(October 26, 2008) Agfa Graphics announced today that the :Anapurna XLS is making its North America debut at Graph Expo, which runs October 26th through October 29th at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois.

Agfa's :Anapurna XLS is a wide format, industrial inkjet printer for indoor and outdoor signs and displays, specially designed to handle heavy workloads. It uses UV inks that produce highly saturated colors that can withstand image longevity under severe outdoor conditions. It can print on a wide variety of roll or rigid media at a top speed of 473 square feet per hour.

"Agfa has brought groundbreaking technology to the wide format printing industry with the :Anapurna XLS in many ways, from its transport system that handles difficult substrates to its high reliability with its patented Flush Brush and unique head design," said Deborah Hutcheson, senior marketing manager, Digital Solutions, Agfa Graphics, North America. "The new :Anapurna XLS is designed to eliminate the need for users to compromise between speed and quality as it provides photographic quality at high production speeds."

Capable of printing point-of-purchase displays, posters, banners, automobile fleet displays, exhibition panels, stage graphics and construction signs and panels, the :Anapurna XLS also has several features that many printers of indoor and outdoor signs and displays often require for effective advertising, promotion and efficient workflow, such as borderless printing, dual board printing, automatic maintenance and automatic ink refill.

The XLS features a unique Walking Floor. Materials are mounted to the Walking Floor's vacuums and unique stamper-feet hold the materials in place while the print shuttle moves across the surface. The Walking Floor also allows for a lower waste factor making more of the substrate usable for printing. Agfa's stamper-feet design makes switching from roll-to-roll to rigid very easy and beneficial for increased productivity.

The Media Scan function automatically recognizes media size, thickness and position on the printing table. All defined parameters are displayed in a graphical user interface and they can be overruled by the engine operator.