The company announced the arrival of the printer earlier this month, with Santiago Morera, worldwide vice president and general manager of HP Designjet Business, set to jet in to launch the press on stand C8 next Thursday.
“The Visual Impact Image Expo provides the ideal platform on which to introduce the latest model in the HP Designjet latex ink printer range,” said Shane Lucas, director of HP Graphic Arts South Pacific. “We are very excited about this new printer, which will enable small to midsize Print Service Providers (PSPs) to enter the eco-print market with a competitive, high quality offer.”
Demonstrations of the printer will be held throughout the Expo, which is being held at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre from October 22 to 24.
Meanwhile, HP resellers GBC and Celmac will demonstrate the larger HP latex ink printer, the Designjet L65500, whilst CPI’s stand will feature the HP Scitex FB950.
HP’s latex ink offering, previewed in the firm’s L65500 that was launched earlier this year, is claimed to offer equal or improved performance compared to solvent ink for printing on PVC (vinyl), as well as printing onto paper, fabrics, polyester and polyethylene – substrates that solvent technology usually struggles with.
The latex ink – which is water-based with a polymer that is bonded to the substrate by heat – doesn’t need air purification or solvent extraction. The output is also odourless, making it suitable for a range of indoor applications that solvent machines aren’t suitable for. Output is also claimed to have an unlaminated exterior life of three years.
Another advantage claimed over solvent is that the print is dry and can be finished and mounted straight from the printer without requiring the “out gassing” period of several hours that solvent print does.
The L25500 is available in 1.07 metre (42-inch) and 1.52m (60-inch) widths and can produce up to 23 square metres per hour. It uses CMYK light cyan and light magenta inks at a resolution of 1,200dpi.
HP has also expanded its range of media for the latex ink to 19, with six new substrates, including a poster paper, a perforated window vinyl, a gloss cast vinyl, a PVC-free gloss adhesive film, a PVC-free wallpaper, and a PVC-free textile banner.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter