Print is Alive

A new EFI VUTEk printer, the HS100 Pro is a 3.2 metres wide hybrid digital UV printer. It handles up to 100 beds or boards per hour (50 boards in P-O-P mode). So far little new, except perhaps that it’s quite speedy. But then come the output specifications, and these are quite exceptional.

This new printer comes with true greyscale technology and up to 8 colours. Combined with what EFI VUTEk has dubbed “Pin & Cure” technology, the HS100 Pro can lay down ink at very precise locations for a high image quality with a wide colour gamut, better gloss control and fewer artifacts. 

Read the whole story here: http://printing.it-enquirer.com/2012/05/09/efi-vutek-launch-offset-approaching-digital-inkjet-press/

Or view the printer specs here: http://w3.efi.com/Vutek/Products/HS100-Pro

The distinct advantages of UV LED curing over UV curing using traditional mercury lamps are manifold. The environmental factors alone are considerable as the inherent dangers in the building, handling, and disposing of a hazardous substance are well known.

But not all UV LED curing lamp systems are created equal, and so it’s important to know what you’re buying. UV LED curing systems consist of multiple sub-components which taken together can be used to define the system’s overall performance.

The VUTEk GS3250LX (downloadable PDF) prints quality output up to 223 m2/hr and 55 –1.2m x 2.4m sheets per hour. That's about as fast as a mercury lamp cured inkjet. The EFI/VUTEk also has dual resolution: true 600 dpi (24pL) or 1000 dpi (12pL) selectable by the user.

This machine is controlled by the EFI Fiery RIP, which guarantees good results — I've tested the previous version of the Fiery RIP with a Ricoh and Canon large volume device and I can assure you the results were stunning.

Computer Arts had a long article on the new Kodak inks. They're cheaper and they are claimed to be better than competing products.

But who will want to buy from a company / brand that's associated with a bankruptcy?

“The print industry will soon be more dead than Rasputin. It’s inevitable, and your very reading of this article reinforces the point. While it’s not exactly news that electronic devices are rapidly supplanting physical books and newspapers, what about the ancillary results? (…)”

The above contains a logical error. It does not follow that print media is dead because you’re reading an article on a digital device. It could be that print media as a market is becoming smaller, but it’s far from dead. It suffices to read some advertising market magazines and journals to know there’s still a lot of money going around in print advertising.

Read the whole story on IT Enquirer.

How does a Zebra label printer run on a Lion machine? Without special drivers, until recently: not very good. The last driver update by Apple took care of that. Lion’s Zebra capabilities are exemplary now.

There's a whole story on IT Enquirer.

Until recently, there were two large MIS software vendors in Europe: AlphaGraph and EFI. Well, since December 2011, there is only one left: EFI. The firm can now serve companies from the smallest to the largest. 

For example, EFI Monarch is automated print production and management for large, single and multi-plant operations. Monarch is at the very high of the MIS spectrum, offering functionality like multi-company, multi-currency, advanced job management, intelligent production planning, and JDF-certified integration with many of the industry’s top suppliers of pre-press, press and finishing equipment.

It’s also scalable to 5,000 users. With AlphaGraph’s portfolio, EFI gains a broader range of solutions for more markets.