Océ ColorWave 600

It used to be easy if you wanted a workhorse roll-to-roll wide-format printer – you chose an eco/light/mid*-solvent machine (*pick preferred marketing term according to vendor) and off you went. But due to the increased environmental awareness – both in the print shop and in the shop, office or exhibition where the graphics are going to be used – and concern over how the graphics can be recycled after use, there has been a push for alternatives to solvent inkjet. The Océ ColorWave 600, along with HP’s Designjet L25500, the Kip Color 80 and some of the lower cost UV-cured hybrid machines, is filling a gap in the market where the need for low production costs, substrate flexibility and low-odour prints may preclude solvent from the running.

Océ launched the ColorWave 600 nearly two years ago, targeting AEC (architectural, engineering, construction) customers using CAD systems, and map makers using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). However, once printing bureaus had their hands on the machine for those applications, they wasted no time in discovering other uses. These pioneers found the ability to print onto standard uncoated, and, therefore, cheaper substrates, along with low costs, ease-of-use and vibrant colours, made the ColorWave 600 ideal for a number of graphics applications too.

“The printing bureaus took us into point-of-sale (POS) posters, and banner stands,” says Neil Westhof, Océ Australia’s marketing manager for wide-format printing systems. “We were initially concerned about the toner fading for external applications, but it soon became apparent that for the expected lifespan of an outdoor campaign, it wasn’t an issue, and it certainly isn’t for interior work. In Australia, they have shown themselves to be ideal for rapid POS applications. Retailers who dream up a retail sale in the morning can have their posters on display in the afternoon.”

Growing applications

With the machine proving itself a success in CAD and GIS and showing potential in several display graphics niches, Westhof has been set the task of developing graphics applications. “Our task for 2010 is to expand the ColorWave 600’s success in display graphics for POS, banner stands and exhibition markets,” he says.

So what’s so special about the ColorWave 600? For a start, it uses a very different imaging technology to other machines, which Océ calls CrystalPoint technology. This is a hybrid of inkjet and toner technology, which the group believes plays to each process’s strength, while eliminating their weaknesses. Essentially, toner is supplied in balls roughly 1cm across (‘TonerPearls’ in Océ speak); making them safer and easier to handle than either liquid ink or finely divided powder toner. Inside the machine, these are melted and then applied using what to all intents and purposes is an inkjet head, but in Océ-words is called an “imaging device.” Once on the substrate, the toner cools and, as it does so, crystallises – hence the Océ CrystalPoint name. This phase-change technology is not totally unique, but Océ is the only company exploiting it in wide-format. One of the benefits of Océ CrystalPoint technology is that the toner sits on the surface of the substrate rather than being absorbed, which produces sharp, bright results with minimal and consistent dot gain across a wide range of substrates, simplifying process control and profiling. In use, there are no solvents and no ozone produced, meaning there is no need for extraction devices and the finished prints are odourless and water-fast.

Apart from being a novel technology what does the system itself bring? It’s fast. In economy mode, it’ll produce a whopping 105m2 per hour, while in production mode it’ll churn out 60m2 per hour and in its highest-quality presentation mode a still sprightly 30m2 per hour.

Westhof says that although Océ recommends using presentation mode for the majority of graphics applications for top quality, the majority of customers are happy to use production mode.

The print produced is water-fast, so depending on the substrate and the application, it can be used straight off the printer without any further treatment. In addition, there is the range of substrates it can print onto. Basically anything uncoated can be printed from recycled paper, through plastics and non-wovens such as Tyvek. Even the sometimes troublesome polyethylene can be printed untreated; in fact untreated and uncoated media often work better.

“Sensitisation softens the surface. For CrystalPoint, it’s best that doesn’t happen. We want a tough surface to prevent scuff marks on the finished print,” says Westhof.

There are very few substrates the machine can’t handle –  any glazed high-gloss coating can cause a problem with toner adhesion and also with a differential finish due to the toner’s satin finish. The other is canvas, which can’t be cut by the built-in cutter. However, Océ offers a canvas-textured paper instead.

Aside from those restrictions, any stock up to 160gsm weight and 140-micron calliper can be used. Océ has a range of its own red label stocks, but there is no restriction on third-party media within those broad guidelines for finish and weight. Media is loaded into front-loading drawers and, depending on the configuration of the machine, it can support between one and six rolls, with automatic switching.

Costs are low. The list price for the machine starts at $66,000, going up to spec out the fully configured machine capable of holding six rolls. While that may be comparably high for a roll-fed solvent machine, the ColorWave 600 is a workhorse designed to work flat out. In one approval test, it worked flat out over three days without a hiccup. 

“It’s an Océ, it’s been engineered, not just built,” says Westhof.

Clicks and costs

Océ Australia would not go into any further details on price or charges. However, according to ProPrint‘s UK sister title PrintWeek, Océ UK gave the price of the toner pearls as £130 ($214) per 500g. 

The following information is also drawn from PrintWeek. As a toner-based technology, the ColorWave is the same business model – the click charge (in the UK at least). Precise clicks depend on your anticipated volumes, but a standard in the UK is £0.13 (21c) per m2. Clicks combine the area printed with the percentage coverage. A square metre of CAD drawing with 3%-4% coverage would use 0.65 of a click, whereas POS may represent “six or seven clicks per square metre” due to the higher coverage. It’s possible to cut the click by reducing toner coverage using Under Color Removal (UCR) and Grey Component Removal (GCR). Océ’s Onyx Postershop and Production House RIPs have the necessary profiling tools built in. While a print made with composite blacks could cost £3 per square metre, one with GCR or UCR could be as low as £0.80 ($1.31), according to Océ UK.

So far, the ColorWave 600 is Océ’s only product using the CrystalPoint technology but, having spent around a dozen years developing the technology, it’s likely to appear in other products over time.

Océ’s Australia wouldn’t be drawn on the future of CrystalPoint products and whether they would be wide-format or cut-sheet, or continuous feed. But Westhof says customers have already been asking for a wider roll-fed machine, a flatbed and additional colours, including white. All Westhof will say is that “this technology is only at the beginning of its product lifecycle. It will be exploited fully over the next decades”.

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