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MaraShield UV Coating Solution: Now Available at LexJet
Posted on by Shellie Terry Posted in Technology & Products
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MaraShield UV Coating Solution: Now Available at LexJet

We’re excited to announce that we’re now carrying a full array of MaraShield UV Coatings for more wide-format print protection options.

MaraShield UV coatings are cured onto the substrate using UV light to provide long-term durability and abrasion resistance for a variety of applications from fine-art prints to truck graphics. UV coatings deliver excellent print protection that is machine-applied faster and at a lower cost than film laminates. Plus, they add intensified color vibrancy to graphics that can be applied to either rigid or flexible substrates.

Rather than providing one general, all-purpose UV coating, we’re offering the following application-specific products so you get the right protection for the right substrate every time:

As part of the full UV coating solutions, LexJet also carries the MegaCoat XL by TEC Lighting, Inc., which can coat materials ranging from pressure-sensitive film to 1-inch board, and everything in between.

To learn more about these new products, call your LexJet representative at 800-453-9538 today.

 

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Printing Branding Backgrounds for Beers

Wall murals and graphics for stores

The cooler wrap is tried and true for selling beer at the point of sale. It becomes even truer when you can translate it to any room in the house, so to speak, and create a branding background that gives your brand the highest visibility.

Printing wall murals for store signageTennyson Lacasio, sign shop manager at Colonial Beverage in North Dartmouth, Mass., took the inkjet printed cooler wrap to the next level with two recent projects at local liquor stores. Both projects were printed on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene and laminated with LexJet 3 Mil Matte UV Standard Low Melt.

Lacasio says he laminated the prints first (each project had anywhere from three to 12 printed panels) then applied the laminated pieces to Coroplast. This method helped hide the ridges that normally show through when you apply the print material directly to Coroplast before laminating.

“When you run print material through the laminator directly to Coroplast it bonds so closely that it shows the creases in the Coroplast. When I laminated the material first, it gave it a nice, fine, seamless finish,” says Lacasio.

Inkjet printed wall muralsAlso seamless was the paneling, particularly on the Blue Moon background display. Lacasio says this was mostly due to the fact that the wall he applied the panels to in the new building was perfectly square. Moreover, and most importantly, this 12′ x 19′ Blue Moon mural did its job rather effectively.

“You see it right off the bat when you walk into the store. The walls are light blue, which complements the graphic and draws your eye to the back of the store. The owner just wanted to do one brand, which allows you to focus on the strong points of the brand,” says Lacasio. “The image is not pixilated at all and it’s very impressive to stand right in front of it. After we installed it, people were walking out of the store with Blue Moon and they commented on the enticing feel of the image.”

As per usual Lacasio paid special attention to brand details in the designs, including such minutia as the types of glasses in which you serve the beers.

The other two wall murals – featuring Coors Light, Miller Lite and Leinenkugel’s – are on either side of a walk-in cooler door. The Coors Light mural, themed as an American fall, is 8′ x 13′. The Miller Lite/Leinenkugel’s mural, themed as a German Oktoberfest, is 8′ x 10′.

“Fortunately, they’re placing a minimal amount of cases at each display and replenishing them regularly so that you can see most of the display from just about anywhere in the store,” says Lacasio. “I had huge canvases to work from, which makes all the difference in wall branding graphics.”

Posted on by Sean McGettigan Posted in Technology & Products, Tips & Tricks
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LexJet’s YouTube Channel: 40 New GBC Videos

Videos for laminating and binding equipmentIn June, General Binding Corporation (GBC) selected LexJet as a reseller of its laminating and binding products. With the help of GBC, we have been hard at work ever since to help provide you with these products and the know-how to go along with them. 

On our ever-growing YouTube Channel you can find two new playlists that contain videos about many of the pieces of binding and laminating equipment from GBC that LexJet now offers.

These videos include everything from tips and tricks to product descriptions and demonstrations. Here are links to those playlists:

GBC Binding Equipment

GBC Laminators

If you have questions about a GBC product or need help with anything else that we offer, please contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles, Technology & Products
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Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: A Small-Format Laminating Time-Saver

Laminating small stuff, like menu boards and table tents, can be a real pain. Just ask Chuck Black, print shop manager for the Coors Distribution Center (CDC) in Denver.

I recently caught up with Black while he was laminating a run of about 1,500 11×17 signs for CDC accounts. The signs, printed on an OKI laser printer, are troubleshooting procedures for each account to follow regarding kegs and whatnot, and what to do if there are problems before calling in for service.

