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Fujifilm partnered with IST METZ to launch SMARTcure at drupa 2024. IST METZ is a leading supplier of UV curing solutions for graphic arts and the official supplier of LuXtreme – Fujifilm’s latest UV LED curing system, launched at Labelexpo last year. The collaborative innovation, SMARTcure, is a groundbreaking digital curing assistant based on artificial intelligence.

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swissQprint showcased an automation option at drupa 2024, designed to maintain high productivity in flatbed printing by relieving operators of unloading tasks.

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FESPA Australia has confimed Orafol as the Diamond sponsor for the FESPA Future Leaders Program and FESPA Annual Conference for 2024.

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Agfa, has received two prestigious European Digital Press Association (EDP) Awards for two of its recently introduced inkjet innovations.

Each year, a panel of independent experts of the European Digital Press Association (EDP) reviews printing products that are new to the European market, evaluating them in terms of productivity, quality, usability, cost, and environmental impact – granting awards to the most groundbreaking ones. For the twelfth time, Agfa was honored for its innovative power when it was presented with two awards during the official award ceremony at drupa in Düsseldorf, Germany.

“We are proud to have our inkjet printing solutions rewarded once again with this mark of quality and innovation”, said Arnaud Calleja, Vice-President Digital Printing Solutions at Agfa. “These prestigious awards are a testament to our position as a leader in inkjet technology. With our portfolio of powerful printing beasts, we enable print service providers to grow their businesses by achieving remarkable print results and increasing both productivity and printing efficiency – regardless of their markets or applications. We have introduced several major inkjet printing innovations over the past months, and we are planning additional launches in the near future.”

Agfa’s printing solutions capturing awards this year are:

Anapurna Ciervo H3200 – Category: Flatbed/Hybrid printer <150 m²/h

The 3.2 m wide hybrid Ciervo, the most recent addition to Agfa’s Anapurna family is for printing companies looking for a versatile printer to tackle a wide range of print jobs. With a redesigned print shuttle and engine, the printer brings significantly enhanced print productivity and quality on both flexible and rigid materials for multiple applications.

Featuring a six-color plus white ink set and UV LED curing, the Ciervo delivers vibrant, high-quality prints. Its continuous board feeding capacity – able to print up to four boards simultaneously – ensures smooth printing on rigid materials and enhances productivity and workflow efficiency.

SpeedSet Orca 1060 – Category: Folding Carton, Digital/Hybrid

Agfa’s SpeedSet Orca 1060 garnered attention for its revolutionary approach to packaging printing. Combining the robustness of an offset press with the qualities of inkjet printing, the fully digital Orca offers outstanding print quality as well as short setup times, efficient material use and variable data printing.

On top of that, it achieves speeds of 11,000 B1 sheets per hour and accommodates a broad range of substrates, from folding carton and micro-flute to various paper types. It runs on eco-friendly, food-safe water-based inks, primer, and varnish.

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The Kongsberg Ultimate Cutter has won the EDP Award for Best Wide Format Cutting Solution. Launched just six months ago, the new cutting system made its global debut at drupa 2024.

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Canon has expanded the appeal of the Colorado M-series by launching new innovations that offer both new and existing customers an expanded application range, and open opportunities to enter new market segments, such as packaging and industrial print.

New FLXture Micro-texture Printing for Special Effects

A new feature now available for the Colorado M-series printer is FLXture, a five-ink-layer printing technology that adds micro-texture to large format prints for subtle surface detail, replicating the sensory feel of materials such as wood and leather. The PRISMAguide XL software, prepares the layers of UVgel ink for printing. Whether the requirement is for a subtle background texture, elegantly embossed lettering or to highlight parts of an image on high-value packaging, labels or other products, FLXture can enhance printed applications with additional surface textures without complicated combinations of different materials. FLXture is available both for new installations, as well as current users, on the latest software releases for the Colorado printer and PRISMAguide XL.

