Melbourne sign and display shop Mezographic is the latest sign and display house to install Screen GP’s Truepress Jet W3200UV-HS flatbed UV printer. The sale was transacted by Screen’s wide format channel partner Graphic Art Mart with branch manager Michael Liveris handling the negotiations with Frank Mezo, owner of Mezographic.
Built by Screen subsidiary company Inca Digital in the UK, the W3200UV has proved its worth in the Australia-New Zealand market, with 14 installations to date, some with the integrated roll-to-roll option.
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| Frank Mezo |
Mezo has been running the W3200UV – the high-speed Mark II version with white ink option and automated nozzle cleaning – since late March and has found it ideally suited to his company’s needs. “The machine has performed above expectations,” he says, “the quality is quite amazing. The support has been very good and it is printing a variety of materials such as Corflute, Polypropylene and various boards. We run anything under 100 sheets on this device.”
Capable of up to 230 square metres per hour in billboard mode, Mezographic is mainly running at 150 sqm/hr for higher image quality while some jobs call for 100 sqm/hr production. The inkset contains Screen’s own wide-gamut inks in CMYK, Lc,Lm plus white
Screen’s factory-trained engineer for the W3200UV, Peter Townsend installed Mezographic’s machine and says: "Our clients understand there is more to productivity than just fast print speeds. One of the biggest influences on this is machine up time, and how long you can keep printing throughout the day. Features such as automated printhead cleaning, which cleans all heads in 3 minutes and advanced nozzle mapping, which allows users to keep printing even in the event of a miss firing nozzle, there is no effect on print speed or quality.”
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| Operator Leigh Scollo with the new Screen Truepress Jet W2300UV-HS |
Little need to tape down
He continues: “Another feature our clients always mention is the industrial strength vacuum that is a standard feature on the TruepressJet W3200UV. Rarely do operators have the need to tape substrates down onto the table. Even fluted boards will stay flat on the table without any taping. This, along with the pop-up registration pins, enables very fast unload/load times."
Supplier Graphic Art Mart has worked with Mezographic for over five years and has developed a thorough understanding of its requirements. The company says: “The Screen Truepress Jet W3200UV-HS with white ink option was a perfect fit, enabling Mezographic to supply its customers with the highest quality prints within a very short turn-around time.”
Packed with productive features
Although Capable of up to 230 sqm/hr in ‘Billboard’ mode, where images are viewed from distances of 5 metres or more; for sellable close-inspection commercial work, 150 sqm/hr is preferred. The 3200UV Mk II’s finest resolution is a 22-pass ‘Superfine Photo’ mode for stunning photo-realistic results with ultra-smooth skin tones at 15 sqm/hr.
By controlling the UV ink curing speed with the use of a shuttered system, matte, silk and gloss surface effects can be achieved from the same inkset. Standard bed size is 3200mm x 1600mm but a new option is a larger bed ‘skin’ that boosts maximum size up to 3200 x 2000mm.
The bed of the W3200UV is ultra-flat and features retractable register pins with six-zoned vacuum areas for perfect registration of printed boards. Vacuum levels can be controlled to ensure lay-flat of lightweight materials and even boards that may be distorted and require heavier vacuum to hold down.
Made by Screen subsidiary Inca Digital in Cambridge, UK and with advanced Fujifilm Dimatix printheads, it benefits from 20 years of continuous R&D by the company that first previewed flatbed UV printing to the world at Ipex 1998.
Screen GP Australia
www.screenaust.com.au
Mezographic
www.mezographic.com
