Epson Stylus Pro GS6000 drives Autografika forward

Purchasing an Epson Stylus Pro GS6000 for body vehicle wraps has kept Canberra-based business, Autografika in the fast line of printing.

For Autografika founder, general manager and designer Craig McConchie, the company’s ability to create the best possible full body vehicle wraps, signage and visual enhancements meant bringing in a large format printer that delivered on nothing short of print excellence.

“The main challenge,” McConchie says, “is more than achieving the standard requirements of colour and detail. It’s ensuring they can be achieved on a final print that can used on a vehicle and withstand year after year of direct sunlight, dust, rain and pollution. The prints must be durable.

“On top of that, we were looking for a printer that had sufficient print width to allow us to create vehicle wraps, even for large vans, that wouldn’t need to stuck edge-to-edge. I suppose what we were really looking for was a printer that actually went well beyond the standard signwriting printer requirements.”

Having worked in graphic design and signage for several years, McConchie knew precisely what was needed of a printer, and weeks of research and discussion led him ultimately to the Epson Stylus GS6000. “I’d looked at a number of possibilities,” he says, “but the GS6000 was the only one that met all the requirements of durability, quality, colour and, with a 1615 millimetre print width, size.”

Versatility for business growth
With the Stylus Pro GS6000, McConchie has established a print environment that enables Autografika to take full advantage of the rapid and broad growth in demand for high quality large format printing. Even though the printer’s primary application is for vehicle signage, McConchie has already taken on design and print work well beyond that initial application.

“Custom design and printing for vehicles is definitely a growth area,” McConchie says, “but the business reality is that in order to grow the business further, we rely on the versatility of the GS6000 to provide a comprehensive range of services.”

Quality that makes a difference
It’s worth noting that with that particular print job, even though the labels were printed in high speed production mode, the need for high levels of detail were of paramount importance. On every label, barcodes had to be printed accurately and text as small as 1.5mm needed to legible.

“Everything printed perfectly,” McConchie states. “Every component, regardless of size of detail was reproduced with total accuracy; and that meant we met the customer’s requirements and established ourselves as a print provider that can be called on for all future print jobs.”

For Autografika, it’s when it comes to prints for vehicles that the print quality of
the Stylus Pro GS6000 really shines though. “Every vehicle wrap and detailing job we undertake is done from the ground-up,” McConchie explains. “After all, the main focus of our business is on design, so when we start a new job we’re putting our full attention into creating custom graphics that are going to make the vehicle totally unique. And that generally means a design that is detailed well beyond what most people might expect.

“With the GS6000 and its 1440 dots per inch resolution, we concentrate on creating high detail work and know full well that it will be reproduced faultlessly by the printer.

“What we have is the ideal printer that, as far as we’re concerned, has been designed specifically for Autografika.”