PRINT 13: Production Inkjet, Wide-format Inkjet, Toner-based Digital Presses

With only two sheetfed offset presses on the show floor, digital printing vendors were the 'hot' booths at PRINT 13. Here's a sampling of some of the production inkjet, wide-format inkjet and toner-based digital presses that were highlighted for commercial print shops.

Inkjet Digital Presses

Konica Minolta Business Solutions and Komori America previewed the KM-1/IS29 23x29˝ UV color inkjet press. It combines Konica Minolta UV inkjet print head and ink technology with a new sheet transport system, cylinder configuration and sheet reversal mechanism from Komori to print cut-sheet pages at 3,300 sheets/hr. simplex, and 1,650 sheets/hr. duplex.

More than half of Xerox's booth was dedicated to production inkjet technology, including the CiPress 500 Single Engine Duplex (SED) production inkjet system. Compatible with waterless solid inks, it prints duplex jobs in a single frame at 500 or 325 fpm. Also shown was the Impika iPrint Compact, a single-engine, duplexing production inkjet system for transactional, transpromo and direct mail applications.

Canon U.S.A. offered attendees a virtual reality look at its new high-volume "Niagara" sheetfed color inkjet digital press. Featuring a patented four-color ink system (with a planned future extension of up to six stations), it will provide B3 sheetfed color inkjet printing on standard coated and uncoated offset media at speeds of up to 3,800 duplexed B3 sheets/hr. and up to 8,500 duplexed letter sheets/hr., with volumes of up to 10 million letter-size images per month.

Ricoh's InfoPrint 5000 GP platform was shown in an H configuration. The InfoPrint 5000 MP line has now been upgraded to allow for printing in I, L, U and H configurations. This also includes dual simplex printing capability so users can drive the two print engines printing separate applications, on two kinds of paper, at two different speeds. The InfoPrint 5000 GP Color now handles page lengths up to 54˝ and an extended media handling option enables paper weights up to 250 gsm.

Fujifilm debuted the J Press 540W inkjet web press, which is ideal for the short-run production of leaflets, magazines, textbooks, manuals and newspapers. It features a single tower, compact footprint design with a single-pass duplex system that can easily adjust registration of both front and back sides. Printing at speeds up to 417 fpm, the J Press 540W allows flexibility in paper cut-off sizes. It uses Fujifilm's FM-based screening technology and high-performance VIVIDIA ink.

Canon Solutions America produced three finished books on an Océ ColorStream 3900 continuous-feed printing system. The books featured premium pigment black inks, along with full-color covers printed on a Canon imagePRESS C7010VP.

Wide-Format Inkjet Printers

The HP Latex 3000 wide-format printer allows printers to shift jobs from traditional solvent and to produce new, high-value applications. Also new is the HP Designjet Z5400 PostScript ePrinter, the first multi-roll, large-format ePrinter for copy shops.

Xanté debuted the Excelagraphix 4200 P Series, powered by Memjet Waterfall Printhead Technology, which delivers more than 3 billion drops of ink per second, for print speeds up to 12˝ per second.

EFI displayed its VUTEk HS100 Pro, a 126.5˝-wide, digital UV inkjet press with LED technology. Printing speeds exceed 100 boards/hr. (60 boards/hr. in P-O-P mode). True grayscale head technology (0-24pL drop sizes) provides higher image quality and greater PMS color matching. Outputs in eight colors, including three-layer white print capability. Variable matte or gloss finish options.

Fujifilm introduced the Inca Onset Q40i UV flatbed inkjet press, with up to 168 print heads and more than 42,000 nozzles. Prints materials as large as 63x123˝ and up to 2˝ thick.

Canon's Océ ColorWave 900 wide-format production printer made its debut, with print speeds of up to 12˝ per second and productivity of more than 800 B2 or 500 B1 sheets/hr. New imagePROGRAF iPF8400S and iPF6400S models also offer enhanced print management and color-control capabilities.

Roland showcased its fastest wide-format inkjet printer, the SOLJET Pro 4 XF-640, printing images at speeds up to 1,098 square feet/hr.

Toner-Based Digital Presses

The Konica Minolta bizhub PRESS C1070/C1070P/C1060 digital press series has expanded paper handling, in-line finishing and image control capabilities. The bizhub PRESS C1100 color digital press has a maximum monthly duty cycle of 1,000,000 impressions, speeds of up to 100 ppm and air suction paper handling.

Xerox's iGen 150 incorporates Object Oriented Half Toning, which renders images and text smooth or sharp as required for brochures, catalogs and flyers. Features and options include: 2,400x2,400 dpi; automated Image-on-Paper technology eliminates manual setups for up to 26˝ sheets; IntegratedPLUS finishing solution for booklets; and single-point transfer to print 9,000, four-over impressions/hr. (150 prints/min.)

The new 50-ppm OKI Data Americas C900 series, with toner yields of up to 38,000 pages and an LED five-station toner configuration, supports white or clear spot color printing.

Ricoh Americas presented the Ricoh Pro C5100S/C5110S compact production color laser printers, which offer the latest textured media technology and a unique media library. The Ricoh Pro 8100s production monochrome MFP series features 200 ipm duplex color scanning, VCSEL imaging and Ricoh's Mechanical Paper Registration.

Also Noteworthy...

The Scodix Ultra Press, a digital enhancement press, is capable of producing 1,250 B2+ (21.5x31˝) sheets/hr. Applications include stationery, book covers, packaging, marketing and promotional materials, greeting cards and photo albums. RSP technology provides accurate registration with a multi-CCD camera system and dedicated software algorithms.

HP showcased its B2-format (29˝) Indigo 10000 color digital press, which uses a liquid ink to print 3,450 full-color sheets/hr. (and 4,600 sheets/hr. in Enhanced Productivity Mode). Monthly duty cycle is up to 2.2 million sheets. Maximum paper size: 29.5x20.9˝.

A new entrant into garment printing was Epson, which demonstrated its new Sure-Color F2000. It uses Epson MicroPiezo TFP print heads with 360 nozzles per color, and Epson UltraChrome DG ink, with cartridges available in 250 and 600 ml sizes.

MGI drew lots of attention for its new digital inkjet spot UV coater, the JETvarnish 3D. Provides two digital finishing capabilities: traditional spot UV coating and 3D raised effects, with no plates or screens required. New options include the Twin upgrade, which doubles 3D effects coating speed (up to 3,000 20x29˝ sheets/hr. in spot UV; 2,234 12x18˝ sheets/hr. in 3D mode) and doubles the coating thickness in one pass (up to 200 microns). PI