Afinia Label, a manufacturer and distributor of industrial color label printing and finishing equipment, has released the L901 digital color label printer, powered by the Sirius print engine from Memjet.

The L901 is the newest printer to join Afinia Label’s broad family of label printing and finishing solutions. The L901 gives companies the ability to run a full-color digital label printer inline with a finishing or application system without complications related to mid-job printhead maintenance. This industrial digital label printer can produce full-color prints with excellent image quality at speeds of up to 12″ per second. Photo-quality images and exceptionally-crisp text and bar codes are printed at up to 1600 x 1600 dpi via Memjet’s Sirius print engine. Five high-capacity 250mL ink cartridges (CYMKK) offer a low ink cost per label.

“The Afinia Label L901’s redesigned printhead servicing and cleaning station allows this printer to be run inline with finishing equipment, label applicators, label dispensers and unwind/rewindunits,” says Mike Atkins, national sales manager for Afinia Label. “This new design eliminates the need to cut the web in order to clean or cap the printhead, making it suitable for in-plant integration with other machines. The L901 gives users the ability to print and apply labels in full color, with variable data, on demand. This, combined with full color, photo-quality resolution, high print speed, and low cost of operation, make the L901 the perfect color label printer for medium- to high-volume labeling applications.”

For print houses, the L901 helps offload smaller jobs and proofing, eliminating the need to tie up large flexo or digital presses for those tasks. Additionally, the L901’s user interface was designed to be intuitive and easy to use, so there is no need for a specialized technician.“

Many companies would like the ability to automatically print and apply labels on the production line,” says Atkins.“Some achieve this now with single-color thermal label printers, but they are limited to simple text or bar codes. The L901 offers a new and better way to print and apply full-color labels on demand. This could eliminate the need to purchase pre-printed labels, which greatly improves productivity while driving down packaging costs.”

Businesses looking to grow with digital industrial textile production for apparel and décor can advance their operations with the new EFI Fiery Textile Bundle – a set of design and production workflow innovations from Electronics For Imaging, Inc.

The bundle – used with EFI Reggiani digital inkjet printers – includes new Fiery DesignPro Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop plug-ins to create professional textile designs efficiently, and the newest Fiery proServer digital front end (DFE) for high quality textile production.

With the launch of Fiery DesignPro, EFI provides the ability to accurately match colours to the printed result, share colour palettes across the design team in real time, design professional repeat patterns and create multiple colourways from one design. The plug-ins work as part of designers’ familiar environment within Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, resulting in reduced learning curves and shorter design time.

The bundle also includes the new version 6.5 of the EFI Fiery proServer DFE, an advanced offering for wide- and superwide-format inkjet printers that brings superior EFI Fiery performance and colour technology to the EFI Reggiani family of industrial textile printers. Used by major textile brands for sampling, Fiery proServer provides colour consistency in the production workflow with colour profiles that can be used across the design and production process.

“The Fiery Textile Bundle brings valuable new tools to further automate and streamline the design and prep process for EFI Reggiani customers looking to stay on the leading edge of innovation,” said EFI Reggiani Vice President and General Manager Adele Genoni. “Now, with this bundle, including the newest Fiery proServer, Reggiani customers get the proven, high-end advantages Fiery technology offers so they can be more efficient, more productive and more profitable.”

Quality, productivity and usability

Version 6.5 of the Fiery proServer includes textile-specific capabilities such as support for multiple ink types and colour technology to ensure the highest print quality with saturated black, fine details and smooth gradients. Superior halftoning technology keeps pastels and light tones clean, and reduces graininess in highlights and large solid areas. The new version supports digital production operations in both direct-to-textile and transfer printing, plus it provides the production tools to handle step and repeat, changes in fabric dimensions during production, and brand colour accuracy.

The Fiery Textile Bundle was introduced at the recent ShanghaiTex tradeshow in China. The new products are part of a comprehensive EFI ecosystem that includes EFI Optitex 2D/3D design software, and EFI Reggiani digital printers such as the new Reggiani VOGUE direct-to-textile printer, which also made its debut at ShanghaiTex.

