March 18, 2008 -- Agfa Graphics announced today that it will demonstrate the :Dotrix Modular industrial inkjet press at drupa, being held in Düsseldorf, Germany, 29 May-11 June. The :Dotrix Modular will be shown in a set-up for flexible packaging and a set-up for folding cartons.

Agfa has improved the :Dotrix Modular press to accommodate the needs of the flexible packaging market. The :Dotrix Modular is now the first digital press that can handle the media mix with sufficient adhesion that this market requires and a cost-of-ownership that allows run lengths of up to and over 15,000 running meters. The :Dotrix Modular's ability to print thin layers provides the look and feel the flexible packaging market demands.

Today, the :Dotrix, which is upgradeable, runs with UV inks on a wide variety of media at 24 m/min. In the next phase, speeds will be increased to 30 m/min and afterwards to even higher speeds depending on the specific applications.

The :Dotrix Modular is among the most productive industrial full-color UV inkjet presses available today. These presses are more economical than analog flexo presses for run lengths of up to and over 15,000 meters. Its versatile engines print on many types of substrates, including the most common flexible packaging materials such as paper, multiwall, PE, PP, BOPP and PET, as well as folding carton and label materials such as heat-sensitive, pressure-sensitive and in-mould labels. This media mix makes the :Dotrix press a unique solution for the flexible packaging market segment.

Recent installations of the :Dotrix Modular have seen excellent results in printing on flexible foils or standard substrate. The printed results show excellent, photorealistic image quality along with very good adhesion and flexibility. They can be used for specialized items such as plastic bags, multi-layer packaging, aluminum container lids, blister packs and more.

The printed foil output has the same look and feel as traditional flexographic printing, with better image quality and a unique web width of 63 cm. In addition, operators can quickly switch between jobs, which makes it ideal for small and medium runs that need to be printed economically and at short notice.

Because it is built around an industry standard flexo media transport, the :Dotrix guarantees high reliability. It also offers the option to integrate analog, flexo stations in-line with the digital stations, as well as virtually all existing finishing options from the flexo world. This in-line flexo option offers the ability to use primer when required and to print special in-house colors or special inks like gold, metallic and fluorescents, as well as high density white and varnish.

"Our industrial inkjet presses help printers in the packaging market increase their versatility and accomplish the work they need to do to satisfy their clients faster than ever before. drupa gives us the opportunity to promote our expertise in this technology with professionals from dozens of countries around the world," said Willy Van Dromme, Sales & Marketing Manager, Inkjet, Agfa Graphics. "The:Dotrix will show attendees how our industry-leading research and development continually takes digital printing to new levels of quality, efficiency throughput and reliability."