flags to dye sublimated sportswear and high fashion garments, the Tx400 also produced the majority of the graphics on Hybrid’s stand. “We took the opportunity to practice what we preach,” said Hybrid’s marketing manager, Duncan Jefferies. “The 3.6m x 1.5m side panels on our hospitality area were one piece of display polyester printed direct on the Mimaki and then put through a rotary calendar press. Our stand builders stretched it around the panel prior to construction and we were very pleased with the result.” Other graphics and hanging fabrics on the stand were also produced on the Mimaki; printed to semi sheer flag fabric taking advantage of the machine’s ability to print direct to such cloths and delivering the necessary show-through required for such applications.

Along with significant orders for core products in the Mimaki range – such as the CJV30 printer / cutters and JV33 wide format printers; the first showing at the exhibition of Mimaki’s desktop LED UV printer; the UJF-3042 generated an unprecedented level of interest. Often found with a crowd of interested people surrounding it, the A3 printer proved the star of the show for promotional products companies, manufacturing suppliers and signmakers keen to print to small rigid substrates. John de la Roche – Hybrid’s national sales manager reported a very satisfying amount of resulting business. “We’re in the fortunate position of having our April and May order books absolutely full. All our consignments of the UJF-3042 for this period have sold out, but we continue to receive orders from companies keen to invest early in this impressive new machine.”

“Our resellers had an excellent show, “ continued de la Roche, “and we’re working hard this week to fulfil the machine orders as quickly as we can. In a tough and very competitive economic climate, it’s enormously encouraging to witness the willingness of an educated and well informed market to invest in technology that they’re convinced will benefit their businesses. The number of visitors to the show who clearly came to purchase new equipment bears testament to both this, and the quality of Mimaki’s product range.”

Whilst this printer is neither large format, nor indeed even a printer in the traditional sense, the technology is nonetheless interesting, and on that basis newsworthy.

HP today announced its entrance into the 3D printing market, with the launch of its first HP Designjet 3D printing solution aimed at the mechanical computer aided design (MCAD) and educational markets.

The new HP Designjet 3D printing solution enables design professionals to achieve faster time-to-market and cost-savings during product development. It also sets a new standard for automated 3D printing, office integration and reliability.

The HP Designjet 3D printer series enable users to easily produce robust plastic 3D models in their office, while also saving money with one of the lowest total cost of ownership in its class(1). Available in two models and starting below €13,000, the HP Designjet 3D printer creates highly accurate models in ivory coloured HP Designjet 3D ABS Material, while the HP Designjet Color 3D printer can produce single-colour parts using eight different colours, ideal for designers and educational professionals who need to differentiate individual areas of assembled models.

"The HP Designjet 3D printing solution offers the ideal combination of affordability, model quality and usability," says Santiago Morera, large format printing business vice president and GM, HP. "The affordability of the HP Designjet 3D printers means that businesses that choose these products are likely to see a return on investment very quickly. If they are outsourcing just five to ten models per month, the printer can pay for itself in one year and if only one error is detected before tooling it can potentially save them thousands(2)."

Featuring the new HP Designjet 3D Removal System - an innovation in automated removal of excess model material within a normal office environment - this new product introduction from HP will provide manufacturers, product designers, engineers, and educators with affordable, high-quality 3D printing, supported by HP's renowned expertise in reliable, office-ready technology.

By eliminating the need for special disposal methods, the unique HP Designjet Removal System makes the HP Designjet 3D printer solution truly office-ready. Designed with the office environment in mind, the printers produce models that are ready-to-handle without gloves, and the printing and post-processing of the models is automatic, with no manual finishing necessary.

Wrench model and HP logo model produced on the HP Designjet Color 3D Printer

 

Produced using recyclable ABS plastic, the models created on the HP Designjet 3D Printer Series are highly durable, functional and precise, therefore users can count on printed output that's always true to the original design. Models can be usable and pre-assembled with moving parts, providing prototypes ideal for fit, form and functional testing.

"We found that fit and form testing is a critical part of the design process, and the HP Designjet 3D printing solution allows us to do this affordably, easily and comfortably in our office," said Josep Congost, design manager of Roca, world leader in bathroom spaces and experts in cutting-edge design. "3D printing allows us to speed up our design processes and drive more product launches per year. We can make crucial decisions and detect unforeseen design, fit and function issues very early in the design process. Also, Roca is a very environmentally-concerned company and the fact that the models are produced using recyclable ABS plastic made the decision to go with HP even easier."

The new HP Designjet 3D Removal System that accompanies the printers, ensures waste products from the printing process require no treatment before being disposed of into the office drainage system(4), thus avoiding unplanned incremental investments. In addition, the ABS plastic can be recycled as part of the HP Planet Partners Program(3). All this makes the HP 3D printing solution ideal for companies looking to minimise their impact on the environment.

Developed to HP specifications and quality standards to ensure the best possible customer experience, the HP Designjet 3D Printers are easy to install, use and service and offer consistent, repeatable quality, print to print, printer to printer.

The HP Designjet 3D Printer will start being commercialized during May 2010 in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Availability in other countries will be announced at a later date.

 

When printing engineering and architectural renderings or schematics, accurate printing can't come at the cost of extra time. Enter Xerox Corporation's new Xerox Wide Format 6622  Solution that delivers sharp, precise detail printing at high speeds.

