At a pre-Drupa press conference this week a number of companies announced their intentions to introduce new products relevant to the large-format digital inkjet print sector. Full details will follow but initial information includes the following…
Canon will give a new Arizona 2300 FLXflow flatbed wide-format printer with PrismaElevate XL its first European showing at Drupa, following its launch at ISA in the US next month.
The new FLXflow offers not only the original ‘Hold’ functionality to help media stay in place on the zoneless table, but also a ‘Float’ and ‘Instant Switch’ media handling options. The Arizona 2300 FLXflow also offers image layout controls which allow last minute adjustments at the printer.
A new version 2.1 of PrismaElevate XL doubles the printing height to 4mm to help PSPs produce tactile applications.
The Arizona 2300 FLXflow is modular, with field upgradeability and a roll media options. The printer will be available from June.
Canon also announced that packaging would be a key strategic focus going forward and said it would show a new corrugated printer in concept at Drupa.
Aimed at the high graphics retail packaging market, the machine will print up to 1.7m wide and at up to 8,000m2/hr. The company is aiming for the first installations in mid 2026.
Fujifilm will show-off a new Aquafuze inkjet ink technology, which combines water-based and UV curable ink.
Aquafuze - a Fujifilm proprietary technology for stable water dispersion of photopolymers - helps to reduce clogging of the inkjet printhead. The ink adheres to a wide variety of substrates without pre-coat primers and optimisers. The company said printed image thickness is reduced, and the ink surface becomes more even, resulting in light reflection, and a glossy appearance.
Fujifilm will also preview a robotic automation system that allows Acuity Hybrid wide-format machines to run the unit with a single operator, and which facilitates a pallet-to-pallet process for rigid substrates. It can be set to deliver full or half automation. The system has four lanes and allows four rows of material to be printed simultaneously. There’s also an optional ionization unit which removes unwanted static from substrates that are difficult to print on. At Drupa, Fujifilm will demonstrate the unloader function on a brand new machine.
Durst has announced that at Drupa it will unveil the P5 SMP (super multi pass) high volume production LED printer with a top speed of 2,000m2/hr and aimed at the graphics, displays, corrugated and industrial decoration.
Hybrid Software will use Drupa to show various introductions, including My Cloudflow hosted Saas prepress solution and MyPackz hosted Saas PDF job editor and layout tool. As with any SaaS solution, there is no hardware purchase and easy scalability.
Other Hybrid announcements include a Meteor driver board for Epson D3000 printheads.
Konica Minolta will present a Kansei AI analysis tool for how people view print, including inkjet.
Kongsberg has confirmed that its Ultimate digital cutting table, launched at the end of 2023, will have its first public showing at Drupa. With testing completing and orders now on the books, VP David Preskett said the first commercial shipments should take place this summer.
Landa has announced that Drupa will see the introduction of two new nanographic presses - S11 and S11P - with speeds of 11,200 prints per hour. The presses can be customised, with a choice of 4- or 7-colours, a continuous printing capability, an optional in-line coating unit, and a PrintAI module. A W11 version for flexible packaging is also to be unveiled.