Wide-Format--Big, Bigger, Biggest -Holding Masterpieces
Wide-format's color proofing media and general-use consumables are expanding the gloss, durability, consistency and color parameters of their imposing output engines.
BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO
Whether the intent is outdoor signage or to generate a contract proof, wide-format imaging is only as effective as the media on which the image is output. Naturally, as with every hot new technology, the output engine gets all the hype—which vendors are manufacturing which output devices, what are the output speeds and color consistencies of wide-format printers currently on the market, and what are the price points of these elite output engines?
Output, output, output.
What about the consumable? What about some talk strictly on the media that allows a billboard to excite the night air or the media that bridges the final divide between a commercial printer and a demanding client at the proofing stage?
Clearly, hardware and consumable forces from 3M, Agfa, DuPont, Epson, Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, Roland, ColorSpan, Xerox, Encad and Rexam—whether it's the wide-format output engines they create, or the substrates that support them—are sparking an enlightened evolution for the wide-format market.
Why is this significant? As it turns out, consumables are the key to expanding the applications for wide-format output devices. New media types help owners of wide-format printers expand the variety of work they handle and help create new business opportunities
Recent moves in the wide-format consumables segment include the following items of note:
* Agfa's recent launch of AgfaJet Photograde Media—a substrate coated on both sides, one holding a satin finish, the second a glossy coat—gives Agfa a new position in the wide-format consumables market. AgfaJet Photograde Media is coated on both sides with a PE layer that serves as a substrate for ink-receiving layers. The PE prevents the ink from penetrating into the paper base allowing for the reproduction of photorealistic, extremely high-resolution images.
* At Seybold San Francisco earlier this month, DuPont announced and showed three new color proofing media for the Epson Stylus Pro 9000 wide-format printer. Building on the DuPont/Epson alliance—struck in March 1998 for the benefit of advancing the Epson Stylus Pro 5000 and Stylus Pro 9000—the three new consumables include a co-branded commercial gloss, a commercial matte and a publication roll media especially designed for the Stylus Pro 9000. The new roll proofing paper and DuPont color matches will enable customers to achieve the same proof quality and consistency as established by the Stylus Pro 5000.
"What's important for us from a media perspective is that the characteristics of the paper meet the needs of the proofing market—gloss or matte media—similar to what a customer would print on," states Russell Brown, worldwide ink-jet product planner at DuPont. "The proofing marketplace will judge a media harshly on color and gloss level, as well as all other requirements, including the media's feed characteristics, not jamming the printer, staying straight through the path and being dry to the touch."
"For the Stylus Pro 9000, we must supply the highest-quality media solution for the most discriminating customers," notes Greg McCoy, product manager for consumables at Epson. "Epson media is developed in conjunction with the drivers, the ink and the print head. It is a total solution, ensuring that the customer receives Epson quality with every output."
McCoy reports that Epson's ink and paper combinations offer instant drying for increased productivity and reduced waste. "High humidity and temperature conditions will not affect printing or drying on Epson media," he continues. "Another advantage of Epson media is its waterfastness properties; our patented coatings offer resistance to any residual moisture."
* Rexam Graphics, a manufacturer of coated paper, films and specialty substrates for imaging technologies, recently extended its line of resin-coated photobase papers with a new photobase specifically designed for use with Encad and ColorSpan wide-format ink-jet printers. The new photobase is available in both high gloss and low glare versions.
Rexam's new photobase media provides improved whiteness and color gamut, and an extremely smooth surface for high photographic resolution. "These new photobase papers are a significant breakthrough for ink-jet photorealistic imaging," reports Dan Halkyard, product manager at Rexam Graphics. The DMPH170EN2 (high gloss) and DMPL170EN2 (low glare) are available now.
* Encad has launched a new line of photobase media for its NovaJet family of printers. Encad's QIS papers, available in gloss and semi-gloss flavors, allow for fast drying.
* Hewlett-Packard has two new wide-format substrates to its product portfolio. One is a cotton-based, high-gloss canvas suitable for high-quality photo reproduction, ideally for heavy-duty signage. The second new media is Colorfast Adhesive Vinyl, a short-term signage solution that allows users to create repositionable and removable promotional signage for both indoor and outdoor applications. The adhesive is durable enough to wrap around corners and stand strong in the rain.
* Roland recently announced high ratings in print permanence testing for Concorde Rag fine art paper, the first coated fine art paper specifically engineered for wide-format ink-jet printers. Concorde Rag fine art paper is designed to give photographers, artists, fine art reproduction publishers and museums an alternative to the soft images and muted colors of uncoated fine art and watercolor papers.
Concorde Rag delivers sharp, clear images with excellent black and contrast. It was developed to perform in a consistent and repeatable manner with Roland pigment inks. Initially introduced in natural, Roland is now offering Concorde Rag in bright white, as well. Bright white Concorde Rag paper is also in testing with Wilhelm Imaging Research. Print permanence testing (measured at 450 lux simulating gallery conditions) for Concorde Rag with Roland pigment inks is continuing at Wilhelm Imaging Research facilities in Grinnell, IA.
Wilhelm expects print life to exceed 150 years.
"The Roland pigment inks were developed to be UV stable and consistent across the color gamut," says Laura Wilson, product manager of supplies and accessories at Roland. "Any color shift is imperceptible and balanced across the color panel of all six inks."
