The Big Picture - May 2011 by ST Media Group

05.11

www.bigpicture.net

The Fast and the Venomous PLUS: · Wide Format for Packaging · UV Printer Update · Identifying the ‘Next Big Thing’

847.6244

in this issue

May 2011 Volume 16 No. 5

COLUMNS 4 InSight

reating the buyC ing experience.

12 Inside Output

he next big T thing.

14 Business & Management

I ncorporating SOPs.

DEPARTMENTS 6 Wide Angle

FEATURES 16 Driving Business: Vehicle Wraps and Graphics

By Britney Grimmelsman

ith the market for vehicle graphics and wraps expanding exponentially, W anything on wheels (or wings, etc.) is fair game for a wrap transformation. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve provided eight diverse vehicle-graphics jobs sure to get your creative motor running.

24 2011 UV Update

V offers a range of advantages, including the ability to print on a broad U range of substrates/media, few environmental issues, and increased durability of the final output. Here, we highlight some of the most recent UV additions from more than 20 companies in the wide-format marketplace.

32 Prototypes and Packaging

By Mike Antoniak

Product marketers are looking to digital printing technologies for more creative freedom to refine their packaging ideas, quickly see three-dimensional results, and develop that perfect package. Here are five companies who are utilizing wideformat technologies to deliver new capabilities in short-run specialty packaging.

ON THE COVER: Advertising Vehiclesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; six-bus-long Diamondback creation for Kings Island Theme Park. Photo by Ronny Salerno (ronnysalernophotography.com). Cover design by Laura Mohr.

THE

BIG PICTURE may 2011

pening the O hybrid door.

8 Up Front

ews + N noteworthy.

36 R+D

he latest tech, T products, and supplies.

48 Job Log

rinting P Penguins.

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insight by Gregory Sharpless

Creating the Buying Experience When I was growing up, our family always had a dog on the property – an English setter to be specific. As a teenager, one of my chores was to make sure there was always dry straw in the doghouse, and to replace it every month or so. For an outdoor dog, a dry bed is, of course, a necessity. And once I turned 16 and could legally drive, I would go down to the Feed & Supply store on my own schedule, stuff a bale of straw in the trunk of my ‘67 Camaro, and finish the task so I could get on to more important teenage things. Now I’m telling you all this because the feed store was a marvel. It looked to have been in business since the plow was invented. And, to a teenager, the people who worked there seemed about just as old. It somehow had managed to maintain its property in the middle of town, and the narrow dirt road you had to drive on to get there was fi lled with potholes. The whole place smelled of old grain and feed. Inside, the store seemed like a hodgepodge of farm implements, bags of stuff I had never heard of, and barrels of even more stuff that sometimes defied description. But the guys who worked there always knew just where everything was – I can’t remember a time when someone asked for something they didn’t have. I also remember a lot of conversation taking place before, during, and after the sale. Heck, they would even talk to me – a kid who certainly wasn’t their regular type of customer and who really wanted nothing more than getting out of there. But they always greeted me at the door with a “howdy,” and I’d end up getting drawn into a conversation, buying a soda, and chatting for a while about the weather or the local sports team. If that had been a record store, I would have left there with empty pockets. But I think their end goal, if you can call it that, was not to sell me everything in the store. Rather, it was to put me at ease and simply make for a pleasant buying experience. They knew that by doing so, I would keep coming there for a bale of straw when we needed it, even when several other, more modern stores opened up in the ensuing years. Yes, the sales process can sometimes be daunting. But if you keep in mind that you’re actually crafting a “buying experience,” it might come more easily for both parties. When the feed store finally sold off in 2008, hundreds of items went up for auction, including: chicken feeders, railroad ties, a coin-operated coal dispenser, and a very rare “two-party” railroad outhouse.

www.bigpicture.net Gregory Sharpless Editor/Associate Publisher gregory.sharpless@stmediagroup.com Britney Grimmelsman Associate Editor britney.grimmelsman@stmediagroup.com Laura Mohr Art Director laura.mohr@stmediagroup.com Marty McGhie, Craig Miller, Jared Smith Columnists Linda Volz Production Supervisor linda.volz@stmediagroup.com Lou Arneberg - Midwest US Ben Stauss - Western US, Western Canada, Asia Lisa Zurick - Eastern US, Eastern Canada, Europe Business Development Managers Rick Bachelder, Kathy Boydstun, Terry Corman, Scott Crosby, Brandon Gabriel, Michael Garcia, Kirk Green, Robert Kissel, Craig Miller, Greg Root, Jared Smith, Mark Taylor Editorial Advisory Board

Tedd Swormstedt President Steve Duccilli Group Publisher Christine Baloga Audience Development Director John Tymoski Associate Director/Online Subscription Services (847) 763-4938 tbp@halldata.com bigpicture.net/subscribe bigpicture.net/renew Single Copies/Back Issues Debbie Reed debbie.reed@stmediagroup.com

THE BIG PICTURE (ISSN 1082-9660) is published 12 times annually by ST Media Group International Inc., 11262 Cornell Park Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45242-1812. Telephone: (513) 421-2050, Fax: (513) 362-0317. No charge for subscriptions to qualified individuals. Annual rate for subscriptions to non-qualified individuals in the U.S.A.: $42 USD. Annual rate for subscriptions in Canada: $70 USD (includes GST & postage); all other countries: $92 (Int’l mail) payable in U.S. funds. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright 2011, by ST Media Group International Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations. Periodicals Postage Paid at Cincinnati, OH and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Big Picture, P.O. Box 1060, Skokie, IL 60076. Change of address: Send old address label along with new address to The Big Picture, P.O. Box 1060, Skokie, IL 60076.

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

11262 Cornell Park Drive Cincinnati, OH 45242 tel (513) 421-2050 fax (513) 421-5144

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wide angle

Opening the Hybrid Door

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

Automotive dealer Lexus of Dublin collaborated with visual-communications firm Chute Gerdeman Retail One (CGR1, chutegerdeman.com) in Columbus, Ohio, to launch a revamped showroom highlighting the features and benefits of the hybrid Lexus HS250h. “A major design challenge was how to best illustrate the intricate interplay of gas and electric systems within the car’s engine,” says CGR1’s Allison Short. The solution: a series of acrylic panels placed in front of the HS250h, with gas components shown in orange and electric shown in green — creating an X-ray effect. CGR1 designed and fabricated the three 48 x 66-inch heat-bent acrylic panels, which were reinforced in key locations by gluing additional acrylic blocks for structural support. Graphics were output using an EFI Vutek QS3200 printer onto General Formulations Clear Static Cling vinyl; a backing layer of white ink helped increase visual contrast between the vehicle and the panels’ information graphics. www.bigpicture.net

upfront upfront

It’s a Small World After All LAgraphico (lagraphico.com) partnered with direct marketing agency Wunderman (wunderman.com) and Southwest Airlines to produce an immersive experience that promotes the rebranding of the airline’s Rapid Rewards frequent-flyer program. The Southwest “cube” measures 6-foot square and features rotating signage on top (making it approximately 9-feet tall). Lit inside, the diorama depicts a stylized map of the United States with famous landmarks to indicate some of the cities that Southwest Airlines serves: the Empire State Building for New York City, the Alamo for San Antonio, Wrigley Field in Chicago, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, etc. LAgraphico worked with Wunderman to help develop and execute the project’s electrical, lighting, and video content. The diorama elements were created by a third party, each piece handpainted, and then assembled to complete the cube. The cube is designed so that its corner caps slide oﬀ and the acrylic slides out for ease of serviceability in the field. The exterior graphics were produced using LAgraphico’s 64-inch Epson Stylus Pro 11880 printer. LAgraphico’s logistics team coordinated with the US Transportation Security Administration for installation in airports across the country.

2.5% THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

Projected increase in 2011 of US advertising spending, to $155.2 billion, as marketers in the financial, retail, and automotive sectors begin opening their wallets following the recession, according to ZenithOptimedia (zenithoptimedia.com).

Gerber Discontinues Production of Flatbed Printers Gerber Scientific Products will exit its flatbed-printer business to focus on its range of thermal printing products, the company reports. Gerber will stop manufacturing its UV flatbed printers, including the Gerber Cat UV and Solara ion. It will, however, continue to provide its flatbed-printer customers with access to service, support, parts, and ink for a minimum of five years from the date of this announcement. In a press release, Gerber states: “A significant contraction in the size of the flatbed market during the global downturn of 2008, followed by a sluggish market recovery, has prevented the company from profitably manufacturing and marketing these products.” “This decision allows us the opportunity to put additional resources behind our core thermal printing products: Edge FX printers, Omega software, and specialty graphic materials,” says Stephen Lovass, president of Gerber Scientific Products. “These products provide our customers with a durable alternative for high-margin, short-run graphics in multiple industry segments.” The announcement has no effect on Gerber’s cutting technologies, including the M3000 Digital Cutting and Finishing System, the company reports. Gerber Scientific completed the acquisition of Data Technology, Inc. – the Massachusetts-based manufacturer of automated cutting hardware for the design, die making, and short-run production segments of the packaging and graphics industries – in 2007.

“The challenge eco-solvent systems will have is a mindshare challenge. We may reach a stage where ‘strong odor’ is considered ‘bad,’ and no odor is ‘good.’ So the key may be for eco-solvents to find a way to reduce or mask the odor they give off during printing.”

Nazdar SourceOne Kicks Off Passport To Performance Tour Nazdar SourceOne has debuted its Passport to Performance educational tour, created to provide print shops with critical information on topics such as buying a wide-format digital printer, financial considerations when making capital purchases, workflow improvements, and more. The Passport to Performance tour will comprise a mix of events including open houses, webinars, and more throughout most of 2011. The tour kicks off in Las Vegas at ISA Sign Expo, and includes the opportunity to enter a sweepstakes to win an EFI Rastek H652 UV printer (the announcement of the winning sweepstakes entry will take place at the end of the Passport to Performance tour in August), says Jeff Paulic, Nazdar SourceOne’s marketing communications manager. In addition to its launch at ISA Sign Expo in Las Vegas in April, the tour will include: • Webinars, including: “Top 10 Mistakes When Buying a Wide-Format Printer” (May 4, May 6), the top mistakes made when purchasing a printer and how to avoid them; “Wasatch Tips & Tricks” (May 18, May 20), tips on workflow improvement, file preparation, getting the most out of a software investment; and “Financial Decisions of Capital Purchases” (June 8, June 10), the financial considerations to be aware of when considering a new printer, ROI calculators, cash-flow considerations, leasing pitfalls. • Open houses, including: Atlanta (May 24); Cincinnati (June 23); Chicago (July 20). • Tour Wrap Up Event (August 13) in Long Beach, California. Sweepstakes entries take place at: sourceoneonline.com/rasteksweepstakes.

– Marco Boer, I.T. Strategies (it-strategies.com) www.bigpicture.net

upfront

HP Opens Graphic Arts Experience Center

market metrics

As the Economy Improves, Will Workers Move On? 28% Neither likely or unlikely

31% Likely

41% Unlikely

Some employees may look to switch companies as the economy improves. Workers in general reported more optimism about the job market, according to the “Q2 2011 Job Forecast” conducted by Careebuilder and USA Today. When asked, “As the economy improves, how likely are you to start looking for another job?” 31 percent of respondents said they are likely to begin doing so.

