EFI: Fashioning print’s future

This article was first published as part of the Technology Focus in the April 2021 issue of ProPrint magazine.

When it comes to soft signage production, Electronics for Imaging (EFI) has a wide range of technology to suit a variety of needs.

Last year the tech giant launched two new printers for the high-end, high productivity soft signage market. The EFI COLORS 340 printer provides unmatched colour capabilities for superior signage production but also prints at a handy 850 square metres per hour in a four-colour x 4 configuration.

For printers seeking an even higher volume solution there is the EFI POWER 340 which prints at a blistering 1,564 square metres per hour.

Both solutions leverage the technology from EFI Reggiani’s 70-plus year legacy of fabric printing. But this latest technology has made it possible to print on a wider range of materials, while also achieving 100 per cent penetration on both sides of the fabric.

“EFI, through our Reggiani division, has decades of experience bringing to market the highest quality in fabric printing in the industry,” Scott Schinlever, COO, EFI Inkjet, told ProPrint.

“These two new printers are specifically designed to meet the most stringent quality and productivity needs in soft signage for companies that want to truly differentiate themselves in a highly competitive marketplace.

“With their extreme speed and reliability, the EFI POWER and COLORS printers can often replace multiple soft signage printers, producing more premium signage work with a single footprint.”

Both the POWER and the COLORS models use genuine EFI water-based CMYK dispersed dye inks which produces smoother colour transitions and ultra-realistic skin tones.

The solution is available with up to 24 printheads with the COLORS 340 offering greater versatility to print in four-colour x 2, four-colour x 4 or six-colour by 4 configurations. There is also an eight-colour configuration featuring standard CMYK and light CMK colour inks.

These new entrants have built on the success EFI customers have achieved thanks to the VUTEk FabriVU range of soft signage dye-sublimation printers which have been designed primarily for the production of flags, banners, backlit displays and other high-end graphics.

The VUTEk FabriVU series of printers allows print providers to print direct-to-fabric and sublimate inline for one-off products that are immediately ready for finishing and shipping.

There are now over 250 FabriVU printers installed worldwide with the majority of the installations being the FabriVU 340 and 340i models.

The FabriVU range can print at speeds of 250 square metres per hour and offers an ultra-high resolution up to 2,400 dpi with four level grayscale printing. It is also comes with an automatic printhead cleaning station which increases the machine’s uptime.

The solutions also come with a Fiery proServer SE with Fiery XF production digital front end and colour management workflow.

Currie Group

Currie Group now distributes EFI in both Australia and New Zealand. In addition to supporting the FabriVU series of printers, Currie Group also offer the EFI UV LED portfolio that supports a wide variety of direct to digital ready fabrics.

Paul Whitehead, Business Unit Manager – Wide Format at Currie Group states that “the demand for soft signage application is one of the growth segments in the market given its softer look and feel providing a look of higher sophistication.”

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