South Australia now has its first 5 metre wide grand format UV billboard printer thanks to some forward-thinking by Big Image Australia Pty Ltd.
Following extensive research of available superwide solutions, owner Carlo Capogreco opted for a Fujifilm Uvistar Pro8, initially thinking the features were ‘too good to be true’ but now realising that, with Fujifilm wide format equipment, what you see is what you get.
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| Carlo Capogreco opted for a Fujifilm Uvistar Pro8 |
“We saw a desperate need in South Australia for a 5 metre wide printer; there is a large market here for super wide graphics and this is why I decided to go down the 5 metre path,” he says, adding: “However, the Uvistar has proven so versatile and of such good quality that we can use it as a multi-roll printer, flatbed printer and a host of other specialised tasks.” The multi-roll capability refers to the Uvistar’s unique ability to run up to three 1.6 metre rolls side-by-side, at full production speed, thereby tripling productivity for 1600mm wide jobs.
The four-person business thrives on close relationships with wholesale trade customers, mostly sign shops. “We have a few advertising agencies and designers as clients but essentially, we are a wholesale shop,” says Carlo
Replacing a 3.2 metre machine, the Fujifilm Uvistar Pro8’s hybrid nature has added flatbed capability to the company’s offerings, opening up new opportunities for rigid panels and displays.
“The performance, I am pleased to say, matches the brochure hype. It is a wonderful machine with exceptional speed and print quality usually seen only in smaller, slower printers. Its ability to print perfectly registered graphics on both sides of backlit media for colour consistency, for day/night viewing is exceptional. The ease and speed of how it converts from roll to roll to flatbed is great, minimising downtime. I’m very impressed with the high quality graphics it produces, the brilliance and toughness of the inks and it actually prints true greys without colour casts.”
“JAW-DROPPING,” SAYS CARLO
So far, Big Image has run a variety of media through the new Uvistar Pro8 but PVC banner, mesh and fabric dominate the mix. Run lengths vary but, being a trade supplier, are often on the long side which the Pro8 relishes as well as the shorter run work. Carlo says: “There are many jobs since we acquired the Uvistar which have amazed both us and our customers. One of our first ‘jaw-dropping’ moments was with a particular backlit job on PET film. We were struggling to get the desired colours and colour strength from our other machines and had unsuccessfully given a couple of samples to our client. As we had just installed the Uvistar and were still under training, we decided to give it a go.”
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| Carlo with James Young, Fujifilm’s manager for Graphic Systems in South Australia |
He continues: “Without a specific profile for the film, we loaded it and pressed the go button. Instantly we saw an amazing result. The colours we were trying to hit came out perfectly, the sharpness was amazing and when we tried for perfect front-to-back registration for greater strength of colour. To our astonishment it not only worked with perfect alignment of very small text, but the inks adhered to the reverse side so well they could not be scratched. The client was very impressed and within half an hour approved the double-sided backlit print - the Uvistar came to our rescue and it continues to amaze and surprise us.”
James Young, Fujifilm’s manager for Graphic Systems in South Australia notes that this is Big Image’s first piece of Fujifilm equipment. “Carlo happened to mention to me on one visit that he was looking to replace the 3.2 metre wide printer. He hadn’t heard of the Uvistar Pro8 and hardly knew that we were in wide and grand format UV at all. It was a great opportunity to show how far Fujifilm has come in digital inkjet technology and inks, although Big Image was using our inks on his 3.2 metre device with great satisfaction.”
Carlo Caprogreco’s last word is: “Big Image Australia has always been innovative and courageous in business affairs. We work as partners with our customers so it is good to experience real meaningful partnership with our suppliers and Fujifilm stands out with our Uvistar Pro8 experiences.”
Big Image Australia
www.bigimagegraphics.com.au
FujiFilm Australia
www.fujifilm.com.au
