Big Discounts on 60-inch HP Z6200s at LexJet While Supplies Last

HP Designjet Sale at LexJet

LexJet is offering big discounts on a limited number of 60″ encrypted HP Designjet Z6200 printers while supplies last. Call a LexJet printer specialist at 800-453-9538 for pricing.

By the way, “encrypted” simply means that there’s an additional measure of data security built into the printer that has no effect on the daily operation of the printer.

The HP Designjet Z6200 wide format inkjet printer offers super-fast, high-quality print production with print speeds of up to 1,500 square feet per hour utilizing the HP Optical Media Advance Sensor (OMAS). Plus, automated servicing routines prevent nozzle clogging and media waste.

The Z6200, with its fast-drying HP Vivid Photo Inks, are perfect for quick-turnaround applications like point-of-purchase displays, trade show graphics, backlit signs, canvas gallery wraps and more. For photographic output, three shades of black HP inks produce outstanding optical density and smooth transitions for unique black-and-white prints, in addition to the wide color gamut provided by HP Vivid Photo Inks.

The Z6200 includes an embedded spectrophotometer so you can generate custom ICC profiles and ensure color accuracy and consistency while providing complete coverage of SWOP, ISO, GRACOL, 3DAP, EUROSCALE, TOYO and FOGRA gamuts.

To find out more about the features and benefits of the HP Z6200, and to pick up one at a deep discount before they run out, call a LexJet printer specialist at 800-453-9538.

How to Make Canvas Printing Work for You, Part 5: Canvas Wrap Options

Finishing and Stretching Canvas

Before we get into the physical stretching and wrapping of canvas, this seems a good spot to discuss ways in which you can prepare the file before printing so that it’s ready to be rendered as a gallery or museum wrap. A gallery wrap, by the way, is where the image continues to bleed onto and over the edges. A museum wrap substitutes a solid border along the edges.

The trick is getting this right before you print. Fortunately, there are quite a few options…

Photoshop actions: Typically, the Clone tool is the primary tool used to create a mirrored border. You can do this manually in Photoshop and then record your actions.

Canon Layout Plug-In: If you have a Canon iPF inkjet printer, the Layout Plug-in software features a tool that automates the process.

OnOne Software, Perfect Resize 8: Formerly known as Genuine Fractals, with Perfect Resize you can create selective, mirror, museum-wrap and other types of wrap borders.

Qimage Ultimate: This imaging software tool offers a number of ways to work with print borders. Click here to see how it’s done.

Alien Skin Software: Alien Skin’s Blow Up software comes with a free Photoshop Gallery Wrap Panel to make a solid border, reflected edges or reflected edges with a fade.

Stretching Inkjet CanvasTypically, there are three ways a canvas print can be stretched: by hand, with stretcher bars and strainers; using canvas stretching machines that provide a range of automation, like the Tensador II and the more automated Canvas Master machines by GAPP Engineering; or using a do-it-yourself stretcher bar system.

Stretching canvas by hand can be very involved and time-consuming, but the raw materials needed are less expensive. For detailed step-by-step instructions by master printer, photographer and craftsman Ralph Cooksey-Talbot on creating your own stretcher bars and canvas frames, including the tools and materials necessary, click here.

While much more efficient for production, acquiring equipment like the Tensador II or the Canvas Master requires an initial investment ranging from about $3,000 to $11,000. If your volume supports the equipment purchase, definitely investigate these machines.

Armando Garcia, director of operations for Soicher Marin, a high-volume fine art reproduction company is Sarasota, Fla., says, “We use the Tensador for just about everything up to 60 inches. When you compare it to doing it by hand, the machine always wins out. I can’t think of a situation where we wouldn’t use the machine, unless it was an original canvas.”

The Canvas Stretch Master from LexJet automates and speeds up the canvas wrap process for production printing and finishing.
The Canvas Stretch Master from LexJet automates and speeds up the canvas wrap process for production printing and finishing.

Garcia adds that it usually takes one of their operators about a day and half to learn how to use the machine to its full potential and cuts the time needed to do a canvas wrap by anywhere from 30-50 percent.