It’s not the most exciting project to come through the print shop, but it has to be done and they all have to be laminated. Fortunately, what would have previously taken a full day or two to run through the CDC’s larger laminator now takes relatively no time at all.

Earlier this year the CDC purchased a small-format GBC laminator, the HeatSeal Sprint 950, which eliminates the hassle of trimming out each piece individually: you feed the printed sheets (usually up to 30, depending on the thickness of the media) and, voila, a laminated piece with a nice 1/8″ border encapsulating each one.

“We got the laminator to save time trimming everything down. All the small-format media we laminated was going through our 38” laminator, and especially when we were doing hundreds of sheets at a time it would just take forever,” says Black. “Since we got the laminator we’ve easily saved 40 to 50 hours of labor time. You just load your paper and you can pretty much walk away from it.”

Black estimates that about 10 percent of the work that goes through the OKI is laminated. Though it’s a relatively small percentage of the small-format printing, it really adds up and was a real time-killer before the acquisition of the laminator.

Black normally uses the 3 mil laminate designed for the GBC laminator, which comes in various roll sizes and is 11″ wide. He switches to the 5 mil version for signs that need a little more substance to them, either for a higher-end look or so they can stand on their own in a tabletop holder.

“You can set the laminator to 11 inches wide and however long you want each piece to be laminated; we usually set it at 11×17. But if you had a roll of 11-inch paper you could laminate a length up to 200 feet,” explains Black. “We’ve printed two per sheet so afterwards I can use my industrial cutter, line everything up and do two or three chops at once and go through the entire stack.”

For more information about GBC laminates and laminators available at LexJet, contact a customer service specialist at 800-453-9538. To find out more about the laminator and how it works, check out the video embedded below…

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Laminates, Shipping and Customer Service

Finding laminates for inkjet printingI recently called one of LexJet’s customers out of the blue looking for some general feedback on laminates and lamination for one of our industry magazines. The customer, Ray Thompson, Jr. of Signs & Designs in Memphis, happily obliged.

A big part of our discussion revolved around how much Thompson appreciates his LexJet customer specialist, David Ianotti, and how Ianotti has been a valuable resource for the 35-year-old company that’s evolved from a modest hand-painted sign business to a digitally-driven powerhouse.

“If he says he’ll do something for me, it happens immediately. If he says, ‘I’ll check on that,’ I usually get an email within 30 seconds. He keeps me very updated; I don’t even have to ask questions. I order something and he lets me know all the parameters of my inventory and shipping,” says Thompson. “Our production had increased by 35 percent, and we were running out of available stock.  David made a spot for us in the closest warehouse so we could get it super fast every time we order it. David was able to work it out quickly, and the laminate has been a consistent product with no defects roll to roll.”

The consistent product Thompson alluded to above is LexJet Performance Satin UV Vinyl (3 Mil), aka SATLAM. “We’ve had really good success with SATLAM. We’re in a very high moisture area, and one of the advantages is that it has a silica based backer on it, which makes it easier to work with. We’ve tried just about every laminate on the market and this is one of the best we’ve used.”

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in News & Trends, Technology & Products
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LexJet Now Carries GBC Laminating and Binding Supplies and Equipment

General Binding Corporation (GBC) has selected LexJet as a reseller of its laminating and binding products. Professionals in the wide format, government, corporate in-house, commercial and photography printing markets now have access to GBC’s full line of products at LexJet, including laminates and coatings, mounting adhesives, laminators, backers and binding equipment and supplies.

Laminates, laminators and binding equipment and supplies“GBC’s products are an excellent complement to our wide-format inkjet product line, and allow our customers who have binding operations to access everything they need from one source,” says John Lane, LexJet vice president. “Companies and imaging professionals that use GBC products also have access to our Nationwide Delivery Network for one-day shipping to most of the contiguous U.S., free and unlimited product and technical support and the thousands of other products we carry.”

More than 450 GBC products will be available at LexJet, including GBC’s popular Arctic and Octiva laminates and adhesives for large format printing. LexJet is hiring and training additional customer specialists to ensure the company keeps its Customer Service Promise to provide the best customer experience in the industry.

“Our focus is on our customers, and while that may be a cliché, we put that into practice by providing each of our customer specialists with in-depth, hands-on training so they can troubleshoot practically any situation,” says Jeff Leto, LexJet product manager. “Plus, we spend a lot of time with ongoing training to make sure our customers are not only getting the support they need, but the best product and product combination recommendations that will save them time and money.”

GBC products are in the process of being stocked throughout LexJet’s Nationwide Delivery Network for purchase by phone or online at www.lexjet.com. For more information about GBC’s product line at LexJet and the availability of specific products, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.