ColorJet’s SoftJet Plus for soft signage at Media Expo Delhi

ColorJet India has an entry-level printer for the soft signage market, which it claims is ideal for “flag printing”. Although flags are not as popular in India as they are in the West, the company says, the nation is moving towards using more flags.

30 Sep 2016 | By Noel D'Cunha

The four-colour direct-to-fabric soft signage printer is available in two sizes – 2.5 mtr (8-ft) and a 3.2 mtr (10-ft) and besides flag printing, it is also aimed at indoor and outdoor signage market.

Smarth Bansal, brand manager for the Indian equipment manufacturer, said, “Sooner or later people would want to shift to fabric. Backlit fabric application is very easy to change, and in malls, you can’t have anything that is solvent-based.”

The SoftJet can print in four modes, a maximum speed of 46 sqm/hour is achieved at the lowest resolution of 720x540 dpi while the highest resolution of 720x1440 can deliver 15 sqm/hr.

The printer uses dispersible water-based inks, presently imported from a Swiss-based ink company, and costs around Rs 3 per sq/m. The machine is fitted with a curing system, which ensures wash-fastness, giving the fabric a longer print life.

Bansal said the machine is value-for-money equipment. “The fabric costs similar to the backlit flex. In the market a backlit flex costs Rs 80-85, so does the fabric, but the advantages of quick printing and drying, ease of replacing, and the quality of the signage offsets the higher investment in the machine.”

The wide format equipment manufacturing company, promoted by Apsom Infotex has over 2,500 different models of ColorJet printers running in India, of which close to 80 are in the fabric business.