GCI Graphics Addresses Clients' Soft Signage Needs with EFI VUTEk FabriVU Printer

FREMONT, Calif. — May 22, 2017 — GCI Graphics, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Exploring Inc., has installed a soft signage dye sublimation production line, featuring an EFI VUTEk FabriVU 340 printer and Fiery proServer digital front end (DFE) from Electronics For Imaging (EFI), along with a Klieverik heat press. The new equipment gives GCI Graphics the ability to help customers save money and resources with reusable, high-end soft signage graphics that are easy to ship, store and re-use in point-of-purchase retail display, arena and exhibition graphics, and other applications.

“The new EFI soft signage equipment is part of our major growth investment in GCI Graphics to bring clients the best digital print solutions, and it extends GCI Graphics’ presence as the premier grand-format printer in the Southeast,” said Exploring President Dave Walens.

Innovation and Value in High-end Soft Signage Graphics

The EFI VUTEk FabriVU 340 printer.

The new inkjet production line also follows Exploring’s commitment to using the highest-quality production equipment available to deliver truly innovative solutions and value. The 3.4-meter VUTEk FabriVU printer is an aqueous dye-sublimation soft signage textile product developed using the advanced technology knowledge base that EFI Reggiani – a global leader in industrial textile imaging – has established over the past 70 years. The printer offers superior quality with high-resolution imaging up to 2,400 dots per inch (dpi) and four-level grayscale printing with 4 to 18 picoliter drop sizes.

GCI Graphics gains versatility and timesaving benefits with the printer, which offers the distinct advantage of printing on transfer paper or direct-to-fabric with the same inkset. That capability saves considerable labor and machine downtime compared to other printers when changing from transfer to direct applications, on top of the expense of discarded ink that is wasted when clearing ink lines.

The latest-version EFI Fiery proServer installed with the printer provides accurate, superior color management on a wide range of substrates, including textiles and transfer paper for soft signage production. It features a highly advanced FAST (Fiery Accelerated System Technology) RIP engine for quick file processing on EFI superwide-format hybrid and roll-to-roll printers, RIPing VUTEk print jobs up to 60% faster than previous proServer versions.

The new printer installation expands a versatile signage and graphics production operation at GCI Graphics that also includes EFI VUTEk roll-to-roll inkjet printers for production on traditional banner substrates. A 3.2-meter VUTEk GS series LED printer at GCI Graphics produces high-end point-of-purchase quality display graphics in resolutions up 2,400 dpi on roll and rigid media. EFI’s market-leading, environmentally friendly “cool-cure” LED inkjet technology on the printer gives GCI Graphics the ability to print on thin or delicate substrates that cannot withstand the heat required with latex inkjet or traditional UV drying and curing, all while using up to 82% less energy than latex or UV.

EFI’s complete printer portfolio, which in addition to aqueous textile printers also includes industry-leading LED and UV inkjet narrow-, wide- and superwide-format technologies and ceramic decoration printers, gives customers profitable opportunities for the “Imaging of Things,” delivering greater product customization and appeal in everything from signage and packaging to décor, apparel and industrial manufacturing. To see many of the extensive, imaginative applications possible with EFI print technology, visit www.ImagingofThings.com or www.efi.com.

Source: EFI.

The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions.