Fespa Digital review, Indians triumph

Caldera, the France-based company, launched the TextilePro, the new RIP software especially for the textile printing with an RGB workflow.

 

D.gen launched the Teleios Grande G5, the 3.3m direct-to-fabric printer for the textile market. The printer comes with the latest Ricoh GEN5 industrial inkjet printheads with 1.280 nozzles per colour, a droplet size of seven picoliters and true greyscale, that results in printing speeds up to 185sqm/hr.

 

Durst, the industrial inkjet specialist, launched the first 5m-wide dye sublimation printer for soft signage and fabrics industry. The Rhotex 500 has a maximum speed of 310m2/hr and 125m2/hr in pass production mode.

 

 

Epson showed off its SureColor SC-S series which included three 64in (1.62m)-wide printers that are designed to deliver increased quality, productivity and durability and lower running costs. The highest specification model in the range, the SC-S80600, was shown in public for the first time at Fespa Digital.

 

Esko showcased the latest 3.2x3.2m cutting table with the new semi-automatic feeder. With the Kongsberg C64 finishing table, i-BF60 feeder was seen running on the Esko stand. Esko also made an important pre-Drupa announcement in Belgium about its cutting table. PrintWeek India is under an embargo till the first week of April. Watch this space for more.

 

HP unveiled the Scitex 9000 industrial press and HP HDR245 Scitex inks, enabling the signage and display print service providers (PSP’s) to take the industrial production to next level. The HP Scitex 9000 industrial press provides up to 90 beds/hr engine speed. With its manual media handling, productivity is operator dependent and can reach up to 60 beds/hr. The HP Scitex 9000 enables customers to print a range of applications, including point-of-purchase signs and displays.

 

Mimaki launched the 3.2m-wide UJV55-320 LED-UV printer at the show. The UJV55-320 is a roll-to-roll-type inkjet printer with a UV-curable ink that can be cured by UV radiation. The UV-curable ink does not require drying in general water-based and solvent inks, enabling the initialisation of processes and operations immediately after printing.

 

Mutoh added a new budget option to its ValueJet X roll-to-roll sign and display printer series. The machine, which is engineered and manufactured in Japan, incorporates a piezo drop-on-demand printhead that can produce ink droplets of 3.5-21pl.

 

 

Onyx Graphics launched the Onyx 12 which is entirely 64-bit. This means the ripping times are faster, twice as fast. Starting up apps and moving files around is also quicker. Other new features include colour managed previews and thumbnails in the main interface. Cutting paths are also previewed. In addition, Onyx showed off its new connectivity with Enfocus Switch.

 

Roland DG, the manufacturer of wide-format printers, had launched TrueVis VG640 and TrueVis VG540, the eco-solvent printers, which is expected to be faster than its own VersaCamm’s. The machines are available in three ink configurations: a seven-colour channel with CMYK plus light magenta, light cyan and light black.

 

 

Ricoh introduced the latest version Pro L4100 series printers, which run on the aqueous resin (AR) latex inks. The printer is a six-colour plus white machine and uses the Ricoh variable drop piezo printhead technology.

 

Tharstern showed a number of new features for wide-format and commercial printers like CAD integration, which can support nested impositions of non-rectangular shapes. Also new is versioning support within estimating. In addition, there was Tharstern’s Business Intelligence module, which allows users to create their own dashboards to show a visual representation of company performance.

 

The highlight of Fespa was the 18th annual Fespa Awards where entries were up 45% on last year. The Awards which honour some of the most creative print service providers, saw Indian firms score at the international print forum.

 

The Fespa organisers have revealed that next year’s Global Expo event will return to Hamburg, which hosted Fespa Digital 2011, and will take place from 8-12 May 2017.