The Canvas Stretch Master is more automated, thus it’s more expensive. However, it also produces about twice as many canvas wraps per hour than the Tensador II and the Canvas Studio Master, about 60 per hour on the high side, with less labor. To find out more about the setup and operation of the Studio Canvas Master and the Canvas Stretch Master, click to the videos below:

Studio Canvas Master Setup

Studio Canvas Master Demonstration

Canvas Stretch Master Setup

Canvas Stretch Master Demonstration

Corner Fold Options

Sunset Stretcher Bars for Canvas
DIY stretcher kits like Sunset Stretcher Bars are a quick and simple solution for canvas finishing.

The third option is the use of a pre-made DIY stretcher bar kit, which include kits by Hahnemuhle and LexJet Sunset. This is a happy medium between stretching by hand and automating the process. Tara Materials also offers easy-to-assemble tongue-and-groove stretcher bars so you don’t have to buy the raw materials and cut them down to size.

While overall material costs are a little more than if you made the frames by hand, each canvas wrap will be faster than doing it by hand, but will obviously take longer than using a machine. For videos of the process, click here.

And, for more videos about printing, coating and stretching canvas, click here.

For the rest of this series, click on the following links:

Part 1: Materials, Finishes and Textures

Part 2: Printer Technologies for Canvas

Part 3: Latex, Solvent and UV-Curable Printing

Part 4: Coating Canvas

Boost Production and Quality with Sunset by Fredrix Gloss Canvas SUV

Sunset by Fredrix Gloss Canvas SUV

Designed for print shops running solvent, low-solvent, latex and UV-curable printers, LexJet and Fredrix Print Canvas have jointly developed and introduced a new OBA-free gloss canvas that optimizes canvas output: Sunset by Fredrix Gloss Canvas SUV.

Ideal for gallery-wrapped and framed fine art, photographic and décor applications, the new gloss canvas has a brighter white point than other OBA-free canvases, and is easy to stretch, frame and finish, ensuring a consistent and efficient canvas production workflow.

Sunset by Fredrix Gloss Canvas SUV has an acid-free, pH-neutral poly/cotton base with a light texture and 2×1 weave for archival prints that maximize color gamut and image clarity for custom and production canvas projects.

“As the output quality of solvent and latex printers has improved, demand for a canvas that takes advantage of advances in those print technologies has increased as well. This is all driven by the popularity of canvas prints among consumers, corporations, retailers and other end users,” says Jaimie Mask, LexJet product manager. “Now, print shops with solvent and latex printers can take advantage of that end-user demand and produce canvas prints that meet their needs.”

Sunset by Fredrix Gloss Canvas SUV is now available and shipping from LexJet’s North American Distribution Network, supported by LexJet’s 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee and personal, free and unlimited phone support. Sunset by Fredrix Gloss Canvas SUV comes in 30″, 36″, 54″, 60″ and 64″ widths.

To find out more and to order, call a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.

Video Overview: How and Why Canon Printers Pay Off Right Away

Ideal for virtually any application, from fine art reproduction and canvas wraps to signage and point-of-purchase, Canon imagePROGRAF printers are plug-and-play and super user-friendly, produce phenomenal image quality, and – most importantly – they pay for themselves right away.

Canon PrintersCheck out the video overview above of Canon’s imagePROGRAF printers, which details all the advantages these printers provide, including…

  • Built-in software plug-ins: These include the Print Plug-In, which simplifies printing from Photoshop, the Layout Plug-In that makes setting up canvas wraps a breeze, and Poster Artist for simplifying sign, banner and poster printing
  • Printheads and ink: Find out how Canon’s latest generation of printheads and ink contribute to greater color fidelity, deeper blacks, finer details, better scratch resistance, exceptional color stability and more
  • Return on investment: In the video, find out how the initial investment in a Canon iPF8400 printer can yield a minimum ROI of 115% from your first set of inks and media

To find out more about Canon’s imagePROGRAF printers, and to benefit from the ongoing and personal support you get with LexJet, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.