The team at Graphic Art Mart would like to welcome Jarrod Whyte who joined our Queensland location as an Account Manager servicing the Gold Coast and Northern NSW territories.

Jarrod brings with him 6 years’ experience in the print and signage industry previously working with MMT Print, a wholesale supplier to advertising agencies, sign companies and print brokers, where he started as an Account Manager and worked his way up to become National Sales Manager.

Jarrod looks forward to bringing his skills and knowledge to Graphic Art Mart!

Morgana has launched a new PUR binder, the DigiBook 300 XL Pro, which adds landscape A3 capabilities to the range. Morgana equipment is sold through Print & Pack in Australia.

Morgana says the DigiBook 300 XL Pro is suited to traditional and digital printers who require short runs of PUR perfect bound books to a professional standard. It only requires single phase power, rather than three phase.

The DigiBook 300 XL Pro binder has an increased input cover size of 450×1,000mm, compared with the 350x700mm maximum format of its predecessor, the DigiBook 300. It can now produce landscape A3 jobs, and produce up to 300 books per hour.

Ray Hillhouse, vice president offline business, Morgana, “We were getting requests for larger books in some markets. For example, in Asia where the photobook market is huge, they were pushing for a larger size.

“Perhaps the most significant change is the book format. Several machines of the previous specification were sold with special extended cover kits to allow for the production of books larger than A4 size. We also had a number of requests for landscape A3 or 11x17in finished size books.”

“These machines are equipped with a patented closed gluing system where the spine and side gluing is applied by a slot applicator for the utmost binding quality and accuracy.

“It is easy to use, even by non-specialised personnel, via a touch screen panel with icon graphics that allow the programming of all precision operations in just a few seconds, including startup and shutdown.

“There are a thousand alphanumeric memories available, which enable repeat jobs to be saved for later recall, thus providing totally automatic setup in a few seconds.”

“The DigiBook 300 XL Pro binding machine uses a new and innovative system which is covered by no less than seven international patents,” says the company.

Along with the base machine, the 300XLPro is available with two additional options – a gauze station for the production of book blocks ready for case binding, and a 78-litre capacity paper chip extractor that allows for longer, uninterrupted runs.

According to Hillhouse PUR provides a stronger bind than hotmelt glues, can be used on a wider range of substrates and is more resistant to the effects of temperature and humidity.

SA International (SAi), the leading provider of software solutions for the professional signmaking, wide-format digital printing and CAD/CAM for CNC machining industries, in collaboration with technology-giant, 3M has launched FlexiPRINT Authorized 3M Traffic Edition, a design-to-output traffic signage software, powered by SAi’s acclaimed Flexi software.

The new solution is compatible with HP 300 and 500 Series Printers and combines Flexi’s feature-rich capabilities with six ASTM traffic signage colors**. Enabling the output of signage that complies with rigorous global regulations, FlexiPRINT Authorized 3M Traffic Edition allows print businesses to increase revenues and enhance their competitive edge by adding traffic compliant signage to their application offering.

“Traffic signage must comply with stringent global color requirements, which can make production of these types of applications a daunting task,” says Steve Ball, Director of Strategic Business Development at SAi. “With pre-set 3M Traffic spot colors, FlexiPRINT Authorized 3M Traffic Edition enables users to meet these specifications. Additionally, the comprehensive yet easy-to-use solution simplifies the overall production process by eliminating the guess-work and time-consuming bottleneck of manually programming CMYK into third-party software. This allows users to improve workflow efficiencies and accelerate their time-to-market.”

Time-saving and cost-reduction capabilities
FlexiPRINT Authorized 3M Traffic Edition guarantees traffic color output on selected 3M substrates*** and HP Latex large format printers. With the ability to automate common job preparation processes, users can streamline production operations to enhance their overall workflow.

The software also includes Interactive Tiling and Automated and Manual Nesting, which enables businesses to reduce costs by optimizing material usage and minimizing waste. Other capabilities include the option to simultaneously drive two wide-format printers, ensuring maximum throughput.

With a minimal investment required compared to competing software, FlexiPRINT Authorized 3M Traffic Edition makes traffic signage accessible to all print business regardless of their size.