New UVgel Factory System for Packaging

For those looking for a financially viable alternative to outsourcing very short runs of printed packaging or for print service providers wanting to explore packaging applications to diversify their offering, the new UVgel Packaging Factory extends the Colorado’s capabilities to deliver the digital equivalent of litho lamination. Producing customised printed sheets of liner material for subsequent lamination to a corrugated base substrate, the UVgel Packaging Factory brings the benefits of digital print-on-demand to this high-opportunity sector, and can create impactful printed packaging for retail, consumer and high-value goods.

The UVgel Packaging Factory comprises a Colorado M5W roll-to-roll printer with a Fotoba jumbo roll media loader and output trimmer and stacker. It can handle a jumbo roll (up to 2,000 metres long) of the same media used in litho lamination, delivering sheets of high-quality, instantly dry and highly scratch-resistant output at up to 159m2/hr. The FLXfinish+ option with the Colorado M-series offers further design creativity, enabling the addition of matte, gloss or mixed matte and gloss effects on the same print, without additional varnish. As with offset litho printed sheets, the digitally pre-printed sheets can be handled via the regular litho lamination process. And with the UVgel Packaging Factory’s high level of automation, print jobs can be left running unattended.

Maximised Productivity for a Broader Media Range

In a further step to maximise productivity by reducing the need for roll changes for longer jobs, a new, enhanced Jumbo Roll Interface kit option now enables the Colorado printer to handle jumbo rolls of all types of media, including transparent, structured, metallic and dark-coloured media.

UVgel Benefits Extend into Industrial Print

The capabilities of the Colorado M-series and UVgel also extend to industrial print applications, specifically printing graphic overlays for membrane switches, which are printed electronic circuits that use pressure to open and close a circuit. Printed on a polymer substrate, such as polyester or polycarbonate, the ink used for graphic overlays needs to be hard-wearing and flexible to prevent delamination. In these aspects, UVgel technology excels, being robust enough not to require laminating in many instances, and being specifically developed with the elasticity for printing on flexible media without cracking. No additional or optional features are required for this application.

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Handtop has launched the new hybrid UV Printer HTA 2500 Robo Printer at drupa 2024.

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Epson revealed its new Monna Lisa 13000 on stand D20, Hall 5 at drupa in Dusseldorf. It is an affordable single-step digital direct-to-fabric textile printer with compact footprint that delivers in-line printing using more sustainable pigment inks.

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As the once great Australian economy slows and businesses, especially print manufacturing, fall over like flies and families are living in makeshift accommodation - it seems that those in Canberra are just watching it happen like a slow train wreck or spectator sport. Maybe it's time to do what the UK has just done and call an election, let the people decide who can stop the decline into an impoverished third-world backwater. The AiG's Innes Willox identifies the worrying facts.

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Mutoh has won the prestigious 2024 EDP Award for best 'direct-to-shape (object) printer - the XpertJet 1462UF. Australia was an early adopter of this model with initial short supply the main issue in fulfilling demand. It expands any printer's offering into industrial, promotional and even sporting objects such as golf balls.

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In a growing trend where press and printer manufacturers aim to channel printwork to their own devices by forming partnerships with platforms for the creation of print design work, HP Indigo has announced a tie-in with Fiverr, hot on the heels of its tie-in with Canva. Capturing the work from creation and driving it only to fixed-brand devices must surely raise the issue of restrictive trade? Conventional 'get 3 quotes for print' might become a thing of the past!

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It's a huge drupa for Screen and packaging dealer Jet Technologies, with the Kyoto-based company releasing three major packaging innovations at drupa, to be re-sold through Jet's newtowk plus other screen commercial print releases.

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Peak industry association Visual Connections was very well represented at drupa 2024, with General Manager Sarah Moore and Marketing Manager Robyn Frampton working the aisles, plus a few Board members on the stands.

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Delta was the first to install a Nozomi in the UK, and first in the world to have three Nozomi presses under one roof, the company is well-positioned for analogue to digital migration, shorter runs, faster time to market, with exceptional print quality.

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With the announcement at drupa, that the former world's largest printing company, RR Donnelly, has ordered 15 new digital presses from HP, this news, alongside several other all-digital multiple press orders, begs the question 'Is this the drupa that sees accelerated decline of offset and accelerated uptake of digital?' Andy McCourt applies some critical thought to the questions.