Be sure to stay updated on the latest products and product videos with our digital catalog at www.lexjet.com/catalog.

And, for a series of helpful how-to Canon inkjet printer videos that detail setup and operation from start to finish, as well as software tutorials, go to http://lexjet.net/1n91cMP.

New Canvas Maximizes Quality for Solvent, Latex and UV-Curable Printers

New Era Portfolio Print on Sunset by Fredrix
Fine art print on Sunset by Fredrix Satin Canvas SUV by New Era Portfolio, Austin, Texas.

 

For print shops looking to maximize the quality of their canvas production output, LexJet and Fredrix co-developed Sunset by Fredrix Satin Canvas SUV. The new canvas was designed to maximize image quality when using solvent, low-solvent, latex and UV-curable inks.

“Best canvas to date. Our color came out perfect; we have never seen a truer white hue before.  We have received numerous customer compliments, so they can definitely see the difference. Thank you for helping our business produce the highest quality at the best price,” says Zach Gardynski, Director of Operations, New Era Portfolio, Austin, Texas.

The poly-cotton canvas has a traditional two-over-one weave with a bright-white, pH-neutral, acid-free base for consistent, high-quality printing, whether it’s a production run of 1,000 décor canvas wraps or a custom fine-art print.

“Canvas print production is a high-growth market segment. Our goal is to help print shops with solvent, latex and UV-curable printers maximize their success in the canvas market. This new canvas, with its bright white point and consistent print surface, is designed to do just that,” says Jaimie Mask, LexJet product manager.

Sunset by Fredrix Satin Canvas SUV is easy to work with during production and post-production: it won’t crack during stretching and can be mounted and framed. Now available from LexJet’s North American Distribution Network, Sunset by Fredrix Satin Canvas SUV comes in 30″, 36″, 54″, 60″ and 64″ widths.

Art at the Point of Sale with Inkjet Printed Canvas

Blue Moon Beer on Canvas by AW Artworks

Each brand has its own aesthetic. The advertising that surrounds that aesthetic should be consistent and appropriate to the brand. In the case of Blue Moon craft beer, the advertising focuses on the craft element, emphasizing a hand-painted rendering of the Blue Moon logo and artwork.

Inkjet Printed CanvasWhat better medium, then, than gallery-wrapped canvas? Tyler Peters, distributor beer merchant for Tenth and Blake Beer Company, the craft and import division of MillerCoors, found the canvas craftsman he was looking for in Andy Wredberg, owner of AW Artworks in Sun Prairie, Wis.

Peters is based in Madison, and wanted point of sale artwork that not only in tune with the Blue Moon aesthetic, but was also in tune with the downtown Madison vibe.

“We wanted to create something a lot different than a standard neon sign or banner; something that conveys what we should see in the Madison market,” says Peters. “The artwork ties into a food festival we have here in Madison called Isthmus a la Carts. We had an interactive Blue Moon mural at the event that consumers – over 21, of course – could paint and enjoy some Blue Moon beer, too.”

Blue Moon Mural
The Blue Moon canvas wraps printed by AW Artworks on Sunset Production Matte Canvas were based on this mural painted by attendees of the Isthmus a la Carts food festival in Madison, Wis.

It was a version of this mural that was sent to Wredberg to print and build the 2′ x 3′ canvas gallery wraps. Wredberg used LexJet Sunset Production Matte Canvas to produce the prints on his Canon iPF8300 44″ inkjet printer.

“They printed beautifully; I was very happy with the look and color saturation of the Sunset Production canvas,” says Wredberg. “They had a pretty tight budget, so I checked on the Sunset Production canvas since I felt it would allow us to get closer to their budget and since it was a longer production run for us.”

Wredberg tweaked the design he received from agency a bit to ensure it fit in the gallery wrap format and wrapped the canvas around 1 1/2″ stretcher bars. Now the 50 canvas gallery wraps are ready to be distributed to various bars in downtown Madison.

Wredberg will also print 50 more canvas gallery wraps to promote Batch 19, a pre-Prohibition style lager. Check back here for photos of the gallery wraps in their environment.