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Posted on by Jennifer Corn Posted in Technology & Products
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Epson Introduces Five New Printers at ISA 2019

Thursday, Epson announced new additions to the SureColor P-Series and S-Series printer families. There will be production versions of the Standard P10000 and P20000:

  • SureColor P10000 Production – 44-in aqueous printer designed to create high-quality sign and graphics in fast-paced production environments. Perfect for signage, indoor displays and photographic/fine art printing.
  • SureColor P20000 Production – 64-in aqueous printer designed to create high-quality sign and graphics in fast-paced production environments. Perfect for signage, indoor displays and photographic/fine art printing.

What’s different? ONYX RIPcenter, a workflow software that incorporates Adobe Postscript® and is a powerful color management tool is now included.

The new Production printers offer the same 2.6” wide Epson PrecisionCore® MicroTFP printhead as the Standard edition and the Epson UltraChrome® PRO nine-color pigmented ink set will still be available with high-capacity 700 ml ink cartridges which, along with more efficient ink usage, allows for an extremely low cost per print.

These printers will be available to order starting in May.

In addition to the Production P-Series printers, Epson also announced the availability of Print and Cut bundles for the SureColor S-Series.

Available for order in June, these bundles will include an S-Series printer, and FC8600-130 cutter and Onyx software.

The S60600 is one of the fastest production printers on the market and now, combined with the Graphtec cutter and Onyx GamaPrintPro with Onyx CUT-Server, a premium print and cut solution is available.

The S80600 partners photographic image output with a top-of-the-line cutter and Onyx Thrive, to provide color-critical clients a reliable print and cut option.

Ordering details are not available for these new Epson printers, but if you would like more information, please call one of our printer specialists at 800-453-9538.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in News & Trends
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Show Your Trade Show Stuff in the Exhibit Design Awards

Awards for the best trade show exhibitsEXHIBITOR Magazine announces that the 27th Annual Exhibit Design Awards is now accepting entries. The Exhibit Design Awards honor the world’s best exhibition designs and present its winners with custom trophies, international coverage in EXHIBITOR magazine, and bragging rights.

If you produce trade show graphics it’s a good idea to get the details (view the entry form here for complete details) and enter. The Exhibit Design Awards are worth their weight in marketing and PR gold. The early bird deadline is Nov. 16, 2012 ($140), and the final deadline is Nov. 30, 2012 ($185).

Categories include:

  • Before and After
  • Double-Deck
  • Excellent Elements/Applications
    • Components
    • Graphics
    • Materials
    • Product/Service Demonstration
    • Technology
  • Experiential Exhibits
  • Green Exhibits
  • In-Line
  • Interactive Exhibits
  • International Designer
  • International Exhibit
  • Island
  • Lighting Design
  • Peninsula
  • Self-Promotion
  • Small Booths
  • Small Budgets
  • Use of Storytelling

The 2013 competition will be judged by eight of the world’s most well-respected designers, including:

  • Sean Duran, vice president for exhibition and design, Miami Science Museum, Miami
  • Tom Graboski, principal, Tom Graboski & Associates Inc., Miami Beach, FL
  • Maricarmen Martinez, AIA, principal, Upstairs Studio Inc. Architects, Miami
  • Efrain Osorio, president and creative director, Designapolis, Miami
  • Laura Paresky Gould, principal, Twain Creative, Miami
  • Emilio Perez, vice president, SB Architects, Miami
  • Annette M. Piskel, founder and creative director, AMPdzine, Fort Lauderdale, FL
  • Michael Wolk, principal, Michael Wolk Design Associates, Miami

An entry form and additional information are available online at www.exhibitoronline.com/awards/eda/. Or contact Linda Armstrong, senior writer and program manager, at larmstrong@exhibitormagazine.com.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Printing Unique Promotions that Stick at the Point of Sale

Printing cornhole boards for tournamentsPrinting point of sale promotions and advertising can become a bit humdrum: banners, cooler wraps, window signs… They’ve all been done, but that’s the beauty of the plethora of the latest printer technology and printable materials; you can advertise on just about anything.

At Caffey Distributing in Greensboro, N.C., production manager Bob Korabek has been finding new places to stick adhesive-backed materials to boost their brands at the point of sale, like cornhole boards for tournaments and on mini-fridges.

Cornhole, in case you’re not familiar with it, is a bean bag toss game that has swept through bars and pubs across the nation. Rumor has it that the game, at least the version now being played, was popularized in Cincinnati, moving its way south as transplanted Ohioans moved to warmer climates.

Whatever its origin, Korabek saw promotional opportunity and ran with it as local bars began holding cornhole tournaments. It’s a simple process: Korabek prints LexJet Extreme AquaVinyl w/ PSA on one of his HP Z6100 inkjet printers, applies it to the approximately 4′ x 2′ board and cuts out the vinyl where the hole at the top of the board is located.

