The Pro L4100 from Ricoh is available in the uk from March 2014
The new roll-to-roll large format printer series from Ricoh, the Pro L4100, will be available in the UK from March 2014 and comes in widths of 130 cm or 160 cm.
In addition to CMYK, orange, green and white inks are also available. The ProTM L4160 and L4130 deliver high print productivity and quality as a result of technological innovations, which include the Ricoh piezo electric print heads. The series also offers products that reduce environmental impact by printing aqueous latex ink and operating with low power consumption.
Stephen Palmer, director, said, ‘Following the early reveal, at drupa 2012, of our intention to grow our portfolio with the system, the Ricoh Pro L4100 series has been through Ricoh’s rigorous quality assurance process, and we have been assimilating the positive customer feedback we received. As well as being ideally suited for the specialist signage market, we are particularly excited to be able to offer print service providers in the UK another solution to support their business growth and offer new services such as display and signage to their clients.’
The Pro L4100’s latex ink is an aqueous ink which contains a low level of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). It has no odour and a low curing temperature of 60°C to enable both quick drying, for a fast job turnaround, and the ability to print on many heat sensitive substrates.
The extensive array of media includes PVC, tarpaulin, synthetic paper, coated-paper, uncoated paper, film and textiles. In addition, it allows the use of lighter weight substrates, reducing overall costs. The company is expanding the range of compatible substrates through its continuing media profiling and testing programme in partnership with Colour Concepts, an industry standard for media validation.
‘Ricoh latex inks offer outdoor durability of one to two years, or two to three years with lamination. With white ink,’ said Mr Palmer, ‘printers’ clients benefit from brilliant colour on all substrates, including transparent and dark materials, for signage, branded materials and window displays. The addition of orange and green extends the colour gamut to encompass a wider range of vibrant colours, ideal for both indoor and outdoor materials, and to reproduce corporate colours accurately.’
Using the company’s latest generation of high quality stainless steel multiple jetting piezo inkjet heads, three different drop sizes are produced at once, with drops as small as four picolitres. The result is smooth, lifelike images every time. The small drop size also enables production of smooth gradations and fine details, including fine lines and small fonts.
The Pro L4100’s Uninterrupted Ink Supply System (UISS) adds to the productivity of the printer. ‘When one CMYK ink cartridge runs out of ink, the system switches automatically to the second cartridge of the same colour for unattended printing,’ said Mr Palmer. ‘In a busy print production environment, this ensures that the operation runs as smoothly and productively as possible with minimal operator intervention.’
The Pro L4100 is available with the ColorGATE RIP, ‘We are providing ColorGATE as a bespoke menu-driven RIP that allows users to choose the exact feature set they need,’ Mr Palmer explained. ‘It is intuitive, reducing the learning curve and improving productivity. And it includes excellent colour management tools ideal for demanding commercial print environments.’
Mr Palmer concluded, ‘We anticipate that commercial printers will find the quality and environmental responsibility of a Pro L4100 series printer coupled with the power and colour management capability of the ColorGATE RIP an attractive combination.’
