Hardware

During ArtSystems’ special resellers’ event, ‘Focus on Innovation 2015’, the latest Colortrac innovation was unveiled to the UK. The Colortrac SmartLF Scan! is a range of two, wide format scanners that are light, self-contained, intuitively simple to use and completely portable.

The new scanner has a built-in 6GB memory so operators can work wherever the job takes them, even without access to a computer. Supplied with its own tough carry-case the SmartLF Scan! also has semi-automated resolution control for simplicity of operation anywhere, in your own premises, on-site, or in the client’s offices.

With a scanning width of either 610mm or 914mm the two scanners in the range weigh just 5.2kg and 7kg and yet have all the facilities a modern operator would expect. Wireless or Ethernet connection mean scans can be saved directly to the PC or the Cloud when in the office, or to a USB memory card when on site.

ArtSystems’ Ted Freer, Sales Divisional Manager, Design, is enthusiastic about the possibilities opened up by these new additions to the Colortrac portfolio.  He says: “SmartLF Scan! units offer real entry level affordability and are fully portable, and by that I mean they are small and light enough that you can easily wheel them in their boxes onto the train, tube or into a taxi. What’s more, when you arrive on site or your client’s office you still get the high quality scans you would expect from the brand, and they’re wide format with an optical resolution of 600dpi.

“When away from your PC you can make a scanned record of up to eight design changes or discussion documents and let your clients see how careful you’re being with their needs, you can even leave a copy of everything you’ve scanned on a USB memory stick. And then, when you're back at base, share the scans with your team and you’re good to go.”

Based around a small Windows software file the scanners can work with originals up to 1270mm long and as small as 150mm wide with an accuracy to +/- one pixel or .02%.

Freer concludes: “The SmartLF Scan! units tick every box when it comes to innovation and user-friendly precision, and they come in their own robust, wheeled boxes for ease of transport. They set their own benchmark amongst the very latest generation of wide format scanners.”

For more information, please call +44 (0)115 9380 380 or visit www.artsystems.co.uk.

The Bristol Hippodrome announced the imminent arrival of the new ‘Mary Poppins’ stage musical with a fanfare of colourful signs and banners produced by Frenzy Designs and its new Lightbar RF-640 printer. To complement large format banners that adorn the front of house, Frenzy Designs also applied Lightbar print to the 3 sq. metre, flex face, illuminated sign and the 15 metre long sign panel that crowns the top of this historic theatre.

Frenzy Designs has been supplying theatres like the Bristol Hippodrome with signs and banners for more than 30 years. The promotional signwork is changed regularly as one show comes to an end and another starts its run. With the inevitably tight deadlines involved, Frenzy Designs is frequently required to convert fresh artwork into new theatre signs over the course of a weekend. By producing instantly usable, immediately durable output, Frenzy Designs’ new Lightbar printer is helping to deliver the fast turnaround times that these theatre contracts demand.

Conveniently located between Bristol and Bath, with easy access to the motorway network, Frenzy Designs was established in 1981 by Val Bryant, a traditionally trained signwriter whose hand painted lettering skills and illustrative artistry are still in great demand today. That said, Val has always moved with the times to offer his impressive list of local and national clients a comprehensive range of sign services; everything from traditional hand signwriting to full colour digital printing. By doing so, Frenzy Designs has acquired a well-deserved reputation for creativity and quality workmanship.

It was quite by chance that Val and his business partner, Matt Pope, happened upon the solvent-UV ink technology that would provide the next evolution in their business. As Val explains, “We were visiting a trade show when we first came across the Lightbar printer. We already owned an excellent 10 year old Roland printer/cutter and we weren’t in the market for another…. until we were handed a sample of Lightbar print straight off the new machine. The colours were bright, glossy and the print was completely dry. More importantly, when I took out a key and scratched at the ink, it didn’t leave as much as a mark on the image.”