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

HP has opened a 60,000-square-foot Graphic Arts Experience Center in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Georgia, to showcase its portfolio and educate customers about new opportunities. To create the center, HP consolidated two Georgia facilities – an HP Indigo demo center based in Dunwoody, and the Marietta US headquarters of Scitex Vision, which HP acquired in 2005. The new center is designed to serve as a sales hub and world-class training facility for graphic-arts customers and prospects throughout the Americas, says HP. Visitors can see their jobs completed using HP solutions and experience a real-world production-floor environment. The site also will host educational workshops on marketing, print business management, and other subjects. “This is both a demo center and an important training facility where HP consultants and outside industry experts can meet with customers to discuss the best approaches to building a thriving business,” says Jan Riecher, vice president and general manager, Graphics Solutions Business – Americas, HP. The new Experience Center includes solutions for the signage, packaging, pro-photography, commercial, directmail, technical, publishing, and labeling markets. Technologies currently on the equipment-display floor include: the Designjet L25500 latex ink printer; the Designjet Z3200, Z5200, and Z6200 large-format printers; HP Scitex FB500, FB700, and FB7500 UV flatbeds, as well as the Scitex LX600, LX800, TJ8600, XP5100, and XP5300 latex and UV ink printers; the Designjet T7100 and T2300 eMFP solution for technical printing; various HP Indigo presses, HP Specialty Printing Systems, HP SmartStream production workflow solutions; and more. HP plans to add a T200 Color Inkjet Web Press to the Experience Center later this year. The Experience Center will oﬀer various training opportunities, including HP Capture “Ignite Your Growth” business-development programs, designed to help print providers learn ways to launch new marketing campaigns, expand their reach to new markets, and better connect with their customers. Other HP Capture services also will be available, including one-to-one consulting from HP on digital vs. analog job costing, business planning, and analysis using HP SmartPlanner 3.5 software. Customers also can learn how to improve their workflow eﬃciency, color management, and productivity by working with the HP Workflow Solutions Navigator program. Information on visiting the HP Graphic Arts Experience Center is available at hp.com/go/graphicartsexperience.

inside insideoutput output

The Quest for The ‘Next Big Thing’ By Craig Miller

kay, I’ll admit it: I’m a sucker for the next big thing. All you have to do is show me what appears to be the next big thing (or as I’ll refer to it here, “NBT”) and I’m all over it. It really doesn’t matter what it is: a car; a camera; a computer; a TV; a phone. I am a tech wonk and I will want one. This is not necessarily a good business trait in this industry. During the good times, I almost always got what I wanted. As my wife and business partner reminds me, the one upside to the recession is that it has reined in my NBTmania. Now, I have to justify everything with a solid need and its probable ROI. Plus, a little begging never hurts. And even when I can justify the purchase, that doesn’t mean I have the resources to pull oﬀ the acquisition. In every company, someone is making capital-equipment decisions. These decisions can make or break a company. Pick the right piece of equipment and you can make your company super completive. Make a really bad choice, however, and the weight of that boat anchor can sink your company. And that equipment decision does not just comprise printers anymore. Our company has almost as much money invested in our finishing equipment as we do printing. Today, a single piece of capital equipment can cost seven figures – and it’s getting hard to find really good equipment for less than six figures. Like many of you, for the first time since the start of the recession in 2008, our shop is on the verge of planning for new equipment. At events like the ISA Expo, SGIA Expo, and Graph Expo, we’ll be on the lookout for the NBT. What will it or they be? Will there be more than one? Will it be the Swiss Army Knife of printing that UV promised to be

CRAIG MILLER is a principal shareholder in Las Vegas-based Pictographics, (pictographics.net) where he is also director of military and law-enforcement projects, the company’s defense-contracting division.

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

– or will it be the sashimi knife of printing that only does one thing, but does it really, really well? What technology or technologies will make up the NBT contenders? Keep in mind that the Next Big Thing is not only hard to predict, it’s often hard to recognize. In my 17 years in this industry I’ve often been among the first, if not the first, to own what I guessed was the NBT. This has sometimes resulted in me looking like the smartest guy in the room. It has also made me look like the stupidest.

Hits and misses In 1996, I was chomping at the bit to get into dye-sublimation. Some of the pioneers of dye-sub helped me see the light, assisting me with the essential ingredients to create this NBT: equipment, paper, ink, and fabric. These companies and individuals not only helped us to jump ahead of the curve, but they expanded our industry by creating new products and markets. In the 16 years since, we have transitioned from electrostatic dye-sublimation to inkjet (boy do I miss that e-stat speed). We have made millions of dollars with dye-sublimation printing and it still not only drives business to our door, but remains a growth area for us. A year later, we bought a heavy-duty router table and a wide vinyl cutter with an optical positioning sensor. This put us in the business of contour cutting rigid and roll-toroll digital prints. Yes, this was before flatbeds, so we had to mount the prints to the boards before we cut them and we didn’t have i-cut technology. But we ended up doing great with it and having a capability before our competitors again drove quite a bit of business to our doors. In 1999, my wife and I went to Drupa in Düsseldorf to see the very first UV flatbed printers, accompanying a group of like-minded colleges from around the world who were part of the Global Imaging Group (GIGA). We were all on a quest for the NBT. As a result of this trip, by 2002 our company had ordered our first UV hybrid printer, the first in our region. That was a very good decision. During this time, I also took a pass on a couple of print technologies that were being touted as the NBT. I can’t say I wasn’t tempted. One melted colored wax pucks >42

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business business++management management

Incorporating SOPs By Marty McGhie

escribing the graphics industry as “challenging” might be considered by many as a bit of an understatement. In my own company, we occasionally find ourselves bemoaning the difficulties of trying to meet our clients’ expectations in an ever-changing environment. Virtually every job that comes into the shop, we often complain, is completely different than the one before; plus, the custom nature of the work poses real challenges and calls for entirely different operating procedures. But is that really the case? Is there really no way to approach your business in a standardized fashion? Perhaps what we all really do day-to-day isn’t that customized after all – if we utilize standard operating procedures. Standard operating procedure (SOP) is a business buzzphrase that has been used in the workplace longer than any of us have been around. While we all know what it means, many of us probably don’t use the application of SOPs nearly as much as we should. So where should we begin?

Implementation and accessibility The first step in converting your shop to an SOP process requires an adoption of the philosophy among the entire management team. This isn’t as easy as it might seem. Breaking down the barriers with employees and managers who have done things a certain way for a long time can be a daunting task. It’s critical to help them develop an understanding of the tremendous benefits inherent in a standardized system of processes. Begin the process by choosing one SOP in their department that will clearly make a diﬀerence. Pick something relatively simple to adopt and implement – it could be Marty McGhie is VP finance/operations of Ferrari Color, a digital-imaging center with Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Sacramento locations. The company offers high-quality large- and grand-format photo, inkjet, fabric, and UV printing. marty@ferraricolor.com

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

related to productivity, accuracy, financial gains, or anything that will help them manage a better department and quickly see results. Once they see that the SOP can actually help, they will begin to look for other SOP-likely areas and as a result, improve their department even more. In beginning the SOP process, there are a few key aspects to consider if you want the program to be successful. First, you must (and I repeat, must) document all SOPs in written form. You can do so electronically or via hard copy or, even better, both. The point is: Get them documented in a formal way. As you record the SOPs, make sure they’re branded with your company look so they appear to be official corporate documents. The benefit here is that your employees will treat them much more seriously if they are oﬃcial company documents. Second, it’s critical that your SOPs are accessible to all employees. Many companies spend countless resources establishing full standard operating procedures, document them, and then put them on a shelf somewhere never to be used again. Make sure they’re available for your managers and your employees to use regularly. For example, in our company we’re in the process of creating an SOP database with all the SOPs cataloged into departments and cross referenced to related SOPs. The success of your SOP program will depend primarily upon your ability to train and implement the SOPs that you establish. As soon as you develop the first SOP in a department, avoid working on any others before you train the employees on that particular SOP.

A scenario trio Obviously, an SOP program will not cure all of the problems in your shop. Mistakes will still happen. So what should you do when something goes wrong under an SOP program? Ask yourself three questions: • Did the error occur due to someone not following an existing SOP? • Did the error occur because there is not an SOP in place? • Was this simply human error made by >44

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Driving Business

Eight diverse vehicles wrapped to inspire. In the past, vehicle-graphics clientele typically comprised fleet owners wanting to improve the message on, or look of, their delivery armada. And, there were the individuals who were looking to add some pizzazz to their personal rides, perhaps in conjunction with the purchase of new wheels or a spoiler addition. Today, however, the market for vehicle graphics and wraps has expanded exponentially. Companies, and their agencies, now realize that mobile graphics can be critical when it comes to marketing eﬀorts. In fact, most businesses now realize they’re being negligent if they don’t integrate mobile graphics into their promotion and marketing. From promotional tours and public transit to personal luxuries and prize-winning racecars, the list goes on – essentially anything on wheels (or wings, etc.) is now fair game for a wrap transformation. Is your shop currently producing vehicle wraps? If not, with such a deep pool of vehicle-wrap opportunities, it’s certainly worthwhile asking yourself: “Why haven’t we jumped in?” Mastering the necessary design, print, and install expertise can be challenging, but by doing so you can position your company to open the door to an entirely new profit center. What follows are eight diverse vehicle-graphics jobs sure to get your creative motor running, whether you’re just exploring adding wraps to your company’s repertoire, or you’re an experienced wrap artist.

The Fast and the Venomous When Cincinnati amusement park Kings Island created Diamondback, the largest rollercoaster in its history, it wanted a unique way to spread the word. Its marketing team partnered with Cincinnati Metro Bus System and Cincinnati-based print provider Advertising Vehicles to devise a wrap project that echoed not only the Diamondback name when it came to its graphics, but also would be reflected in the vehicle itself. The answer: a larger-than-life, sectioned snake graphic that spanned six individual 40-foot Metro buses. And even though it would end up having an extremely short lifespan, 16

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

the promotion would indeed serve to grab the attention of coaster aficionados. Advertising Vehicles (advertisingvehicles.com) was no stranger to designing and installing large bus wraps, but creating a wrap that continued seamlessly across six buses was a first for the company. The end goal: to have a 240foot image of a Diamondback snake with the head beginning on bus one and the tail ending on the sixth. “To design the graphic, stock photos of several diﬀerent snakes were used to create the focal image in the piece. We also used a stock photo of sand with an overlay fi lter along with a few colored layers to develop the background image.

We supplied the client with two scaled hard-copy proofs, one was a small section of the wrap at actual size, and the other was a scaled version of the full project,” says Advertising Vehicle’s Blake Castetter. Printing the nearly 6000 square feet of graphics was no simple undertaking. The shop went with its HP Scitex TurboJet (TJ) 8300, outputting onto Flexcon BusArt selfadhesive vinyl to get the job done. To finish the wrap, the shop used a GBC Orca 4064WF with LG Hausys gloss laminate. Printing and finishing took a combined 12 hours. While wrapping one bus may pose challenges when it comes to ensuring wrinkle-free, proper graphic alignment,

the difficulty of the six-bus installation made the print work seem easy by comparison. Six men worked 16 hours to wrap the busses, 96 man hours in all. “Ensuring that the graphics lined up to form a design that flowed flawlessly from one bus to the next was a challenge. But we pulled it off,” says Castetter. With the project completed, Cincinnati Metro drivers took to the interstate and the six-bus Diamondback slithered down the busy highways. Although the snake wraps were installed on the individual vehicles for three months, the six buses were only driven together and in order a single time for the promotion. www.bigpicture.net

photo courtesy of the city of port moody.

vehicle graphics

Blackout To promote its new online resource for auto enthusiasts, Joyride – a group of tech-savvy professionals “who also happen to be auto enthusiasts” – wanted an impressive vehicle to showcase at auto shows that would embody luxury as well as market trends. Joyride quickly sought out Arizona print provider bluemedia (bluemedia.com) to jump on the matte-black bandwagon and wrap its Porsche 996. “The matte-black wrap trend is taking the industry by storm and bringing a lot of newcomers into the market space,” says bluemedia’s Brian Howland. “The world of vehicle graphics is seeing a definite increase in the number of requests for ‘murdering out’ vehicles – where the vehicle is completely matte black, all the light covers are black, no gloss, except the windows, which have to be dark. It’s a great way to change the look of a vehicle and the market segment is growing.” Creating the design for the Porsche was a relatively easy task because of the simplicity. “We didn’t have to engage our design department because it was a fairly basic design. Joyride had done mockups on the car using Photoshop and once we added logos and worked out the stripe thickness, it was off to our finishing department to have the pieces cut.” 18

THE BIG PICTURE may 2011

Applying vinyl is nothing new to the bluemedia installation team, but a matte-black project leaves no room for error. “The biggest challenge was the installation. When you do a printed project, you can get away with seams, but when you’re making the vehicle matte, you absolutely cannot have a seam,” says Howland. “It takes a very experienced installer to knock one of these out and the install time is double in comparison to a normal wrap job.” The team chose matte black and matte gray (for the center stripe) 3M Scotchprint 1080 Wrap Film, which does not require a laminate. For the center red stripe, Arlon 2100 cast red vinyl 01 was used, with decals featuring the Joyride logo made using 3M 1080 matte gray and white; bordering the decals is 1/8-inch black 3M Scotchlite Reflective Vinyl. The same media was also used for the logos on each side of the Porsche. Both stripes were installed on top of the wrap. All told, the project required about 280 square feet of media. Four men worked to install the wrap for a combined 38 hours. The Joyride crew thought so much of the final wrap that, though the car was initially intended to act only as a show piece, it’s now driven around and showed off on a daily basis.