“The bars set up four sets of boards for the tournaments, and the winners get some kind of big prize. I printed some with Miller Lite, Blue Moon and other beers we wanted to promote, usually tied in with a beer special,” explains Korabek. “Instead of just a logo in the middle of the board, I covered the entire board to give us more promotional space.”

Printing mini fridges with logos and promotionsThe printed cornhole boards have been a huge hit in the market, creating widespread interest and driving demand for both the game and the printed versions of the game.

Another popular application for adhesive-backed materials that Korabek introduced to the market is decorated mini-fridges. The graphics are usually tied to whichever sport is in season, whether it’s football or basketball.

Because the temperature of the mini-fridges can vary, Korabek was looking for a material that wouldn’t expand and contract as the fridge got colder or warmer. His customer specialist, Kelly Price, recommended LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene.

“They’re very popular and our accounts will often buy a couple of extra ones. For one of the March Madness promotions the contest winner got a fridge with the team they wanted on the fridge. It’s a little perk that our competitors don’t provide; it’s something extra special we do for those accounts,” says Korabek.

“When I first started here 16 years ago all I had was a Gerber EDGE and a plotter. The technology has moved so quickly since then and Kelly is awesome because she keeps me up to date on new products and she gives me great suggestions that work for my printers and any application I’m trying,” adds Korabek. “Plus, with LexJet’s distribution network I get everything on time; turnaround time for me is super-fast.”

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 Technology & Products
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Epson SureColor S30670 Printer Review

Wide format inkjet printer reviewLexJet’s director of technical support, Adam Hannig, has been putting Epson’s new SureColor S30670 low-solvent inkjet printer through its paces over the past few months.

“With great image quality, better print speeds and improvements in media loading and the take-up reel system, Epson has taken a big step forward with its second generation of solvent printers,” says Hannig.

The new SureColor printer includes a variety of new features to aid in faster, more efficient and higher fidelity production printing, such as a take-up reel system designed for unattended production of large print runs, a LiftAssist that allows one operator to handle heavy roll media, a high-capacity ink system and print speeds of up to 619 square feet per hour in draft mode, and more.

Though there are improvements on the GS6000 found in the SureColor S30670, Epson’s Reed Hecht says the printer is not designed as a replacement. Rather, the GS6000 is geared toward applications for print shops that require a wider color gamut and need to hit specific spot colors, while the SureColor is geared more toward high-quality production at an entry-level price point.

You can hear more from Adam about the S30670, and its new features, in the video embedded below. If you have any questions about Epson’s newest printer technology, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in News & Trends, Technology & Products
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LexJet Hosting On-Site Demos for Super-Fast Canvas Wrap Production Machine

Canvas wrap production machineAs noted last week, along with a demo video at the LexJet Blog, LexJet has been selected to demonstrate and distribute the fastFrame 1000 from Swiss manufacturer Imaging Solutions AG. The automated canvas wrap machine, which produces up to 80 finished canvas wraps per hour, was one of the most talked-about products at drupa 2012, held in Dusseldorf, Germany, June 4-15.

LexJet will hold demonstrations of the fastFrame at its demo facility in Sarasota in July. To schedule an appointment to see the fastFrame in action, in person, at LexJet’s demo facility, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.

“When we saw the fastFrame at drupa we were simply amazed at its production capacity. My first thought when I saw it was how much time and money it would save our customers who do high production runs of canvas gallery and museum wraps,” says Dean Lambert, LexJet vice president.

The fastFrame is a fully automated canvas stretching machine that can mount canvas onto 12″ x 8″ to 41″ x 41″ stretcher bars, finishing up to 80 canvas wraps per hour. Priced at around $153,000, it is designed for high production environments that require accuracy and quality in the finished product with the push of a button.

Automated canvas wrap machineImaging Solutions also manufactures the easyFrame, a semi-automated version priced at around $82,000 that can produce up to 45 finished canvas wraps per hour. The easyFrame is expected to arrive at LexJet’s demo center later this summer.

“LexJet was the perfect fit for the U.S. demonstration and distribution of the fastFrame. It just made sense to work with a company that has been an innovator in the inkjet printing industry, including fine art and canvas, since the industry’s inception,” says Armando Casanova of Imaging Solutions. “Plus, LexJet’s customer service is second to none, which was one of the most important elements we were looking for in a U.S. partner.”

With both the fastFrame and easyFrame you can use pre-assembled canvas stretcher frames, or you can make them yourselves. Imaging Solutions also offers a semi-automatic frame assembling machine called the fastMount.

For more information, and to schedule a demonstration in July, contact a LexJet account specialist at 800-453-9538.