Masar to invest in high speed inkjet web press from Kodak

Kodak has reached an agreement in principle to install the Prosper 6000C press at Dubai Media Inc (DMI) premises, the first such installation in Europe, Africa and Middle East region. 

DMI, the largest media group in the Middle East, plans to use the Prosper  for its ‘smart printing services initiative’ in the UAE, which will see the introduction
of reader-customized newspapers and other advanced printing services.

Faisal Bin Haider, executive director of printing and distribution sector

Staff Writer, 16 December 2014

Screen has announced enhanced version of its inkjet web press

Eight years after Screen its first high-speed web-fed inkjet press, the Kyoto-based company announced the next generation of inkjet printing with the launch of the Truepress Jet520HD.

The new Truepress Jet520HD is 520mm wide, and can achieve its highest quality output at 50 m/min with a resolution of 1200x1200dpi while the fastest speed is 120 m/min at a resolution of 600x600dpi.  While the initial machines will be launched as four-colour units, the Truepress Jet520HD has a modular structure

Staff Writer, 11 November 2014

Gallus claims quality, cost USPs with new digital label line

Gallus has described its new Digital Converting System for label production as having “game changing” capabilities compared with rival inkjet label presses.

The DCS 340 hybrid conventional/inkjet press was shown running live for the first time at the Gallus Innovation Days customer event at its Swiss HQ this week. The event was set to be attended by more than 600 customers from around the world.

It marries technology from Gallus, Fujifilm and Gallus owner Heidelberg and has involved a rapid

Staff Writer, 11 November 2014

Fujifilm announces commercial availability of its F1600 printer

Fujifilm  announced the commercial launch of the Vybrant F1600 following its preview at FESPA Digital earlier this year. The Vybrant F1600 is a new 1.6m roll-to-roll large format printer targeted at the sign industry, featuring Fujifilm’s patented FUZE hybrid UV Ink technology. The Vybrant F1600 is a four colour machine with a productivity of up to 18 m2/hour, suitable for printing vinyl or any other flexible material to create indoor or outdoor applications where durability and fast

Staff Writer, 15 October 2014

Xeikon launches a high speed digital label press, ‘Cheetah’

Xeikon has launched a new high-speed digital label press, the Xeikon Cheetah, which is over 56% faster than its current equivalent, the Xeikon 3300.

The Xeikon Cheetah, which will be commercially available in 2015, has a maximum web speed of 30m/min (depending on media thickness) at 1,200pi, giving it a maximum printed output of 594sqm/hr.

Patrick Van Baelen, vice-president of worldwide marketing at Xeikon, said that the “increase in speed represents a huge leap forward in digital press

Staff Writer, 15 October 2014

Domino launches inkjet printer for beverage and dairy industry

Domino has launched a new continuous ink jet (CIJ) printer – the A520i which it claims can withstand the harsh production environment of the beverage and dairy sectors whilst delivering ‘flexible, consistent and quality coding at high output speeds’.

The A520i is the first CIJ printer to incorporate the plenum airflow cooling system, which ensures the printer stays cool whatever the production environment. Each printer comes ‘wrapped’ in an IP55 marine grade robust stainless steel cabinet

Staff Writer, 15 September 2014

Altech hosts training sessions for Intec machines in UAE

Distributor of popular brands like Sharp, Intec, Muratec, and Brother, the Altech Group of companies, Altech International FZE  had organized a training sessions for the Intec digital machines like CS4000, CS5000 among others.

