Fujifilm’s stand will feature demonstrations of the Jet Press 540W digital inkjet web press and its sheetfed sister machine, the B2-format Jet Press 720.
Steve Collyer, national product manager, Graphic Systems, Fujifilm Australia, said that where the Jet Press 720 aims to replace sheetfed offset, the 540W is targeted “at shorter-run print applications traditionally run on web offset presses such as leaflets and magazines, educational journals, books and newspapers. The general advantages of a web-fed application over a sheetfed press apply here.”
The Jet Press 540W’s 540mm web width can provide a full B2 sheet, while the variable cut-off means output can accommodate a wide variety of output.
Collyer said: “With conventional web offset presses, printing sizes are limited by the size of the plate cylinder. The Jet Press 540W uses direct data printing so there is much more flexibility in the cut-off size of the paper.”
He added that the Jet Press 540W supports both inkjet and non-coated papers of 64-157gsm, and doesn’t pre-treat the paper before printing.
The single-tower Jet Press 540W can run at a maximum speed of 127 metres per minute and allows a maximum print width of 540mm.
It uses Fujifilm’s Vividia ink, which the manufacturer said “allows high-density images to be printed at a high speed, with less ink transfer from sheet to sheet, [and] with high quality reproduction possible even on thin paper.
“A variety of ink types, including pigment and dye-based inks, have been developed for use with this press, maximising the application flexibility and versatility of the machine.”
Collyer also outlined some of the other technology at work under the hood of the inkjet machine. “XMF Workflow incorporates advanced standalone colour capabilities and XMF ColorPath Organizer, a gateway to the XMF ColorPath cloud-based colour management system.
“The Jet Press 540W uses Fujifilm’s own FM-based screening technology, which enables smooth colour tones and sharp text as well as eliminating moire and rosette patterns,” he added.
The Jet Press platform was one of the first inkjet machines developed in the larger format. A prototype of the sheetfed version of the press was first shown at Drupa 2008, when its only true rival was the Screen Truepress JetSX.
At Drupa 2012, competition heated up, with HP, Miyakoshi, Landa, MGI and Xeikon all entering the B2 space.
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