Getting the Public-Art Treatment Port Moody, aka the “City of the Arts,” is known for its beautiful scenery, lighting, and low rent, making it the perfect destination for artists in British Columbia, Canada. In keeping with its artistic reputation, the city developed the StreetArts program, which strives to integrate public art into everyday life. From whimsical garbage cans to hand-painted street banners, Port Moody beautifies even the most common objects. Its largest StreetArts endeavor yet: public fleet vehicle wraps. To date, five city trucks have received the public art treatment, including the playground works truck, the horticultural truck, the cultural services van, and two of the city’s four automated garbage trucks. To wrap the two garbage trucks, Port Moody called for help from local artists as well as from Canadian print provider Ampco Grafix (ampcografix.com). “The city was our existing client. We have been handling their municipal vehicles such as fire and rescue and operation vehicles for some time,” says Ben Konkin, Ampco account executive. “When Port Moody started an annual contest for local artists where two winning designs would be mounted to the sides of city garbage trucks, we were excited to take on the challenge.” StreetArts used a desktop scanner to capture the win-

ning images, then delivered the files to Ampco, which turned to Adobe Photoshop for manipulating the designs and adjusting for size. A soft proof scaled to 10 percent of the final size was then sent as a PDF for Port Moody officials’ approval. The final graphics were output with Ampco’s EFI Vutek GS2000 UV printer and 3M flexible UV inks, onto 3M Controltac 180 CV3-10 matte cast vinyl. Printing the wraps proved no challenge for the Ampco team, and it took just over 2.5 hours to complete the output. Finishing was equally stress free, using a GBC Orca III laminator with 3M 8519 laminate; total time was only 20 minutes. Ampco hand-cut the graphics, then proceeded to install. One of the installers’ biggest challenges for this particular job, says Konkin, was the garbage stench. But an even bigger challenge was the tight time frame: “The winners of the contest were publicly unveiled by the mayor of Port Moody shortly after the judges made their selection. So, we had to install the wraps on the two trucks and have them back to the city for the ceremony on the same day,” says Konkin. In total, Ampco printed and installed 333 square feet of graphics just in time for the public unveiling. The other two Port Moody garbage trucks were completed as this article was being readied for press.

vehicle graphics

Sit, Sip, and Cycle Last summer, downtown Minneapolitans were pleased to enjoy not only “on the pub” samples of signature tea from coffee chain Caribou Coffee, but a free and interesting ride as well on a unique mode of transportation: the Sip N’ Cycle. This teashop-on-wheels, concepted by the Colle+McVoy agency (collemcvoy.com), was designed to spread the news about Caribou’s new tea endeavor. The rented pub featured four peddlers who powered the bike, while guests were able to enjoy a sample of their favorite tea. In its three-day summer tour, the Sip N’ Cycle journeyed through the downtown Minneapolis streets during high-traffic events – like teen heartthrob Justin Bieber’s concert and many Minnesota Twins’ baseball games – inviting passersby to hop on. Minneapolis-based Big Ink (inkbig.com) jumped on the opportunity to spice up the multi-rider cycling pub with Caribou-themed graphics. To help draw in locals, the traveling pub featured a larger-than-life 48 x 50-inch coffee cup – complete with straw – as well as an overhanging rigid “awning” to help keep its passengers dry and protected from the sun. The coffee cup was constructed from .015 styrene by Yel20

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

low Dog Scenic (yellowdogscenic.com). Big Ink produced the cup’s graphics, using its Seiko Color Painter H-104S printer, outputting onto permanent adhesive vinyl. Its GBC Falcon 60 Plus was used to apply a 4-mil pressure-sensitive matte laminate. The straw was printed using the shop’s Océ Arizona 250 GT, onto clear .020 PETG plastic. The 14 x 96-inch awning comprised ¼-inch 3A Composites Sintra PVC board, with graphics printed on the Color Painter H-104S onto permanent vinyl. All cutting was done on Big Ink’s Zünd G3L-2500 cutter. “The graphics all had to be removable because the actual vehicle was rented. The client also wanted them to be reusable in the case they ever ran the pedal pub again. Creating graphics that are removable, reusable, and durable can be a challenge,” says Big Ink marketing director Janine Trutna. All told, the project called for about 200 square feet of media. Yellow Dog Scenic worked with a time crunch and finished the installation in one day – the day before it was due. “Overall, people were impressed with both the delivery method and the tea itself – so much so that 65 gallons of tea were sampled in just three days,” says Trutna.

Glamming Up the Plane After flying around in a Pulsar airplane with nothing but a primer-coat finish for more than four years, retired World War II Navy aviator Alex Kozloff decided he wanted to make his plane the “belle of the ball.” At 85-years young, Kozloff began researching vinylapplication technologies for airplanes. Having individual graphics scattered along the plane was not an option – Kozloff wanted his Pulsar covered in graphics from nose to tail. Nor did he want his plane hand-painted or airbrushed: “It would have cost me $25,000 to $30,000, and that’s a price I wasn’t going to pay.” After pitching his plane-wrap project to several print shops in the Los Angeles area, Kozloff found Iconography Studios (iconographystudios.net) in Los Alamitos, California. And although he had initially planned for just a singlecolor wrap, it didn’t take much convincing for him to go for

a more glamorous look. Together, Iconography and Kozloff came up with the idea to honor his pet cockatoo with a flashy yellow, black, and gray bird-inspired design. Iconography created the design in Adobe Illustrator, then output the graphics using its Roland SolJet Pro III XC540, onto approximately 600 square feet of 3M Controltac Graphic Film IJ380. To finish the wrap, the shop took to its Royal Sovereign laminator with 3M Scotchcal Gloss Overlaminate 8580. Combined, the printing and finishing took two days. While the printing was relatively easy for Iconography, the installation was far trickier because of the aircraft’s delicate frame. “It took three of our installers three days to wrap the plane. Our installers likened it to wrapping an egg,” says Sarah Naccarato, Iconography president. The wrap added 15 pounds to the weight of the airframe, but luckily didn’t result in any problems, she says.

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vehicle graphics

THE BIG PICTURE may 2011

An Adrenaline Junky’s Dream A speedy racecar is only as cool as its graphics, and whether or not speed is more important than style is a rivalry that may never be settled – especially at the Spring Mountain Motor Resort, located just west of Las Vegas. An automotive playground allowing grownups to experience the childhood dream of being a racecar driver, the resort is home to the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School and the Radical Racing School, and it offers four miles of track and more than 20 configurations sure to please any adrenaline junky. Looking to get a piece of the race action: the Silverton Casino Lodge Hotel in Vegas, which features three promotional cars at the track for its guests to race. The hotel wanted its rare sports car, a Lotus Exige, to not only be faster than its other two cars, but also be sleeker and boast more eye-catching graphics. It contracted with Altitude Color Technologies (altitudecolor.com) to wrap the Exige. Using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, Altitude art director Kellie Kowalski designed the Silverton-promoting wrap. In creating the casino-themed design, Kowalski traced images of dice, speedometers, and playing cards using Illustrator. “The stock photos can get pricey, so any

Cookie Cargo The Girl Scouts of the Arizona Cactus-Pine Council in Phoenix are saying good-bye to their simple door-to-door sales tactic when selling Thin Mints, Savannahs, Trefoils, and other cookies. Instead, they’re spicing up their marketing strategy by adding a stylishly wrapped Ford Transit Connect with which to make their deliveries.

thing she can make herself saves the company on costs,” says Altitude’s Amy Terrile. Because of the Lotus’s uncommon status, Kowalski was tasked with creating a Lotus template from scratch. The design was proofed using a small hard copy onto the media of choice. Then, for final output, the shop produced the graphics in 60-inch horizontal panels using its EFI Vutek UltraVu 2360 onto 150 square feet of 3M Controltac 180C vehicle vinyl. “We install this material to all high-end vehicles because it’s suited for the complex curves,” says Terrile. The graphics were finished with an AGL 64i laminator and 3M Scotchcal Overlaminate 8518. The shop worked quickly to print, laminate, and hand-cut the graphic in a single day. It was the Exige’s detailed curves that provided Altitude with its biggest test, and something that the shop struggled with: “Making sure all of the panels lined up was a challenge. We wanted to ensure the final product looked identical to the proof,” says Terrile. Despite the complications, however, two installers managed to complete the wrap in less than eight hours.

Lifetime Girl Scout and owner of Arizona-based Bell Signs (bellsignsaz.com) Jennifer Burns, offered to create and install a wrap free of charge. Meanwhile, Sanderson Ford in Glendale, Arizona, donated the Transit Connect. The Girl Scouts Cactus-Pine Council provided the shop with cookie and logo images, as well as font specs and PMS Colors. Then, Bell Sign’s designer Scott Hall created the wrap design using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. “We provided the client with a [soft] proof on the monitor along with a sample print on the final material before the full project was printed. The project did not require much color correction,” says Burns. Once the Girl Scouts approved the graphics, output was done using the shop’s Roland Soljet 540 EX Pro II with Inx Triangle MLD mild-solvent inks onto 200 square feet of 3M Controltac 180CV3 vinyl. Printing time (on 50-inch panels): about four hours. The graphics were then laminated using a GBC Titan 165 with 3M 8519 cast laminate, which took approximately 30 minutes. One installer needed 10 hours to complete the job. “Lining up the panels and dealing with the extreme cold weather we had the week of the install were our biggest challenges,” says Burns. The compact van will remain wrapped for four to six months and can carry approximately 1390 boxes of Girl Scouts cookies at a time – clearly far more efficient than the several boxes that an individual Girl Scout can typically cart around. The Arizona Cactus-Pine Council is expecting to sell more than 2.8 million boxes of cookies this season. >41

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UV UPDATE More than 20 companies offering wide-format UV options.

Just a few short years ago, say “UV” to a wide-format print provider and he was much more likely to begin talking about the eﬀect of UV light on his shop’s output than he was utilizing that technology to produce his prints. Although UV inks were being utilized in the commercial sector, they were just entering our market. Today, of course, that’s all changed. In fact, in our most recent Printer Sourcebook, UV printers now account for nearly 95% of all flatbed models. That’s no surprise, given UV and flatbed technologies go hand in hand. But UV also has made headway into the rollfed category, now accounting for more than 20% of all models we had listed in the Sourcebook. Across all types of printers (flatbed, rollfed, and hybrids), UV printers now make up 40% of all current printer models, according to our Sourcebook figures. When it comes to producing wide-format graphics, UV 24

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

oﬀers a range of advantages, including the ability to print on a broad range of substrates/media, few environmental issues, and increased durability of the final output. And, importantly, UV printers are now available in varying price points as well as constructions. In this report, we highlight some of the most recent additions in the wide-format UV marketplace, and we have listed these machines by company. We’ve also strived to list additional UV printers on each company’s roster, when the information was available. Keep in mind that this article was produced prior to ISA 2011, so models introduced at that event are probably not included here (but look for our recap of that show in an upcoming issue and watch for new products in our R&D department each month). Visit the manufacturers’ websites for a complete listing of their UV printers, and for more information.

