LexJet Named to Digital Output’s Top 50 List

Best companies in the graphics industryThe November issue of Digital Output, which is due to hit the streets on Oct. 26, honors 50 companies in the industry as top innovators in 2012.

LexJet was chosen by Digital Output readers to the Top 50, as well as three LexJet products: Poly Select Light, 8 Mil PolyGloss Banner and PolyGloss PSA.

The Top 50 were generated using Digital Output‘s website metrics system, DOdirect.net. As readers throughout the year inquire about products and services in the magazine, on the website and eNewsletters, Digital Output tallies the inquiries to create the Top 50.

For more information and to get a copy of the November issue, either printed or digital, go to the Digital Output website. And, for more info about the top products — Poly Select Light, 8 Mil PolyGloss Banner and PolyGloss PSA – as well as the myriad of products available at LexJet for large format inkjet printing, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.

Canon Introduces Five New iPFX400 Large-Format Inkjet Printers

New wide format inkjet printers from CanonCanon U.S.A. Inc. announced this morning the introduction of five new imagePROGRAF large-format printers: the iPF9400, iPF9400S, iPF8400, iPF6450 and iPF6400. The new printers are expected to be available at LexJet this month, and stay tuned for in-depth videos on the features of the new printers here at the LexJet Blog.

Designed for use by photographers, artists, proofers and print-for-pay users, the imagePROGRAF models include a variety of enhancements made to both quality and speed. According to Canon, users will experience increased productivity, while benefitting from the built-in tools that make managing large-format printing convenient and cost-effective.

The Canon imagePROGRAF iPF9400 (12-color, 60-inch, MSRP $11,995), iPF8400 (12-color, 44-inch, MSRP $5,995), iPF6450 (12-color, 24-inch, MSRP $3,695), iPF6400 (12-color, 24-inch, MSRP $2,995) and iPF9400S (8-color, 60-inch, MSRP $9,995) printers offer improved color stability designed for precise, ultra high-quality print performance with increased speed and productivity.

All of these models utilize Canon’s LUCIA EX pigment ink set, an enhanced multi-sensor and advanced printing technologies specifically developed to produce prints with an enhanced color range and improved durability.

The imagePROGRAF iPF9400S and iPF9400 printers can now handle 60-inch borderless printing and now have a more affordable price when compared to previous models as well. Each of the imagePROGRAF models has been upgraded in comparison to previous generations by integrating several new features and functionalities to help customers achieve the ultimate in color consistency. These tools include:

  • Multi-Sensor: A new, enhanced multi-sensor has been incorporated for improved density accuracy and stability over previous models. The sensor, along with the included software, helps to achieve color consistency across all new imagePROGRAF 12-color models.
  • Color Calibration Management Console: Using the calibration function equipped in the new line of imagePROGRAF devices, it is possible to execute and monitor the calibration status of multiple printers on a network from one PC.
  • Media Configuration Tool: This software allows the user to update and customize the printer and drivers with new Canon and custom media information.

Adding to the versatility of the imagePROGRAF printers is a sub-ink tank system which minimizes waste. The ink cartridges can also be replaced while the printer is running allowing for the print job to continue, which helps to improve the workflow of the end-user. This system is further enhanced for the imagePROGRAF iPF6450 and iPF6400 printers with a new 300ml tank size that will provide increased cost-savings.

Canon has also worked to help increase overall usability of each printer with a variety of new software features, including:

  • Gallery Wrap feature: Allows users to easily create gallery wrap prints for framing along with creative options that expand the output possibilities
  • Adjustment Pattern Setting: Users can print multiple versions of an image with different color setting in order to choose the color that most matches what is needed
  • Tint and Tone Adjustments: Controls the four monochromatic shades allowing a user to create even more expressive blacks with smooth gradations, especially in darker areas

The 12-color, 24-inch Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6450 printer has the option to add an onboard spectrophotometer for advanced color management including the ability to obtain color consistency across multiple iPFX400 series printers.

The optional SU-21 Spectrophotometer, which retails for $1,795, also helps reduce operating costs by automating color management and is highly adaptable to user system environments.

The spectrophotometer device includes:

  • A fully automated mobile unit for the spectrophotometer for a wide range of media of various thicknesses to be loaded and used with the device
  • A specialized backing plate that has black and white strips on it and is user switchable
  • User-switchable UV blocking filter that can be turned on and off according to paper type
  • A scan speed of 10 inches per second
  • Expandable workflow options due to the ability to perform color calibration with third party media
  • 2010 XRGA measurement standard compliance

For more information about the new Canon printers and to pre-order a unit, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.

