12 April 2007 - Colortec, a small sign shop in Burnaby, British Columbia, has proven that you don't need to operate a large business to successfully invest in exceptional digital flatbed printing, when you invest in Inca Digital's Spyder 320-e. Colortec invested in the printer for high quality printing while cutting operating expenses by reducing material, mounting and labor costs for roll-fed printing or film, screens and labor costs for screen printing. The Spyder 320-e allows Colortec to deliver lower prices on smaller jobs-and on some of the short run work previously completed on screen presses. Since 1988, Colortec has enjoyed steady growth by providing customers dependable service and superior image quality at competitive prices. Colortec's fourteen employees create a broad range of display materials, including point of purchase posters, signs, and banners; transit advertising; and outdoor bus benches, transit shelters, and curb signs, among others. Until recently, they relied on three screen presses, and two roll fed printers for short runs or one-off imaging. The Inca Spyder 320-e is within the means of the budgetary requirements of a small business. Colortec was impressed with the quality: fine type, imaging, the absence of banding, and the colors-especially hard-to-get colors like reds. The Spyder 320-e is a lower cost version of the popular flatbed printer, with a slight speed compromise (up to 40 sqm/hr) but all the quality benefits of other Spyder models (It can also be upgraded as the company develops its flatbed digital business). The speed has been more than adequate for Colortec, and long runs can be cost-effective compared to screen printing. Colortec likes the flexibility of ganging up prints on a 4'x8' panel as opposed to printing one-ups. "Along with productivity, we were interested in the registration a flatbed vacuum table would provide because of the intricate work we do. As my dad says, 'You can always sell quality'," remarks Chris Fetterly, Colortec general manager. With digital printing, Colortec knew customers would be willing to pay more for quality work. One specific Colortec customer is always willing to pay more for digital printing. If there's one, they figure there are many others. One job required Colortec to print 90 aluminum pieces-each cut differently and requiring different artwork. The customer wanted to cut the pieces before the graphics were printed, to protect the artwork from the finishing process. The customer tested other vendors in town, but were unhappy with the colors or text. Colortec's Spyder 320e? "Unbelievably amazing! It was exactly what they were looking for," adds Fetterly. "Color punch, clean text, and registration." What's next? "We're going to learn lenticular printing. I'd recommend the Inca Spyder 320-e to any small printer-as long as you're not going to complete in our market," concludes Fetterly.