Product almanac 16 March 2011

This week sees new releases from Oce with a poster printer, Canon’s latest inkjet printer and the latest banner media from Anitech.

Océ makes waves with poster printer

Océ has launched its ColorWave 600 Poster Printer, aimed for the fast production of colour posters, banners, point-of-sale (POS) applications and even short-run flyers and brochures.

According to product manager for the Océ ColorWave 600 Poster Printer, Steven Badger, Océ recognised there was a strong market for a fast colour machine able to print on a wide variety of substrates including plain paper.

“The new Poster Printer builds on the existing Océ CrystalPoint technology to enable the production of up to 1700 A1 posters in a single eight-hour shift. You can even print and deliver an entire point-of-purchase campaign – including banners, posters and flyers – in a single business day. The printer can be supplied with two, four or six rolls and has a maximum print speed of 106 metres per hour. Plain paper, outdoor paper, blue-black paper, film, Tyvek and recycled paper can be used,” he said.

The Océ ColorWave 600 Poster Printer uses Océ TonerPearls solid toner and Océ CrystalPoint imaging technology to obtain the best print results. Users get consistent, high quality prints on economical plain and recycled paper, eliminating the need to use chemical coated media to obtain good print quality.

With the marble-like Océ TonerPearls solid toner, there are no emissions and ink cartridges are fully emptied, so there is no costly waste. The printer can be placed anywhere, even in an office environment, because it produces no fine dust, odour or emissions during printing. Waste, including unused prints etc. can be discarded along with normal print shop trash.

Badger says the Océ ColorWave 600 Poster Printer has been adapted to take full advantage of the widely used Onyx RIP for even better results.

“The release of the Océ ColorWave 600 Poster Printer provides users with a great marketing tool for attracting new customers,” he said.

Canon dreams up production inkjet printer
Canon has launched the DreamLabo 5000 production inkjet printer.

The DreamLabo 5000 is aimed at the silver halide technology market by enabling new revenue opportunities from the production of high-value print merchandise, such as photo books.???

“The market for photo books is strong and continues to grow rapidly. With consumers demanding high-quality printed images, Canon has extended its renowned inkjet technology to create a commercial printer that raises the standard of image quality for the photo book industry,” said Gareth Thomas, development manager, digital imaging, Canon Australia.

The DreamLabo 5000 features a newly developed high-density print head, enabling the printing of output up to 305 mm wide. Incorporating Canon’s FINE (Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) technology, the print head, which features over one million nozzles, enables the printing of high-quality photos to support a variety of high-value-added output, from photo books, and calendars to high-quality POD items such as customised brochures. ???

“DreamLabo 5000 sets a new standard for the printing of high-quality images and high-definition text and is aligned with the needs of commercial photo printers and print-on-demand specialists looking to provide premium merchandise,” added Thomas.???

DreamLabo 5000 uses a seven-colour dye-based ink system that realises smooth gradation expression.  Employing image processing technology that makes use of the full range of Canon’s unique inkjet printing colour gamut, the new printer enables the output of photo images with a level of colour representation that overall surpasses that of conventional silver halide photographs. ???

The system also realises high productivity with duplex printing capabilities with an on-board guillotine reducing post print process production costs. In addition to the inkjet technology the high-end commercial printer also includes units for de-curling, skew correction, inspection, front and back cutting and temperature control and holds up to four paper rolls. By enabling paper and ink tank replacement during printing, the DreamLabo 5000 supports the extended operation times required for production printers. ???

Anitech launches ISC5400 media
Anitech is launching its latest eco-sensitive initiative, ISC5400 banner media at Visual Impact.

ISC5400 is a heavy polyester fabric textile banner media which is completely degradable and 100 per cent recyclable. Anitech believe that ISC5400 represents a genuine green alternative for wide format banner applications that are currently dominated by PVC materials.

“The brilliance of our new product is - ISC5400 is a heavyweight polyester banner substrate that can replace PVC in wide format banner  printing,” said Yoong Lee, national business development manager for Anitech.

“It’s available as a matt or glossy finish with a textured surface so it has that textile look and feel. The product is suitable for banners and wall hangings in both indoor and outdoor   graphic applications.”

ISC5400 is a woven polyester, white dyed media that comes in a 280gsm weight in 914, 1065, 1270, 1370 and 1524mm widths. The substrate is compatible with solvent, eco-solvent and UV curable inks and has a 50gsm, fire-retardant, white-liquid coated resin finish.

Anitech will be on stand 7120 at Visual Impact Image Expo 2011 in May.