Available now, FlexiPRINT Authorized 3M Traffic Edition installs on Windows Versions 7, 8 and 10 and can be purchased from SAi resellers worldwide.

Printing Impressions in the US has released its forecast for the future of printing for the coming year. It’s an interesting breakdown of key markets. Although it is US centric, it should provide some insight for Australian print professionals and business. Click on the link for the PDf and … enjoy the read.

Top-25-Hot-Markets-in-the-Printing-Industry-2018-19

Alfex CNC installed the Epilog Legend Elite Mini 18 Laser at St Aidan’s Anglican Girls School in Brisbane. Their very own Haydn Brown walked through the setup of the system with the teachers explaining various parts and how to maintain the system.

Jackie Child from St Aidan’s commented “We were so impressed and watched with eyes glued to the cutting table.” Watch the video of the first design cut with their new laser.

The Mini 18 is ideal for classroom environments as its compact size is suitable for smaller spaces. A Class 1 laser system, the Legend Elite Series has been designed to be safe under all conditions of normal use, making it suitable for students to use in a classroom environment.

Students at St Aidan’s will now be able to prototype ideas and inventions, expanding their skillset on this compact and safe laser.

Learn more about the Epilog Legend Elite Series here.

The representatives further describe, “We clad the area in 8mm marine plywood and then attached 3mm Dibond aluminum composite material to it. Using our HP LX 3000 we printed the over 16,000 square feet of Class O fire-rated vinyl to ensure the one hour fire rating required on the project.”

Interestingly, the team utilised a floor vinyl graphic system on the walls to further increase its potential shelf life and added an anti-scratch laminate to the graphics. The project took a total of eight weeks to complete with PressOn completing some artwork in-house like the project’s “crumpled wrapper” graphic.

With any large format program, PressOn did overcome some challenges explaining, “The installation is in an area of extremely heavy traffic, with both parents and children touching and interacting with the 4D Chocolate Adventure experience.”

Cadbury’s Advertising Operations Manager had a glowing review of PressOn stating, “On site we all breathed a sigh of relief when PressOn’s ‘blue and yellow’ vans arrived. We knew that the job would get done, the paper would be in order, and we would all hit our deadlines.”

With Cadbury’s signature purple and yellow color palette, the Park offers a captivating experience for the whole family. As the second largest confectionery brand in the world, Cadbury is a globally recognized brand. The Cadbury’s World Theme Park is a perfect representative of their slogan, “Taste Like This Feels,” offering more than a candy bar and instead creating an experience.

www.presson.co.uk

As the new year begins, so too does a new era for Océ, with the company’s Oceania operation going to market directly as of January 1, 2018.

Craig Nethercott, who was appointed Managing Director of Océ Oceania mid last year, says the newly carved-out entity is now fully operational with national team set to support the company’s customer base with a renewed passion and expertise, backed by deep industry experience and the stability that comes with being a Canon company.

“This change in our go-to-market strategy will allow us to engage more closely with our customers and place a greater focus on the specialised professional print market,” Nethercott said today.

“Oceania is a unique region which is strategically important for us. This change makes us more responsive and agile, and better able to help our customers become more efficient and prosperous, not only through investment in the right new technologies, but by providing enhanced service and support, and a direct channel back to Océ R&D through our consultative approach.”

Over the past 140 years, Océ has built a reputation for innovation, quality and engineering excellence which today is arguably without equal in the digital print and imaging space. In 2009, the company was acquired by Canon, in a move which Nethercott says has been enormously positive.

“By marrying the renowned Océ passion and ingenuity with Canon’s deeper resource base, we have been able to really push ahead with our innovation agenda and deliver a range of industry-leading products to the market,” he says.

Océ will be taking over the marketing, distribution and service for the Océ branded wide format and production inkjet range from Canon, including the ColorStream/ProStream continuous feed inkjet series, the ColorWave series high-speed wide-format family, the VarioPrint i300/i200 series sheet-fed inkjet systems, the Arizona 6100 flatbed series and the flagship Colorado 1640 64” roll-to-roll printer, the first to feature Océ’s revolutionary UVgel technology, launched in 2017.

