There is a distinctly aeronautical feel to FESPA London 2013, which takes place late in June at the ExCeL. For any business engaged or interested in wide format digital print, screen and industrial printing, garment decoration and textile printing, a great deal of new technology and business intelligence awaits.
Visitors to London’s ExCeL exhibition centre in late June might initially be forgiven for thinking they have wandered into some kind of aeronautical conference, instead of a print show. They will be greeted in the North hall by ‘airline stewards’, and will see signage for things such as the Jet Set conference and the Pilot’s Briefing Zone.
But fear not – this is a print show. FESPA is in London this year, running from 25 to 29 June, and in tune with its ‘Destination London’ theme it intends to take visitors on a ‘business journey to explore the wider opportunities of print’.
The FESPA airline stewards are there to guide visitors around the show floor; the Jet Set conference will provide seminars on key areas of opportunity for printers, including digital printing, digital textile printing, business building skills and industrial printing; the Pilot’s Briefing Zone is a source of information and advice on garment printing applications. Continuing the aeronautical flavour is the Print Inspiration Runway – a showcase of innovative print ideas, including interior design, garments, printed electronics, outdoor, screen print effects, in-store, and augmented reality.
Another feature is the Creative Corner, a packed programme that will target printers, designers, creatives and brand directors with seminars on areas such as packaging, in-store graphics, outdoor and extra-large format print. Brands already confirmed to speak include Coca-Cola, Heineken and TBWA.
A vehicle wrapping Cup of Nations, in which national teams will compete against each other, will also take place for the first time. ‘Our show features at London emulate the Destination theme and highlight the effectiveness of print and its innovative applications,’ said Duncan MacOwan, head of events and new media at FESPA.
‘FESPA’s content-led approach is designed to inspire printers by presenting them with creative ideas and opportunities enabling them to explore wider business opportunities.
‘In today’s multi-channel world the relationship between print service providers, designers and marketers is essential to achieve the highest quality, innovation and ROI possible. That’s why at this year’s event, with features like the Creative Corner and Print Inspiration Runway, we’re also targeting creatives and brand owners, showing them the possibilities that can be achieved through print and providing real life case studies of how printers and agencies can work better together. Through our educational content and hands on practical sessions we want to continue to inspire and inform printers to give them the confidence to communicate the value of print.’
There will be around 650 exhibitors at the show, encompassing equipment, technology and consumables for wide format digital print, narrow format digital print, screen and industrial printing, garment decoration and textile printing. Given the scale of FESPA, there will inevitably be a good deal of new technology being launched or shown in this country for the first time.
The Inca Onset Q40i flatbed UV inkjet printer
Printing systems
Prominent among the new printing systems set to make their bow at FESPA will be launches from Inca Digital/Fujifilm, HP, Screen, Agfa and Mimaki. From Inca Digital and Fujifilm comes the Inca Onset Q40i – an ‘ultra-high quality flatbed UV inkjet printer’.
This uses Fujifilm Spectra Dimatix QS10 print heads, which deliver a 10 picolitre drop size, compared to the 27 picolitre drop size of the Onset S40i model.
The company said that the resulting 1200 dpi apparent resolution produces ultra-crisp images, fine lines, sharp text and smooth tonal gradations. Print speed is up to 310 square metres per hour (or 62 full-bed sheets per hour), with media dimensions up to 3.14 x 1.6 metres and up to 50 mm thick being printable.
Available in four and six colour versions, the Inca Onset range now numbers 20 different configurations. HP’s Latex printing portfolio will be enlarged with the worldwide premiere of the HP Latex 3000 printer, which offers broader media versatility, including heat-sensitive substrates with a new ink solution that makes curing at lower temperatures more efficient. HP 881 Latex inks also provide better scratch resistance. It can print at up to 120 square metres per hour for outdoor applications.
Van Son’s Premium wide format inks will be launched by Ink & Print
Screen, meanwhile, will show its latest UV wide format Truepress Jet at FESPA. It can print sellable quality output at speeds of up to 94 square metres per hour, on a range of media and sizes up to 1600 x 3200 mm, and a maximum 48 mm thickness.
It also uses ‘super-fine droplet print heads’ to deliver ‘razor-sharp’ 1200 dpi text, fine definition and smoot vignettes. Light cyan and light magenta inks help to provide a wide colour gamut and photographic- quality back/front-lit displays.