Agfa Graphics agfa.com The Jeti 3020 Titan flatbed from Agfa is a high-production machine designed and constructed using a modular format so that, as users’ demands increase, the printer’s color and speed capabilities can be extended. The Titan’s entry-level version incorporates 16 Ricoh Gen 4 grayscale printheads resulting in CMYK output at a native resolution of 600 dpi, able to deliver 1200 dpi for photorealistic image quality. The machine has a maximum print area of 124 x 79.5 in. and prints up to 1216 sq ft/hr in High-Speed mode (370 sq ft/hr in quality mode). It can be configured, however, with up to 48 grayscale heads (boosting the maximum print speed to 2432 sq ft/hr in High-Speed mode, 740 in Quality mode); in addition, the standard CMYK configuration can be extended adding light cyan and light magenta for better image rendering; double white; white and clear varnish; or orange and green to extend the color gamut. The Titan can accommodate flexible and rigid materials up to 2-in. thick. Also available is the flatbed/roll-to-roll Anapurna M 2050, a UV-curable machine that combines the white-ink capabilities of the Anapurna Mw with the additional speed of the Anapurna M2. It also adds Agfa’s M-series G2 inks, which are designed for applications on the latest rigid and roll materials that require more flexibility. The 6-color (CMYKcm)+white machine features eight printheads (12-pl; 8192 nozzles) and the ability to output in both uni- and bidirectional modes; it can accommodate graphics up to 79 x 118 in. and 1.77-in. thick. Typical throughput speeds in four-pass bi-directional mode is approximately 258 sq ft/hr, optimized for poster and banner production, Agfa reports. It can achieve a top resolution of 720 x 1440 dpi. White is printed in-line, so pre- or post-white is carried out in the same printing pass. Other features include: flexible-media handling capability; a four-zone vacuum table enabling it to handle a wide range of substrates varying in size and thickness; and registration and anti-static bars. Other Agfa UV machines in the Anapurna line include: the Anapurna M, M4F, Mv, and M2; the Anapurna 2500 LED, and Anapurna M1600. In the Jeti line, additional UV machines include: the Jeti 5048 UV JetSpeed XL RTR, Jeti 3348 UV Galaxy RTR, and Jeti 3348 UV JetSpeed RTR. CET Color cetcolor.com CET Color’s X-Press FK512 is a UV flatbed that offers a 14-pl drop size, CMYKcm + white ink set, and a choice of 6- or 12-head configuration. Max print speed for the 12-head version is 720 sq ft/hr (360 for the 6-head version), while production speed is 360 sq ft/hr (6-head: 180) and 240 sq ft/hr for quality speed (6-head: 120). Top resolution is 720 x 1440 dpi. The FK512 can accommodate media up to 6 x 10 ft and up to 3-in. thick. The integrated vacuum table has

six individual vacuum zones. The FK512 is also available as part of a print-and-cut system, bundled with CET Colors X-Press CNC 480 router. Other CET UV printers are the X-Press HK512 hybrid, the X-Press RK512 roll-to-roll. Durst Image Technology durstus.com The Durst Rho 900 UV printer, based on the company’s 800HS model, adds an automated media handling (autofeed) system and process colors—orange and green, or orange and violet. The 98-in.-wide Rho 900 is equipped with Durst’s Quadro 30D Array printhead technology and offers 600-dpi resolution. Durst reports that the 8-color machine (CMYK+4 ink bays that can be set up as print jobs/apps require) can hit a maximum output of 72 4 x 8-ft boards/ hour with its continuous board printing option; speed for P-O-P-quality printing is 34 4 x 8-foot boards/hour. It can accommodate media up to 1.58-in. thick (2.75 in. in the industrial version) and as small as 12 x 17 in. if need be. The media-handling system incorporates an auto-feed table with belts, sheet feed gate with guides for parallel board printing, and automatic two-point pin registration system to ensure accurate front-to-back registration. The machine’s process-color additions are printed in the same mode as its CMYK process colors; no special file preparation is necessary. Further, these additional colors can be printed—even with white ink or light colors—with no loss in output speed, Durst reports. The Rho 900 also can print white, varnish, and light colors. Other Durst UV models include these flatbeds: Rho 1000, Rho 800 Presto/HS, Rho 750 HS, and Rho 600 Pictor; and these rollfeds: Rho 500R, Rhotex 320, Rho 320R, Rho 351R, and Rho 160R.

Jeti 3020 Titan AGFA EFI efi.com EFI’s 3.2-meter UV roll-to-roll Vutek QS3250r is capable of handling media up to 126.5-inches wide and 0.125-in. thick. An 8-color (CMYKcmyk) machine that is switchwww.bigpicture.net

uv update able to 4-color (“Fast-4”) for optimized production, it offers up to 1080-dpi resolution and a top speed of 1850 sq ft/hr. Suggested applications include P-O-P displays, indoor and outdoor posters and signage, fleet graphics, and high-end wallpapers. The machine features a platen control unit to accommodate printing on low-cost and heat-sensitive materials; a temperature-control unit to eliminate stress on media and ensure smooth travel; a media-alignment scale; a platen vacuum gauge; interior lights for immediate viewing of output; multiple-roll capability (two 60-in. rolls); and more. Options include an automated laser system that allows for precise double-sided printing, as well as a heavy-duty unwinder. The QS3250r has been optimized for EFI’s Fiery XF RIP, which is optional. EFI also features two entry-level production wide-format UV printers with the Rastek badge: the Rastek H652 UV hybrid and the Rastek T1000 UV flatbed. Both printers feature grayscale printheads and are aimed at production print shop environments “where fast service, superior image quality, and printing on the widest range of substrates are the keys to customer satisfaction and increasing profits,” says EFI. The Rastek H652 (CMYK+W) builds on the success of the Rastek H650, adding nearly twice the speed: It can reach speeds of up to 455 sq ft/hr in Express mode (2-pass, 300 dpi) and 255 sq ft/hr in Quality mode (4-pass, 600 dpi); top resolution is 1200 dpi. The H652 can handle rigid and flexible media up to 1.8-in. thick and 64-in. wide.

Rastek H652 EFI

X-Press FK512 CET COLOR

The Rastek T1000 flatbed (CMYK+W) has a three-zone 52 x 98-in. vacuum table and can accommodate media up two-inches thick, including difficult-to-handle substrates that require superior hold-down. It boasts speeds up to 460 sq ft/hr in Express mode (2-pass, 600 x 300 dpi) and 317 sq ft/hr in Quality mode (4-pass, 600 dpi); top resolution is 1200 dpi. Other EFI UV machines include the Vutek GS series (GS5000r, GS3200, and GS2000); the rest of the Vutek QS series (Vutek QS3220, QS2000, and QS220); and the Rastek H650 and Rastek T660 printers. Flora Digital Printing floradigital.com The PP2512UV is a 4 x 8-ft UV flatbed that features Konica Minolta printheads, and offers resolutions up to 1440 dpi and a top speed of 409 sq ft/hr in Standard mode (269 sq ft/hr in Quality mode). It can accommodate materials up to 3.9-in. thick, including corrugated, foam core, gatorboards, sintra (PVC), ceramic tiles, glass, plexiglass, wood, sheet metal, paper, adhesive vinyl, fabrics, and more. An SAi PhotoPrint RIP (Flora edition) is standard. Also available are the F1 180UV Turbo, the F1 180UV-4K, the F1 250UV, the F1 320 UV, and the PP1816UV. Fujifilm North America fujifilmgs.com Fujifilm’s Acuity Advance HS-X2 UV flatbed builds upon the company’s Advance X2 but dramatically increases output speeds. The printer features variable-dot grayscale printheads and a new Express mode, capable of reaching speeds up to 709 sq ft/hr. The HS X2 can hit 462 sq ft/hr in Produc-

Wide-format. :Anapurna M4f UV

:Anapurna Mv UV

:Anapurna Mw UV

:Anapurna M2 UV

:Anapurna M2050 UV

:Jeti 3312 Solvent

A system to fit all your business needs — POP, Signage, Display Graphics, Vehicle Wraps & More

:Jeti 3324 Solvent

:Jeti 5024 Solvent

:Jeti 3348 HHS

tion mode, 325 sq ft/hr in Quality mode, and 258 sq ft/hr in Fine Art mode (all speeds are in flatbed mode, without optional rollfed or white-ink modules). Other HS-X2 features include: a print area of 98 x 120 in. (can print on dual 4 x 8-ft boards); ability to handle substrates up to 1.89-in. thick; CMYK standard (2-liter ink bags); choice of two Fujifilm Uvijet inksets; a dual zoning system with independent vacuum control; and choice of ColorGate Production Server (Fujifilm edition) or Onyx ProductionHouse RIP. A roll media kit is optional for flexible materials as is white ink (both can be added in the field). Also available is the Acuity Advance HS, the Acuity Advance with a white option, and the Acuity HD 2504. Fujifilm is also the US distributor of the Inca Onset and Inca Spyder series of UV printers (see listing for Inca Digital Printers).

Acuity Advance HS-X2 FUJIFILM Gandy Digital gandydigital.com Gandy Digitalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pred8tor is a UV flatbed with a roll-to-roll option. The 5-color (CMYK+W) printer offers resolutions up to 1200 dpi (apparent) and a top speed of 1920 sq ft/hr in Production mode (400 sq ft/hr in Extra Fine mode). Maximum print size is 48 x 96 in. (rigid), and the Pred8tor can accommodate media up to 2-in. thick. The machineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s touchand-drag GUI runs on the WiFi-enabled Apple iPad, which comes loaded with video tutorials and a live diagnostic system; also available on the GUI is a materials-inventorycontrol ordering system. A print extension table is optional.

Pred8tor GANDY DIGITAL GCC America gccworld.com The StellarJet K72UV from GCC is a hybrid flatbed/rollto-roll UV inkjet. Supporting rigid and flexible substrates up to 72-in. wide and rigid materials up to 2-in. thick, the K72UV is available with four standard colors (CMYK) and four additional colors as an option (light cyan, light magenta, white, and varnish). It prints at a standard resolution of 720 dpi, but can achieve 1440 dpi with the addition of light cyan and light magenta inks, the company reports. The production speed on the device is 162 sq ft/hr. An Auto Media Calibration system uses a pin to automatically detect and gauge the distance between the printheads and the substrate, then automatically adjusts the printhead to the ideal height. Also available in the StellarJet series: the K100UV and the 250UV with dedicated white ink. Hewlett-Packard hp.com The HP Scitex FB500 is a UV flatbed with a 64-in. print width, CMYKcm inks, and optional white-ink capabilities. Top resolution on the FB500 is 1200 x 600 dpi; it can hit speeds up to 398 sq ft/hr in Express mode; 319 sq ft/hr in Outdoor Signage mode; 177 sq ft/hr in Indoor Signage mode; Outdoor Signage Plus mode with white ink speed is 85 sq ft/hr. It can accommodate media up to 2.5-in. thick. The FB500 also allows for remote monitoring via an HP embedded Web server and onboard camera. The HP Scitex TJ8600 is designed for the high-volume sign and display market. Its HP TJ210 Scitex inks

Wider choice. :Jeti 1224 HDC UV

:Jeti 1224 HDC FTR

:Jeti 3020 Titan UV

:Jeti 3348 Galaxy UV :Jeti 3348 Jetspeed UV

:Jeti 5048 UV

:Jeti 3324 AquaJet

:M-Press

:Dotrix

www.agfa.com/graphics | Agfa Graphics 100 Challenger Road, Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660 | 800.540.2432 x4848

uv update Infiniti America infiniti-dt.com The FinaUV 160+ is a 62-in. UV flatbed available with CMYKcm and CMYK+W inksets. It boasts a top resolution of 1440 dpi and speeds up to 259 sq ft/hr (4-pass, 720 dpi). It can accommodate media up to 1-in. thick. An Infiniti RIP is standard; optional Wasatch RIP.