The wide format black-and-white digital printer, copier and scanner is ideal for reprographic departments within engineering, construction and architecture firms where technical drawings need to be easily accessible and replicated quickly. For example, government offices can use the 6622 Solution to print surveying documents and construction plans, giving home owners and contractors fast access to essential information.

The Xerox Wide Format 6622 Solution prints 22 D/A1 (24" x 36") prints-per-minute and offers crisp 600 x 1800 dpi printing and 600 x 600 dpi scanning options. An on-board color scanner can improve copies of worn originals – automatic background suppression makes smudges and creases less noticeable and tattered documents easier to read. Scans can be viewed on the color touch screen user interface before being printed, helping to verify quality, avoid mistakes and reduce wasted prints.

The 6622 device is driven by Xerox's FreeFlow Accxes Print Server and can easily be incorporated into existing workflows. FreeFlow Accxes offers color calibration with other network printers, enhanced management of the print queues to easily replicate previous jobs and the capability to seamlessly scan documents to a mailbox on the print server, network FTP location or remote network printer.

The FreeFlow Accxes Print Server unifies the print server software across the entire Xerox wide format monochrome portfolio, allowing customers to have a seamless workflow.

The Xerox Wide Format 6622 Solution adds to the company's robust line of wide format printers designed for technical printing, which includes the Xerox Wide Format 6604/6605 Solution and the Xerox 6279 Wide Format device.

Availability and pricing

The Xerox Wide Format 6622 Solution will be available in May with a U.S. list price starting less than $62,000. Availability may vary by geography; contact a Xerox sales representative or authorized Xerox dealer for more information.

Visitors to IPEX 2010 hoping to gain an insight into the full commercial and technical potential of inventively applied inkjet printing technology could satisfy the entire objective just by visiting the Roland DG stand. Roland will be exhibiting a range of its latest printing hardware developments and showcasing applications that have compelling commercial and creative possibilities for companies producing anything from statutory labelling to building-wrapping large format graphics; packaging samples to membrane switches; four-colour and way beyond.

Roland and its partners will be demonstrating, among others, the new VersaUV LEC-330 inkjet printer. "Printer" only hints at the LEC-330's full potential. Within its compact footprint, the LEC-330 also cuts, creases, produces matt and gloss spot varnishes and deposited, highly dimensional emboss effects, lens-doming and countless textures. Add to that 1440dpi print resolution, white inks and the ability to work with practically any coated or uncoated stock or substrate up to 1.3mm thick, and it's clear that the LEC-330 is a digital power-tool with far reaching potential for anyone with an appetite for print, or a need to sell it.

Integrating neatly within industry standard workflows, the LEC-330 gives its users the ability to intuitively turn the products of the most fertile imaginations into highly marketable output. LEC-330 output sells too. It can produce fully built packaging samples on virtually all stocks without rules, dies or any costly origination. If a powerful imagination is its input, sheer perfection is its output.

Also on show will be the brand new VersaCAMM VS-640 64" printer/cutter. The VS-640 can be chosen in any one of three configurations. One is designed to deliver the undiluted novelty and impact of Roland's silver ink, a second enables the production of hi-fi colour, and the third raises productivity to stellar levels by delivering uni-directional quality at bi-directional speeds.

At 64" wide, the VS-640 is certain to be a hit with anyone who comes to the show with ambitions to sign up for the perfect vehicle wrapper's printer. Refined print-cut makes the VS-640 an appealing choice to graphic producers and printers with an eye on capturing a share of the market for digital decals and signs.

The good news continues with Roland's introduction of metallic inks. Potential users can still make just as big an impact in print by signing up for wide format XC-540MT. Looking not unlike other printers in Roland's attractively designed portfolio, the XC-540MT's output looks anything but familiar. For the first time in a commercial inkjet printer, the XC-540MT makes it possible to print genuine silver ink and to mix that ink with a full gamut of density-swept colour too. The printer can deal with a huge range of self-adhesive and speciality media.

Whether providing a contrasting counterpoint or accent, or dominating with its dazzling brilliance, the output produced by the printer's metallic ink is arresting in its visual impact. The specular gamut of the ink runs from the subtle and reflective and into the pearlescent range allowing designers to explore new possibilities in print never possible with an inkjet printer before.

Output from the XC-540MT can be used anywhere outdoor-durable print is used and in thousands of places it never has been. With the benefit of post-print lamination, the output can grace even extreme venues such as commercial vehicles and exposed signing sites.

The XC-540MT can, in addition to its talents as a printer, accurately cut its output too. Coextensive cuts around output mean the system can produce stickers and decals with variable data content quickly and very economically. The print-cut capability represents a new development in materials handling and works unattended.

The XC-540MT takes large format inkjet output to entirely new application spaces and grows the market for high-impact short-run output. The unexplored space that metallic ink allows access to will be very lucrative when won. In all other respects, the XC-540MT still serves a need for a highly productive later format printer - it just happens to sweep aside creative limitations and rewards its users with something rare in print - genuinely new application possibilities.

Also commanding its share of the attention on the Roland stand will be the AdvancedJet AJ-740i grand format printer, which delivers maximum productivity and high-speed performance. Producing brilliant 6 colour CMYK+LcLm graphics on both coated and uncoated media, the AdvancedJet output reflects superior ink bonding and scratch and alcohol resistance required for outstanding outdoor durability.

Roland and its partners demonstrating popular software workflows look forward to welcoming visitors to the stand and to discussing the new technologies, materials and applications that place Roland DG on stand C140, Hall 12, among IPEX's must-see items on visitors' lists.