“Australia and New Zealand have embraced these technologies, possibly because the smaller market size here means that businesses simply have to be more flexible and innovative,” Nethercott says. “We are constantly inspired by the way our customers push the boundaries of their Océ technology, and remain committed to supporting them with product evolution and revolution. Our ANZ clientele is now just one step removed from our R&D centre, so their questions, issues and feedback can and will have a direct impact on the future directions of Océ’s digital print solutions.”

Service, too, is a key, he says. “While the first sale may be due to the skill of the sales staff, subsequent sales unquestionably rest on the quality of service and support. That’s an adage we’ve really taken to heart, investing in our own team of factory-trained specialists, many of whom have more than 20 years’ experience with Océ equipment, rather than using contractors. That means our clients can rely on us for the advice, support and assistance they need to keep their businesses productive and profitable.”

Now, after a short break over Christmas, it’s down to work for the newly-badged Océ team, and Nethercott says they’re focused, revitalised and positive about the future.

“There’s a real passion and energy within Océ that I’ve rarely found replicated elsewhere, and it’s certainly evident in the team here,” he comments, “I think our customers will really notice that as they connect more closely to the company and its unique DNA.”

Océ Australia is headquartered at Unipark 195 on Wellington Road at Clayton in Melbourne, with offices around Australia and a network of dealers across New Zealand. The company can be contacted on +61 1300 363 440 or via the website www.oce.com.au

We’re delighted to announce that BOFA have been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation. This accolade is in recognition of the revolutionary Intelligent Operating (iQ) system which was first launched in 2012.

BOFA’s range of Advantage laser fume and filtration extraction systems are designed for applications that generate particulate and gaseous organic compounds within the laser marking, cutting, coding and engraving industries.

The Queen’s Awards are the UK’s most prestigious business awards to celebrate and encourage business excellence in the UK.

Managing Director Tony Lockwood commented:  “At BOFA, we are very proud of being a successful British manufacturer, and to receive this recognition in what is our 30th year is a fantastic achievement and testament to the hard work of everyone at the company.”

iQ has introduced many performance enhancements, including independent filter monitoring and remote data analysis, to improve extraction efficiency, reduce the risk of production downtime and lower the lifetime cost of technology ownership.

Already acknowledged as number one in the industry, know that while you’re selecting which BOFA product to buy from Alfex CNC, any that feature ‘iQ’ in the name includes award-winning technology as standard.

Learn more about BOFA laser fume extraction systems here.

Alfex CNC Australia is proud to announce their partnership with American company, Kern Laser Systems. As the eminent manufacturer of laser cutting systems in North America for sign makers, plastic fabricators, visual graphic facilities, Kern Laser Systems has installed more than 1,000 laser systems worldwide. Alfex CNC’s broadened equipment distribution will give Australian companies the ability to use world-class laser systems that can be maintained locally.

Kern Laser Systems is a family owned and operated company that has been manufacturing laser cutting systems for the visual graphics industry since 1982. With a footprint across America, the United Kingdom, Middle East and now in Australia, Kern Laser Systems offers a range of work area solutions ranging from 600mm x 600mm right up to 3000mm x 2000mm and laser powers up to 400watts CO2 and soon to be released 1.5kW fiber machine.

Kern’s distribution partnership with Alfex CNC Australia is fitting given that both companies are established in the field and have extensive knowledge and expertise in laser equipment.
“The opportunity to work side by side with another family owned and operated business is especially appealing and fits solidly with our company values,” said Derek Kern, President, Kern Lasers.

Over the years Alfex CNC has extended its range on providing reliable products with exceptional customer service.

“Kern manufactures some of the best laser equipment in the world, and for Australian companies to have access to our extensive product range through Alfex CNC, is a perfect fit,” added Mr Kern.

The move broadens Alfex CNC’s reach in Australia by further establishing the credentials of being a distributor that offers only world class products backed by exceptional customer service in the Australian marketplace.

Alfex CNC’s team is welcoming the addition of Kern products to the company’s product range, along with the training and maintenance facilitation provided by Kern said Business Development Manager, Mr Christian Buhagiar.

