Fespa started as an organization for screen printers, but its continuing success is down to its ability to adapt to new technologies and applications. This is reflected in the breadth of exhibitors at the various trade fairs that Fespa organizes, and particularly the flagship global exhibition, which chooses a different European city each year to catch different audiences and needs.
For Berlin, right at the center of Europe in more ways than one, the main need is clearly for high productivity, particularly in rigid boards, but with a continuing need for affordable roll-fed eco-solvent printers. This trend, which I’ve covered in the first part of this report, is mainly about finding more efficient ways to do more of the same. The other big trend from this year’s event is the continuing need for print service providers to search out new applications and new revenue streams – to be able to offer something new to customers to help drive up profits, but with relatively low capital investment cost.
For the last couple of years, the big new application has been direct-to-film with growing numbers of vendors offering their own DtF printers, which in most cases are rebadged Chinese models. But this year, a number of vendors showed off UV DtF solutions. As the name suggests, these use UV rather than water-based inks and are more suitable for decorating objects rather than textile printing. As such, they offer a good, relatively inexpensive way of opening up a new revenue stream for many print service providers.
Mimaki has jumped straight onto this bandwagon with a new UV DtF printer, the UJV300 DtF 75. This has two printheads, each with four channels, offering up to 1200 dpi resolution. It uses Mimaki’s new ELS ink, which I covered in the first part of this report. It prints CMYK plus two white channels and two clear ink channels, with a recirculation system for the white ink.
The process involves two separate rolls of clear film, one fed from the backside and one from the front. The rear film has an adhesive layer on top. Frans Craandijk, area sales manager for Mimaki, explains, “The ink is printed on the glue.” After printing, the second film, which is essentially a laminate layer, is pressed onto it, using nothing but pressure. This allows the graphic to be handled and, for example, to be posted to a customer.
To apply the graphic, you peel the top layer off to expose the adhesive, press the graphic against the object you want to decorate, and then just rub it to force the ink in the graphic to transfer. There’s no need for heat or any kind of press, as hand pressure on its own is enough, though some surfaces might require a primer.
There’s a choice of different films depending on the intended application. This can include items such as mugs with the process capable of being put through a dishwasher. It takes rolls up to 650 mm wide, but with a maximum print width of 640 mm.
RS Pro showed a similar system but with the option to also use gold or silver foils, which led to some very striking metallic effects. It’s a very cost-effective way of producing small decorated objects such as tiles or coasters. This uses four Epson printheads and prints CMYK plus white and varnish, as well as a second clear ink that’s used to pick up the foil. It takes 650 mm wide films and comes with a Caldera RIP.
RS Pro also had a second variant called UV 3D DtF, which gives a much more textured effect. This has a 60 cm print width and prints CMYK plus two white channels, using three Epson printheads. The printing is similar to other UV DtF machines in that you have two films, and print to the glue layer and then spool the films together to create a single sheet with the graphic sandwiched in the middle. However, applying the graphic is more involved and does take some skill. The trick is to warm the substrate up slightly to around 120°C and then apply the graphic through a heat press.
Unlike the other UV DtF solutions, this is primarily aimed at textiles and could offer an alternative to embroidery. It’s not really suitable for clothing because it doesn’t offer much in the way of washfastness. It was mostly demonstrated on tote bags, but it seems to me that it would also be very effective on hats.
The Chinese company Leaf showed an interesting all-in-one DtF printer called the Leaf DtF 570i. The printer and powder shaker have all been combined into a single machine, which gives it a slightly smaller footprint than the usual setup of two separate units.
It has a 60 cm print width and uses two Epson I3200 printheads. Leaf says that it makes the ink itself, which consists of CMYK plus white. Ice Yuan, sales specialist for Leaf, says, “It’s very stable and easy to operate because it’s all in one.” However, she accepts that the more common approach of having two separate units does give more flexibility, which she says is more suitable for people with more experience. In any case, Leaf also demonstrated this more standard approach.
Epson also showed its first dedicated DTF printer, the SC-G6000, with the suggestion that this is the first model in a series. Previously, Epson has used hybrid inks in its DtG and dye sublimation printers to address the DtF market. The G6000 is a roll-to-roll printer, taking media up to 900 mm with a print width 894 mm, which is wider than the more usual 60 cm but not radically so. It prints Epson’s UltraChrome DtF inkset, which includes CMYK and white, with the inks supplied in 1.6l cartridges. Naturally, it uses Epson’s PrecisionCore printheads, and includes recirculation for the white ink between the ink tank and piping up to but not including the printhead.
Epson claims to have upgraded the maintenance system for the printheads by using fabric rather than rubber to wipe excess ink away from the heads. The rubber wiper itself had to be periodically cleaned, so this should lead to less manual maintenance, though the fabric spool will be another consumable item. It produces around 5.6 square meter an hour when printing both the colors and white ink. It includes Epson’s Edge Pro RIP.
