Sign & Graphics | Bi Monthly Publication of Signage Industry in India

Fiery XF preServer maximises throughput of EFI VUTEk printers

EFI’s Fiery XF preserver is a high-performance production solution for the complete line-up of EFI VUTEk superwide format UV inkjet printers. It offers a platform optimised for blazing fast image processing, expanded software options, and support and maintenance that provide a full, end-to-end EFI solution.

Fiery XF proServer is a scalable system that improves printing, production and colour capabilities with its expanded set of Fiery XF options, high-performance hardware platform, and integration with other EFI products. EFI installs and configures the Fiery XF proServer with a VUTEk printer to ensure the whole solution works seamlessly.

ALTANA acquires Avery’s Metalure pigment production

ECKART Effect Pigments, a Division of ALTANA AG, signs an agreement to acquire the production of Metalure pigments from Avery Dennison. ECKART has been the worldwide distributor of these high-quality ‘PVD-Type’ aluminum pigments manufactured by Avery Dennison for over 20 years. ECKART will now acquire the production located at the premises of Avery Dennison in Schererville, Indiana.

ECKART utilizes Metalure pigments in graphic art, coatings and other applications. With this acquisition, the company will focus on high-quality metallic pigments.

Kevin M Murphy appointed as president and CEO of ONYX Graphics

ONYX Graphics Inc announces the appointment of Kevin M Murphy as its new president and CEO. He brings to the company a wealth of international experience in business management in the printing and imaging industries. Working with Océ North America (a Canon Group company), he had held progressive management positions in his erstwhile company. Also, his early career included progressive management roles, both at domestic and international levels, in the Office Imaging Division at Eastman Kodak Company.

SMK Digital moves to new facility

Mumbai-based SMK Digital has reincarnated into new avatar after shifting from Andheri East to its new and expanded facility in Goregaon East. Opening of the company’s new facility has perceived with bigger space and broader service to its clients based in far and near corners of the region.

SMK Digital is considerably one of the prominent distributors of Scorpio series of digital large-format printers and others in the Indian Signage market. The new office address of the company is: SMK Digital, Unit No 25, Guru Gobind Singh Industrial Estate, Off Western Express Highway, Jay Coach, Goregaon (E), Mumbai-400063; Phone: 022-26866854/55.

HP certifies Aslan’s films for Latex inks

Aslan now has its wide range of specialty films for digital printing officially certified for HP Latex printing. The Latex printing technology has a lot of advantages and its importance in the market is strongly increasing. Latex inks allow high quality prints in brilliant colours. They are odourless, solvent-free and environment-friendly. The water-based and solvent-free adhesives of Aslan films make them the perfect eco-friendly complement of Latex inks.

Being an HP Registered Latex Developer, Aslan checks the printability of its vinyl directly with HP and offers printing profiles for perfect results. Every Aslan digital printing film has been tested, approved and certified by HP.

Drytac’s pressure-sensitive laminates rated outdoor durable for three years

Interlam Pro laminates by Drytac provide outdoor durability with a water-based adhesive and this line of pressure-sensitive laminates are rated ‘outdoor durable’ for three years. Composed of a premium water-based acrylic adhesive coated on a UV stabilised PVC vinyl base film for conformability, finish and durability. Interlam Pro laminates have excellent resistance to UV light and can be used for both indoor and outdoor applications.

Available in widths of 38 inch, 51 inch and 61 inch, finishes of the pressure-sensitive laminates are ideal for floor graphics or graphics where extensive handling may be involved.

Lintec takes window films to designer crowd

Lintec Graphic Films exhibited at contemporary design show titled ‘100% Design’ at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London where the company for the first time showcased its printable window film ranges. The products on display included Vitroflip, Lintec’s newest offering, which allows users to produce a ‘moving’ image, colours or text as well as one-way window film Contra Vision ORS.

A new vignette effect film, Dot-on-Dot, was also on display demonstrating its ability to present different colours on each side. Also, Lintec Graphic Films exhibited advertising, corporate identity and design possibilities of ultra-clear polyester film Vitrocolour.

Roland DG celebrates 30th anniversary with ‘2011 Creative Awards’

To celebrate the company’s 30th anniversary, Roland DG is inviting customers worldwide to participate in its first ever global awards contest. The 2011 Roland Creative Awards are open through December 31, 2011 to all users of Roland equipment across the globe. All entries will be showcased live online at www.rolandcreativeawards.com where anyone, Roland user or not, can participate by voting for their favourite entry to determine the monthly People’s Choice Winner. For the major prizes, official judges will select winners based on Creativity, Innovation and Execution in each of the 14 regions, representing 123 countries worldwide.