The Lightbar RF-640 printer is a Partner Solution that combines the latest solvent-UV ink chemistry with the quality and reliability of Roland DG print technology. This new ink formulation is odour free and cures the instant it passes through a low energy UV lamp unit. The result is vibrant, colour rich output that’s dry, durable and ready to use the moment it leaves the printer.

Val and Matt saw the potential benefits for their sign business immediately, including all the time and floor space they could save by not having to leave print on drying racks to out gas before applying, mounting or laminating it. Within days of having its Lightbar RF-640 printer installed, Frenzy Designs had completed their latest Hippodrome theatre project and set the new printer to work on a full van wrap for another of its valued customers, Upham Brewery, the south of England’s fastest growing pub and brewery company. Matt takes up the story: “We’d already wrapped two Upham delivery vans with vinyl printed by our old Roland, so, it was important to get the right colours from the new Lightbar printer. In the end, all it took was a few tweaks in our VersaWorks RIP and a couple of test prints to produce a perfect colour match.”

With the additional speed of the Lightbar RF-640, Frenzy was able to print the vinyl for the van wrap in half the time it had taken them previously. However, laminating the print without having to wait for it to out gas was the real game changer as Matt points out: “Having printed and laminated the vinyl in record time, we then discovered that the van was a ‘face lift’ model that differed very slightly from the previous two vans. The print for the bonnet needed to be 150mm wider. Thanks to our Lightbar printer, we were able to re-print, laminate and fit the replacement panel within an hour, which allowed us to complete the van wrap on time for our customer.”

By introducing Lightbar print technology, Frenzy Designs has dramatically improved the workflow within its business. As a result, both production times and operational costs are now considerably lower for the company. This means that it’s possible to produce more, grow revenue and increase profits without any additional staff overheads. Building on this success, Frenzy Designs also plans to field test the impressive durability of unlaminated Lightbar print to establish its suitability for an even wider range of outdoor applications.

Sabur Ink Systems has signed exclusive distribution rights for the DGI (Digital Graphics Incorporation) range of sublimation and textile printers for the UK and Ireland.

The company has added to its range the HSFT & HSFT II industrial sublimation printers with print speeds of up to 200m2 per hour and true production speeds of 180m2 per hour on the HSFT II. The new printers offer Sabur's sublimation customers large volume production with one footprint and lower production costs, due to being able to run lighter weight papers and reduce labour time. The HSFT II will be available for demonstration at Sabur's Barnsley showroom from the beginning of November 2015.

“We are very excited about the UK distribution with DGI as this further expands on our sublimation offering to the UK. The HSFT printer has been widely praised around the world by customers for its reliability and performance in the sublimation sector. Within our showroom we now have 8 different printers for customers to openly test to find the best suit for their business alongside a Klieverik calendar press, making it one of the largest sublimation showrooms in the UK,” comments Sabur Ink Systems' Aaron Burton.

For further details please visit www.sublimationinks.com.

Andy Spreag from i-Sub Digital considers the use of metallic foiling effects in packaging and how digital technology can make the proofing process quicker and more cost effective than traditional methods.

Christmas is on the retail horizon and the shelves are preparing to shine with the golds and silvers of festive packaging. Adding metallics to a product gives a taste of luxury while, importantly, the reflected light helps it to stand out amongst its competitors.

"Gold has this glorious quality, an opulent and alluring quality," says Andrew Novialdi, a designer based in Indonesia who often uses metallic elements in his designs, chiefly gold. "It gives a radiance to a product, a divine status." Novialdi works in food packaging design, in addition to corporate branding, posters, wedding products and other work complementary to his intricate work influenced by illuminated religious manuscripts.

