Diversity is the key

With a very long history steeped in the graphic arts industry, it is not surprising that Agfa has reflected market trends and the shift to digital production by developing and extending its own portfolio of wide-format printers. During the past few years the company has made strong inroads into the UV-curable sector with a solid range of entry-level and mid-range solutions designed to suit different budgets and production requirements. These systems have been juxtaposed with the company’s two high-end solutions that both fill a more industrial market need. The Agfa M-Press Tiger combines digital and screen-printing for extremely high-speed throughput whilst the Agfa Dotrix modular industrial inkjet engine has found a secure place in specialist areas, including variable data within point-of-sale and labelling applications.

Filling the central sector and complementing both its Anapurna family and its high-end industrial strength solutions, the Agfa Jeti range features models using UV-curable, aqueous-based direct disperse dyes and solvent-based formulations. This means that there are now products for existing market sectors where familiar chemistries are required, as well as for the growing area of textile printing for displays, furnishings and décor.

Entry-level options
The well-established Anapurna line of UV-curable engines has been augmented considerably during the past 12 months, resulting in a comprehensive family of systems, which incorporates a variety of different output options to suit a broad range of display requirements. This high quality yet sensibly priced range of printers features a choice of options, including versions with clear varnish and white ink, and all are designed to be heavy-duty turnkey UV-curable ink-jet solutions that provide versatility and high productivity in all print-for-pay environments.
The ability of this range to output direct to a broad range of rigid substrates and flexible materials up to 4.5cm in thickness is now extended from an original print width of 1.6m with two new additions. During 2010 Agfa launched both the Anapurna 2500LED and the Anapurna 2050, both of which are welcome options within this popular series.

Agfa also introduced a new formulation of UV-curable inks to provide stronger adhesion and flexibility on both rigid and roll-fed materials. This new generation chemistry, designated Anapurna G2 UV, is now incorporated into all new machines and can also be offered as an upgrade to users with existing engines.

The Anapurna 2500LED is a first for Agfa with its 2.5m flatbed and roll-fed printing capabilities complemented by LED curing and the company’s rugged UPH greyscale printheads. Using solid-state devices for a long life and instant start-up times, these LED-curing lamps provide cooler and more consistent radiation, essential when working with heat sensitive and delicate media.

The second new machine to be brought into the Anapurna range last year was a 2.05m hybrid solution that benefits from a more generous work area. Designated the Agfa Anapurna M2050, this unit combines the speed benefits of the Anapurna M2 with the versatility of the white ink incorporated into the Anapurna Mw. A four-zone vacuum table offers excellent hold-down for heavy and difficult materials, and this printer incorporates an enhanced media transport for accurate feed.

These new 2.5m and 2.05m additions join the existing Anapurna family, which starts with the very modestly priced Anapurna M4f, a four-colour, high quality machine suitable for poster and point-of-sale applications. Its price point is designed to appeal to users entering the UV-curable market for the first time but, like others in the Anapurna series, it is also attracting companies that want an efficient back-up machine. Its high quality, ease of set-up and fast changeover times makes it an attractive complement to existing equipment used to output higher volumes, enabling production houses to produce one-offs and lower runs at short notice without interrupting their main workflow.

Agfa’s Anapurna Mv features, as its name suggests, a clear option that complements its CMYKLcLm capabilities and enables users to enhance output with gloss varnish. Similarly, the Anapurna Mw is a seven-colour printer which offers white that can be incorporated as a pre- or post-print option whilst, for faster throughput, the Anapurna M2 is a six-colour variant which benefits from a greater number of nozzles in its printhead making it an excellent option for high-speed photographic quality applications as well as for general displays.

Mid-range solutions
The acquisition and refinement of the Jeti family of printers has also resulted in Agfa’s growing presence in the mid- to high-end wide-format market. These machines have now been modified and improved to provide advanced solutions for users wanting industrial strength production options at a sensible price. Although the key technology used by Agfa still concentrates on UV-curable ink technologies, the company is all too aware that other chemistries are also required and its Jeti 3324 Aquajet, for example, acknowledges the growing demand for direct-to-textile production. Similarly, knowing that in many parts of the world there remains high demand for reliable, solvent-based output, the Agfa Jeti 3348 HSS is designed to provide low throughput costs and strong colours in a high-speed unit.

The Jeti series includes all the options likely to be needed by display producers and print-for-pay operations that need speed and versatility on a reliable and rugged platform. With true flatbed and dedicated roll-to-roll printers growing in demand from the wide-format fraternity, Agfa has addressed all these needs with a sophisticated, workhorse range of production solutions.

A notable addition to the comprehensive family of Jeti printers reflects Agfa’s recognition that users often want an investment which can grow with their businesses. To enable customers to future-proof their printers, the company brought to market its Jeti 3042 Titan, a truly modular production unit which has been designed and constructed so that it can be modified and extended as demands dictate.

Thus, from an entry-level CMYK system with a 3 x 2m bed, which has speeds of up to 113m2/hour, the Jeti 3042 Titan can be extended to incorporate more colours and faster throughput speeds. Its robust greyscale printheads can be configured from a minimum of 16 up to a current maximum of 48, depending on ink and speed requirements, to cater for print rates of a maximum 226m2/hour. Colour options allow for dual CMYK, the addition of light cyan and light magenta, double white, white and clear varnish or, even, orange and green for accurate Pantone and spot colour matching.

High-end production
It is also important to recognise the impact made by the latest version of the M-Press Tiger which now comes with greyscale print-head technology and increased throughput speeds. This combination digital and screen-printing platform is now claimed to be the fastest engine worldwide, standing in a class of its own, with a production rate of up 1,361m2/hour.

The inclusion of true greyscale technology using its latest UPH (universal print head) means that the latest M-Press Tiger can output variable dot sizes from as low as 10 picolitres. This means that through all of the machine’s production modes it is possible to output smooth highlights and mid-tones, plus crisp and clear text even at the smallest sizes. Additional production modes now include photographic, near offset and high quality options for additional versatility.

Similarly, the innovative Dotrix might not sit on the average display producer’s wish-list but Agfa has seen this unusual engine prove itself in demanding point-of-sale, packaging and labelling environments where its modularity and high speeds cannot be emulated by any other digital solution. A highly productive single-pass unit, the Dotrix outputs onto a wide variety of materials, and has the ability to have traditional UV flexo print stations added for coating and varnishing.

Overall, the last 12 months have seen Agfa consolidate its position in the wide-format digital printing sector, with new and augmented solutions designed to cater for all sizes of display production operations. Today, there is a system to suit all types of the output requirement, from users wanting a reliable and rugged entry-level system through mid-range print service providers who need versatility and cost-effective options to the high-end, industrial business requiring the highest speeds and flexibility.

Now that there is an Agfa wide-format system to suit every type of company, it is a certainty that the proliferation of Anapurna, Jeti, M-Press and Dotrix platforms will continue to play a part in driving digital print forward. As a result, greater creativity and innovation will result from all sectors of the display world.