Only Two Days Left to Take Advantage of Epson S-Series Instant Rebates

Epson SureColor S30670Epson Professional Imaging will not run any S-Series rebates or promotions in June, which means that if you’re looking to purchase one of Epson’s low-solvent printers, now is the time to take advantage of the current slate of instant rebates:

Epson SureColor S50670: $4,000

Epson SureColor S70670: $3,000

Epson SureColor S30670: $1,800

These instant rebates end on Friday, May 30. Click on the printer models listed below or call a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538 for more information about each printer and what LexJet can do to help you.

Walls to Windows: Creative Interior Imagery Makes a Perfect Match

 

Creative Interior Imagery
Creative Interior Imagery not only seamlessly carried the “tree” theme from walls to windows (from left to right), but perfectly matched the interior paint.

Creative Interior Imagery, based in West Pittson, Pa., merged interior décor and design with digital printing for a medical center that wanted something less conventional and more inviting for its patients.

Eric Marsico, a partner at Creative Interior Imagery with Keith Tomkins, recommended hundreds of feet of wall and window murals to carry the common “tree” theme recommended by the medical center’s architect throughout much of the facility.

“They were hesitant at first because they had used wall murals on other projects that didn’t hold up. We pitched LexJet Velvet WallPro SUV with ClearShield Wall Armor and found that the stuff is tough when partnered together. We beat it up in the shop to test it beforehand and it held up really well,” says Tomkins.

Atrium Decor PrintingFor the windowed nurses’ station Tomkins chose LexJet Simple Perforated Window Vinyl (70/30). The trick was to ensure a perfect match from walls to windows. Not only that, but Tomkins took great pains to match the interior paint as well.

“They painted their building with a specific paint color, so we went to the paint manufacturer’s website, pulled those paint numbers, and plugged them in to make sure we matched their paint. We got the RGB formulations, converted them to CMYK and incorporated those colors into the graphic. They were impressed with how closely our prints matched their paint colors. You can’t tell where the wallpaper ends and the paint starts,” says Tomkins.

Tomkins adds that to ensure a seamless transition along the walls through the windows and back onto the walls from panel to panel he took pictures of the empty spaces and manually lined everything up instead of using the tiling function in the RIP software.

Creative Interior Imagery
The combination of GigaPan photography printed on LexJet Velvet WallPro SUV with an Epson SureColor S30670 brings the tree theme to life in the main atrium.

In addition to the vector tree art that adorns the walls and windows, Creative Interior Imagery installed a gigantic photo of a tree Tomkins found and captured in a local park. Tomkins photographed the tree with his GigaPan camera so that fine details would be apparent in the final print, also on LexJet Velvet WallPro and protected with Wall Armor.

“They wanted the tree to go up the wall and across the ceiling so you felt like you were sitting underneath it. I took the shot going up the trunk and through the canopy. By the time it was done it was a 1.2-gigapixel image. It’s 11 feet off the ground, goes up 19 feet and across the ceiling 14 or 15 feet and is about 10-12 feet wide. The resolution is amazing. If you get right up to it you can see the texture in the bark; it’s just like you’re standing in front of the tree,” says Tomkins.

Tomkins adds that this is the company’s largest project to date and that the combination of the right materials and a precise color management system made it a successful project sure to bring similar projects through the doors in the future.

Creative Interior Imagery“We spend a lot of time working with profiling software. We have an i1 and custom-profile all of our media. There are manufacturing tolerances in everything – printer, ink and media – and when we do it in-house we can get it spot on, like we did with the paint colors, which shows how the profiling helps. That’s one of the things that sets us apart, and when you get into a major project like using different materials and matching décor and paint color management is a big issue,” explains Tomkins. “And, at nighttime when the inside is lit, you can see it from the highway and it looks fantastic.”

The project was printed on Creative Interior Imagery’s Epson SureColor S30670 low-solvent printer. To illustrate the tight color tolerances Creative Interior Imagery’s color management system can produce, Tomkins recently created a gigapan wall mural of New York City using 12 different inkjet media on four different printers (the S30670, and the Epson Stylus Pro 11880, 7900 and 4880).