Prizes awarded include: Monthly People’s Choice Awards; Honourable Mention Awards; Regional Winner; and Worldwide Grand Prize. To participate in the 2011 Roland Creative Awards, Roland customers must submit entries online. Further information can be available on: www.rolandcreativeawards.com

HP Scitex goes with X-Rite for colour management

X-Rite enters into a licensing agreement to offer unmatched profiling solution for the HP Scitex range of wide-format printers. The company announces its new i1Profiler software being selected as the profiling application of choice for HP Scitex printers for signage and industrial applications. Through this licensing agreement, HP’s support and engineering teams will be equipped with X-Rite’s i1Profiler software and i1Pro spectrophotometers to create standard ICC profiles to embed into all HP Scitex printers.

The ICC profiles generated by X-Rite’s i1Profiler offer colour accuracy, which is considered to be the rarest. Using custom ICC profiles, users will be able to achieve the best colour quickly knowing that, if needed, they can further enhance it through iteration using additional patches or spot colours. This iterative capability offers an unprecedented level of colour control over the output quality of HP Scitex wide format imaging workflows.

Roland helps improve business cycle under ‘3R’ programme

More ‘new’ business is what everyone aspires to with efforts to lure customers using novel ideas and concepts. Entities that look upon the industry are fascinated by the volume of jobs and speed of ROI. In order to bring the industry at a next level of solution provider to diversified sectors, Roland has introduced the concept of ‘3R’. The company’s ‘3R’ programme helps companies at different stages of product delivery. This programme encapsulates: Roland Creative centre; Roland Academy and Roland Care.

Roland Creative Centre: Equipped with all the latest machines from Roland, and complemented by a fairly comprehensive set of media and inks and managed by a knowledgeable team, this centre is a focal point where ideas are generated, shared and become visible.

Roland Academy: A training workshop conducted with an aim to enhance customer’s ability to use the existing products: in terms of operator skills to use it for regular and volume production, including fundamental concept of colour management and others.

Roland Care: This is a combination of activities where the effort is to ensure smooth running of Roland products right from installations till production. This ‘care’ programme includes onsite activity by engineers, telephonic support which is tracked by the internal software for effective reach and fast response.

Overall zeal and enthusiasm with which Roland has rolled out with the 3R programme–combined with the on-ground results that are seen have brought conviction of the user community to participate and work with the programme.

Italian graphic art school opens Europe’s first HP Latex demo centre

With an aim to expand knowledge about printing with HP Latex inks, Milan-based Art Instituto Pavoniano Artigianelli has unveiled Europe’s first permanent HP Latex technologies demonstration centre. Established in 1870, Art Instituto Italiano Artigianelli is one of the most famous and prestigious graphic art schools in Italy. With courses recognised by the Italian Institute of Education, it offers both academic and vocational training for students aged 14 to 19.

The new demonstration centre will showcase a variety of applications ranging from traditional billboards and posters to innovative wraps and wallpapers, all produced using HP Latex printing technologies. The centrepiece of the demonstration centre is the HP Designjet L25500 printer, which will be used to offer personalised demonstrations.

MACtac announces winners of ‘Innovative Awards 2011’

Designed to reward excellence in the field of visual communication, the international session of the 7th MACtac Awards took place recently in Singapore, with over 200 finalists selected from thousands of entries.

Work from printers, applicators and end-users from Asia, Middle East, Oceania and South America were submitted into five different categories viz. Surprising, innovative and original project; Technically challenging application; The most to beautify a city, environment; Non-promotional interior design and The most monumental project. And also a special MACtac Prize!

The winners in the International Territory under different categories include: Printworks - Mediatech (UAE); Rocket Signs (New Zealand); INDSIGN Industrial & Graphic (Venezuela); Int’l Public Communication Organization (China); Total Sign Solutions Ltd (New Zealand); Tattoobranding Inc (Philippines); BusAds Pte Ltd (Singapore); Inspire Image Co. Ltd. (Thailand); JCDecaux (UAE); Omnigraphics (New Zealand), among others.

Xavier Garcia as new VP and GM of HP Scitex Large-format Printing Solutions

Areshuffle in the Hewlett Packard family, Xavier Garcia replaces Yariv Avisar who has led Imaging and Printing Group joining Scitex Vision in 2002 and was instrumental in the acquisitions of NUR Macroprinters. Avisar is leaving to become CEO of a privately held company in Israel but will continue to lead the HP Scitex business till the end of HP’s fiscal year, to ensure a smooth transition. Under Yariv Avisar’s leadership, the HP Scitex organization has grown into the worldwide leader in wide-format graphics and a valuable partner for its customers.

