Nessan Cleary findsRoland’s new eco-solvent printer really has been built for speed without loss of image quality.
Roland has just launched a new eco-solvent printer, the Pro4 SolJet XF-640, premiered at Sign and Digital UK and immediately available to order.
This is a 64in roll-to-roll printer built on the same chassis as the XR-640, released last September. The new model is a print-only machine, where the earlier XR-640 combines printing with cutting. But the new XF-640 is considerably faster, with a maximum productivity of 102m2/hr in its billboard mode, making it the fastest printer currently in its class.
Brett Newman, technical director for Roland UK, says that the print quality at this speed is perfectly sellable, albeit that it might be best viewed at a distance, as one would expect for a billboard. There’s also a high quality mode which runs at 63m2/hr. Newman says: “It’s aimed at people that want to do banners, billboards, vehicle wraps and exhibition work where they don’t require the cutting and so they can maximise the printing time.”
Newman also stresses that as well as printing to the normal outdoor substrates like vinyl as one would expect of an eco-solvent machine, it will also work well with paper and other indoor graphics media giving users the flexibility of being able to print both indoor and outdoor applications with a single machine.
The new XF model has the same printheads as the original XR - Epson’s latest generation DX7. Consequently the printer has 1400dpi resolution. But in this case the heads have been staggered which effectively doubles the print swathe, leading to the higher speed, without compromising the print quality.
The Epson heads have eight channels each and this printer comes with two sets of CMYK, which also contributes to the high speed as well as cutting down on banding. But it doesn’t seem unreasonable to speculate that Roland could offer an eight-colour model at some point in the future. The printer uses Roland’s EcoSol Max 2 eco-solvent inks, which were released last year, and which in total offer a nine-colour inkset.
For this fourth generation machine Roland has revamped all the electronics in order to be able to process data quickly to maintain the print speed. Roland has also redesigned the media feed and handling systems to make it both easier and quicker to load media in order to take advantage of the fast printing engine. It will take heavier rolls up to 30kg in weight.
Newman says: “It has got some nice lifting aids to help with loading so that when you come to load the media you can position it in the feed system.”
The printer incorporates a dryer unit but there’s also an optional drying system available. Newman says: “You will need it if you run at higher speeds but some people will buy it for fine art printing and won’t need the drier for that.”
It ships with Roland’s VersaWorks Rip, which was updated last year to v4.8. This now includes multiple libraries from Pantone Plus and can automatically convert specific Pantone spot colours to CMYK values. It also boasts a new spot colour replacement feature that allows users to replace a defined spot colour in the design file with another from any VersaWorks library, all without reopening the source file. VersaWorks also features variable data printing, supports up to four Roland devices simultaneously, and offers support for Roland’s GX series cutters. It also includes a predictive ink calculator to work out the amount of ink needed for each job.
The XR-640 costs £20,999, which includes the Rip and the take up as well as Roland’s after care support for a year. The optional drier costs around £2,500.