Scitex FB500 HEWLETT-PACKARD (CMYKcm) boast high elongation, improved flexibility, and reduced odor (compared to HP TJ200 Scitex Inks), HP reports, hence supports an extended range of applications, including fleet graphics and P-O-P apps. The printer can accommodate rollfed and sheet media up to 65-in. wide and 0.5-mm thick, and offers a resolution up to 600 dpi apparent; the user can choose from a range of full and selective gloss print modes. Top speed is 5166 sq ft/hr. A doublesided print option is available. Other UV printers in the HP line include the Scitex FB700, FB7500, XP2300, XP2700/XP2750, XP5100, XP5300, and XP TJ8350. Inca Digital Printers incadigital.com Inca Digital Printers launched its Inca Onset S40 as this issue was readied for press. Positioned between the company’s flagship Inca Onset and the Onset S20, the new Onset S40 prints at up to 5059 sq ft/hr, offers a 63 x 123-in. print area, and can accommodate media up to 2-in. thick. The printer is 4-color standard with optional light cyan and light magenta (Fujifilm UVijet OB inks); users can choose among uni-directional, bi-directional, and super-high-quality print modes. Additional features include variable levels of gloss, user printhead replacement, and automatic print setup controls. In addition, the Onset S40 is compatible with Inca’s flexible automation system, offering users the choice to operate in manual, semi, or three-quarter automation from the same configuration, as well as Inca’s Print Run Controller (PRC) software module. Inca’s Spyder V high-speed printer, based on the company’s original Spyder series of flatbed inkjet printers, prints at 1001 sq ft/hr in production mode and has a top speed of 1399 sq ft/hr. Substrates as thick as 1.18 in. with dimensions up to 126 x 63 in. can be printed on the device. The printer is offered with a standard CMYK inkset, but a 6-color version is available with the option of using Fujifilm Sericol’s Uvijet Ultratone color system. Fujifilm (fujifilmgs.com) is the exclusive US distributor of Inca printers.

THE BIG PICTURE may 2011

Inx International inxinternational.com The MD1000 UV flatbed printer is designed for short-run production of decorative tins, containers (plastic, corrugate, and carton), and more. The MD1000 offers: CMYK+W inks; 1200 x 900 resolution; a production speed of 220 sq ft/hr (150 sq ft/hr in Quality mode); and a maximum media thickness of 2 in. Also available the CP100 UV digital can printer. A part of integrated systems technology platforms developed by Inx Digital to provide customer-driven solutions for inkjet printing, production workflows, and material handling, the CP100 is designed for short-run cylindrical printing and packaging work. The 4-color machine is capable of printing seven drop sizes (6 to 42 pl) and offers up to 720-dpi resolution; top print speed is 18 sq ft/min (loading/unloading speed is dependent upon customer requirements).

Express-Jet Graphic LAWSON

Lawson Screen & Digital lawsonsp.com Lawson’s Express-Jet/ASI is an industrial direct-to-substrate printer that uses UV LED curing and is engineered to handle ad-specialty applications. It offers 5 colors (CMYK+W) and resolutions up to 1200 dpi. Maximum print size is 18 x 18 in., although the XL Print Option allows for 20 x 30 in. Options include dual LED UV lamps, a vacuum table, and more. The company’s Express-Jet Graphic model has a maximum imaging area of 52 x 72 in. Matan Digital Printers matanprinters.com The 5-m (126-in.) UV-curable Barak5 is a roll-to-roll printer with a flatbed option. It can image up to three rolls of 63-in.

media simultaneously, and print onto coated and uncoated media as thick as 1 in. Offering 2-yr durability, the Barak5 is compatible with roll and rigid media including flexface, mesh, blueback paper, backlit, self-adhesive vinyl, Tyvek, foam PVC, acrylic, aluminum, and foamboard. Users can choose from a range of speeds and qualities, including Express speed and Supreme quality. The Barak5 features a top speed of 1830 sq ft/hr. Its 30-pl Ricoh E3 printheads offer true 600 dpi and apparent 1200-dpi resolutions. The Barak UV 300 pigmented inks are high-density and flexible with large color gamut. The company reports that the inks will provide coverage of up to 1940 sq ft/liter on average. The Barak5 is armed with a Caldera RIP, which processes while printing to speed the workflow. The RIP has tiling and nesting features. Matan also offers the 3-m Barak 3. Mimaki USA mimakiusa.com Mimaki USA’s JFX plus series of LED UV-cure printers includes the JFX-1631 plus and JFX-1615 plus. The machines feature a post-cure unit, and as a result, reports Mimaki, now offer a top speed of 254 sq ft/min (at 600 dpi), an 80% increase over the previous 1615/1631 models. Both machines feature a top resolution of 1200 dpi. The 1631 plus can handle media up to 65 x 126 in., while the 1615 plus can handle media up to 65 x 63 in.; they accommodate media up to 1.97-in. thick. Two inksets are available: Rigid (CMYK+W+Clear) and Flexible (CMYK+W). A roll unit is optional for continuous roll-media feeding. Other Mimaki UV machines include the UJV-160 series and the UJF-3042 and UJF-706 printers. Neolt Digital Printers neoltdigital.com Neolt offers the AsterJet 1650, a 65-inch UV printer. The 4-color rollfed AsterJet utilizes binary Xaar Proton printheads and Inx Digital UV-curable inks (1.5-liter integrated reservoirs with “on the fly” replenishment). It features a top resolution of 720 x 1440 dpi, and can hit speeds of up to

JFX-1631 plus MIMAKI

Onset S40 INCA DIGITAL 560 sq ft/hr at 360 dpi in one-pass mode (108 sq ft/hr at 720 x 1440 dpi in 8-pass mode). Neolt reports that the AsterJet can handle a wide range of media, both coated and uncoated, including banner, paper, mesh, cardboard, adhesive vinyls, films, polyester fabrics, and more. Maximum media thickness is 0.275-in. Onyx RIP Aster edition comes standard. Also available is the X-Jet, equipped with Xaar 1001 variable-drop printheads, for both rollfed and rigid media. Océ North America oceusa.com The Océ Arizona 550 XT UV flatbed features an extra-large flatbed table for oversized rigid media or objects. Designed as a true flatbed system, the 4-color (CMYK) Arizona 550 XT features UV-curable inks (2-liter bags) and the ability to print on a wide variety of oversized rigid substrates up to 98.4 x 120 in. and 2-in. thick; it also offers a flexible-media printing option for roll media up to 86.6-in. wide. In Production print mode, it can hit speeds up to 462 sq ft/hr on rigid media; an Express mode features speeds of up to 709 sq ft/hr. Its Océ VariaDot imaging technology enables it to produce ink droplets of variable size, resulting in image sharpness comparable to 1440 dpi or higher, Océ reports. The extra width of the Océ Arizona 550 XT printer enables it to be used in a continuous imaging mode for rigid media up to 49.2 x 98.4 in., or a standard 4 x 8-ft board. Two rigid boards of this size can be mounted on separate vacuum areas of the flatbed table (while one board is being printed, the operator can change the other). Beyond the roll-media option, users can add a white-ink option (at factory, or later), as well as an Onyx ProductionHouse RIP. The Océ Arizona 550 GT flatbed is aimed at the P-O-P application market, and uses UV-curable inks (CMYK) and the same Océ VariaDot imaging technology. It can print on a variety of rigid substrates up to 49.2 x 98.4 in. in area and up to 2-in. thick; it also offers a roll-media option, for printing onto flexible media up to 86.6-in. wide. Top Production-mode speed, reports Océ, is 433 sq ft/hr, >45 www.bigpicture.net

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4/11/11 11:49 AM

By Mike Antoniak

PROTOTYPES AND PACKAGING

Bringing wide-format options to the short-run experience. In the world of consumer goods, packaging is often the last key ingredient in an ambitious marketing plan. It’s where the consumer meets the product and makes the splitsecond decision to buy or move on. No surprise, then, that prototyping is a critical step in the product-development cycle. Only by seeing and holding a sample or mockup of a design concept in hand, can companies decide if packaging adequately promotes its appeal or value while also protecting that product. In the pre-digital printing days, manually building that prototype was a labor-intensive process. With digital printing’s ability to print directly to a substrate that can then be assembled into that singular sample, however, the process has been streamlined. Today, product marketers enjoy more creative freedom to refine their ideas, quickly see results, and develop that perfect package. Here, we take a look at five companies who are utilizing wide-format technologies to deliver new capabilities in short-run specialty packaging. 32

THE BIG PICTURE may 2011

Phase 1 Prototypes: A new dimension “Packaging prototypes have evolved because our own capabilities have evolved,” says Bill Ramirez, president of Phase 1 Prototypes (phase1prototypes.net) in Leadon, Texas. His company specializes in mockups: everything from one-of-a-kind prototypes to test a design concept, to several thousand pieces required by consumer-goods companies as sales samples. Clients range from small companies to major national brands like Frito Lay, Ghirardelli Chocolates, and Welch’s; its prototypes encompass the full range of packaged goods found in the typical discount or grocery store. “We used to print film for each color in a prototype and then manually combine those colors and assemble a prototype in a real labor-intensive process,” says Ramirez. “With digital printing, we’ve taken something that would have taken three or four hours to put together and reduced that to 10 or 15 minutes.” Phase 1’s digital prototyping services are delivered via three Mimaki JV33 54-inch printers. He finds the versatil-

ity of the units, and their ability to print in six colors, plus white and silver, enables him to match the color-palette requirements of any project. “And, we can provide our customers with something that looks just like the actual packaging, so they know what their product will look like when it hits store shelves.” The prototypes are produced with media from C2Comp. “When you combine the choice in media with the white and silver ink capabilities of the Mimaki printers, we’ve got the full gamut of colors we need, with all types of capabilities we just didn’t have before,” he says. “With white and silver inks, the sky is really the limit. For example, with a poly bag, we can print white and a color or put white on a color so the graphic really shows up on translucent film.” As much as the digital printers have enhanced his prototype services, they’ve also added a new dimension to his business. “What’s really interesting is how the quantities we produce have gone through the roof,” Ramirez reports. “We used to do one or two prototypes at a time, or occasionally 10. Now it’s nothing to take on a run of 300 sales samples.” As Phase 1’s business continues to grow, it will look to add more equipment. Ramirez says it’s already in the plans to add two more JV33 machines.

CSW: A world of rich media “CSW is a one-stop-shop for the packaging industry,” says Marek Skrzynski, director of graphics, R&D, CSW, Inc. (cswgraphics.com), headquartered in Ludlow, Massachusetts. “We’re a brand solutions provider. We provide our customers with everything from design to visualization to

the printing tools they need to produce their packaging.” Prototyping, delivered through CSW’s Bridge Premedia division, is integral to this full-service approach, especially as more of the actual production of packaging has shifted overseas. “Prototyping in packaging is more critical than in any other printing segment,” says Skrzynski. “Looking at a flat may work for publications, but packaging is something that has to be folded and assembled – there’s color and image and a structure to that.” Digital printing direct to substrates that can be scored and folded, or affixed to other materials, provides an economical answer for accurate rendering of a finished package, he says. “Flat proofing just doesn’t cut it any more. Today’s decision makers and buyers have grown up in a world of rich media. They want and expect to see exactly what they are going to get.” To meet those demands, CSW has become something of a systems integrator, building a digital prototyping solution from technology from several suppliers. Print systems include Roland’s 30-inch VersaUV LEC-330 UV printer/cutter; the Epson 44-inch Stylus Pro 9800 8-color printer; and several HP inkjets. The company also utilizes a GMG Color RIP to help maintain color accuracy, EskoArtwork graphics software, and a Kongsberg cutting table. The company’s embrace of digital print technology reaches back to 1999, when it began providing clients with color-accurate inkjet contract proofs. As the capabilities of digital proofing improved, costs fell, media choices expanded, and digital services evolved into providing accurate representation of packaging.

