AGFA ANAPURNA M2050I

Building on the success of its Anapurna M2050 predecessor — according to Agfa the best-selling hybrid printer in its segment — the Anapurna M2050i moves up-market with extra performance and quality for the demands of an increasingly professional market.

Agfa says the electromechanical redesign of the system has made it more robust, and a better fit for sustained higher workloads. The Anapurna M2050i is designed for digital printers, photo shops and mid-size graphic screen printers, and is offered as a heavy duty, turnkey industrial UV inkjet system.

It offers a top production speed of 101m²/hour, excellent solids, and signs in eight-pass printing. It is capable of handling both double-board and borderless printing.

Incorporating the new Konica Minolta KM1024i, the latest generation printhead with double the number of print nozzles, the Anapurna M2050i offers high production throughput on all substrates while maintaining print quality, helped by dual board and borderless printing.

In combination with a precision belt transport drive system, the new print heads offer optimised dot positioning for greater image quality. The printer also uses an intelligent print algorithm (gradient masking) during printing to improve print quality.

The eight 12-picolitre heads handle printing of full solids, reproduction of text as small as 4pt and tonal rendering. The 1,024 nozzles produce quality prints on uncoated rigid media such as corrugated boards, rigid plastics, exhibition panels, stage graphics and advertising panels, as well as roll media such as film, vinyl and paper, canvas and banners up to 4.5cm thick.

The white ink function is ideal for printing on coloured or dark substrates, and offers new possibilities for printing on transparent material for backlit or backlit/ frontlit applications, or for using white as a spot colour. It can also be used as a spot colour to bring into focus certain parts of an image. Images can be printed on dark substrates using white ink only.

Agfa Global Support Services offer workshops for printers’ employees, and provide immediate assistance to correct a problem. Agfa’s support personnel are available for assistance online, on the phone and in person, with qualified technicians and engineers located around the country.

SPECS AT A GLANCE:

Image quality: Draft – 101m²/hr; Standard – 27m²/hr; High quality – 19m²/hr; High definition – 15m²/hr; Backlit – 8m²/hr

Inks: 7 Anapurna M G2 UV-curable inks (CMYK, Lc, Lm, white)

Heads: 6 Konica Minolta KM1024i heads with 1,024 nozzles/head; 2 Konica Minolta KM1024i heads: 30pl (white in line)

Droplet volume: 12pl (colours)

Colour gamut: capable of reproducing ISO 12647 as of Standard mode

Max roll weight: 50kg

Max roll diameter: 36cm

Min size: A2, landscape

Media thickness: up to 45 mm

Media flexibility: up to 207cm width; up to 205cm print width

CANON OCÉ COLORWAVE 900

Being launched in Australia later this year Canon’s new Océ ColorWave 900 pumps out a blistering 1100sqm an hour of colour prints, in sheets 42” (1067mm) wide drawn from up to six rolls, which are fed, printed and cut in one go. This equates to 440 A0 sized sheets per hour which go into a dual stacker for non-stop production. And Canon says this 440 sheets figure takes into account downtime for cleaning and maintenance.

The speed comes from the Memjet powered print engine, and is says Canon up to 15 times faster than conventional wide format inkjet printing systems. It prints either nine or 18 metres a minute. It is designed for the graphic arts market, as well as CAD and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) markets.

The six rolls can take 200metre of media each, meaning there is 1200metres of stock to get through in one go.

The Memjet system outputs a mind boggling 3.4 billion ink droplets at 1.2picolitres per second, which enables the speed, and the 1600x1600dpi resolution.

According to Vishal Gohel, category manager at Canon, the Océ ColorWave 900 closes the gap between digital inkjet and traditional offset technology. He says, “The printer provides market-leading digital workflow, productivity, lower running costs and increased flexibility for shorter and personalised print jobs.”

Applications suited to ColorWave 900 include short term point-of-sale posters, supermarket and retail, event graphics and posters, presentations, calendars and flip charts, corporate graphics, general indoor poster applications, communications and safety, technical, CAD and GIS/maps.

Gohel says, “Most applications will be paper based, as printers seek to produce these types of applications at the lowest possible price.

“Professional print providers will be the target market for this new machine. Based on the ColorWave 900’s capabilities, both users of analogue technology (screen and offset printing), as well as those printers who have already invested in digital technology, will be targeted.

SPECS AT A GLANCE:

Output: 1100sqm per hour

Size: 42” / 1067mm

Resolution: 1600x1600dpi

Media: 1200 metres

EFI H1625 LED

With the release of the entry-level H1625 LED, EFI has extended the reach of its LED cool curing technology to the company’s wide format line of production printers.

The EFI H1625 LED offers four-colour plus white ink and single-pass, multilayer print capability as standard. It is designed to produce saturated colours and smooth gradations with true eight-level, variable-drop greyscale print capabilities. The hybrid printer can easily convert from roll-to-roll to flatbed, and will handle an extended range of flexible and rigid substrates.