For almost 40 years, Alfex CNC Australia has supplied the industry with the latest equipment and technologies from the world’s leading CNC machinery manufacturers. With a team of industry-leading service and technical support, Alfex CNC’s highly trained and dedicated staff have a proven track record for performance, reliability and exceptional after sale support.

“Our technicians are well trained and we anticipate the Australian market to welcome the Kern product range with open arms”, added Mr Buhagiar.

To learn more about Kern Laser Systems and other products offered by Alfex CNC Australia please click here 

Massivit 3D Printing Technologies, the leading provider of large format 3D printing solutions for visual communication applications, today announces the appointment of Isabelle Marelly as Worldwide Director of Marketing. Marelly assumes responsibility for leading the continued implementation of Massivit 3D’s marketing programme to expand the company’s brand profile and value proposition across the globe.

As well as driving Massivit 3D’s global marketing and public relations activities, Marelly’s remit will also see her work closely with the company’s extensive global dealer network to synergise opportunities and support local campaigns.

Marelly brings a wealth of industry knowledge to her new role and joins Massivit 3D’s growing team from 3D printing manufacturer, Stratasys, where she amassed over 10 years’ strategic marketing experience. Prior to that, she held marketing roles with software provider, Telelogic, and CAD/CAM pioneer, Computervision.

“Massivit 3D is unique in delivering the world’s first and only 3D printing solution specifically engineered for large format visual communication projects,” says Marelly. “I am thrilled to be joining such an exciting company and look forward to increasing the momentum that the Massivit 3D team continues to enjoy within the graphic arts community.”

Commenting on the appointment, Avner Israeli, CEO of Massivit 3D, says: “Together with her vast expertise as a marketing practitioner and many years’ experience in 3D printing, Isabelle will be vital to ensuring the effective communication of the tremendous opportunities print service providers can achieve from integrating our technology within their operations.”

It is a giant leap from historical times in ancient Egypt to the 21st century. Océ – A Canon Company, is bridging the two eras by recreating parts of the tomb of Seti I. Seti I was a pharaoh in the nineteenth Dynasty. Océ elevated printing technology was used to create exact reconstructions of the tomb’s high relief walls, pillars and sarcophagus.

Océ worked closely with the Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Conservation. Together, they printed large molds to create the reconstructions and adapted Océ’s elevated printing technology to print reliefs up to 15 mm high. Another partner, Factum Arte, used the Océ prints to create the final panels and sarcophagus for the exhibition in the AntikenMuseum in Basel, Switzerland.

The high accuracy level offered by Océ’s elevated printing technology faithfully produced the surface of the painted walls from the tomb of Seti I. The technology transforms images in high-resolution 3D digital files into physical objects. It prints scanned data on a scale and at a resolution that exceeds any other currently existing elevated printing technology.

“It is great work,” says Enrique Esteban, team leader of Factum Arte. “This exhibition and Océ have been fundamental to making it all possible.”

Reconstruction of our cultural heritage is just one of the many applications made possible by Océ elevated printing technology. It is also applied to reproduce paintings of Dutch Masters, such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Vermeer, to produce elevated maps and braille signage for the visually impaired, to produce elevated artwork and interior decorations for the home and office, and to create branded marketing items, such as printed emblems for football teams and sport clubs.

Elevated printing is just one example of how Océ is printing the world in whole new ways.

www.oce.com/about/

At the beginning of the digital age, the RIP was the premier tool of printers and repro houses. Today, output devices take centre-stage along with file-sharing, remote access and cloud storage applications. However, RIPs still matter – a lot – indeed, print quality depends upon it. In this feature, Radisa Peric, Flexi Product Manager at SAi, looks at what wide-format print providers and signmakers should consider when choosing a RIP. Clearly, one size doesn’t fit all … to read the full article, click here.

SCREEN GP Australia has announced that it will introduce two more ’mini’ digital label presses into Australia in 2018, under the Trojan brand name. As with the existing Trojan-made press sold under the Screen name – the Truepress Jet L250AQ, the new presses will also be available through Jet Technologies, Screen GP’s channel partner for narrow web digital presses.

