Optimum Signs has installed a Canon Colorado 1650 from CMYUK at its premises in Preston, UK.
Prior to the installation, the company was running six older Mimaki printers, three of which have been replaced by the Colorado, with the remaining three retained for small volume output. Other equipment in the company’s plant list includes a Kongsberg digital cutting table, Mimaki JFX 500 flatbed and Mimaki UJV 55-320.
The business wanted to invest in a new printer because it needed the ability to deliver a huge campaign for a new national media client.
Managing director Matthew Austin said, ‘I spoke with production manager James Garity who generally runs most of our print work, and his words were: I don’t know how the hell we coped without it. Seriously, it’s just the best thing in the world.
‘I said I’d buy the Colorado if we won the job, but we didn’t. But we were still suffering with the same production issues. I soon came to realise that we couldn’t afford not to have one. Once the Colorado was installed, it hit the ground running outputting over 800sqm in the first four weeks alone, something that could not have been achieved with the old production line-up.
‘The ability to switch between matt and gloss is a fantastic feature. The colour consistency – the fact that we can get it to match Pantones easily is impressive. We work for a national retailer that uses a particular type of blue, and the Colorado reproduces this colour the same every single time. The UV-gel inks seem to go further too.’
A recent favour for a sign-maker to produce 50 2 x 1.2m banners saw the Colorado output two rolls of material at 68sqm/hour. Mr Austin commented, ‘Both rolls were printed in less than three hours. Literally, the guy that dropped off the media was shocked when we called to say the job was ready for collection. It was a quick turnaround but still with impeccable colour and print quality. It’s a great machine.’