“With this 2 1/2′ x 6′ mural in our showroom we can show people how their print will look on the different media and show off our color matching skills, because that’s difficult to do,” says Tomkins. “The architectural firm did a walk-through of the medical center with interior designers after we installed the murals, and person who was leading the group remarked that no one else could match the quality of the materials and workmanship, so we were feeling pretty smug about that.”

Printing Creative Interiors for a Growing Market

Creative Interior Imagery
Creative Interior Imagery brings all kinds of environments to life with a full suite of services, from design to wide format printing and framing.

 

Several years ago, Keith Tomkins started a small printing company in his basement called Zeopix. Business soon blossomed and it didn’t take long for Zeopix to move to a commercial space to better handle the additional work that was flowing in.

Creative Interior ImageryShortly thereafter, Zeopix partnered with Marsico Art & Framing to create a new company focused on the decoration of commercial interior spaces, Creative Interior Imagery, based in West Pittson, Pa. The new company specializes in transforming restaurant, medical, hotel and resort, and corporate environments.

The Zeopix side of the business continues to serve a more consumer, retail group of clientele while business continues to build at Creative Interior Imagery. The road to success was paved by Tomkins’ diverse background as a Navy airplane mechanic, photographer, and hardware and software designer.

“After the Navy, I spent 17 years in Silicon Valley designing hardware and software for companies. This was back in the days when Adobe was a font foundry, and we were working on the first systems that would do some of the things Photoshop does today,” says Tomkins. “One day I went to a local shop that did photo printing. I had some great scans I wanted blown up, so I took them over and got some real crappy prints back. I told him I wasn’t happy with the work, and he told me to take it somewhere else. That’s when I found there was nowhere else.”

Creative Interior ImageryThus a need for quality print work was identified and Tomkins purchased his first wide-format printer, an Epson Stylus Pro 7600 from LexJet. Tomkins says he started printing to support his photography hobby, but word soon got around and printing was dominating his time.

Tomkins soon added a Stylus Pro 4880 and 9900 to keep up with demand. As the opportunity to provide more interior décor printing emerged, Tomkins decided to add an Epson SureColor S30670 to the mix.

“A lot of companies will bid a project and go to one person for art, one for window graphics, one for walls and so forth. We can offer a one-stop solution, and having the solvent printer has allowed us to offer new products and lower our costs on some of our current products, like large canvas prints. For a four-color printer and one in that price range, I’m blown away by the print quality.” says Tomkins. “The solvent printer is being used mostly for vinyl and large canvas items that are more production-oriented. If I’m doing a custom reproduction for an artist or photographer, they want the colors spot-on, so that’s where I use the aqueous printers.”

Creative Interior ImageryTomkins adds that he had been working with Marsico Art & Framing on commercial project over the past few years, but officially began the partnership, and Creative Interior Imagery, in the past year to meet the expanding needs of his customer base.

Marsico Art & Framing brings its expertise in custom framing, art selection, placement and installation to ensure a seamless, consistent, high-quality experience for each of its clients. The list of services at Creative Interior Imagery touches every point of the process, from art consultation to installation, as well as a print treatment for virtually any surface, from floor to ceiling.

Hospital Graphics“LexJet has been a big help in building our business. One of the things I can always count on with LexJet is tech support. I’m a tech guy myself, but there are times that I need to consult with my LexJet sales rep, Michael Clementi, and he can usually get me an answer himself right away. If he doesn’t know the answer he finds someone at LexJet who does and gets right back to me,” says Tomkins. “I also use a lot of LexJet products because they’re reasonably priced and I’ve had very good luck with them. The quality and value is there, and I’m not waiting around for products I need right away; having multiple warehouses is a big thing.”