Explaining the Intec digital machines using Fiery XF, Philip Johny, general manager of Altech International  said, “This Fiery allows us to create innumerable profiles which allows us to deploy them in accordance to the user prerequisite. Also, this machine highly

Venkat Raghavan, 15 September 2014

MTEX Solutions launches 3 textile printing products globally

MTEX Digital Textile Solutions announced the global launch of its new digital textile products including a range of pre- and post- fabric treatment machines that will enable the user to print onto textiles in whatever market they choose, be it signage, interiors or fashion.
Eloi Ferreira, CEO of MTEX said: “With MTEX’s new coating and washer dryer machines, customers can now invest in a complete direct-to-textile digital printing solution, with preparation, print, fixation and drying in one

Staff Writer, 13 August 2014

HP has launched ‘page-wide’ technology to rival Memjet

HP has announced a page-wide inkjet technology for wide-format printing, which challenges the Memjet-based machines from Canon, RTI and Xerox.
The first products to be based on the new printhead modules will be aimed at the reprographics market, currently dominated by Canon and Xerox, and will be launched in the second half of 2015.
“HP’s intent is to disrupt the reprographics market, which is currently mainly using LED technology with a little bit of Memjet,” said HP Graphic Solutions Business

Staff Writer, 13 August 2014

Fespa debut for entry-level Gandy range UV inkjet printers

Gandy Digital has launched its new Sl8te Hybrid and True Flatbed UV inkjet printers at Fespa Digital.
The Canadian manufacturer is promising a “low cost and low risk” route for firms making the move into direct-to-board printing, at a more affordable price point than with its existing high-end range.
A 2.2m-wide Sl8te Hybrid model is being demonstrated on the Gandy booth. It is available in four widths: 1.6m, 2.2m, 2.6m and 3.2m and can operate in flatbed or roll-to-roll mode. Pricing starts at

Staff Writer, 08 July 2014

Fujifilm has unveiled its Acuity F at Fespa

Fujifilm is targeting volume sign and display printers with the launch of the high-volume flatbed UV Acuity F wide-format printer series, its OEM version of Canon’s latest Océ Arizona.
Other than using Fujifilm’s Uvijet inks, the product is available in the same specifications as the Fespa-launched Arizona 6100 series, coming in two versions: the six-colour F66 (CMYK+LC+LM) and the seven-colour F67, which adds a white channel.
The Acuity F sits above Fujifilm’s Acuity Advance and Acuity LED

Staff Writer, 23 June 2014

HP announces Latex 300 series and Designjet product launches

HP has announced the launch of its third generation of latex printers, the Latex 300 series, alongside two new additions to its Designjet Z-series portfolio.
The Latex 300 series comprises three new printers, the 1.4m Latex 310 and the 1.6m Latex 330 and Latex 360, that will target low-volume users with an average monthly print volume of 500sqm in a bid to convert more of the eco-solvent market to latex.
They join the top-of-the-range 3.2m Latex 3000, the mid-volume 3.2m Latex 820 and Latex 850

Simon Nias, 09 June 2014

Xerox retires DocuColor range with launch of Versant 2100 Press

Xerox has announced the launch of a new mid-range production printer, the Versant 2100 Press, which will sit between the entry-level J75 and the Color 800/1000 and iGen presses at the other end of the scale.  The Versant 2100 replaces the last DocuColor press still in new production, the DocuColor 8080, which will now be discontinued, thereby retiring the highly successful DocuColor platform.

Xerox Graphic Communications Business Group worldwide product marketing manager for High Entry

Staff Writer, 26 May 2014

Heidelberg takes the wraps off their inkjet plans

A hybrid label press will be the first fruit of Heidelberg’s partnership with Fujifilm, and more inkjet products are on the way including “industrialised” sheetfed presses that appear likely to take on Benny Landa’s Nanography head-on. And in a move into a completely new area for Heidelberg, a “4D” system for printing onto three-dimensional objects will be delivered to key customer Flyeralarm in Germany later this year.

The manufacturer provided what it described as a “sneak peek” into its

Staff Writer, 14 May 2014

Mimaki to showcase its direct sublimation printer at Fespa ‘14

The Tx500-1800DS direct sublimation printer for the textile and soft signage industries will be one of two key devices showcased by Mimaki at Fespa Digital 2014, from 20-23 May at Munich Messe.