Gambling on Wall Graphics

Inkjet printing wall murals and decor

They say (whoever they are) that, one way or another, the House always wins, so there’s nothing better than a situation in which everyone wins. Such was the case with a recent wall graphics project Imagine This Banners completed for a casino in West Virginia.

Casino decor and wall graphicsImage This Banners, headquartered in Charleston, W.V., covered four walls at the casino, effectively transforming those spaces and setting a unique atmosphere. Two of the walls were 50 feet long by 6 1/2 feet tall, another was 22 feet long and 8 feet tall, and the fourth wall was 15 feet long by 10 feet tall.

Imagine This Banners used Photo Tex PSA Fabric from LexJet for the project, and owner Greg Harpold says it was the first time they installed an adhesive-backed wall mural of this size though he’s been evangelizing on behalf of this application for years.

Applying inkjet printed wall graphics“When I first got into the large-format business in 2005 I was attending a lot of trade shows like SGIA and I was intrigued by the wall wraps. I come from a theatrical, stage lighting, film and television background and it was a natural thing for me to latch in because digital inkjet printing makes fantastic backdrops, as well as the ability to change and create atmosphere quickly,” says Harpold. “I’m hoping that it will run like wildfire and open the door for more of this type of application.”

Image This Banners, by the way, is the design and large-format printing arm of an international multi-media company with additional offices in Toronto and London that includes Jaguar Education, which produces educational materials for schools. “Large format printing was a natural spinoff for us; we enlarged our basic formats for posters, mascot banners, floor graphics, wall graphics, pole banners… you name it,” Harpold says.

Installing interior wall decor imagesHarpold adds that he had previously pitched the casino on wrapping the walls a few years ago. The casino finally came around, designed a concept and called Imagine This Banners to see if they could pull it off.

Harpold admits to being a bit nervous about the project since, as mentioned earlier, they had not completed a project of this scope with adhesive-backed materials. Fortunately, the choice of Photo Tex soon put any misgivings to rest.

“I have learned a lesson or two when it comes to installing large adhesive graphics and some materials are very unforgiving. If you drop them or position them wrong you might be starting the entire install over or damaging the surface that you are applying to, but Photo Tex is a blessing for its ease of application since it’s repositionable and can be easily corrected if it sticks where you don’t want it to stick,” says Harpold. “I would totally suggest using foam-covered squeegees when it comes to applying Photo Tex. This technique really helps protect the artwork and allows you to focus on the job at hand.”

Greg Harpold
Greg Harpold, owner of Imagine This Banners, Charleston, W.V.

Harpold says the client is “absolutely stoked,” all the way through the organization from top to bottom. Part of its success, beyond the relatively easy installation, was the color gamut provided by the Canon iPF9000 printer, which Harpold says is especially important for hitting flesh tones.

“My production manager and righthand gal Tracy Rogers was completely floored by the print quality of Photo Tex and the ease of its application. She has been with me through thick and thin and said this job was, by far, a total success because Photo Tex gave us such latitude in both printing and installation,” says Harpold. “Also, working with Jaimie Mask [Imagine This Banner’s personal customer specialist] and the valuable information she provided regarding the product really helped us move toward Photo Tex as our choice of material for this project.”

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. 

Storytelling on a Grand Scale at Group Delphi

Trade show exhibit design, manufacturing and printing
Photo by Jamie Padgett

With roots in theatrical stage scenery, Group Delphi, based in Alameda, Calif., understands the importance of storytelling. As Group Delphi has grown and expanded its reach, the company’s storytelling approach continues to be the foundation of its work.

“Over the years we’ve transformed the company into what is now our core business: the design, manufacture and management of large-scale trade show programs, corporate events, museum exhibits and, most recently,  retail operations,” says Group Delphi CEO Justin Hersh. “The commonality across these different areas is storytelling. Our interest is in trying to understand what our customers want to tell their audiences and then in finding the environment and experience that most effectively tells that story. We’re more agnostic about the solution and much more interested in delving into the story and finding the most effective way to tell it. Sometimes that may be a permanent installation in a company’s lobby, graphics, multi-media and three-dimensional work. For us, it’s being able to bring a wide variety of tools to the table, working with the client to find the right solutions and delivering those solutions.”