Epson Extends Free One-Year Warranty Promotion through April 30

Epson SureColor Solvent Printer Rebates and Extended WarrantyEpson announced that it has extended its free one-year warranty promotion for the S-Series low solvent inkjet printers through April 30. The printer must be purchased by April 30 and the printer serial number registered by May 31.

The extension on the one-year warranty promotion is in addition to the various mail-in and instant rebates from Epson, which are also good through April 30. Click here to see the full Epson rebate line-up.

When you buy the Production Edition version of the Epson SureColor S30670 or S70670 printer, Epson provides a free one-year Extended Service Plan (Silver Plan), a $2,495 value.

The free one-year warranty adds on to the initial one-year warranty already provided with the printer, for two years of coverage.

For more information about this promotion and the Epson SureColor line, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.

Installing and Using the High Speed Print Dryer on Epson SureColor Printers

Installing and Using the High Speed Print Dryer on Epson SureColor PrintersThe High Speed Print Dryer for the Epson SureColor S30670, S50670 and S70670 low-solvent inkjet printers should be used if you are having trouble with particular materials that aren’t drying well, especially when printing at higher speeds.

The dryer comes standard with the S50670 and is an option to add onto the S30670 and S70670.

In the video embedded below, learn how to install the High Speed Print Dryer and how to enable it on the printer’s front panel…

Point of Sale Print Horsepower at Standard Distributing

Window Graphics on Simple Perforated Window Vinyl by Standard Distributing

The top beverage distributor in Delaware requires a top-notch print shop to win space at the point of sale and build the brands they sell. Standard Distributing Co., New Castle, Del., has the advantage of quality and quantity at the point of sale through the work of its print shop, led by sign industry veteran Matt Glick.

Standard Distributing recently added the Epson SureColor S30670 low-solvent printers to its printer lineup.
Standard Distributing recently added the Epson SureColor S30670 low-solvent printer to its printer lineup.

Before joining the Standard Distributing team nine years ago, Glick had worked with grand format solvent VUTEk printers. Glick already knew the ins and outs of these 10-foot-wide industrial machines and has translated that experience into an efficient and productive print shop.

Glick recently brought in Epson’s new SureColor S30670 low-solvent printer that he got from LexJet to add to a printer arsenal that also includes an Epson GS6000 low-solvent and HP Designjet Z6100 aqueous printer.

LexJet Simple Adhesive Vinyl SUV“We had another solvent printer for about eight years and it wasn’t producing the quality and speed we needed, so we got the Epson SureColor from LexJet. The clarity and visibility of the colors is much better; the colors just look richer. Everything I print on the Epson is clear and the resolution is better, and there’s no smell, and the speed is fantastic,” explains Glick. “One prints scrim banners and window perf, the other prints adhesive-backed vinyl, and the Z6100 prints paper posters, banners and temporary stuff. It speeds up production when I don’t have to worry about changing materials every time there’s a different job; we can nest them together on the same printer.”

Window Sign by Standard DistributingIn addition to the print production horsepower provided by those printers, there’s also a Seal 410 laminator for mounting and laminating, a rotary cutter and a 72″ large-format cutter for finishing.

Glick estimates that about 60 percent of the 400-600 designs created in the shop each month are prints applied to Coroplast, 30 percent banners and 10 percent specialty graphics, like perforated window film, floor graphics and counter-top graphics.

For banners, Glick’s material of choice is LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Polypropylene; for adhesive-backed applications on Coroplast and aluminum it’s LexJet Simple Adhesive Vinyl SUV; and for window graphics it’s LexJet Simple Perforated Window Vinyl (60/40). Glick adds that perforated window vinyl graphics are an effective way to get tap handles into an account

“My biggest challenge is over-marketing our accounts. We want to be as visible as possible without being so busy that we lose the message in the process,” explains Glick. “Simple is always better and consistency is another important ingredient. From a production standpoint it’s been helpful to work with a vendor like LexJet. My rep, Kyle Stephens, has been very helpful with my questions, he’s accessible, and he always seems to have the shipping down so we get the products we need when we need them; the customer service has been outstanding.”