Brother has also developed a dedicated DtF printer, having previously adapted its GTXPro DtG printer. The new DTRX-series is a roll-to-roll printer that looks as if it has been adapted from the chassis of Brother’s WF1 latex printer. It takes media up to 800mm wide. Both the ink and printheads come from Brother and Brother also supplies the powder shaker and RIP. The inkset is CMYK plus 2x white. Folker Stachetzki, head of marketing at Brother Europe, says that it should be available in Europe in September, when there will be more details, such as the print speed.
Brother also showed an enhanced version of its existing GTX600, which now gains a new finishing spray to improve the wash fastness of printed garments. In theory, this should help users expand into high-street fashion garments.
Next to this, Brother showed a new button badge printer, the BB1-5700, which was previously shown as a prototype and should be commercially available later this summer. This uses water-based inks and prints to paper, which is then stamped onto a metal button. Brother demonstrated this by taking photos of visitors and then adding a pre-defined overlay that covers the edges before immediately turning the pictures into a badge. The process takes just a couple of minutes and produces a very decent badge that should last for many years. The whole setup is quite portable and could easily be taken to events such as weddings.
Ricoh’s main highlight was its D1600 DtF, which I’ve previously covered and which was officially launched at last year’s Fespa. Essentially, this aims to improve productivity by having a much wider print than other DtF solutions. It’s based on the chassis of Ricoh’s 1.6 m wide resin printer and will take films up to 1300mm wide. It can run at up to 20 square meters an hr.
Ricoh also showed off a small DtF solution, under the banner of DtF in a cube. This consists of a small printer, the DtF 400 Cube paired with Inktec’s small A30 powder shaker. It takes film up to 423 mm wide, with a print width of 407.2 mm, though the powder shaker is just 30 cm wide. The printer uses Ricoh 1200 dpi print heads, with automated maintenance. The heat transfer ink comes from Ricoh and includes CMYK plus two white channels. It includes a 7-inch touch screen and comes with the ColorGate ProductionServer RIP. It’s suitable for general garment decoration, such as socks and sleeves, as well as t-shirts and hoodies, plus backpacks and tote bags.
For DtG, Ricoh offered the existing Ri4000, which can print directly to polyester. It’s been adapted from the Ri2000, which, like most DtG printer,s can only print to cotton. As such, it’s a good alternative to using dye sublimation, which is typically used for polyester.
Ricoh also demonstrated its Valvejet printheads along with a tyre printing application. I covered a prototype of this at last year’s show, but it’s now fully commercialized. It’s a niche market, but Jason Remnant, strategic business development manager for Ricoh Europe, told me that it had attracted quite a bit of interest at the show.
Sawgrass, which mainly specializes in digital textile printing, introduced a new transfer system, called VersiFlex, that is said to combine sublimation, DTG, and DTF in a single machine. As such, it’s able to print to a wide range of substrates, from cotton and linen to ceramics, wood, metal, acrylic, and vinyl.
It’s a transfer system, meaning that users print their designs onto a VersiFlex paper using the desktop printer, and that design is then transferred to the final substrate via a separate heat press. It works with both of Sawgrass’ existing desktop printers, the SG500 and SG1000. The new element is the inkset and the transfer papers, which is also the weakness in the system as it locks users into sourcing consumables from a single manufacturer. Unfortunately, it will not work with existing transfer papers.
This Signature H3340 hybrid was at the heart of the Liyu stand.
Both Fujifilm and Mutoh showed roll-fed printers that use a new hybrid UV inkset. In both cases, the printer has been developed by Mutoh, which calls its version the Hydraton 1642, with the Fujifilm version known as the Acuity Triton. The ink itself, called Aquafuze, comes from Fujifilm and promises to offer the best of UV inks with the environmental benefits of water-based inks. I’ve already covered this in more detail. Alex Liggett, who owns The Vinyl Guys print service supplier, has been beta testing the Triton. He told me, “It’s not a new revenue stream but it’s made our existing work more efficient.”
Finally, it’s worth noting that the show, and the wide format sector in general, continues to attract a large number of Chinese manufacturers. The most prominent of these in Berlin was Liyu, which is in the process of building up an extensive European distribution network. Liyu demonstrated its X-Line and Platinum ranges and also used the show to preview its new Signature series. This includes the 3.3 m wide H3340 hybrid printer that was shown at Fespa, but there is also a smaller 2.1 m wide version. These use Ricoh printheads as well as a linear magnetic drive system. Liyu claims that the H3340 will produce up to 350 sqm/hr
However, the trade war that the US president, Donald Trump, has initiated hung over the show to some extent and will certainly have limited orders from US customers. Toby Weiss, CEO of Fiery, told me, “Tariffs are taking a big chunk of all the conversations at the show. There’s no doubt about that. The tariffs seem to be focused on China, and I could imagine that would be a problem in slowing business. But there are a lot of printers sold in Asia, Europe and so on. Also, a lot of printer makers use Chinese parts, so anyone importing to the US will be caught in that. I don’t think that anybody realizes just how many manufacturers there are in China.”
Several vendors told me that the main impact of the current trade war was likely to be on Ink prices because so many of the components come from China and much of the processing is done there. However, only time will tell on this.
Next year’s Fespa show will move to Barcelona in Spain, which traditionally tends to attract more textile print solutions.
