At the SGIA exposition, Durst introduced its new Rho 900 large-format printer, which is built around a 98-inch-wide, UV-inkjet imaging platform using Durst’s Quadro 30D Array printhead technology.

The company is highlighting the printer’s media handling abilities, including an auto-feed table with belts, sheet-feed gate with guides for parallel board printing, and automatic 2-point pin registration system for better accuracy in front-to-back registration.

Durst also claims that the Rho 900 features “process-colour additions… printed in the same mode as its CMYK,” with orange and green or orange and violet options: “These additional colours can be printed, even with white ink or light colours, with no loss in output speed.”

Top speed of the 6-colour Rho 900 can reach up to 72 4 x 8-foot boards per hour, according to Durst, while the speed for POP-quality printing is 34 boards per hour. The Rho 900 also can print varnish.

At PRINT 09, EFI will showcase two new superwide inkjet printers, the 5-metre roll-to-roll VUTEk GS5000r and the 3.2-metre hybrid GS3200, introduced in March 2009. The GS3200 is an 8-colour (plus white) machine that can be switched into a 4-colour printing mode, which allows the machine to print at 2,400 square feet per hour (f2/hr). In 8-colour mode, the GS3200 can reach speeds of up to 1,200 f2/hr, while hitting dual resolutions settings of 600 or 1,000 dpi.

The 5-metre GS5000r can also switch between 4- or 8-colour printing modes, which account for top speeds of 1,600 or 3,100 f2/hr, respectively. This larger GS wide-format-inkjet machine, which has a unique ability to simultaneously print on up to three 60-inch rolls, can reproduce resolutions of up to 1,200 dpi. EFI plans to highlight its other inkjet systems like Jetrion 4000 UV and Rastek systems at the tradeshow.

Also at PRINT 09, EFI plans to introduce its new Web Control Center, which is a Web-based colour-management tool with remote proofing. The application fits into the company’s MIS packages, such as Pace, Monarch and PrintSmith systems.

EFI will also highlight its new Fiery Command WorkStation 5 (CWS5), compatible with Macintosh and Windows operating systems, as well as Fiery System 6. Released in March 2009, the controller updates automatically to EFI’s new SeeQuence Suite, which is an optional set of makeready software tools for composition and imposition.

Making its North American debut at PRINT 09, the new :Anapurna Mw from Agfa is an UV-based inkjet press (roll and rigid) that builds on the existing :Anapurna series by adding single-pass pre-white and multi-pass post-white, which allows for printing on transparent or backlit materials – or printing white as a spot colour. Other recent :Anapurna machines include the :Anapurna M2, notable because it prints at 247 square feet per hour, and the :Anapurna M4f, which is a 63-inch, 4-colour, UV-based engine.

Also at PRINT 09, Agfa will be showcasing the latest incarnation of :Dotrix Modular, which is an inkjet-based, narrow-web press (25.6 inches) designed to work with a range of substrates, including paper, multi-wall, biodegradable plastics, PE, PP, BOPP, PET heat and pressure-sensitive materials. The :Dotrix can be configured roll-to-roll or roll-to-sheet.

The company will also make the North American debut of :Apogee Suite 6.0, which, employing a drag-and-drop graphical user interface, allows for the import and conversion of different file formats into a PDF, which can then be directly sent to a Web portal for soft approval, to a page or imposition proofing device, to an impaging device (CTP), a toner-based press, or export into another prepress system.

The company also plans to highlight enhancements to its industrial-scale :M-Press TIGER, which is a flatbed inkjet press – co-developed by Thieme and Agfa – featuring new printhead technology, auto-head positioning and tuning. The press, suited for screen printing-like work, can run at speeds up to 17,000 feet per hour.

Access Imaging, a large-format vendor based in Toronto, has opened two new offices in order to expand further into the national market. The company has opened an office in Richmond, B.C. and in Montreal, Quebec, each currently with two staff members for sales and service.

Access Imaging was founded in 1993 and was the largest ColorSpan sales and service provider in Canada before the line was purchased by Hewlett-Packard. Today, they are an HP Elite Partner, dealing with Designjet, Commercial and Industrial digital presses.

John Visentin, president of Access Imaging, says the company chose the Vancouver market because of the upcoming Olympic games and the resulting need for wide-format print in the region. The Montreal location will service the growing Quebec market. Visentin says there are plans to open more locations to service the Prairie provinces.