Digital Printing-Wide Format - Roll to Roll

Since I am on Topps' e-mail list and am a sports card collector of 30-plus years, the subject line of "Topps Larger-than-Life Wall Graphics" in a recent missive was intriguing.

Springfield, MO, sign printer nPrint Graphix had just started using a new HP (Palo Alto, CA) Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer when the TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” came to town. When nPrint Graphix CEO John Fugitt heard about it, he got in touch with the show's producers and interior designers to discuss wide-format inkjet projects that could be used inside the house they were building for a local family.

The show was thrilled to have nPrint Graphix on board as the episode's official printing sponsor, donating 100% of its products and time. “We get into several different [charity] projects all across the country, but this was a new one, dealing with a national show and the donation of our time,” says Fugitt.

PRINT 09 offered an array of wide-format printing systems and highlighted a number of industry trends that could present opportunities for commercial printers, including sustainability and high-volume POP production.

BROTHERS OMAR Rodriguez and Hugo Cervantes, owners of East Los Angeles-based X-Igent Printing, know a thing or two about starting a commercial printing business from the ground up. When the shop they were working for was acquired by a new owner, they decided to cash in $70,000 of the equity in a home they purchased in 2000 to launch their own brokerage, turned printing operation, in 2001.

Océ, an international leader in digital document management, announces the U.S. preview of its PosterizerTM integrated signage solution at Océ booth #5450 during GlobalShop® 2009, March 23-25, in Las Vegas, NV. Convincing, coordinated and innovative signage can motivate customers to spend more during every store visit.

EFI, the world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, today announced that Joseph Merritt & Company of Hartford, Connecticut, has added an EFI VUTEk QS3200r 3.2 meter superwide format roll-to-roll UV printer to its production portfolio. Prior to acquisition of the QS3200r, the shop had an all-solvent superwide format production platform.

IF YOU had an opportunity to attend SGIA or Graph Expo—or both—last month, I hope you took the time to see what is new in the world of wide-format ink-jet. There have been lots of exciting advances that commercial printing businesses should consider taking advantage of to diversify their businesses and drive revenue growth.

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.

Mississauga, ONT—October 10, 2008—Gandinnovations, a world leader in grand format digital printer innovations will be showcasing its top of the range products at GraphExpo 2008, at Booth #3852.

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