Image Reports
Supporting the wide-format digital print sector
Action Screen in Corby has bought an Acuity Advance X2 UV flatbed printer to sit alongside its roll-to-roll machines as it expands its digital wide-format services offering. "We realised the need to invest in a UV flatbed printer to stay competitive and up-to-date," said technical sales director Vince Meeks.
The Roland Academy is launching an interior d?cor course for printers looking to diversify their wide-format offering into this lucrative and growing market. At Sign and Digital UK, where Roland was highlighting a number of interiors print applications within its 'Creative Centre' on its stand, Academy manager Marc Jenkin said: "There is huge potential for creative interior print and we aim to show printers just what can be achieved by introducing a course that will focus directly on that sector."
Agfa Graphics has brought out its first Jeti inkjet printer since acquiring the business from Gandi. At the ISA show in Orlando, US, Agfa Graphics launched the Jeti 1224 UV HDC inkjet printer said to produce photo realistic quality, grayscale output at up to 110m2/hr. First customer shipments will start on 1 June.?
At Ipex Agfa Graphics will release :Apogee 7 which will allow printers who operate a variety of wide-format inkjet solutions (or use wide-format solutions next to their traditional CTP) to have a central production management hub.
Diversifying Service Graphics has appointed Michael Steward as a senior account manager within the events and exhibitions division. Steward previously headed up UK sales for Octanorm and has been involved in the sector for 39 years.
HP has introduced a 2.6m (104in) Dual Roll Kit for its Designjet L65500 latex printer, allowing users to produce single jobs faster with two side-by-side rolls or two different jobs at the same time. Beta customers have reported that they can reach the same level of productivity with two 1.2m (48in) prints with the Dual Roll Kit as with one 2.6m (104in) print.
Opportunities arising from the shift to digital production are keeping printers optimistic according to Fespa's third Worldwide Survey. All of the 582 respondents to the survey, which was undertaken in Europe, Asia and North and Latin-America in February and March 2010, affirmed that the percentage of their revenue coming from digital projects will increase in the next two years, rising to close to 50% of income for businesses with fewer than 100 employees.
Four Pees, distributor of PrintFactory, has announced support for the Roland VersaUV LEC-300 series devices in new PrintFactory v4.
Oc? chairman Rokus van Iperen used the release of the company's Q1 results to state that with Canon having acquired 85% of the company's common shares, Oc?'s "priority and focus in the short term is cross-selling Canon products in Oc? channels and vice versa."
revive Honeycomb Board is a new printable display board made from recycled fibre and 100% recyclable itself. Available exclusively from the Robert Horne, it is being marketed as a green alternative to foam boards like polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS) or polyvinylchloride (PVC).
Sign and Digital UK will see Fujifilm's introduction of WonderTack - a solvent printable, white satin gloss polypropylene film that adheres to smooth, flat surfaces without the use of adhesive. This latest addition to Fujifilm's euromedia range of flexible media for large-format printing is easily repositionable and reusable. In addition, the film is also available for UV-curing and water-based systems.
Mutoh Europe has developed a water-based Direct Disperse four-colour ink set specifically for its direct-to-fabric Viper TX and Viper TX Extreme series printers. The fast drying inks, said to offer an excellent colour gamut and nozzle stability, allow direct printing onto polyester fabric without the need for washing and are aimed at the volume production of soft signage and double-sided flags.
A heavy-duty substrate sheeter with automatic stacking system is being marketed by manufacturer Inpro as a cost saving and workflow improvement tool for wide-format printers of all shapes and sizes.
