As another year draws to a close it's worth reminding ourselves of some of the new kit we've seen and assess the long-term technical trends in the world of wide-format print.
In many ways the digital wide-format print market is a mature sector with the core technologies well established. However, there have been a number of interesting products launched this year.
UV-curable inkjet continues to be the dominant print technology (although there are still a number of solvent machines around) helped by special effects such as metallic inks and varnishing.
It's long been assumed that vehicle graphics would remain the preserve of solvent machines but as UV inks have become more stretchable so we have seen a number of printers targeted at this sector. Mutoh, for example, has launched its UV 3D inks, first shown working on the Zephyr 65 printer. These inks can be stretched by up to 200%, so they can be stretched around curved and riveted shapes. The Zephyr uses Mutoh’s Intelligent Interweaving and can reach speeds up to 45m2/hr.
Roland also has a new formulation of UV-curable ink with extra elasticity that enables prints to be stretched and extended up to 220%. The Eco UV S inks are suitable for shrink films and thermoforming as well as printing to awkwardly contoured items such as bottles.
Soft signage
One of the biggest growth areas is soft signage, which has been quite popular in Europe for some time, and finally appears to be gaining ground in the UK with a number of new machines appearing this year.
EFI has replaced its ageing Vutek FabriVu with the brand new TX3250r dye sublimation printer. This 3.2m wide beast prints directly to textiles or to transfer paper, at 42m2/hr though it can reach speeds up to 100m2/hr for some substrates. It has a maximum resolution of 1080dpi. Unlike most dye sub printers, it uses a solvent-based ink, which does give it very bright, vibrant colours.
Durst has introduced the Kappa 180, though this is more of an industrial textile machine than a wide-format printer as such. It boasts productivity of more than 600m2/hour and resolution of 1056 x 600dpi. It uses Durst's proprietary Quadro printhead technology with a specially hardened, fray-resistant nozzle plate with a drop size of 7-21 picoliters. It prints eight colours - CMYK plus orange, red, blue and grey - and uses water-based inks with the ink delivery system having an osmosis filtering system, which eliminates tiny gas bubbles in the inks.
Mimaki used Sign UK to launch the JV34-260, a 2.6m wide printer capable of taking both dye sub inks for printing to textiles and solvent inks for banner work, making this a highly flexible option for smaller sign makers. It runs at around 30m2/hr. Mimaki also introduced an entry-level TS3-1600 dye sub printer for the soft signage market. This uses dye sub inks and prints to polyester. There’s a choice of four or six colours and resolution is stepped between 540, 720 and 1440dpi.
Mutoh has launched a number of textile printers throughout the year. This includes the Viper Extreme, available in 1651 and 2240mm sizes. These have a production print speed of 37m2/hr or up to 77m2/hr in its fastest mode. They use two sets of CMYK water-based dye sub inks, though it is possible to use spot colours if desired. Resolution ranges from 360 to 1440dpi.
Mutoh also added two ValueJet textile printers to its range, the 64ins 1628TD and the 104ins 2628TD. These will print to non-stretch fabrics and transfer paper for dye sub jobs. Typical production speeds are 24m2/hr though they can reach 41m2/hr. They use two printheads, each printing four colours.
The company rounded out its offering with a wide-format cutter designed specifically for garments, called the Kona Apparel. It’s available in two sizes for cutting up to 1365mm or 1615mm. It has a pen tool for plotting and a knife for cutting and can be set up for unattended operation.
Other notable developments
There have been far too many new wide-format printers launched this year to list them all, but there are a couple that demand extra attention.
Novus Imaging has announced a new printer, with a new ink system, known as AquEpoxy, which as the name suggests is a water-based ink. But it is said to have good adhesion characteristics, suitable for printing to almost any rigid substrate up to two inches in thickness, including glass and acrylic. More to the point, it’s also good for long-term outdoor use. And, being water-based, it’s also environmentally friendly, with minimal emissions and no VOCs.