CEO of Group Delphi
Group Delphi CEO Justin Hersh

As Hersh notes, Group Delphi has many tools at its disposal, from wide format and grand format inkjet printing to the use of dynamic digital signage. In other words, at Group Delphi the medium is not the message; the message is the message, and the medium follows.

Hersh sees digital content that arrives on-screen, whether at an event or as part of a display, as a complementary technology to digital printing. “There’s a tendency by the proponents of a new technology to present it as a category displacer,” he says. “However, we see new technology as different media that become complementary to existing media. One of the things that’s exciting to us is that as prices have come down and quality has gone up with wide format printing, the ability to use graphics to change an environment  and then to overlay digital content, providing a level of interactivity, creates an opportunity for a much more dynamic experience.”

Graphics and booth design for Pixar StudiosWhile storytelling is its foundation, Group Delphi has built diversification, integration of media and processes, and a focus on customer service into its corporate culture. Diversification, for instance, helped Group Delphi weather the recent economic storms as the trade show industry suffered. Fortunately, it appears that the trade show business is coming back, but being able to operate in a broad spectrum of markets with a diverse product mix picked up the slack.

“It’s hard to be in a single vertical market and not be concerned about economic volatility,” says Hersh.

“There are few fundamental things that have never changed: we’ve always put creative first, whether it’s our own design or one from an outside agency. We’re always stretching to make sure, no matter how tight budgets are, that we’re delivering on the creative side. We’ve also had a relentless pursuit of quality. Coupled with that is a real focus on customer service. Those are things that never go out of fashion. Other things come and go, but if you do those three things, then you stay on track,” Hersh adds. “With customer service you have to have a lot of visibility at the management level where you’re talking about it all the time. Each employee needs to be deeply ingrained in the culture of the company so that anyone in the organization knows that they have permission to do the right thing for the customer and that the company will back them up. You have to give a lot of power throughout the entire organization, and you have to be comfortable giving people that power. They won’t always make the right decision, but in general they will. The only way to support them is to help them get better at it, but you don’t take that decision-making power away from them.”

The woodshop at Group DelphiUsing this formula, Group Delphi has grown both organically and through the recent merger with General Graphics Exhibits (GGE), a full service trade show and exhibit company, with photo and fine art printing services as well. “GGE offered some of the same services with a stronger presence in the graphics business, enhancing our graphics offering,” explains Hersh.

The merger fit perfectly into the diversification component of Group Delphi’s business model, expanding and enhancing the company’s core capabilities.

“The acceleration of integration is only going to become more important in the future. Customers don’t want to have to go to ten different providers; they want to find companies that can bring design, digital content, graphics and fabrication all in one package. We’ll continue to look for ways to enhance the variety of our services and offerings as well as the way we integrate those services,” adds Hersh. 

Birdie Time: Quick Change Backlits for Promotions at Mid South Distributing

Printing backlit signs for advertising and promotions

It’s a simple yet effective branding tool: backlit boxes. Backlighting brings out the best in graphics, making the message more vibrant and eye-catching than an unlit sign. There is a danger, however: light acts as a magnifier, bringing hidden flaws in the print to the fore.

Fortunately for Mid-South Distributing’s Chad Mallich, he has the right tools and support to maximize the power of backlits for branding, as well as a designer’s eye for what brings out the best in a promotional sign.

With two Canon iPF8300S wide format inkjet printers, a cold laminator, a hot laminator, an OKI small format laser printer, a vinyl cutter and other sundry shop equipment, Mallich is ready for any challenge that comes across his desk. And, with support and materials from his LexJet customer specialist, Kelly Price, quality and quantity are able to effectively intersect.

Mallich’s recent backlit project was designed to draw thirsty golfers at Saddle Creek Golf Club in nearby Lewisburg, Tenn., to one of Mid-South Distributing’s prime brands, Miller Lite.

“We were looking for an alternative material for a short-term promotion that was less expensive than a typical backlit film that still imaged well and was easy to work with,” explains Mallich. “Kelly recommended LexJet 8 Mil PolyGloss Banner, so I put it on the light table, turned out the lights and it looked great. I’ll send an email to Kelly describing a product and she knows exactly what it is, so she’s been very helpful. As we get requests from other accounts like bars that have light boxes we’ll swap them out with this material.”

The appealing golf-themed sign is 11 3/4″ x 35″. With golf season in full swing, Miller Lite is the perfect antidote to promote this summer. Malich says that as the seasons change, he uses backlits to promote the seasonal draughts at various locations. “You can do more graphically with a backlit with contrast and bright colors; they just look better backlit,” adds Malich.