A Traditional Approach

Andrew Novialdi employs the traditional hot foiling method for his design prototypes. The first stage is to produce a vector file, which is turned into a film via graphic software such as Adobe Illustrator. The film is placed on a polymer material or metal such as magnesium and exposed to UV light, with acid added to produce the design in relief, creating a plate (also called a die or stamp). Next comes the tricky step of mounting the plate onto the hot foil machine: it must be fitted accurately so it lands exactly where the design should be on the media. The metallic foil is sandwiched between the hot plate and the media; when the machine presses the layers together the impression of the design will be left on the paper in foil. The results are eye-catching gold effects that turn a beautiful package design into a completed prototype worthy of catching any customer's eye.

The process typically takes around two weeks from first design to signed-off prototype. Novialdi outsources printing work and says the turnaround time, cost and the quality can vary from business to business, while the comparatively small size of a standard foiling machine can also limit designs, but it is a process that produces stunning results.

The stunning gold leaf work above is the creation of packaging designer Andrew Novialdi, using traditional methods, but can digital technology make this production easier and more cost effective? www.andrewnovialdi.com 

A Digital Future?

Digital systems are being developed to enhance and improve these traditional methods. Digi-Foil, for instance, is i-Sub Digital's solution that uses a digital desktop printer from manufacturer Mimaki to lay down a design in primer to which foil material can be adhered, before being fixed with a heated applicator. It can also be combined with a small-format digital cutting and creasing unit such as the Mimaki CFL-605RT to create a full package prototype, using the same foil and substrate as the finished product, in just a few minutes from the first design. This can be altered, dramatically if necessary, and quickly printed, cut and folded again.

Andrew Novialdi usually gives his clients three design options of which one plate is normally made, but it is only at the end of the lengthy die-making and foiling process that he and his client can see the proof in its opulent golden glory. If changes are required, a new die must be made and foiling done again. With a digital system, designers and their clients can mull over any number of packaging possibilities, all finished in accurate shapes and colours, in a single afternoon; indeed, several foil options can be completed at once for immediate comparison.

"A digital system is certainly exciting," says the designer. "It means producing prototypes more cheaply and more quickly." He adds that a solution like Digi-Foil can be also used to output just one or two foiled designs at a time, while outsourcing the work to a litho printer would mean committing to a minimum run length of hundreds. "The minimum charge is the downfall of traditional printing processes," says Novialdi.

Digital proofing systems, both printers and cutters, are designed to pack efficiency and flexibility into a compact footprint and small price tag; a Mimaki CFL605 cutter and Digi-Foil solution with a Mimaki UJF UV printer can be purchased together for around £25,000, within reach of design agencies wishing to bring proofing work in house or other graphics businesses looking to diversify. The Mimaki UJF printer can also be fitted with an optional attachment, the Kebab, which enables printing directly onto cylindrical items such as bottles and tubes. Digi-Foil can also be utilised using the Kebab system which offers unlimited opportunity for cylindrical applications.

Always Time to Shine

Christmas aside, packaging featuring reflective metallic details in gold, silver – or any of the hundreds of other colours, shades and patterns of foil – can bring a certain style to any package at any time. It can be luxurious or extravagant, bring a hint of divinity to a product, or beautifully highlight simple details, but always makes it special. The processes to achieve it are varied, but as technology develops designers and their clients have more options than ever to bring their ideas to glittering life.

To find out more about the digital package proofing solutions available from Mimaki, contact i-Sub Digital on Tel: 01536 415511 or visit their website.

Produce foil effects digitally, and then cut them to shape, for perfect packaging proofs - all produced on Mimaki hardware.

 

Since its launch in January 2012 James Gibbins’ company, exhibitionstands.co.uk, which trades as Stand4, has been steadily growing. Its website has become one of the top rankers in the Google listings as word-of-mouth recommendations gather interest, and repeat business keeps James’ team busy.

As its name suggests, James’ company provides a wide range of exhibition stands and display solutions. He said, “What we aim to do every time is put ourselves in our customers’ shoes. What kind of service would we expect if it was us making the purchase? Then we simplify the ordering and purchasing process. Our customers are busy people and the more we can do to help them the more they appreciate it.”