The Goccopro 100 will ‘revolutionise screen printing’
Agfa has new additions to its Anapurna and Jeti UV wide format printing families to show at FESPA, as well as announcing its Asanti PDF workflow for sign and display applications. The new printers are the Anapurna M3200RTR midrange 3.2 metre roll to roll system for producing premium quality banners and displays; the 2.5 metre wide Anapurna M2500, which supports flexible and rigid media, with six colours plus high density white; and the Jeti Titan, a versatile flatbed that Agfa says is ideal for sign and display and packaging printers.
The JV400-SUV solvent UV printer from Mimaki will be introduced on the Hybrid Services stand. Said to provide vibrant colour and excellent outdoor durability, the four colour machine prints at up to 18 square metres per hour in draft mode. Mimaki has developed special inks for the JV400-SUV; the solvent component is absorbed by the ink-receiving layer of the media and the pigment is settled on to the media.
See Mimaki’s JV400-SUV solvent UV printer at Hybrid Services’ stand
Curing the ink with a special UV light results in prints with a smooth, high gloss appearance. Mimaki is also unveiling three new cutting plotters at the event. The CG-SRIII series has speeds from 70 to 100 cm per second. InkTec Europe’s latest addition to its range of UV printers, the Jetrix KX5-R, will be officially launched and showcased for the first time in Europe at FESPA.
The new printer is a standard format 2.5 x 1.3 metre UV flatbed printer and, similarly to its smaller brother, the 1212, the KX5 utilises the next generation Konica Minolta 1024 (6 picolitre) print head, which offers speeds of up to 30 square metres per hour, and a maximum print resolution of 1440 dpi.
Among other new launches at FESPA are Mutoh’s three new printers, the ValueJet Hybrid VJ-1617H 64 inch roll to roll and rigid printer, which is the company’s first to have white inks, ValueJet 1624W 64-inch dye-sublimation printer, and compact 42-inch DrafStation RJ-900x. SSE Worldwide’s Eagle range of UV LED small format printers will be there, featuring two devices, the Eagle UV LED 30 and 60, with printable areas of 300 x 1000 mm and 600 x 1500 mm respectively.
These are CMYK plus white ink systems that can print onto substrates and objects up to a depth of 25 cm. Kaye-Dee will present the Viper LED printer, which has been developed by Bergstein Digital. This is a high speed flatbed printer with a 60 x 60 cm print area and a height adjustment up to 300 mm.
It has six colours and Ricoh Gen 4 print heads for a 6 picolitre droplet size. Croatian manufacturer Azonprinter will launch the Q UV A3, which can print onto materials such as leather, glass, aluminium, plastics and wood. It has a printing area of 30 x 80 cm, features white ink, and can print on materials up to 20 cm high. And Scottish distributor Southfield Stationers is launching a system it says will revolutionise screen printing: the Goccopro 100.
Its advantages include not needing a dark room or hazardous chemicals to operate; it is cost effective, easy to use, eco-friendly, and perfect for short runs, with a turnaround of less than five minutes.
Finishing off
Among the post-press equipment suppliers to announce new technology is Zünd, which will showcase new features for its Cut Centre software, ZCC 2.0, as well as a tandem vacuum system for material handling on its G3 and S3 cutters.
Friedheim International will show two of the latest versions of Lasercomb ProDigi Neo cutting tables, one equipped with a conveyor belt cutting out shapes of printed Accylux plastic board, and the other milling printed items from Dibond with Acryl and PVC hardfoam boards.
The new Neo can operate at up to 100 metres per minute. Software developments will also be on show. Hybrid Software will be showcasing Proofscope Live – an enhancement to its software which allows online soft proofing, annotation, viewing and live editing on any tablet or mobile device. SAi’s Flexi Cloud integrated job management, and PhotoPrint Cloud print-andcut software will make their international tradeshow debut, and Shuttleworth’s MIS with its new iPhone and iPad mobile CRM app, job tracking functionality, supply chain management for wide format, and business intelligence toolscould prove a draw.
Van Son – better known for its offset inks – is to launch the Van Son Premium wide format ink range, which is designed for use with print systems such as those from HP, Canon, Epson, Roland and Mimaki, and also offers considerable cost savings on other OEM inks, according to UK distributor Ink & Print.