Far left: By utilizing digital wide-format, Phase 1 Prototypes has been able to push the envelope for its packaging work: “The quantities we produce have gone through the roof – we used to do one or two prototypes at a time, or occasionally 10. Now, it’s nothing to take on a run of 300 sales samples,” says Phase 1 president Bill Ramirez. Left: Says CSW’s Marek Skrzynski, “Nothing beats a physical three-dimensional object when it comes to testing, evaluation, and confirming that everything about a package design works.” www.bigpicture.net

packaging These help clients decide when refinements are required. “Some design elements are hard to visualize until you see them as they’ll actually appear,” Skrzynski notes. “When you show a picture and say something will be embossed, or with a metallic finish, it’s just not as effective or accurate as a prototype you can actually hold in your hand. Nothing beats a physical three-dimensional object when it comes to testing, evaluation, and confirming that everything about a packaging design works.” CSW’s most recent purchase, the Roland VersaUV LEC-330, has allowed the company to expand the range of prototyping services. “Its ability to print on any substrate, including metallic substrates, in very short runs, gives our customers a lot more options.” The response to its digital prototyping capabilities has been “pretty impressive” so far, says Skrzynski. For all that the digital lineup allows CSW to do now, the company remains on the hunt for technology to provide client companies with even more options in prototyping. “If we have a wish list, the next thing on it is printing with metallic inks, and printing on 3D objects like bottles and cans,” Skrzynski confides. “With that, there wouldn’t be much we can’t do.”

Cre8’s addition of an Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 with white ink to its printer arsenal in 2010 has strengthened its ability to create graphics for clear flexible films, says manager Marc Edlein. 34

THE BIG PICTURE may 2011

Cre8 Strategic Package Design: Beginning the sales dialog As the design group for the two Protective Business Food Packaging business units of food-packaging supplier Sealed Air, Cre8 Strategic Package Design (cryovac.com) produces samples that the company’s sales reps rely on to assist customers in the development and refinement of their packaging. “Sealed Air engineers, develops, and manufactures high-performance, durable packaging materials for food,” explains Marc Edlein, manager of Cre8, based in Duncan, South Carolina. “When you visit a grocery store and see all the refrigerated foods, that’s the type of packaging we provide. Our customers are the processors who package and ship those items.” Their products encompass a broad range of beef, pork, lamb, poultry, cheese, and specialtyfood items. Since consumers expect to see what they are buying, most of that packaging usually features some share of clear film. Before full production of new packaging can take place, though, processors want assurance it will effectively promote their products on store shelves while also offering protection during shipping. “As they consider new packaging formats for these products, they need to address how their products will be labeled, and how the brand will be presented to consumers,” notes Edlein. “We work with our sales and marketing teams to create virtual or physical mockup packing for them to consider.” The typical job requires one to five prototypes. In the past, building those physical mockups could be a timely and expensive process, as Cre8 outsourced printing of the graphics then built a prototype. Last May, however, Cre8 brought in-house an Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 with white ink, the latter feature being particularly critical. “When you design graphics for clear flexible films, you want a strong white backup to block the color of the food and provide contrast,” says Edlein. And, he adds, since the WT7900 uses aqueous inks, prototypes aren’t tainted with the residual smell of solvent-basked inks, something no customer wants associated with food packaging, even in a mockup. All printing at Cre8 is done with Epson inks, onto coated Epson media. For paper mockups, printing is done direct to the substrate used to construct the sample; for prototypes requiring clear film, the graphics are printed on substrates with adhesive backings or on film or paper, which are then taped or secured to the film with spray adhesives. “Previously, we did a lot of work with virtual mockups and renderings of labels,” notes Edlein. “That can work, but there’s something about being able to show customers samples of their packaging, and what it will actually look and feel like with actual graphics – which can really help get the sales dialog going.”

“We can take a company that never thought about putting its product in a metal container and give them a beautifully decorated tin … it’s a cost-effective alternative,” says Michael Matus with J.L. Clark.

J.L. Clark: Taking the initiative to seed demand For most suppliers of prototype and mockup services, projects begin with a customer who wants a look at the impact of new packaging before deciding it warrants a full production run. J.L. Clark (jlclark.com) in Rockford, Illinois, taps the capabilities of its Inx Digital MD660 UV flatbed press to take the initiative, and introduce new packaging concepts to customers and prospects as a way of seeding demand for its offset lithography printing services. “We try to look at their current packaging and show them what they can do, including some things they may not have thought of before,” says Michael Matus, vice president for sales and marketing. J.L. Clark produces custom metal and plastic containers and packaging for major national brands across the board in the food, confectionary, and personal-care industries. Two years ago, it added the Inx system in a strategic move to tap the advantages of digital printing direct-to-metal sheets for itself and its customers. The system can print directly to aluminum, metal, and plastic sheets which are then cut, scored, and assembled into colorful tins and containers. “Because we do offset lithography, there wasn’t an economical way for us to produce short runs or limited quantities before,” notes Matus. “Now, there are no plates, no blankets – we can print whatever we want, in whatever quantity we need, right away.” The company has actually built a successful program around these capabilities, something Matus refers to as “Innovation Days.” At these events, held throughout the year, decision makers and existing clients or prospects are invited to J.L. Clark headquarters. At these meetings, they’re presented a range of one-of-a-kind containers and trays printed on the MD660 and assembled as finished products. These prototypes feature brand artwork in samples developed by the company’s graphics department. “Sometimes they have no idea what’s coming, and we’re able to show them packaging designs and concepts they may not have thought of before,” reports Matus. “It’s been a very successful program for attracting new business.”

As clients learn of these digital capabilities, they’re tapping the digital services to test their packaging ideas, and producing specialty packaging in quantities once considered impractical because of setup costs. “We can take a company that never thought about putting its product in a metal container and give them a beautifully decorated tin,” he says. “It’s a cost-effective alternative to conventional lithography for test marketing commemorative or collectible packaging. They can even vary the packaging from market to market, and produce several short runs.” In fact, Matus believes that variable-printing capabilities – such as found on the MD660 – hold strong potential. “One thing no one seems to have capitalized on yet is the ability to literally customize each tin with a photograph or text,” he says. “When you can offer the power of personalization to consumers, I think there’s going to be some real benefits there for our customers.”

Digital Impact: A virtually unlimited range When Digital Impact (digitalimpac.com) in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, installed its HP Scitex CorJet digital press (now badged as the HP Scitex FB6700), the primary intent was to use the printer for quick turnaround of prototype packaging and P-O-P displays for clients of parent company VT Graphics. Although VT Graphics’ primary focus is prepress services and production of plates for corrugated packaging and flexographic printing sectors, it launched >47

Now, says Digital Impact’s Robert Mormile, “Our range is virtually unlimited – we can provide [customers] with anything from a single small, folded carton to a large assembled display, loaded with packaging.” www.bigpicture.net

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SID Signsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Phaser XES Printer The Phaser XES series of 6-color (CMYKcm) rollfed printers from SID Signs is available in 98- (XES 250) and 126-in. (XES 320) widths. Featuring Seiko micro piezo printheads (510 nozzles) and capable of utilizing either solvent or eco-solvent inks (bulk-ink supply system, 1 liter per color), the Phaser XES boasts resolutions up to 720 dpi. Top print speeds are 527 sq ft/hr for the XES 320 and 474 sq ft/hr for the XES 250 (250 x 540 dpi, 3 passes); at 720 dpi, top speeds are 151 sq ft/hr and 140 sq ft/hr (XES 320 and XES 250, respectively). Both Phaser XES models feature a PhotoPrint DX RIP. Price: $32,500 for the XES 250; $34,900 for the XES 320. Paradigm Imaging Group (scantopia.com) is the exclusive distributor for SID Signs. SID SIGNS sidsigns.com

New Orajet 3105HT Film from Oracal Oracal USA has introduced Orajet Series 3105HT HighTack cast PVC digital media, which is designed for hardto-stick, flat substrates such as low-energy plastics (polyethylene, polypropylene), and rough or textured surfaces. The high-performance, 4-mil 3105HT is compatible with solvent and eco-solvent inkjet printers. Available in white with a gloss finish; 54-in. widths only x 50-yard length. ORACAL USA oracal.com

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

FDC Debuts 4300 Series Vinyl FDC Graphic Films has announced its new 4300 Series, a matte-finish, self-adhesive calendered vinyl film for the display, décor, and craft markets. Available in 25 colors (including metallic gold and silver), the film features a removable adhesive, for temporary usage. The low-glare finish allows for use in a wide range of lighting conditions; the film is compatible with most brands of vinyl cutters, FDC reports. Available in 15 roll sizes and in 12 x 24-in. sheets. The 4300 Series film is produced for FDC by Aslan Schwarz in Europe. FDC GRAPHIC FILMS fdcfilms.com

Pregis Introduces Slimmer Falconboard Pregis Hexacomb has introduced a slimmer version of its Falconboard Print graphic display boards. The new 3/16-in.-thick board uses 25% less material than previous versions. Falconboard Print features a 100% paper construction comprising both post- and pre-consumer recycled fibers, and is designed for digital and screen printing applications – especially bracket-based aisle and shelf retail display signage that typically require thinner profiles. The substrate is also aimed at higher volume, wide-format applications requiring a rigid substrate and flat surface–target applications, include P-O-P displays, interior signage, exhibits, kiosks, framing, mounting, specialty print market, painting, and more. The substrate is produced chlorofluorocarbon-free, and emits zero VOCs during manufacturing, the company reports; it is SFI-certified. Available in standard sheet sizes of 48 x 96, 48 x 120, 60 x 96, and 60 x 120 in. Custom sizes are available upon request. PREGIS HEXACOMB hexacomb.com

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New Océ Specialty Vinyls for Display Graphics Océ has made available several new specialty vinyls for display graphics. Designed for indoor and outdoor signs, banners, posters, and other graphics, the new media can be used in various solvent inkjet printers as well as UV-curable printers, the company reports. The media include: Frontlit Scrim Vinyl (SCRMGO10, SCRMMO10): A 10-oz material engineered with blockout layer it’s designed to oﬀer superior dot control. Available in glossy and matte finishes. Widths from 38 to 84 in. Laminated Scrim Vinyl (SCRMGO13, SCRMMO13): 13-oz material with blockout layer, for use in solvent, eco-solvent, and UVcurable inkjet printers. For general-purpose banners when high tear resistance is required. Available in glossy and matte finishes. Widths from 38 to 126 in. Calendared Vinyl (PSOCVPAG, PSOCVPAM): 4-mil vinyl oﬀers a broad color gamut and a permanent solvent acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive. For short-term or longterm indoor or outdoor graphics. Available in glossy and matte fi nishes, and in 48- and 54-in. widths. The company has also launched a new Adhesive-backed Bond for its ColorWave 600 printer. The 24-lb, bright white media includes an acrylic adhesive on the reverse that is repositionable and will mount to various surfaces. Designed for posters, indoor signage, and P-O-P displays, it’s available in 24- and 36-in. widths. OCE NORTH AMERICA océusa.com

Ink2Image’s Refillable Cartridges for Epson Ink2Image has debuted refi llable cartridge kits and inks for the Epson Stylus Pro 3880 and 3800 printers. The kits include cartridges with bridge chips, a manual chip resetter, all necessary fi lling accessories, and nine 8-oz bottles of Ink2Image’s Cave Paint Photochrome V3 or V4 inks, color matched to Epson’s Ultrachrome K3 and K3 Vivid inks. Price: $575 per cartridge kit; inks are also available separately. INK2IMAGE ink2image.com

Photo Chrome Luster Added to Fineline Papers Fineline Papers has added Photo Chrome Luster paper, a 10.5-ml (270 gsm) luster high-gloss pearlescent photo paper with minimal optical brighteners. Photo Chrome is designed for high-quality fine-art and photographic reproduction print applications with inkjet technology. Rolls in 17-, 24-, and 44-in. widths; cut-sheet sizes include: 8.5 x 11, 11 x 17, 13 x 19, and 17 x 22 in. FINELINE PAPERS finelinepapers.com

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

Aslan New Carpet Media Aslan Schwarz has introduced Aslan DFP 49, an opaque, white, glossy digital-printing film with pressure adhesive designed for temporary use on short-pile carpets. The 4.5-mil, removable PVC film is printable with solvent, eco-solvent, latex, and UV inks. It must be used in combination with Aslan MP 326 laminate, the company reports. ASLAN SCHWARZ aslan-schwarz.com

Enfocus Updates PitStop Pro 10 Enfocus has announced update 1 of its PitStop Pro 10, the plug-in for Adobe Acrobat X Standard or Pro. It offers compatibility with the latest Acrobat X Standard and Pro, and is now designed to work with Acrobat X’s new menu structure. It remains compatible with the previous Acrobat 8.1 (or higher) and 9.x Standard or Pro versions, on Mac OS X and Windows platforms. Enfocus also has added support for the latest PDF/X-4:2010 standard (which has been finalized and replaces PDF/X-4:2008) as well as PDF/A, the file format for long-term archiving of electronic documents. PitStop Pro with update 1 enables users to check against these ISO PDF/A specifications, including a large number of corrections, the company reports. Other features include improved controls, the ability to import users’ own color libraries, easier-to-use Action Lists, and the ability to run Global Changes, applying changes across all the pages in a document. Price: $699 for PitStop Pro 10 update; the update is free of charge for existing PitStop Pro 10 users.