He continued, “An exhibition stand is important. It is the company’s ambassador during a show. It has to represent our customers in the public eye and that’s quite a responsibility for the stand manufacturer. We listen and advise if necessary, and our portfolio includes options ranging from pop-ups and roll-ups to portable displays, pop-up shops and sales booths. We also manufacture full, bespoke exhibition units on a hire or sale basis. We have units for indoor, outdoor and forecourt, and if the artwork is provided on time we can normally guarantee a 24-hour turnaround to customers throughout the UK and parts of Europe. Tell us what you need us to do and we can tell you how fast we can do it, or, sometimes, how we can provide something better.”

Exhibitionstands.co.uk was originally built by sub-contracting work out to select graphics providers around the region, but as demand grew that was no longer a viable option.
James explains, “We had previously met customers’ needs through the skills of sub-contract business partners, but that manufacturing model could only work within certain parameters. As demand has grown we have chosen to increase our in-house facilities to help us speed delivery and ensure the finished product always meets our strict quality standards, and, of course, that our customers are happy with the end result. That is the final benchmark for any supplier.”

Organic evolution

In August 2015 the workshops saw delivery of a Summa F1612 Pro flatbed cutter from CWE Solutions Ltd, a reseller for Summa’s UK distributor, ArtSystems. The choice had proved a simple one. James said, “We needed high quality cutting and creasing across a broad portfolio of materials and the only way to meet that need was to bring the facility in-house in an affordable way.
“We had seen the Summa in action and we knew it provided really great specifications for the money. It was a no-brainer to make the investment and it has already proven its worth, especially with regards to the increasing number of bespoke projects we are handling.”

Exhibitionstands.co.uk often has to demonstrate real flexibility with its customers, largely because it doesn’t deal with any specific industry sector. James explains, “One day we might be working with Bulmers Cider and the next with blu, the e-cigarette manufacturer. It is this kind of variety that is driving the increase in bespoke stand and pop-up shop manufacture, and is one of the reasons we needed the Summa F1612. As a result of our investment we have tightened turnaround times and quality control.”

James ascribes his company’s success to organic evolution based on service, including quality print, competitive pricing and a ‘tell not sell’ approach to marketing. He said, “People don’t want to feel they’re being sold to. They want to maximise their return for the budget they’ve allocated and don’t want to be seen as simply another cash cow ready for milking. Thanks to our portfolio we can accept projects from anyone, small traders or large corporate players, and provide solutions that match both their needs and their pockets.

“We enjoy the unusual request,” he continued. “For instance, we have built a pop-up shop in the shape of a double-decker London bus and provided special photographic booths that visitors can use to take souvenir shots at weddings. You’d think our work would see us spending most of our time at the big exhibition halls such as the NEC or ExCeL but that isn’t the case. We have created PoP units, coffee stalls and more. Variety is at the heart of our working day, and we love meeting a challenge.”

James hasn’t limited his company to purely exhibition work, it also has the facility to be a graphic and print provider, including large format printing, laminating and finishing, graphic design and print-ready artwork. It is also involved with 3D design and animation.

He concludes, “The Summa is our latest acquisition and thanks to it we will continue to grow our customer base and range of exhibition stand solutions. It will be interesting to see where we shall be in a year’s time.”

For more information visit www.exhibitionstands.co.uk.

For more information regarding CWE Solutions Ltd visit www.cwesolutions.co.uk.

Summa F1612 specifications:

Dimensions: 235 x 196 x 110cm (without roll support)
Media width: Up to 165cm
Cutting area: 160cm wide x 120cm long
Speed: Up to 1000mm/s

Summa’s award winning cutting tables are capable of cutting sheet and rigid materials as well as roll stock. Up to three tools can be inserted at any one time on the multi-module tool holder. Changing tools is quick and easy. Automatic tool recognition, combined with digital and mechanical depth and/or pressure control, ensures precision cutting on a wide variety of materials.

The F series base unit comes equipped with a drag module and Summa's optical camera marker recognition system for accurate contour cutting of printed flexible or rigid substrate materials.

