Epson Canada has entered the outdoor printing market with its Stylus Pro GS6000 64" roll-to-roll press, ideal for printing billboards, banners, vehicle wraps, and barricade signs. It prints up to 340 sq. ft. per hour for banner-quality work, up to 180 sq. ft. for everyday jobs, and up to 91 sq. ft. for photographic-quality signage. The GS6000 uses Epson UltraChrome solvent-based ink technology, and features a new dual-array micro piezo AMC printhead that produces a resolution of 1,440 x 1,440 dpi with a droplet size as small as 3.7 picolitre. Availability in Canada is through Mondrian-Hall.
Contact: www.epson.com

Gandinnovations, in conjunction with colour management company ErgoSoft, introduces GandiSoft, a RIP software program that works with all Jeti presses. It works in tandem with the RIP server, Job Client and Print Queue to simplify output because all those tasks can be done from a single window. GandiSoft contains a colour-rendering engine, an integrated ICC profiler, and custom linearization and ink limiting capabilities. It also includes several options, like global colour replacement, and a hot folder that automates the RIPping and printing process.
Contact: www.gandinnovations.com

From Durst comes the 126" Rho 320R large-format UV inkjet roll press. It prints up to 1,440 sq. ft. per hour on coated and uncoated media up to 10.5 ft. wide, and is suited for POP, window graphics, light-box displays and advertising textiles. The Rho 320R also handles detailed images in two-pass mode at speeds of 710 sq. ft. per hour.
Durst has also released its Rho 800 Presto press, for continuous board printing. It prints on a range of materials up to 2.75" thick, at speeds up to 1,200 per hour. In two-pass mode, the Presto can print at 624 sq. ft. per hour.
Contact: www.durstus.com

Adobe’s Creative Suite 4 comes with hundreds of new features and changes to its most popular applications. Adobe has simplified workflow and added enhancements to all its programs, including a new live preflight tool for InDesign users, and a “content-aware scaling tool” for Photoshop CS4. An expanded version of Dynamic Link moves content between Adobe Premiere CS4, After Effects CS4, and Encore CS4. Customers have the option of buying six suites or full version upgrades of 13 standalone applications, including Dreamweaver CS4, and Illustrator CS4.
Contact: www.adobe.com

The new M510 Compact Card Punching System from Chicago-based equipment manufacturer Spartanics, is a small, low-cost engine ideal for producing small volumes of plastic cards in CR80 formats. Ideal for printing phone and gift cards as well as hotel keys, the M510 is about the size of a photocopier, uses electro-optical registration, and outputs 9,000 cards per hour at 50 strokes a minute. Inexpensive CR80 dies are also available as an option.
Contact: www.mksinst.com

Mutoh America is expanding its ValueJet family with the ValueJet 1608-64" Hybrid, an eco-friendly, hybrid press that reaches speeds up to 140 sq. ft. per hour. It prints on several substrates, including foam, PVC, corrugated plastic, and polystyrene, using Mutoh’s new Mubio ink, derived from 80% plant-based materials, with zero VOCs. Maximum resolution is 1,440 dpi, with drop-on-demand micro piezo inkjet technology, and it comes with the flatbed table for US$ 44,995.
Contact: www.mutoh.com

Designed for converters to digital printing, the Xeikon 3000 label press is an entry-level counterpart to the Xeikon 3300 digital label press. It’s ideal for short to medium runs, and handles a range of substrates, as well as texture transfers and opaque foils. It prints at 9.6 m per minute at 1,200 dpi, and comes with an X-800 digital front end, for use with fully automated workflows.
Contact: www.xeikon.com