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Workgroups 2011 Software Suite from MetaCommunications

Nazdar’s new Lyson TX650 series ink is a digital water-based dye-sublimation ink for transfer applications. Designed to deliver vibrant colors and durability, TX650 series ink can be used for a variety of transfer applications including sportswear garments, soft signage, and home textiles. The ink is formulated for use on an array of wideformat digital printers incorporating Epson DX4 and DX5 printheads, Nazdar reports, including, but not limited to, printers from Roland, Mimaki, and Mutoh. Available in cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light cyan, and light magenta; in 1-liter bottles compatible with most bulk-feed systems.

MetaCommunications has released Workgroups 2011, the latest edition of its project workflow and productivity management suite. The new software includes includes more than 100 new and enhanced features including major new additions to its project management, production automation and developer capabilities. Workgroups 2011 comprises four core modules, including: • Virtual Ticket: a configurable project and workflow solution that brings together all the components of a user’s work to a centralized location, including project briefs, job tickets, schedules, customer information, associated document fi les, and more. • Approval Manager: an approval management workflow tool for managing, tracking, and scheduling any proof review process within and across marketing, advertising, creative design, and production environments. • Digital Storage Manager: a storage-management solution designed to integrate a workgroup’s file management into the overall creative design and production workflow. The solution associates files with projects, archives and retrieves files, and enables users to quickly find digital files for creative design or production processes. • Job Manager: a suite of financial-management tools that enable users to accurately create estimates and quotes, monitor job costs, quickly generate on-demand reporting and invoices, and share information with accounting systems. Price: $3995.

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Nazdar Lyson TX650 Sublimation Inks

Sunset Stretcher Kits from LexJet LexJet’s new Sunset Stretcher Kits are designed to simplify canvas gallery wraps, allowing imaging companies to produce high-quality inkjet canvas gallery wraps in-house. The Sunset Pro Stretcher Kit comes with four stretcher bars measuring 1.5-in. deep x 1.25-in. wide, while the Sunset HD Pro Stretcher Kit stretcher bars are 1.75-in. deep x 1.25-in. wide. Each kit includes corner braces, industrial-strength corner clips, and hanging wire; with two strips of adhesive on the sides and back, only a minimum amount of staples are needed to make a canvas wrap, reports LexJet. The Sunset Stretcher Kits are available in a variety of sizes, including custom sizes up to 90 in. (in 10-in. increments). The kits work with any inkjet-printable canvas. LEXJET lexjet.com

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

vehicle graphics

<23 Linens in Paradise Maui Linen Supply, an upscale provider of services to highend resorts and hotels, knew it was time to upgrade its hand-painted and straight-cut vinyl-wrapped box trucks to be more in tune with its current image. So it turned to Kahului, Hawaii-based Island Sign (islandsign.com) for a makeover. Known on the island for its six-plus years of experience in wide-format digital printing – and its even longer track record of screenprinting and graphic-design services – Island Sign was a natural choice for the job. The company’s owner, Doug Allan, along with production and design assistant Matt Mayotte, worked closely with Maui Linens in recreating the company’s logo and brand “look.” “They had some flat-cut vinyl on a truck and had painted a truck in a rust-copper color and were interested in keeping that color but having it printed,” explains Allan. “So I showed them the beveled effects I could put on their lettering and logo, and added a subtle drop shadow. I also proposed the idea of an understated phone number, because I felt like their clients are high-end resorts and they’re not going to be getting business in traffic. So I put it in deep burgundy and once they saw it, they liked what they saw.” Using Photoshop and Illustrator, Allan created digitalready files and prepared them for output to the shop’s Mimaki JV3 printer with SAi FlexiSign Pro RIP and standard SS-2 Mimaki inks. He first printed a small proof

of the truck design onto the final media – 3M Controltac IJ180C opaque film– then laminated it with glossy Oracal Oraguard 290 Premium Cast PVC film using his shop’s GBC Arctic Titan 165 laminator. “Instead of just showing him a digital image, I brought him a sign, stuck it down on a piece of PVC and said, ‘This is how it’s going to look. This is laminated with the same laminates, so if there’s something you don’t like about this image, now is the time to let me know,” Allan says. “That way, we could make sure he knew what he was going to get.” Once the client approved the design, Allan produced actual-size images for the box and, along with another member of his team, prepared for the installation. “On one side of the truck, there was a door with a lot of damage to it, including rust, corrosion, and insulation swelling,” he says. “Some Bondo putty and sanding was required, and then painting, so it would become a nice vinyl-receptive finish. I also had a local paint store colormatch the background color I was printing and put it in a spray can, so we matched-off some of the more bulky steel hinges, latches, and door-handle mechanisms and were able to paint them with a custom-mixed can of spray.” In all, Island Sign produced the graphics for two identical 20-foot box trucks as well as three vans for the client. Britney Grimmelsman is associate editor of The Big Picture. www.bigpicture.net

inside output <12 to squirt onto vinyl; the other ran colored thermal ribbons and was geared toward vehicle wraps. Blazing speed and no need for lamination were the hooks (probably because you couldn’t laminate the prints). These two technologies ended up not being the NBT some folks had projected, so I was glad I passed here. I don’t want to oﬀend the manufacturers (or embarrass myself) by telling you about the stupidest pieces of equipment I ever bought. I will tell you that I have some very expensive and very heavy pieces of equipment that now do an excellent job of gathering the desert dust and holding down the floor in our warehouse. Meanwhile, some lessexpensive missteps came from my quest to have the best color reproduction in the industry. These eﬀorts included buying the ink and configuring a printer and RIP to print in true 12 colors. Two other “color faux pas” on my part included spending time and money on a CMYKOG setup, and messing with spot colors we never used.

The next NBTs Sometimes all it takes for an existing technology to become the NBT is to make a technological leap. For instance, consider solvent inkjet, which many consider passé. Then someone comes out with a solvent printer you can run in your bedroom without ventilation and has print quality good enough to print a postage stamp. If you are a gicleé printer, this is the NBT for you. Here’s my take on four possible NBT categories:

could print 15-feet wide without a seam. Speaking of seams, when will we get sonic tools to both cut and weld seams in polyester fabrics without sewing? • 3-D: A bit oﬀ the fabric thread, but dye-sublimation to three-dimensional solid objects has been on my radar screen since the 1990s. I was recently informed that 3-D dye-sub is picking up steam around the marketplace. Speaking of three-dimensional printing, two technologies come to mind: The first is water-transfer printing – in which you float a printed fi lm on the surface of a tank of water and lift an object like a rifle or a helmet through it to cover it with a permanent print. This fi lm is made with traditional printing methods. If someone could figure out how to print water-transfer fi lm digitally, it would make quite a few people millionaires, especially if they could also register the print to the 3D object. That would definitely be the NBT. • Ink: We are closing in on the end of the decade of UV ink’s rise to the top. Will it continue to reign supreme with incremental improvements? It would be nice to have elastic inks that stick like glue to everything, and are cured with cool LED lights. That’s not asking too much, is it? Will 2011 begin the decade of super inks for ordinary printheads? People are getting excited again about bio-solvent inks after a false start a few years ago. What about water-based ecoresin inks that allow ordinary print technology to image almost any surface without UV curing? That would be a “game changer” and qualify as the NBT. Of course, latex

“If you’re going to invest a lot of money in new technology, get on a plane and go visit your potential machine. A tradeshow is fine for an introduction, but if you spend less than a full day or two with the equipment, you simply aren’t doing your job.” • Soft signage: Fabric printing will continue to be a growth area in our industry, not only in terms of sales, but also in expanding product oﬀerings and opening new markets. Direct-print sublimation seems to be the Holy Grail. Will the variables of a soft hand, wrinkle resistance, and tight dot gain catch up to paper/calendar printing? What about printing to fabric other than polyester? Will there be technologies that will eliminate some of the finishing issues associated with natural fabric printing? A print media can also drive the NBT. Dye-sublimating assembled garments has shown tremendous potential. It’s currently hip to have this particular look (where the base fabric color shows up where the wrinkles are), and a company can get into garment printing without cut-and-sew capabilities. So a simple flatbed heat press with technology as old as the hills could become the NBT for someone. Five-meter printers and calendar units have also made a big impact on fabric printing, particularly in the tradeshow arena. I know – I lost a big account to a competitor who 42

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

ink has caught on. Will it soon be jetting through every printhead? White ink took a while to be ready for prime time – now it’s hard to get certain work without it. What about metallic inks – will they become as big as white? • Speed: As far as general performance characteristics, it’s hard to imagine image quality getting much better than what we can generate today. We can now print directly to almost anything. The big deal now and forever shall be speed. I think it’s a given that printers will continue to get faster, but how fast can they get? It’s likely that printers will get so fast that the challenge will be the logistics to feed media into them. So automated media queuing might be the NBT. I’m surprised that there hasn’t been more development in finishing automation in the past decade.

Joining the early-adopter club There is a lot riding on your ability to predict the NBT. Will you do your research and be an early adopter of the technology or equipment you decide is indeed the NBT? You

have market share and profit to gain – but the potential to lose money and reputation if your choice is wrong. Or will you sit back and watch what other people do and then get on the bandwagon once you know that a technology and the market for it are solid? By doing so, you risk losing market share and buying equipment that is closer to obsolescence. There is no easy answer. One piece of advice I can give you, however, is to travel – especially, if you’re going to invest a lot of money on a new technology. Get on a plane and go visit your potential machine. A tradeshow is fine for an introduction, but if you spend less than a full day or two with this piece of equipment, you simply aren’t doing your job. The investment of a few hundred or even thousand dollars in travel expenses and a couple of days of your time is warranted. Bring your image files (customerprint files) with you and make sure the media you plan to use on the machine will be available. Then run the thing like it’s in your shop. My rule of thumb: If it can’t do what you need done right there, right now, it’s probably either too soon and you need to let the technology mature. Or it’s the wrong machine for you. Make sure any company you’re dealing with provides you with this opportunity. If you’re really brave, you can ask to become a beta test site. This is both the best and worst possible situation. It’s the best if the machine is ready, but it can be a nightmare if it isn’t. Getting an “alpha” machine – one not truly ready for beta – for testing can be exhausting for you and your staff. I don’t think I would sign up for beta testing if I didn’t have a clear way out of the purchase if the machine doesn’t work as represented. So for those of you who choose to join the early-adopters club in the quest of the NBT, I wish you well. If you combine good research with your daring, you can tip the risk/reward odds in your favor.