Xavier, who brings 18 years experience in large-format printing, will be responsible for day-to-day operations for the HP Scitex business. Since joining HP as an HP Designjet product engineer, Xavier has held multiple positions in operations and R&D, with special focus on product generation, technology and partnership management. In 2006, he created the Large Format Lab in Shanghai before joining the Scitex business in 2009 as director of operations and relocating to Israel.

Delhi Advertising Club elects new president

Office bearers for the tenure 2011-12 have been elected in the recent elections of Delhi Advertising Club (DAC). RC Tanwar was elected as the new president of DAC along with Pramod Bhandula and Gaurav Chopra as vice presidents, Vipin Kharbanda as honorary secretary, Ashok Sharma and Manmohan Gupta as joint secretaries and others unanimously elected for different positions in DAC’s team of office bearers.

Narinder Sharma, immediate past president of DAC, addressed the newly elected members encouraging for some useful activities in the coming year. In addition, VK Chopa, executive committee member of DAC, appealed to all the members to take interest in the activities of the club. The newly elected president of DAC, RC Tanwar, assured his colleagues to do the best and co-opted four executive members as per the club’s constitution.

ONYX updates SmartApps Sign&Banner Plug-in for Adobe

ONYX Graphics announces the release of SmartApps Sign&Banner plug-in Version 1.1 for Adobe Illustrator software, which simplifies and accelerates set-up of wide-format signs and banners. Meeting the increasing demands for its customers, SmartApps Sign&Banner plug-in Version 1.1 includes enhancements to the bleed setup tool that dramatically reduces the time to prepare double-sided banners.

Now, designers can use the new double-sided bleed feature to specify an amount of print bleed and the plug-in automatically matches the correct bleeds for the reverse side of double-sided banners.

Dufaylite Ultra Board creates cool pop-up shop for London Design Festival

Those who visited London Design Festival recently would have been impressed by a pop-up shop made entirely from a durable, sustainable material. The pop-up called ‘ShedShop’ created by London-based designer Shell Thomas was constructed from Dufaylite’s Ultra Board and used to sell souvenirs from the Design Museum Shop to the public at Tent London - one of the largest design trade shows which took place during the festival.

The shed form has been chosen to symbolise “home-grown” products, as everything available in the shop was created by young up-and-coming designers. At 1200 mm wide and 2400 mm high, culture vultures couldn’t miss the ‘ShedShop’ pop-up at various locations across London during the festival.

G O G S Technologies opens new branch in India

Distributor of quality industrial UV printers, Gulf Ocean Graphics Services (GOGS) was established in Dubai in 1994. It has been the company’s endeavor to provide the best possible pricing for its products backed with excellent service, establishing long-term relationship with a number of prominent customers. Now, GOGS opens its India branch office at Mulund (W), Mumbai to serve the customers in the subcontinent from the local level.

Distributing a range of GRAPO UV-cured large-format printers with origins as a print shop, GOGS understands the needs of the customers looking for consistent quality, reliable and robust equipments, faster production, simple operation and long-term freedom from maintenance, backed with reasonable price of machine, spares plus consumables supported by excellent service.

GRAPO UV printers are robustly built to give extreme performance. The printers using UV-based inks for longer lasting prints with instant drying, photographic quality at affordable price with simple operation creating infinite possibilities include: GEMINI flatbed & roll-to-roll (1080 x 1080 dpi resolution, speed up to 1000 sq ft/hr); SHARK roll-to-roll flatbed (1080 x 1080 dpi resolution, speed up to 2500 sq ft/hr); MANTA WHITE flatbed (720 x 720 dpi resolution, speed up to 430 sq ft/hr); MANTA flatbed (720 x 720 dpi resolution, speed up to 430 sq ft/hr); MANTA SLIM flatbed (720 x 720 dpi resolution, speed up to 430 sq ft/hr) and OCTOPUS II roll-to-roll flatbed (720 x 720 dpi resolution, speed up to 430 sq ft/hr).

Distributor and consultant of an array of digital printers, printing machineries, graphic imaging & finishing equipments and others, GOGS has grouped its existing companies operating under one name GOGS TECHNOLOGIES for all countries. For more details, view the web site WWW.GOGS.ORG or contact: 09818333521, 09920329647. 09600433005.