Belgium-based Punch Graphix is filling out its family of variable digital printing presses with the entry-level web-fed Xeikon 4000 and the ugraded Xeikon 5000plus. The releases are quick on the heels of the Xeikon 6000, released at Graph Expo last fall. The company also sells the Xeikon 330 label-printing press.
The new device—with an early estimated price tag of €390,000—prints on substrates from 27 lb. text to 90 lb. cover in four colours using Xeikon’s one-pass duplex technology, which prints both sides of a sheet in a single pass. It’s available in a 50 cm format and produces up to 130 pages per hour, for a duty cycle of 3.5 million pages per month. The press also comes with Xeikon’s new FA (form adapted) toner, in which the toner particles are modified into an oval shape instead of the more common irregular shaped particles, rendering a higher-quality image. It also features the X-800 digital front end.
The 5000plus is an update on the 5000 model introduced in 2004. It also features one-pass duplex printing and the FA toner, and can be equipped with a fifth colour and upgraded to the more robust Xeikon 6000.
Contact: www.punchgraphix.com

From EFI comes Vutek BioVu, a solvent ink made from totally renewable resources for the superwide format industry. BioVu is made from food-grade ingredients—derived from corn—and is recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but it promises the same colour gamut as traditional solvent inks. The company touts other benefits, including lower disposal costs since there are no hazardous materials, reduced odour on printed pieces, and better air quality. No ventilation and burner systems are required to meet regulations as there are no VOC emissions. Colours include cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light cyan, light magenta, light yellow and light black. Currently made for use on the Vutek 3360, the inks will extend to other models in 2007.
Contact: www.efi-vutek.com

Heidelberg recently announced that the Speedmaster XL 105 will be available in a UV version and as a double-coating press by the middle of the year. The Speedmaster XL 105 UV and Speedmaster XL 105 LYYL (with coating and drying units) should be most at home in industrialized print shops in the commercial, label and packaging sectors. Both presses will handle printing stocks from 0.03 mm to 1 mm. The UV model comes with a coating unit with a pressurized chambered doctor blade system for more even coating, and with three extension modules in the delivery. The double-coating press has two coating units and two interdeck units with integrated dryer technology. It can process conventional inks and UV coat them inline once a primer has been applied. Primers come with metallic coatings, Iriodin or functional coatings.
Contact: www.heidelberg.com

A new multi-functional family of four UV inkjet printers from MacDermid ColorSpan comes with an affordable price tag from US$54,995. Targeted to small- to mid-size sign and print shops, the ColorSpan 5400uv series has a 54" print width and features a set of integrated tables that fold up and extend outward to accommodate rigid media longer than 8'. The variable-drop volume piezoelectric print heads produce resolutions from 600 x 300 dpi to 1,800 dpi, and a patent-pending self-maintaining service station eliminates the need to manually clean the print heads so they’re always ready to go. The machines are available in 4- to 6-colour configurations.
Contact: www.colorspan.com

From HP comes a digital front end that delivers greater colour accuracy in a wider range of processes and spot colours. The HP Indigo Production Stream Server can produce 5- 6- and 7-colour jobs by bringing commercial printing colour management technology to the digital press platform. These include a 6-colour, on-press, Pantone simulation system, an 11-colour off-press colour-mixing simulation sytem for spot colours, and a 4-colour on-press CMYK matching sytem. Productivity enhancements to the Creo-powered front end mean that printers who use Kodak Prinergy and Brisque worflows can incorporate HP Indigo presses into automated, JDF- and PDF-based workflows handling functions from web-to-print order entry to finishing.
Contact: www.hp.com

MAN Roland is supersizing its 700 model with 9% more image area than a conventional 40" press. The new special-format press expands the sheet size of the 700 to 30.7" x 40.9" from 29.1" x 40.9" while boosting image area to 30.3" x 40.5" from 28.2" x 40.2". Minimum sheet size remains the same at 13.4" x 18.9". Other technical upgrades on the press include modified plate, blanket and impression cylinders, longer plate-inking rollers, and scaled-up feeder and delivery components. No perfector is available for the special-size machine but it can be equipped with various inline coating options.
Contact: www.manroland.com

Agfa takes another step in the inkjet market with the :Dotrix TransColor printer, adding colour to high-speed printing of transactional and transpromotional documents and direct mail pieces. An intelligent printer data stream control combines with a single-pass printing engine, UV curable inks, and a static array of inkjet heads that span the entire printing width, producing nearly 500 A4 pages per minute or 30,000 per hour in a single pass. A roll-to-roll feed delivers uninterrupted printing and a third-party inline finishing option can be added to increase productivity. The device also uses :Agorix Nova inks, which the company says are different from standard inkjet inks, but are similar to UV offset inks making them scratch, smear and water resistant.
Contact: www.agfa.com

Inca Digital is releasing the new Spyder 320 flatbed printer capable of printing eight colours, with Uvijet ink technology. It has eight ink modules, each consisting of four inkjet heads providing a wide colour gamut. Initially it will be available with the four process colour inks as well as light cyan, light magenta and two units of white. It prints at up to 860 sq. ft. per hour. The new model, which complements existing 4- and 6- colour versions of the Spyder, should be perfect for the mid-range market.
Contact: www.incadigital.com