The Novus printer is a 3m hybrid model called the Synergia, and is available with a choice of AquEpoxy inks or UV, which is slightly cheaper but can be upgraded to AquEpoxy. It has a greyscale head with a minimum ten picolitre drop size and uses an iPad as a control panel. Novus has said that it will bring out more printers next year including textile, flatbed and roll-to-roll printers.
Fujifilm has taken a further step in developing its own hardware with a new hybrid wide-format printer, the Acuity LED 1600, using Fujifilm’s own Dimatix printheads and Sericol inks. It uses a LED curing system and prints at 20m2/hour. It has an eight-colour inkset, including white and a clear ink for a high gloss output.
Neolt, which makes large-format printers, has now produced an Industrial Inkjet Module, a complete inkjet printhead engine. This features Xaar 1001 printheads and is aimed at companies wishing to develop their own specialist industrial inkjet systems.
Mimaki recently introduced a new version of its A3 UV inkjet flatbed printer, the UJF-3042. The 3042FX has one printhead ahead of the others so that it can lay down primer for printing to those substrates that need coating. It can be reversed for varnishing.
There have been several new entry-level flatbed printers, with perhaps the most notable being Agfa’s Anapurna M2540 FB, which offers seven colours including white ink. It has a maximum throughput of 45m2/hr on media up to 2.5 x 1.5m.
EFI launched the Vutek GS3250r, a 3.2m a six-colour UV inkjet with a maximum throughput speed of 111m2/hour. This was followed by the Vutek GS3250LX that uses cool cure LED technology, which requires less maintenance, uses less power and has instant on/off. The ink curing technology delivers high adhesion so it will work with less expensive substrates such as thinner styrene and other rolled materials.
We’ve also seen a number of industrial sized printers. Agfa has launched the Leopard version of its M Press, which is essentially a digital-only version of its Tiger platform, which had combined both digital and screen-printing. It’s a four-colour CMYK device, using manual loading and unloading with a maximum print size of 1.6 x 2.6m. It can produce up to 483m2/hr.
Inca Digital launched its Onset S40 earlier in the year, which sits in the middle of the Onset family. It boasts maximum productivity of 470m2/hr with 600dpi and a choice of four or six colours.
HP Scitex has upgraded its FB7500, with a new FB7600, which features a new set of six UV inks and can produce up to 500m2/hr with a maximum resolution of 600dpi.
Software
There have been quite a few enhancements to workflows for the wide-format sector, not traditionally an area that has seen much automation. EskoArtwork has shown off a new iCut Automate feature for its Kongsberg wide-format cutting tables. This is a server-based solution that automates all the components found in the iCut software suite, including, Preflight, Layout and Vision Pro, into a single workflow, with less operator intervention required and fewer potential manual errors. It can also be integrated with MIS.
Four Pees has a budget version of its PrintFactory wide-format production system. PrintFactory Go offers the same job preparation and last minute correction tools so users can add folds, seams and tunnels, define die cut lines and there’s a direct link with the Zünd Cut Center solution for creating cutting outlines while designing the job.
EFI introduced a new Fiery XF ProServer line-up for its Vutek superwide-format printers, designed to optimise Rip speed and printer throughput. It integrates with other workflow tools including EFI’s Pace MIS and Digital StoreFront Web-to-print platform.
GMG has produced a special edition of its ColorServer software for the HP Scitex range of printers. It includes a set of preconfigured hot folders and ready-to-use colour profiles. ColorServer is a proven performer for creating and editing ICC colour profiles.
HP already has a fairly comprehensive workflow portfolio and has also looked at cloud computing for wide-format. It already offers electronic submission of files for its CAD printers but this could be extended to the graphics market.
In a nutshell
The digital wide-format print world is pulling in two directions, from smaller sign and graphics printers on the one hand, to the larger, more industrial machines that are gradually replacing screen printing. This industrial use is accompanied by automated workflow software that is bound to filter down to smaller bureaux. In addition, many vendors are looking beyond the graphics market, to using their inkjet technology for industrial manufacturing applications and this in turn will feed back into the graphics world with things like new inks and curing systems.