EFI at FESPA: New, Next-Gen Hybrid Inkjet Platform, Greener Pigment Process for Textile

Electronics For Imaging, Inc. – in hall 2.2 at stand B30 at FESPA 2018, which takes place May 15-18 – will unveil its next-generation hybrid flatbed/roll platform technology, the EFI VUTEk h series printer.
 
EFI’s exhibit also features the launch of an industrial textile pigment ink technology for direct-to-textile production.
 
The new EFI Reggiani pigment ink technology gives users a faster, environmentally friendly production process with inline polymerization that requires less water, less energy and less processing time, with no washing or steaming needed. In addition, the ink’s fastness properties and high printability sharpness will allow printing on a wide range of fabrics with the fine-detail designs. The new pigment textile technology completes the range of innovations EFI Reggiani has presented over the past year, including the FLEXY digital printer launched at last year’s FESPA tradeshow and the brand-new EFI Reggiani COLORS printer launched last month.
 
Other new innovations at the tradeshow include the EFI VUTEk FabriVU 340i, an aqueous soft signage printer.
 
FESPA attendees can also witness the next generation in digital print job management with version 7 of EFI’s Fiery wide- and super wide-format production digital front ends (DFEs) and updated Fiery Command WorkStation software.
 
Designed for high-volume production of premium signage and graphics
The new VUTEk h series of 3.2-meter wide hybrid LED printers features new, high-velocity 7-picolitre UltraDrop Technology greyscale printhead imaging. The printers offer four- and eight-color printing modes plus white, as well as five-layer print capability in a single pass.
 
The new VUTEk h3 model on display at FESPA offers maximum throughput of up to 74 boards per hour. The h5 model, which is available direct from EFI or as field upgrade to the h3 model, can produce up to 109 boards per hour.
 
The EFI Ecosystem for complete industrial textile production
The new EFI Reggiani pigment inks are based on an innovative new binder technology. The inks react to EFI Reggiani printers’ on-board dryers, which set off a unique in-line polymerization process for faster, greener printing that requires fewer steps than other digital industrial inkjet textile systems.
 
The new pigment textile solution extends the outstanding range of EFI Reggiani innovations presented during the last 12 months, including the EFI Reggiani FLEXY launched at last year’s FESPA, and most recently, the EFI Reggiani COLORS – a breakthrough printer offering up to 12 colors that brings new creativity to the industry with unmatched printing quality and uniformity, an extended color gamut, superior color depth and increased penetration into fabric.
EFI Reggiani printers are part of a complete EFI Ecosystem mini-factory application shown at FESPA. The design process of the EFI Ecosystem starts with EFI Optitex, a technology innovator in the field of 2D/3D software. The cutting-edge digital solutions offered by EFI Optitex allow brands to optimise their workflow and create patterns in the digital sphere, ultimately saving time, money and textile, which places EFI Optitex’s clients at the forefront of the textile industry.
 
Once a virtual product pattern is complete, EFI’s Fiery DesignPro software – a series of plug-in applications for Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop – combines technologies for efficient textile design and file preparation with the Fiery proServer DFE for professional color management and high-quality RIP output on EFI Reggiani digital printers. Efficient, high-quality production in the EFI Ecosystem for textile at FESPA takes place on the EFI Reggiani FLEXY, a versatile printer that handles a wide variety of fabrics, from knitted and woven to low- and high-stretch materials. The tightly integrated mini-factory gives textile producers a smoother, coherent, production-aware workflow by connecting EFI technologies as well as key workflow and cut-and-sew solutions from other leading vendors for true end-to-end productivity.
 
Show attendees visiting EFI also can experience EFI’s 360-degree, interactive virtual reality (VR) demonstrations of the EFI VUTEk HS125 Pro hybrid inkjet press and EFI’s game-changing, single-pass corrugated packaging press, the EFI Nozomi C18000. The ultra-high-speed (75-linear metres per minute) Nozomi press has multiple installations worldwide and is used to drive digital efficiencies in digital packaging production at some of the world’s leading corrugated board converters. EFI Nozomi – the winner of the 2018 EDP Award for best corrugated solution – also is one of the key highlights of the FESPA multi-vendor Digital Corrugated Experience in hall 5.2. High-quality Nozomi-printed packages and displays and a showcase of EFI’s unique and comprehensive EFI Corrugated Packaging Suite workflow offering are part of the exhibit.