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business + management <14 someone operating properly, in accordance with an established SOP? Under the first scenario, take action by pulling out the documented SOP and retraining the individual, or perhaps the whole team, on the SOP. Review the procedure, ask questions, and oﬀer clarifications to ensure that the procedure is both accurate and understood. Then, recommit the individual and the team to follow the SOP. If the issue is that employees are reluctant to accepting the new SOP, ask for employee input. While employees may be initially resistant to “someone telling them how to do their job,” when they’re involved in the SOP program you will have two advantages: the knowledgeable opinions from your skilled employees and an automatic buy-in to the program. In the second scenario, work with the team to create an SOP that will avoid the same error occurring again. Document the new SOP and train the team. Creating an SOP may require several trials and errors; push your employees to continue working together to establish the best practice. Under the third scenario, you can only encourage an individual to continue to use the SOP as a guide for their activities and coach them to avoid repeating the same mistakes. Practice makes perfect, right?

Engaging the whole shop Once you begin to experience success with your SOP program, be sure to engage all of your shop’s departments. We have worked for a number of years establishing SOPs within our various departments. Importantly, we’ve not restricted SOPs to just our manufacturing departments – we have also challenged our other departments to develop their own sets of SOPs. And, recently, we’ve embarked on developing interdepartmental SOPs to understand what one department expects from the other. For example, our prepress department has a set of SOPs specific to what the printing department needs for each job that moves from prepress to printing. Printing, in turn, will have their own set of SOPs defining what the fabrication department will need, etc. Everyone in business applies the principles of standard operating procedures in some fashion. The successful companies are those that make it a serious program of creating, documenting, training, and retraining their employees regarding SOPs. By applying these ideas, you can remove the stressful perception that every job in your shop is a “custom” job and execute much more accurate and efficient production systems to ensure success.

Up Next COMING UP IN THE BIG PICTURE Look for these articles in upcoming issues: • The RIP and Print Management • Premier Point-of Purchase • Rigid Media: A Comprehensive Report • Electronic Digital Displays

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

uv update <29 which is twice that of other Arizona models; also available is Express mode, which will hit 721 sq ft/hr, approximately three times higher than the company’s 350 GT. The 550 GT, says Océ, can produce 100 full-sized boards (4 x 8-ft) per 8-hour shift. Options include: white ink; a rollmedia option; and an Onyx ProductionHouse RIP. Other printers in the Arizona series include the Arizona 350 and Arizona 300 GT.

Barak5 MATAN Polytype America polytypeamerica.com The Virtu RS25 features a printing width of 98.4 in. and allows for printing of roll media as well as board materials. The printer offers a 6-color inkset (CMYKcm) + white, and a top resolution of 1200 dpi. Maximum substrate thickness is 3.7 in. In Production mode, the RS25 can hit 861-1507 sq ft/hr (80-pl drop size). Options include an add-on table, automatic feed system, antistatic device, camera with monitor, and more. Also available are the Virtu RS35 (138-in. print width) and the Virtu RR50 (196.9-in. print width). Roland DGA rolanddga.com Roland’s 54-in. VersaUV LEC-540 UV-LED wide-format inkjet printer/cutter, based on the company’s VersaUV technology, prints CMYK + white + clear and can contourcut substrates up to 1-mm (0.04-in.) thick. The LEC-540 is the third model in Roland’s VersaUV series, joining the 30-in. LEC-330 and LEC-300A units. This model is not only larger than its sister machines, but also faster – it can hit a maximum print speed of 125 sq ft/hr in High Speed mode, approximately 25% faster than the LEC-330 due to larger UV-LED lamps to expedite production, Roland reports. The LEC-540 offers a maximum resolution of 1440 dpi. It’s offered in three ink configurations: the standard CMYK + white + clear configuration; CMYK + white + white for high-opacity white printing on transparent films; and CMYK + clear + clear for thick dimensional effects. Clear ink can be layered into both gloss and matte finishes, including 72 patterns from the Roland Texture Library. Other features include the Roland OnSupport system,

which allows remote monitoring of production activities. When a job is completed or ink runs low, the printer will automatically send an e-mail notification to a smart phone or computer. And an automated white-ink circulation system prevents pigments in the ink from settling, minimizes waste, and ensures continuous uninterrupted printing. The machine can print on a variety of flexible and rigid media, including synthetic paper, polyester film, paper and vinyl banner media, PET, leather, plastic, polycarbonates, and paper boards. Applications range from packaging prototypes, short-run labels, and membrane panels to interior décor items, point of P-O-P displays, and large-format window graphics. Also available: the Roland VersaUV LEC-300A and the LEC-330. Screen USA screenusa.com Screen USA’s Truepress Jet1600UV-F is a 63-in. UV LED flatbed developed specifically for the sign and display business. A 5-color printer (CMYK+W), the Jet1600UVF is capable of printing 140 sq ft/hr in Quality mode (without white; 70 sq ft/hr with white), and 82 sq ft/hr in High-Quality mode (41 sq ft/hr with white). It can hit a maximum resolution of 1200 x 1200 dpi and its eight piezo variable-drop printheads produce up to seven dot sizes. The Jet1600UV-F can accommodate a diverse array of substrates up to 1.96-in. thick.

StellarJet K72UV GCC AMERICA

Two types of ink are available to users–FlexLED for rigid materials and HardLED for flexible media. FlexLED, reports Screen, can be stretched by up to 200%, as well as cast or bent, and performs on white media, including substrates employed for packaging, P-O-P displays, and life-size panels. HardLED is particularly suited for aluminum panels and decorative illuminated film. A Truepress Jet 1600UV RIP is standard. In 2010, Screen introduced two new options for its Truepress Jet2500UV printer: a multi-layer option and a www.bigpicture.net

uv update corrugated option. The new multiple-layer function allows the Jet2500UV to print up to seven image layers without feeding the media a second time. The new corrugated cardboard guide option is a secure substrate-fixing system enabling reliable transport of media, making it possible to print directly onto hard-to-handle substrates. Signs International Distributor sidsigns.com The SID UV 200S is a 6-color (CMYKcm) printer that offers 24 Spectra printheads (128 nozzles) and an 81-in. print width. Top speed is 419 sq ft/hr in Draft mode (300 x 600 dpi, three passes), while High Quality mode is 204 sq ft/hr (600 x 600 dpi, six passes); top resolution is 800 dpi. The SID UV 200S can accommodate media up to 1.18-in. thick. Onyx software is standard. Also available is the SID UV 165P printer. SwissQPrint swissqprint.com The Impala hybrid UV printer uses an 8-color inkset (CMYKcmk + W) + varnish, supports drop sizes from 12

to 42 pl, offers visual resolution up to 1200 dpi, and print speeds up to 1442 sq ft/hr in Draft Flatbed mode (highprint quality is 387-720 sq ft/hr at 720 and 360 dpi). Maximum print area is 5 x 8 ft. A Caldera RIP is standard. Last year, the company introduced several new print modes for its Oryx UV flatbed printers, increasing the maximum print speed up to 828 sq ft/hr in Draft mode. Polytype America Corp (polytypeamerica.com, see listing) is the exclusive distributor for the SwissQPrint printer line. Teckwin International teckwin.com Teckwin’s TeckPro UV3200 is a roll-to-roll printer that features a maximum print width of 130 in., resolutions up to 800 dpi, and a top speed of 990 sq ft/hr in High Speed mode (484 sq ft/hr in Production mode). The 6-color printer (CMYKcm) allows for simultaneous printing on multiple rolls and offers a double-sided backlit printing option. Also available is the TeckPro UV5000 (197-in. width), the TeckStorm TS series (flatbeds with roll options), the TeckStorm Q series, and the TeckSmart UV1600/UV2500 printers.

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packaging <35 its Digital Impact division in 2004 to provide design and mockup services for packaging and displays. “Now we’re doing everything from printing prototypes of just a few items, to short-run jobs requiring as many as 2000 pieces,” reports VT Graphics president Robert Mormile. Those quantity runs are used for test-marketing products, product-display mockups, and tradeshow exhibits. “There are a lot of advantages to digital printing and the speed with which we can bring a product to market,” he says. With Digital Impact’s companion Kongsberg digital die cutters, the company has been able to provide accurate mockups of packaging and P-O-P, and production runs of limited quantities. The short-run business has proven a lucrative adjunct to the prototype printing also done with the CorJet. Prior to adding its digital capabilities, it just wasn’t cost-effective for VT Graphics’ clients to have packaging or P-O-P displays printed in limited quantities. “The setup costs were just too expensive,” notes Mormile. “But now with digital printing, we can produce those smaller quantities cost-effectively.” As far as prototyping goes, digital printing has introduced several advantages. For one, it’s transformed the

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labor-intensive process of physically building a mockup into a relatively automated process of digital printing and die cutting, scoring for folding and assembly. The digital printer “gives us a 4-color process that runs the full gamut of any colors our customers want,” he notes. “They get to see a prototype that looks just like the finished packaging or P-O-P display. In some cases, digital delivers even better quality. And our range is virtually unlimited: we can provide them with anything from a single small, folded carton to a large assembled display, loaded with packaging.” Such prototypes are critical tools for determining what works, and what won’t work on the sales floor: “It always helps to get the touch and feel of how something will actually appear, especially when you’re not sure how the sizing and graphics will impact the actual presentation of a product,” says Mormile. In fact, demand for those short-run services has proven so strong that Digital Impact is about to expand its capabilities with installation of a Durst Rho 900 flatbed. “The Durst will allow us to increase our speed, capacity, and quality,” says Mormile. “We’d eventually like to be able to offer short runs of as many as 5000 pieces.”

May 2011

Agfa Graphics 26, 27 www.agfa.com Bordeaux Digital Print Ink Ltd. OBC www.c-m-y-k.com Caldera Graphics. 15 www.caldera.com Durst US 39 www.durstus.com EFI 3 www.efi.com Hewlett-Packard 30, 31 www.hp.com Inx Digital IFC www.inxdigital.com Marabu North America 13 www.marabu-northamerica.com

Mimaki USA, Inc. www.mimakiusa.com Mutoh America www.mutoh.com Nazdar www.nazdar.com Panel Processing www.panel.com Seiko I Infotech www.seiko-i.com Teckwin www.teckwin-usa.com Ultraflex Systems www.ultraflexx.com Visual Magnetics LP www.visualmagnetics.com

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job log

Printing Penguins “The height of the graphics required special lift equipment to reach the surfaces, which made safety a real challenge.”

THE BIG PICTURE MAY 2011

The Client Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh The Player Printscape Imaging and Graphics (myprintscape.com) Tools & Supplies Océ CS9060 and CS9064 printers, 3M Controltac Graphic Film IJ180 and 3648 overlam, Océ eco-solvent inks, Seal 64 laminator The Job Home to the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins, the Consol Energy Center needed a serious interior spruce-up to showcase the team’s achievements. At the same time the arena sought a major visual enhancement, Pittsburgh-based Printscape was going through its own personal transformation: The formerly titled Washington Reprographics was changing not only its company name but also its capabilities. Originally serving only the A/E/C industries, the business was now reaching out to universities, retailers, and public-service companies. With its new service focus, Printscape was ready to take on the Consol Arena challenge. “Because this was such a high-exposure venue, we saw this job as a great selling tool to add to our portfolio,” says John Dziak, Printscape’s CEO. Production The designs were created by Pittsburgh design firm James Gallery using Adobe InDesign, then forwarded to Printscape. Small hard-copy proofs were approved by the firm and readied for print. For the goalie action image, above, Printscape output the 128-square-foot graphic using its Océ CS9060 printer with Océ eco-solvent inks onto 3M Controltac IJ180 Graphic Film. The graphic was then laminated using a Neschen Seal 64 laminator with 3M Scotchcal overlam. In addition, the shop created graphics for 14 other sections throughout the arena using the CS9060, also utilizing its Océ CS9064 printer so that it could complete more graphics in a shorter timeframe. Graphics included intricate cutouts of hockey player action shots, which Printscape adamantly chose to hand-cut. “The detailed cutting of those graphics requires a little more TLC to get it right, so we chose to hand cut instead of using our machine cutters,” says Dziak. Finishing required four to six hours per section. Each section of the arena took three installers one to two business days each to complete. Printscape completed the arena’s graphic additions over the course of five months.

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