Multiple material handling options ensure optimal workflow for roll, sheet and board material.

The Tangential module corresponds to a whole range of matching tools for cutting materials from vinyl to textiles to carpet, kiss-cutting the most demanding roll materials and creasing a wide range of cardboards.

The router module mills most materials used in the sign workshop, from hard foam PVC and acrylic to aluminium coated foam board.

For more information on the Summa range call ArtSystems on +44 (0)115 9380 380 or visit www.artsystems.co.uk.

Essex-based Access360, a specialist exhibition, experiential marketing and interiors company, has replaced its old Mimaki solvent printer with a new HP Latex 370 from City and West End Solutions.

The company says that the HP gives it triple the production capacity of the old machine – and thanks to the booming demand for bespoke wallpapers and other interiors solutions, the business is already there to fill that capacity.

Access360’s main focus is on interior decoration for large corporates, supplying individual companies and chains across the UK and Europe.

“Our work includes window manifestations and digital wallpapers, and when our work volume in those areas started increasing week on week, we needed to invest in a new fast and reliable printer to meet that growing demand,” explained Director Dave Pimlott.

“I spoke to Graham De Kock at CWE Solutions because I’ve known him for many years and knew that I could talk to him in technical language about the print solution we were looking for – the way we wanted to print, the speed, size of output and so on.

“He asked if we had considered latex, and it was clear that the HP Latex 370 ticked all the boxes for us as regards speed and reliability – and it’s unusual to find something that really does everything that you want it to. Latex printing is a plus for environmental reasons for both us and our clients, and a lot of the old issues of material compatibilities for latex seemed to have been ironed out.

“The excellent price of the machine also allowed us to invest in a specialist Onyx Thrive RIP, giving us more control over the image output and colour. With its versatility, power and the ability to control all of its functions this RIP does everything you could conceivably want it to, but the greatest advantage for the work we do is its speed.

“With our old RIP a typical bespoke wallpaper would probably take around 20 minutes to process – with the Onyx it only takes a couple of minutes.”

The speed of Onyx RIP is backed up by the print speed and reliability of the HP Latex 370 itself, and Dave says that since the printer was installed in July, they’ve seen 100% reliability with no colour issues or spoilage.

He said: “In the past we would have issues on a daily basis such as colour inconsistencies between panels, but we’ve had no such problems with the new HP. You don’t realise how much time you’re losing even if it’s just one panel here and there, and how much that affects your bottom line, but with its improved speed and reliability the HP has triple the production capacity of our old solvent printer.

“The quality of the print is also as impressive as the speed of output. In today’s corporate world the focus is on brightening up the workplace and making it more inviting and comfortable for staff. The HP Latex 370 is perfect as it produces a top quality, robust output and is great at matching colours with incredible accuracy on pantones.

“I have to say that the HP Latex 370 is the first printer we’ve bought that lives up to the spec that’s listed – and that really is saying something!

“Wallcoverings is an area that’s keeping us exceptionally busy, and the smooth and speedy process of dealing with CWE from initial conversation and purchase to installation and training was excellent, as we could hit the ground running with no down time.”

Commercial Director at CWE Solutions, Graham De Kock added: “The 64 inch, six colour HP Latex 370 keeps running costs low, and allows for both unattended printing and the ability to change cartridges while printing.

“At up to 1200 dpi it uses water-based inks to produce sharp, consistent, repeatable image quality with high-efficiency curing, and can print onto traditional signage substrates like vinyl and banners to temporary textiles, canvas and wallpapers. The quality is maintained at high speed, and output is instantly dry, with the scratch resistance benefits of the third generation of latex inks.

“Personalisation is becoming incredibly popular in both corporate, retail and home interior design, and printers like the HP Latex range coupled with the Onyx RIP are perfectly placed to meet that demand while delivering excellent profit levels for those companies who choose to join this exciting new market.”