At the Photo Marketing Association's Show in Las Vegas March 2-5, Oce will emphasize three different digital printing devices that can help professional photo labs further expand into new markets: the superwide Oce LightJet 500 XL, the Oce Arizona 500 roll-to-roll solvent-system inkjet, and the Oce Arizona T200 flatbed printer. All three devices can be driven by Onyx Graphics' ProductionHouse print-management software.
At 72-in. wide, the Oce LightJet 500 XL photo imager is a continuous-tone printer for the production of unseamed photographic images greater than 50 in. wide. Oce recommends it for oversized backlit graphics, trade-show displays, P-O-P posters, and fine-art photography.
The 75-in. Oce Arizona 500 six-color, solvent-system inkjet printer can be used for a variety of indoor and outdoor graphics. A new Print & Go roll-to-sheet printing module makes it faster to produce higher volumes of one-off jobs because the printer doesn't have to be stopped to unload the take-up roll. A new infrared dryer mounted to the front of the Arizona 500 aids in drying the inks so that prints are ready for finishing immediately after printing.
The Oce Arizona T220 solvent-ink flatbed printer can image to rigid and flexible substrates up to 62 in. wide, 120 in. long, and 2 in. thick. The T220 can print full bleeds on foamboards, vinyl, tile, PVC sheets, carpets and specialty items such as custom tiles, furniture panels and window blinds.
Material waste is minimized because there is no minimum print size. Also, the image-skew problems that can occur on manual-fed systems are avoided because the Arizona T220 holds substrates stationary while the printhead assembly moves across the table to create the print.
Joyce Virnich, vice-president of marketing for the Wide-Format Printing Systems business unit of Oce-USA, believes “Professional photo labs are actively seeking out alternative technologies, particularly in the digital imaging area, where they can grow their revenues and profits.” She cites a recent PMA Industry Trends Report indicating that in many professional labs, digital imaging services continued to be profitable while traditional lab sales decreased during the 2001-2002 time period. Of the surveyed labs that offer wide-format digital color printing services, 78% reported that this segment of their business is profitable. (Oce: www.oceusa.com)