The Tx500-1800DS direct sublimation printer offers 1,200dpi resolution and speeds up to 150m2/h on pre-treated polyester fabrics with six on-demand piezo printheads (three staggered) and, according to Mimaki, achieves 150% faster print speed than its conventional models. The device can be specified with

Staff Writer, 26 April 2014

Lumejet to unveil LumeBar single pass printer at InPrint 2014

Lumejet will showcase a high-speed single pass version of its photonic printing technology as a tech demo at next month’s InPrint 2014 show in Hannover, Germany.

Dr Trevor Elworthy, a former Kodak research scientist  devised a way to ‘print’ a 4 micron dot onto light sensitive media. The media is silver halide-based and unlike any other print technology it creates an RGB image (from red, green and blue dyes embedded in the paper) which has a much wider gamut than CMYK.

The result is

Staff Writer, 12 April 2014

Pitney Bowes develops parcel sortation offering

Pitney Bowes has entered into an OEM partnership with a third party to develop bespoke parcel sortation lines for courier firms and postal operators.

The agreement, which is already delivering to clients in the US, involves third party-developed hardware badged as Pitney Bowes who will provide software implementation and sales services for the products.

“We will supply the complete operating system that will drive the sortation lines as well as data capture services so we can provide our

Staff Writer, 26 March 2014

EFI and Konica Minolta launch two DFEs

EFI and Konica Minolta have announced the availability of two new digital front ends (DFEs) - the EFI Fiery IC-308 and IC-415 - designed to drive the Konica Minolta bizhub PRESS C1060, C1070 and C1070P family of digital presses.

“The new additions to the Fiery line-up for the Konica Minolta bizhub PRESS family deliver almost 2.5 times performance improvement over their predecessors,” said John Henze, vice president, Fiery marketing, EFI. “This means that print service providers can increase

Staff Writer, 24 February 2014

Montex to launch KBA-built die-cutter later this year

KBA has secured a partnership with German die-cutting kit specialist Montex-Print Ost to develop a dedicated B1 rotary die-cutter based on KBA’s flagship Rapida 105.
The DC-R105 will be available as a single or double unit die-cutting machine that incorporates Montex’s established magnetic cylinder and toolless die technology.
Both options will have a maximum mechanical speed of 14,000sph and maximum production speed of 12,000sph and be capable of handling substrates from 0.03-0.7mm. The machines

Staff Writer, 25 February 2014

Canon expands wide-format range with entry-level

By Darryl Danielli
Canon has expanded its imagePrograf family of large-format printers with two new stripped-down models targeted at inplant and entry-level commercial and franchise print poster applications.
The six-colour machines, the 609.6mm (20in) wide imagePrograf iPF6400SE and the 1,117mm (44in) wide imagePrograf iPF8400SE, are primarily targeted at the corporate, retail and hospitality inplant markets, but according to Canon they would also be suited to commercial and high-street printers

Darryl Danielli, 24 February 2014

Canon Middle East updates its full Professional Print portfolio

Canon Middle East, has updated its complete portfolio of professional print products. Canon imagePRESS C7011VP & C7011VPS, VarioPRINT 135 series, imagePRESS 1135 series, Oce VarioPrint 6000+, Océ PRISMAprepare version 6.1 all-in-one document make-ready software are updated products covered in new portfolio announced by Canon.
Canon’s complete product portfolio highlights Canon imagePRESS C7011VP and C7011VPS Series, which are new colour production presses of it.  New models feature an

Staff Writer, 16 February 2014

Makerbot unveils 5th generation 3D printer

Makerbot has launched its fifth generation desktop 3D printer range. The latest Makerbot generation includes the Replicator Desktop 3D Printer, the Replicator Mini Compact 3D Printer, and the manufacturer’s largest 3D printer to date: the Replicator Z18.
The Replicator Z18 - named for its 18in height capacity - has a maximum build volume of 305mm x 305mm x 457mm and will be priced at $6,499. It has been designed to enable 3D printing of “extra-large industrial prototypes, models, and products”