The Trojan T2-C is a desktop label printer that performs like a bigger machine. Using Memjet printhead technology, it runs at up to 18 metres per minute with a maximum print width of up to 223mm across a 250mm web. It can print on pre-diecut or continuous label reels, for offline finishing.

Peter Scott, managing director of Screen GP Australia says: “The Trojan T2-C has proper web feed and take up with tensioning and yet fits any size print department due to its compact desktop footprint. Ink supply can be either by internal 250ml cartridges or, for higher productivity, external 2 litre tanks. At either 1600 x 1600dpi or 1600 x 800 dpi, the image quality is superb.”

The other new label press from Screen and Jet is the Trojan T4, an all-in-one label press line with top class inline finishing. Print speed, resolution and width is the same as for the T2-C but the T4 is a 1200Kg floor-standing unit with very robust printing, laminating, die-cutting, slitting and rewind for an end-to-end solution.

Scott says: “It’s a mini-marvel unlike any other solution for short-run and variable versioned labels. The engineering standard is first class and the die-cutter can be fully or semi-rotary and used alone to create die-cut blanks or to finish labels from another press. Best of all both the T2-C and T4 are fully supported by Screen GP’s local engineers and Jet Technologies’ expertise.”

He concludes: “We now have a complete range of digital label presses from desktop 18 metres per minute to high-end UV at 60 metres per minute, which I believe is the most complete line-up of such presses available and fully supported in Australia.”

www.screenaust.com.au/

Two companies – the Felix Schoeller Group and DATAPLOT GmbH – have agreed a strategic partnership that combines the strengths of the two partners. With immediate effect, Felix Schoeller Digital Media’s STYLine® brand – digitally printable non-woven wallpaper – will be marketed in 40 countries throughout Europe by DATAPLOT and its sales network. Conversely, the Felix Schoeller Group will take care of the development and production side of things, and manufacture both partners’ non-woven wallpapers that have been specially developed for digital printing. Customers can now choose between two strong brands: DATAPLOT’s EMBLEM based on Felix Schoeller brand and Felix Schoeller Digital Media’s STYLine®. Both brands have been certified by HP Latex and Xeikon, which guarantees their outstanding quality of conversion on those systems.

Fast service in 40 countries guaranteed

“We are very pleased about the collaboration with DATAPLOT. It will enable us to offer our customers even better service around all aspects of our STYLine®-wallpaper. DATAPLOT has a high degree of expertise in slitting and marketing digitally printable non-woven wallpapers. And their direct contact to specialist retailers and the advertising and printing industry in over 40 countries is another advantage we will benefit from,” says Florian vom Bruch, General Manager at Felix Schoeller Digital Media. As well selling the products, DATAPLOT will also be responsible for slitting and logistics. DATAPLOT will also ensure that customers receive competent support in all aspects of converting the products. Schoeller will provide the necessary product quality and expertise. “Felix Schoeller Digital Media offers the very highest quality products, from development through to production. This expertise is an excellent fit for EMBLEM. That is why we see this partnership as the ideal way of complementing our competencies and ensuring that we continue to offer our distributors and partners nothing less than the very best quality,” says Karsten Werther, CEO of DATAPLOT GmbH. Standard rolls are available in widths of 75 cm and 155 cm and, with run lengths of 55 to 75 m, they are optimally suited to the needs of the market. Special widths and lengths are also available on request. Customers who would like to see the quality of these non-woven products for themselves are welcome to request sample rolls at info@dataplot.de or get in touch with their key contact partners at Felix Schoeller Digital Media.

You will not have to wait long to find out more: Felix Schoeller and DATAPLOT experts will be at Heimtextil 2018 (09.-12.01.2018 in Frankfurt), working together to answer any questions you may have about digital printable non-woven wallpaper. The Felix Schoeller Group will be showcasing its STYLine® wallpaper in all its different facets at Stand F51, Hall 3.1.

Karsten Werther (l.) and Florian vom Bruch (r.) seal the partnership deal in Osnabrück.

Kmart Australia is marketing an in-store personalised labelling experience for Christmas shoppers in more than 200 stores around the country, using desktop printers powered by HP technology to personalise jars of popular spread brands for holiday gift-giving.