EFI claims that by incorporating its LED technology, the EFI H1625 LED expands the range of applications printers can offer their customers. In addition to a wider range of applications, the H1625 LED can help printers to reduce their running costs and improve margins by taking advantage of lower cost substrates due to cool curing technology.

The printer in standard form uses the Fiery XF RIP, with its unique benefits. The bi-directional communication between Fiery XF and printer allows back-communication of audit information on print jobs, and native JDF connectivity allows the integration of EFI Web-to-Print and MIS solutions.

The printer is designed with automated operational and maintenance features, allows users to RIP and print on demand, or print pre-ripped files at the printer.

EFI says the EFI H1625 LED is ideal for point-of-purchase, sign, banner and graphics printers, and commercial printers who require a printer capable of producing high quality images across a wide variety of substrates in widths up to 1.6 metres. The H1625 LED may also be attractive to printers looking for an alternative to traditional UV, eco-solvent and latex printers, while capturing the greener benefits achievable with LED curing.

Along with environmental advantages and the extended range of substrates, the EFI H1625 LED also helps to reduce energy consumption. LED devices generally consume less energy than latex devices and printers using mercury arc lamps. With Australian businesses experiencing an almost 80 per cent increase in electricity prices since 2009, and with speculation that more rises are on the way, the advantages of LED printers are hard to ignore.

SPECS AT A GLANCE:

Print speeds: UQ mode – 7.4m2/hr up to Express mode – 42.3m2/hr

White speeds: one-half CMYK speeds

Resolution: 300 x 300dpi up to 1,200 x 600dpi (8 levels of greyscale)

Inks: EFI H1625 LED 3M Ink in 1 litre bottles

Colours: CMYK plus 2 white channels

Max media width: flexible and rigid substrates up to 1,650mm wide

Max media thickness: 50.8mm

Max image width: 1,626mm full-bleed printing

RIPs: EFI Fiery XF RIP

EPSON SURECOLOR T SERIES GENERATION 2

Epson has announced the release of its next generation T-Series large-format printers. The Epson SureColor T-Series Generation 2 is available in 24-inchj, 36-inch and 44-inch models, with additional options such as print serving, wide format scan/copy/share and Adobe PostScript 3 document processing.

The New T-Series incorporates Epson’s PrecisionCore Thin Film Piezo (TFP) print head technology that delivers consistent print quality, high speed printing and exceptional reliability. Epson’s Variable Size Droplet Technology (VSDT) reduces ink consumption, which Epson says gives this five-colour system the ability to rival the performance of competing six- and eight-colour printers.

The company claims the new Epson SureColor T-Series is one of the most versatile large-format systems on the market covering traditional CAD/AEC, mapping and GIS, and short-run POS poster printing applications. Epson’s Ultrachrome XD pigment based inks are resistant to scuffing and moisture damage.

Epson says the SureColor T-Series continues the company’s position as one of the most cost effective large-format printers on the market. Its low energy consumption saves money and helps organisations meet their environmental goals. Epson says the economical 700ml ink cartridges deliver the lowest ink cost per millilitre, and when coupled with Epson’s permanent TFP printhead provides the best total cost of ownership.

The range features two new dual-roll 36-inch and 44-inch models, which provide users with automatic media selection based on width or type to deliver workflow efficiencies and media savings. The optional large-format scanning solution lets users scan and copy large-format documents up to 1.3mm thick complete with hand annotations and sticky notes. Scanned images can be stored on a shared drive or emailed to a user on another T-Series printer.

The new Epson SureColor T-Series starts from $3,695 (ex-GST), and includes a 12 month warranty. A three year warranty option is also available, which includes the printhead.

SPECS AT A GLANCE:

Printhead: PrecisionCore TFP with VSDT and auto head alignment

Nozzle configuration: 720 eopr colour

Print modes: Uni and bi-directional

Max resolution: 2,880 x 1,440dpi

Max precision: 0.02mm +/- 0.2% accuracy

Inks: Epson UltraChrome XD

Ink type: All-pigment aqueous

Colours: C+Y+M+Mk/Pk (auto Matte/Photo Black switching) Min ink droplet size: 3.5pl

Max print width: 44 inches borderless

Scan technology: contact image sensor

Light source: dual LED (RGB)

Max scan resolution: 600dpi

FUJIFILM ACUITY LED 1600

The Fujifilm Acuity LED 1600 is a large format hybrid inkjet printer designed to print quality results in the most environmentally friendly way. Fujifilm’s purpose-designed ink, printheads and curing system work in harmony to give smooth, near-photographic results at print speeds up to 20m2/hr.

LED UV technology produces very little heat, so they can work with heat-sensitive media. They consume far less energy than conventional UV lamps and last up to ten times longer. Above all, they are much kinder to the environment.

The Acuity LED 1600 can be converted quickly from roll media to rigid. It gives excellent results on PET film, PETG, self-adhesive vinyl and conventional PVC, stock paper, board and even lightweight aluminium. It uses the same ink for both rigid and roll applications, and the hybrid design allows easy switchover between roll media and rigid materials.