Staff Writer, 16 February 2014

Fujifilm releases new version for job review - XMF Remote 9.5

Fujifilm has announced XMF Remote 9.5, a new version of its online print job submission and approval system.
   The most notable change is that the interface is now based on the HTML5 web platform. This change was made in response to potential security issues with the Java platform, leading some firms to restrict access to Java-based applications such as XMF Remote.
   “Shifting the client-facing side of XMF Remote 9.5 to the HTML5 web interface provides users with a modern, feature rich

Jenny Roper, 23 January 2014

Hollanders has upgraded its ColorWash XL washing system

Hollanders Printing Systems has upgraded its ColorWash XL washing machines to reduce energy consumption and boost cleaning efficiency.
The digital textile equipment manufacturer has added a series of improvements to its 3.2m-wide ColorWash XL, which is designed to accompany the firm’s textile printers.
The most significant improvement is a new suction method of drying that has been developed to suck water out of the fabrics instead of blow-drying them. The result, according to the manufacturer

Hannah Jordan, 23 January 2014

Mimaki adds to digital textile range with with Tx500-1800B

Mimaki has announced the launch of the TX500-1800B direct-to-fabric digital textile printer.  Like its predecessor, the TX400-1800D, Mimaki’s TX500-1800B can print reactive dye, sublimation dye, acid dye and pigment inks, making it compatible with a range of pre-treated fabrics, including: cotton; silk, nylon and wool; polyester or transfer paper. All inks come in two litre ink bottles. The machine’s have similar print widths with the TX500 marginally narrower at 1,820mm to the TX400’s 1,850mm

Simon Nias, 04 December 2013

Roland DG upgrade to its VersaCAMM print /cut series

Roland DG has announced an upgrade to its VersaCAMM print and cut series, the VS-i, which is cheaper than its predecessor (at launch) despite being faster and having more colour options.
The new VS-i series is available in three widths, including the 762mm VS-300i, the 1,371mm VS-540i and the 1,625mm VS-640i, and is equipped with Roland’s latest Eco-Sol MAX2 inks, which were previously only available on the SolJet Pro4.
Users can choose from nine available colours (CMYK, Lc, Lm, Lk, white

Simon Nias, 14 November 2013

New company Kodak Alaris to strengthen its ME presence

As part of its pre-chapter 11 emergence strategy, Eastman Kodak company has spun off two divisions - namely, its Document Imaging (DI) and Personal Imaging (PI) divisions, to the UK Kodak Pension Plan (KPP). Both divisions are now part of an independent company called Kodak Alaris. The transaction will affect about 4,700 employees, who will now be employed by Kodak Alaris.
Eastman Kodak will now cater to the graphic imaging, commercial printing and packaging industries.  While Kodak Alaris will

Staff Writer, 21 October 2013

Raidy Printing Group adopts augumented reality

Lebanon and Dubai-based Raidy Printing Group has adopted a new technology called Augmented Reality.
 Says its creative director MarieJoe Raidy, “I wouldn’t call it our application as much as a technology that we adopted, same as any new technology that we consider can add value to the experience of our customers and their target audience. This specific new technology allows companies and brands to make their printed jobs clickable, by adding videos to their printed pages, or an e-mail contact

Shilpa Jasani, 11 September 2013

HP’s new Designjet ePrinters are ‘Ergonomically designed‘

The new Designjet T920 and Designjet T1500 web-connected ePrinter are ergonomically design for user convenience. Physical re-arrangement and features like augmented reality is used to make  the process more user friendly.
“The innovation of HP Designjet ePrinters is an outcome of HP’s commitment to listening to customers and meeting their expectations,” said Zeina Ahmed, large format design business manager, HP Middle East. “Our customers from the design, architecture, engineering and

Prashant Chaurasia, 07 July 2013

Brother (Gulf) appoints new resellers, plans expansions

Manufacturers of laser and inkjet printing devices, Brother (International) has announced that it is expanding its market stronghold in the UAE as the company kicked off its Brother Premium Partner Program 2013 during a ceremony at the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel in Dubai.
Brother further revealed that it will conduct more market visits and strengthen marketing support to partners, while intensifying its collaboration with UAE authorities to crack down on illegal resellers and counterfeit

Staff Writer, 05 June 2013