Vegemite “Name your jar” and personalised Nutella products are now offered by Kmart exclusively for in-store purchases, in a move to attract shoppers to stores amid a rise in online shopping.

Kmart purchased more than 200 Afinia Label desktop label printers from Rawson Print Co. to launch in-store label printing campaigns. The chain is planning to expand personalised promotions to additional brands and holidays. The fast and high-quality HP Thermal Inkjet technology delivered by HP Specialty Printing Systems solutions offers brands the flexibility and freedom to deliver personalised labels on-demand, anywhere they need them.

“As brands continue to look for ways to connect with their audiences, we are seeing a growing trend of mass personalised packaging, including desktop label printing campaigns in stores,” said Jason Beckley, Business Development Manager, Indigo, HP South Pacific. “HP is powering the trend with flexible and affordable in-store printing solutions that make it possible to offer an individual, memorable experience for its customers.”

The Kmart campaign is another example of the growing trend of personalised print on packaging. The ground breaking Share a Coke campaign printed on HP Indigo digital presses was also launched in Australia. 

The Afinia Label L301 Industrial Colour Label Printer opens the door to seasonal product labelling, and private labelling products for customers, delivering vivid colour in 4800 x 1200 optimised dpi.

The printer is based on the HP OEM Scanning Imager 850, an affordable print mechanism offering a small footprint, excellent print speed, and ease of use with snap-in, snap-out insertion and removal of ink cartridges.

www8.hp.com/au/en/home.html

Electronics For Imaging, Inc. has announced commercial availability of its newest launched printer, the EFI Pro 24f.

First exhibited at the recent SGIA Expo, it is the only dedicated flatbed wide-format printer featuring EFI’s proven LED and variable drop greyscale head technologies. It provides precision imaging, fine detail and outstanding image quality for a broad range of applications.

U.S. customer Superior Signs & Engraving in Wichita, Kansas, is the very first user for the printer. The printer’s premium quality imaging capabilities, with white ink included, and the high versatility and productivity of EFI’s “cool cure” LED technology, have vastly improved throughput and quality at the company.

Twice the output, higher quality and exceptional versatility

“We were completely blown away once the printer was up and running,” said Superior Signs & Engraving Co-owner Adam Stiles. “The 24f produces vibrant colours and has great print speed. In fact, we have doubled our output on flatbed work with this new printer. Plus, the printer’s white ink produces a very opaque, bright white colour, which has increased our quality of print. Overall we would recommend this printer 100%.”

While quality and speed were key considerations for Superior Signs & Engraving, Stiles and his team also benefit from the printer’s ability to accurately and consistently handle a broad range of substrates. “The features that are a nice upgrade for us besides the colour quality and speed are the button activated media guides and the media float button,” Stiles explained. “When positioning heavier medias such as 6-mm Dibond and ¼-inch acrylic, the float allows us to easily position the material without having to worry about sliding it, especially on double-sided prints.

“The built-in EFI Fiery proServer with FASTRIP,” he added, “makes RIPing files extremely easy and fast, which helps with our overall output.”

A high-value addition to EFI’s extensive inkjet portfolio

The printer is the newest addition to EFI’s growing wide-format portfolio, a dedicated flatbed device perfect for applications requiring discerning image quality and absolute dot placement accuracy. A highly strategic choice for signage, photographic backlit displays, art reproductions, membrane switches, graphic overlays, lenticular prints and other specialty applications, this printer’s 1.2 x 2.4 metre flatbed architecture features a multi-zoned vacuum system that eliminates masking while ensuring accurate registration for multiple over-prints or panels. EFI’s “cool cure” LED technology ensures low power consumption, minimal waste and compatibility with thinner and heat-sensitive substrates.

The printer’s built-in EFI Fiery proServer Core digital front end gives users the power of faster job processing, along with a host of colour management and production options for a complete, turnkey solution.

Demos and print samples from the new printer are available at EFI’s European and U.S. inkjet demo centres in Brussels and Meredith, New Hampshire. For more information on the EFI Pro 24f, visit www.efi.com.