The Acuity LED 1600’s patented full LED lamp system is tuned to cure its own Uvijet ink in a two stage curing process. Small, low-dose LED pinning lamps close to the printhead freeze the dot, while the main LED curing lamps fully cure the print, which is ready to use immediately. Adjustable lamp positioning enables the curing to be finely controlled.

The Acuity LED 1600 uses eight Q-class printheads, which have a track record of long life in high performance production. Uvijet ink is made using Fujifilm’s Micro-V ultrafine dispersion technology,

enabling higher pigmentation to produce vibrant images and a wide colour gamut. The Acuity’s dedicated eight-colour UV LED ink set includes lights, white and clear varnish, which can be applied in a single pass for a host of creative possibilities.

The Acuity LED 1600 large-format hybrid printer is suitable for offices, studios or workshops. It only takes one day to install, one day for training and comes with a 12-month on-site warranty included in the sale price. Full on-site service is provided by Fujifilm. Pricing is approximately $89,000 ex-GST, and finance options are available.

SPECS AT A GLANCE:

Printing technology: LED UV inkjet

Max print width: 1,610mm

Max media thickness: 13mm

Max media weight: Rigid – 12kg; Roll – 25kg

Printheads: Fujifilm Dimatix Q-class printheads

Inks: Fujifilm Uvijet LL LED UV curable ink

Colours: 8 – cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light cyan, light magenta, white, clear

Printer tables included for printing on rigid substrates

FUJI XEROX DOCUWIDE C842

Fuji Xerox Australia has just announced the launch of the second-generation DocuWide C842, which will go on sale in Australia in October.

The DocuWide C842 was launched in April 2013, with its first public viewing in Australia at PacPrint13 last May.

The new DocuWide C842 answers questions of ink supply by offering new two-litre ink cartridges. These offer productivity gains through easier and less frequent cartridge changes, as well as cost-effective consumables supplies.

“The 2L version of the DocuWide C842 is a second-generation development for the Australian market, and this new ink system will deliver better, more competitive total cost of ownership for printers,” said Fuji Xerox Australia’s Peter Collings.

The DocuWide C842 was designed and engineered from the ground up by Fuji Xerox in Japan, which works with a number of partners in software and high speed print technology. The solution draws on the company’s extensive experience in wide format printer design and manufacture.

The DocuWide C842 has, unlike the generic wide-format inkjet printers with a moving print head, five fixed heads arranged in a zigzag formation. These heads simultaneously produce jets of four colour inks (CMYK) to enable one-pass printing, thereby enabling output of more than 320m2 per hour.

The device is capable of covering a standard doubles tennis court (260.87m2) in under 50 minutes, an Olympic sized swimming pool (1,250m2) in just over four hours, or an average Australian home (230m2) in 41 minutes. This, according to Fuji Xerox, is the fastest wide format device currently available in the market with the industry’s highest colour output speed of more than 320m2 per hour.

A recently developed ink circulating system, which eliminates air bubbles and impurities, contributes to the consistent print quality of 1,600 x 1,600dpi.

The cost of the C842 depends on the configuration. Prices start from $56,000 for a two-roll printer only. Three software solution configurations are available to meet application needs, and stacking, or four-roll configurations are options are also available. Fuji Xerox Australia says that the total cost of operation is relatively low and will challenge predecessor technologies.

SPECS AT A GLANCE:

Max resolution: 1,600 x 1,600dpi or equivalent

Data processing resolution: 800 x 800dpi

Print Heads: 5 units (common to each colour), 70,400 nozzles/head

Ink: 4 colours, water-based dye ink (cyan, magenta, yellow, black)

Ink capacity: 2 litres/colour

Continuous print speed: A0 – 7 sheets/min; A1 Landscape – 12 sheets/min; Portrait – 9 sheets/ min

Paper supply system:

4-roll model: 2-roll unit, manual feeding

2-roll model: 1-roll unit, manual feeding

HP DESIGNJET Z6600

For printers focused on small to medium size customers, the HP Designjet Z6600 60-inch large-format printer offers the productivity to meet customer demand. According to HP, the Designjet Z6600 is the fastest 60-inch graphics production printer in both colour and black-and-white, using six HP inks.

The Designjet Z6600 can print unattended by using 775ml HP ink cartridges, long media rolls and a built-in take-up reel. It can print at speeds up to 140m²/hr in Fast mode and (20m²/hr in High-quality mode.

Using HP Vivid Photo inks, the Designjet Z6600 can print on many substrates to deliver jobs such as posters, canvas prints and POP signs. Smooth colour tones can be achieved with HP Multi-Dimensional Smart Drop Placement technology, and black-and-white prints with three shades of black HP ink can be achieved for smooth transitions. Prints can last up to 200 years using HP Vivid Photo Inks.

Using a six-ink printing system with an optimised configuration, printers can print from their favourite design applications or through third-party RIPs. Cleaning and waste procedures can be reduced using automatic drop detection and intelligent masking. HP Professional PANTONE colour emulation and optional Adobe PostScript/PDF upgrades provide reliable colour reproduction.