Introduced in August 1998, the 1,440 dpi Roland Hi-Fi JET printer, designed for the fine art and photography markets, delivers mural-size and multiple image output. The six-color Hi-Fi JET provides an expanded color gamut and truer blacks, dramatically improving the realism and intensity of full-color reproduction.
The PANTONE Hexachrome-capable Hi-Fi JET can simulate over 97 percent of PANTONE colors. The Roland Hi-Fi JET is available in 50˝ and 40˝ print widths and ships with Roland's ColorChoice 2.0 Adobe PostScript 3 driver-level RIP, which allows printing from most graphics applications.
* Hunt Digital Imaging, of Portsmouth, NH, introduced new media types for large-format ink-jet printers earlier this month.
Duraweave wet strength media, ideal for prints that need to stand up to inclement weather conditions, and Synthetic Silk fabric media, a good choice for textiles, clothing design, drapable signs, banners and trade show graphics, were shown at Seybold San Francisco.
Gloss, Gloss, Gloss
Hunt Digital Imaging has added another new type of media to its product line. Its Perfect Color Premium Pigment Gloss and Semi-Gloss paper is a new paper-based media designed to work with pigmented inks for producing printed materials with a glossy look and feel, such as photo enlargements and reproductions, posters and signs.
The new Perfect Color Premium Pigment Gloss and Semi-Gloss media is a 7 mil paper that can produce full-color-gamut images with no smudging or bleeding and will dry quickly.
Applications include signage, store window displays and posters that will be exposed to sunlight over periods of time and, therefore, require the light fastness of pigmented inks and the color richness of photo-based media.
Complementing the new wide-format consumables brought to the industry's attention recently are a growing array of inks and color management tools targeting the jumbo output market.
Get ready to market and sell applications for more 36˝ or larger signs, posters, wall coverings and fine art reproductions—as the technologies that create these monumental masterpieces are growing, as well.
Consumables Corner: DuPont on the Digital Dylux
By Russell T. Brown, worldwide ink-jet product planner at DuPont.
Color proofing—whether it be a preliminary proof or a final for press—is the most demanding of all imaging applications. As in any industry, customers are constantly under time and financial constraints, but in the proofing market, the output is the product. Reliability of print prediction is crucial.
Drop-on-demand ink-jet printers are beginning to be able to produce the consistent quality images required by the creative and printing industries. Special applications of ink-jet devices are also being introduced into other areas of proofing that traditionally relied on a film-based solution, such as imposition and high-quality concepts.
Optimizing the output from any given ink-jet device for a specific application is not just a matter of how many dpi the printer is capable of printing. A systematic approach is necessary to create a truly robust solution for the customer. The way the printer sprays ink, the physical properties of the ink and the surface characteristics can all affect the final print.
As printer OEMs expand their vision and look toward more vertical markets where they can provide value, the ability to control all three variables (print head, ink and media) will give them an inherent advantage over the competition. By partnering with these ink-jet OEMs and ink-jet VARs, DuPont is applying its ink-jet ink and coating expertise, along with its proofing market knowledge and patented CromaNet color management technology, to help bring new ink-jet solutions to end users.
DuPont designs attributes into its color proofing products that go beyond just a "pretty picture." DuPont/Epson commercial matte and publication ink-jet proofing media are two examples. Not only do these media provide excellent image quality in the areas of color gamut, optical density, color-to-color bleed and fine line detail, their substrate color and gloss level are also representative of common printing stocks.
Development of DuPont ink-jet proofing media also takes into account the opacity of the substrate, so that the represented color is not adversely affected by the surface underneath the proof. In addition, coating quality is strictly monitored during each production run, and new media must pass the same test criteria for image quality and paper handling characteristics as any other Epson media.
Ink-jet solutions from DuPont Color Proofing are not limited to color-accurate applications. DuPont first introduced Digital Dylux, a line of media for the emerging digital imposition market for both thermal and piezo DOD printers, with the Barco Impress unit.
This system includes a modified HP wide-format printer, software and special paper from DuPont that enables customers to produce double-sided proofs with accurate front-to-back registration. With Digital Dylux, customers could for the first time create digitally produced, two-sided proofs within the same workflow as the printing plate.
During the development of Digital Dylux, factors including line resolution, bleed control, drying time, and paper stability and foldability (the ability to produce a folded signature proof) all came into play.
Extending an ink-jet solution to new, robust and meaningful applications requires an understanding of the imaging industry and technology. DuPont is positioned to bring together all of the elements (print engine, media, ink and market knowledge) needed to provide these types of solutions.
Wide-format output devices are pushing the bounds of their counterparts, the consumables. At top, Epson's Stylus Pro 9000 prints at 1,440x720 dpi with the capacity to handle 13˝, 24˝, 36˝, 42˝ and 44˝ media. At right and at bottom, Hewlett-Packard's DesignJet wide-format technology, the HP DesignJet 2500CP/2000CP and 3500CP/3000CP, can accommodate a wide range of wide-format media selections.
ColorSpan's DisplayMaker Series XII and DisplayMaker Series XL ink-jet production printers for wide-format output include 12 600 dpi printheads. DisplayMaker Series II printers can handle 52˝, 62˝ and 72˝ media widths. DisplayMaker HiRes can go to 72˝.
The ColorgrafX 54e from Xerox ColorgrafX uses a four-color, multi-pass electrostatic printing process, relying on a data interface that is anchored on Ethernet 100Base T.
