Applications

Forget the film stars, now thanks to digital printing technology; it’s the carpet itself that’s hogging the limelight finds Melony Rocque-Hewitt.

Are you optimising your existing wide-format digital printing equipment? That’s the question that Jon Price director at Wokingham-based CMYUK Digital has been asking his customers of late. The reason? CMYUK has become the exclusive UK distributor for the European product range from Printing Carpets – the Netherlands-based supplier of plain, white, ready-for-printing carpet stock and vinyl flooring.

Dan Sanders talks to Melony Rocque-Hewitt about how wide-format digital print is becoming part and parcel of the ebb and flow of mariner life.

Dan Sanders is sales director of Coast Graphics situated in Hamble, Hants, which along with Cowes is regarded as the epicenter of UK marine trade and activity. A busy, busy man, the business is booming as increasingly more mariners turn to digital wide-format printing to adorn their crafts.

How advances in digital wide-format inkjet printing are attracting the attention of other industries, bringing new custom well beyond the traditional sign and display markets.

Inkjet technology is moving way beyond its traditional sign and display applications and seeping into new areas. Fabulous, experimental adaptations of it have been happening for some time now and are becoming closer to viable reality. Take for example, 3D concrete printing, which has the potential to totally transform architectural and building processes and practices.

It’s not only sporting prowess that will be on show during the 2012 london olympics, wide-format digital print will also be in the spotlight. Are you limbering up to take part?

Apart from the sporting excellence on show during the 2012 London Olympics the might of the UK wideformat digital printing industry will also be on display. The planned centerpiece of the thousands of square meters output for this once in a lifetime event will be the gigantic digitally printed fabric wrap that is set to encircle London’s iconic Olympic Stadium during the games. The wrap will comprise 336 individual panels – each approximately 25m high and 2.5m wide. Expected to be in the region of 900m long, it will be the largest piece of wide-format digital print ever seen in this country. A truly Herculean job if ever there was one, the wrap was actually canned earlier in 2011 in a bid to shave-off £7m in stadium build costs.

For over 400 years the painted backdrop has been part of the theatrical experience. But can large-format digital print now be used to such dramatic effect? Melony Rocque-Hewitt finds out.

Scenic Backdrops have evolved somewhat since Italian artist and architect Filippo Brunelleschi discovered the principles of linear perspective in 1425. Brunelleschi's system was highly significant as it meant that artists could scientifically measure and paint a scene effecting visual depth onto a backdrop. By the end of the 16th century, the painted backdrop was an established feature of theatrical set design.

Melony Rocque-Hewitt keeps her feet firmly on the ground as she surveys the soaring options for producing print underfoot.

Printed floor graphics have been around now for a good decade or more, but recently, they’ve been given a whole new lease of life. Continuing technological advances and the growing realisation that everyone (including rabid texters) has to look where they’re going, has meant that the floor has become a very attractive promotional/information space for those in the retail, events and exhibitions markets.

Take a UV flatbed printer, 3D software, a digital cutting table and potential new revenue streams could well be yours explains Melony Rocque-Hewitt.

The display and signage market led the way but now other market segments are following in its wake, realizing the potential of digitally printed textiles and flying the flag for the UK.

Move over Laurence Llewellyn Bowen, we all have the ability to become interior designers now. Just take a look on the Internet and you will find a number of businesses offering you the ability to turn your illustrations, designs and photographs into curtains, cushions, shower curtains, roller blinds, huge canvas triptychs and more, so much more.

Why large-format digital print is still in the premier league when it comes to sports stadia. By Melony Rocque-Hewitt.

According to Andrew Hodson, sales and marketing director at Icon, the UK-based sporting and events branding specialist, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games represented somewhat of a watershed for sports stadia, as it was here that the phrase “Look of the Games” was first coined.

Thanks to QR codes, print has moved into a whole new dimension. Act fast and become involved to access new opportunities.

Printing has gone beyond surface. What you see is no longer the whole picture of what you can get. Thanks to the development of smart phones and the use of Quick Response or QR codes, print has now become a gateway to dynamic, moving worlds and new markets.

It’s in the planning

Digital wide-format printers have the versatility and capability to print directly to non-traditional materials. Melony Rocque-Hewitt looks at how this is creating new niche areas for PSPs.

A sheet of glass worth £90 is not very exciting. However, take the aforementioned sheet, print an image to its underside direct using a digital flatbed printer, and the same sheet of glass not only looks a whole lot more attractive but it’s probably worth somewhere in the region of £300.