Digital Printing-Wide Format - Flatbed

The family of Andrew Berli is glad to have the real Andrew home for Thanksgiving. But while he serves as a U.S. Army sergeant in Afghanistan, “flat Andrew” lifts their spirits at family gatherings. Flat Andrew is a life-size corrugate cut-out of a photo of Berli produced by SightLine Display (Comstock Park, MI) with Swiss digital printing and cutting technology.

“My kids and my sister’s kids love it,” said Berli’s sister, Holly Shupe. “The cut-out makes us brighter and happier. We say, ‘Oh, Andrew’s here!’”

For SightLine, flat Andrew is an example of the fast, customized small jobs the company can do

Specialized Output Printing in Waukesha, WI, hopes to be the best silent partner a printing company ever had. Owner Russ Brock launched the wide-format trade shop to produce jobs for other printers that require special equipment or as overflow.

The “Onset Challenge” is a simple, five-step process that demonstrates how the Onset family of wide-format inkjet printers can help unlock new business and increase profitability. The site also gives the user a custom return-on-investment calculator to demonstrate just how quickly the press can pay for itself.

HP today announced the first beta installation of the new HP Scitex FB7500 Printer at Dallas-based Gigantic Color, a top large-format print service provider (PSP) and the leading graphic producer in the Southwest.

Océ, an international leader in digital document management and delivery, recently hosted the first Océ Innovation VIP Event at the Océ Customer Experience Center in Boca Raton, FL. Océ executives, industry experts and a cross section of print professionals spent a full day exploring the positive impact of digital innovation on their businesses.

VALHALLA, NY—October 29, 2008—Fujifilm Graphic Systems U.S.A., Inc. announced today the sale of the Inca Onset flatbed UV digital press to HGI Co., LLC.  Introduced last year, the Inca Digital Onset represents a breakthrough in digital printing and produces high-quality, short run point-of-purchase and display graphic products. The two companies signed a letter of intent on the first day of Graph Expo 2008. The installation at HGI Company will be just the tenth installation of the Inca Onset worldwide.

FOSTER CITY, CA—Oct. 21, 2008—EFI™ (Nasdaq: EFII), the world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, will showcase its industry-leading portfolio of solutions in its largest trade show booth ever at Graph Expo (Oct. 26-29, Chicago's McCormick Place). EFI solutions, which continue to lead the industry's progression from analog to digital and increase customers' automation efficiency, cost savings, and revenue stream opportunities, will be demonstrated in EFI's booth 2000 and in partner booths, including Canon U.S.A., FUJIFILM Graphic Systems U.S.A., Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Pitman Company, Ricoh Americas Corp. and Xerox.

VALHALLA, NY—October 14, 2008—Fujifilm Graphic Systems U.S.A., Inc. is pleased to announce the introduction of the new Acuity Advance wide format UV inkjet printer. The new Acuity Advance is the next generation of the highly successful Acuity HD2504, which was launched in April 2007 and has quickly become the fastest selling flatbed UV inkjet printer in the market today.

FLATBED MODELS are currently a hot trend in the wide-format ink-jet printer segment and were spotlighted by exhibitors at Drupa 2008 earlier this year. This technology puts the emphasis on volume production for more everyday applications, not the spectacular building and vehicle wraps done roll-to-roll. Particularly with dimensional point-of-purchase (POP) materials, productivity is enhanced by the capability to print directly on rigid substrates, rather than mounting/laminating printed sheets to a backing material in a separate production step. Teaming a flatbed printer up with a digital cutter further speeds turnaround of completed pieces. UV ink-jet technology dominates this product category because of the substrate

Printing Impressions and InfoTrends have recently conducted a survey of Printing Impressions’ readers that focused on their use of wide-format digital printing equipment. The respondents to the survey fell into two main groups: in-plant operations and print-for-pay establishments. Participants were asked various questions regarding their current wide-format equipment and services, as well as future plans for their wide-format business. (See Chart 1.) The results show that while aqueous ink-jet is still the dominant technology, there is a growing presence in the production and commercial printing market of newer printing technologies. More than 67 percent of respondents indicated that they currently own an aqueous ink-jet