Vehicle livery and branding specialist Gordana Graphics has used an HP Latex 700 printer, purchased from Perfect Colours, to produce a series of wraps for five local sightseeing double-decker buses in Edinburgh.

The family-owned business installed the printer in March 2022 to produce graphics for the project, called the ‘Cobbles’ Tour’, which included large-scale exterior graphics and smaller prints for the inside of each bus. Production of the graphics took around one week to print, laminate and cut out on a Kala 1650-65 laminator, Summa 160 S2 Class T Series Opos CAM cutter and RollsRoller Flatbed applicator. A team of four then fitted the wraps over a period of seven days.

Each bus required between 60m and 70sqm of graphics for the exterior wrap and Gordana Graphics worked closely with the Lothian Buses in-house graphic design team to produce both interior and exterior vinyl for the five vehicles. 

Tracey Shanks, who co-founded Gordana with Scott Macpherson in 2002 with the aim of delivering high-quality vehicle branding, said, ‘The print quality of the HP Latex 700 is beautiful. There was a lot of yellow on the Cobbles buses but there was zero banding. It was a lovely solid print that was set at an eight-pass, so we were really pleased with the final results.

‘I’ve worked with HP Latex printers for a number of years now and I always find them easy to work with as they are so user-friendly. From changing the ink cartridges or printheads to loading material, HP always has the end user in mind.’

Ms Shanks added, ‘More businesses are increasingly looking for an eco-friendlier approach, especially in the public transport bus sector, where a large proportion of companies are investing heavily in electric or hydrogen buses. Having water-based inks and the option of PVC-free films shows these companies we are investing and trying to do our bit for the planet.

‘Lothian Buses were absolutely delighted with the finished article and, from what I hear, the public liked them too. The HP Latex 700 played a major role in the success of the project. For me, the benefits of the printer – setting aside how great the print quality is – include that it doesn’t take up too much space and that the maintenance is so easy, as the operator can easily replace the printheads without the need of an engineer.’