Foster City, Calif. - EFI, a world leader in customer-focused digital printing solutions, will be showcasing an exciting line-up of wide-format and superwide-format digital inkjet printers at the ISA International Sign Expo 2011 (April 28-30 in Las Vegas). Highlighted will be the enhanced EFI VUTEk GS5000r roll-to-roll UV printer along with a technology demo of the new EFI Rasteka R3204 UV-curing digital inkjet printer. Also displayed will be the EFI VUTEk GS2000 UV hybrid printer; the EFI Rastek H652 UV hybrid printer; and the EFI Rastek T1000 UV flatbed printer.

"We are really excited to be showing these game-changing products. They feature next generation technology our customers can leverage to win significant new business and improve their profitability," states Scott Schinlever, senior vice president and general manager of EFI VUTEk and Rastek. "Each product expands the boundaries of what is possible with digital inkjet printing particularly in terms of image quality and print speed. Customers now have more options from which to choose to match their particular business needs, whether they want to focus on point-of-purchase graphics, out-of-home advertising, or other emerging markets for short-run digital printing."

Revealed at EFI's Connect users' conference, an event going on concurrently with ISA in Las Vegas, is the revolutionary VUTEk GS3250lx UV-curing digital inkjet printer which incorporates new "cool cure" LED technology and increased productivity to facilitate faster and more efficient job production (see separate press release issued today). With no VOCs, less consumables and waste, low energy consumption, and the ability to print on recycled and other materials without introducing warping or head strikes, this printer enables users to more easily satisfy their customer requests for a greener printing solution.

The highly-versatile EFI VUTEk GS5000r five-meter roll-to-roll UV printer has been enhanced with new options. It enables print shops to quickly and efficiently produce premium-margin jobs, like exhibition graphics, retail signage and digital textiles, as well as commercial graphics and long-term outdoor signage, including billboards, with one printer. For point-of-purchase (P-O-P) image quality demands, it offers high-definition, eight-color plus white capability to produce life-like skin tones, smooth gradients and crisp 4-point text. When billboard productivity is required, the VUTEk GS5000r delivers outdoor output with Fast-4 technology. Users gain market-penetrating versatility with multi-roll printing on up to three 60-inch rolls simultaneously along with automated double-sided printing. The VUTEk GS5000r is also the only five-meter printer with UV ink covered by the coveted 3M MCS Warranty when co-branded EFI and 3M inks are used on 3M flexible media.*

Sheldon G. Hurst Jr., managing partner of Georgia PrintCo LLC, a beta site customer for the enhanced GS5000r, states, "Our business has increased 31 percent since last year due to the quality and speed of our existing VUTEk printers, which is why we are very excited about the new options available on the GS5000r. We expect that the new double-sided feature will enable us to quadruple our output speed, while the ability to leverage 3M inks and the 3M MCS Warranty will be an additional business asset."

Featured as a technology demo at ISA is the EFI Rastek R3204, a roll-to-roll UV-curing digital inkjet solution that offers superior image quality at production level speed. It's an affordably priced printer built for users looking to capture more premium soft-signage applications. It delivers stunning image quality with UV ink durability using true eight-level grayscale technology. This environmentally-friendly printer produces minimal VOC levels compared to solvent and eco-solvent printers, and it produces less heat than latex reducing owner energy costs.        

The VUTEk GS2000 is a 2-meter UV flatbed and roll-to-roll printer that combines photorealistic quality with high production speeds, making it ideal for print shops looking to satisfy customer demands for highest image quality and tight deadlines. It covers a wide range of applications from exhibition graphics and point-of-purchase displays, to banners, posters and other commercial graphics. The GS2000 enhances application versatility with best-in-class white ink that is opaque and flexible. This printer also comes with the EFI Fiery XF RIP that delivers consistent, accurate colors that make images pop. Payback is expected to be less than 10 months.  

EFI's Rastek H652 UV hybrid builds on the success of the popular H650, adding nearly twice the speed without sacrificing image quality. Reaching speeds of up to 455 square feet per hour in grayscale print quality with resolution up to 1200 dpi, the new Rastek H652 handles a wide range of rigid and flexible materials up to 1.8 inches thick and 64 inches wide, making it the perfect, affordable entry-level production UV hybrid solution for businesses that want to offer wide-format applications ranging from banners and billboards to posters and point-of-purchases graphics. With white ink capabilities and grayscale high resolution print quality, the H652 delivers saturated colors and smooth gradients.

EFI's Rastek T1000 flatbed has a three-zone, 52" x 98" vacuum table with the versatility to quickly and easily handle materials up two inches thick, including difficult-to-handle substrates that require superior hold-down. With speeds up to 460 square feet per hour and grayscale print quality with resolution up to 1200 dpi, the T1000 is ideal for creating head-turning posters, point-of-purchase advertisements including lenticular, along with specialty industrial applications such as membrane switches and packaging applications. The T1000 offers white ink capabilities with no compromise in print speeds, with the ability to print in white at the same speed as CMYK.

EFI will be exhibiting at ISA in booth 3558 in Hall A.  For more information about these new printers, as well as EFI's integrated end-to-end workflow solutions, visit www.efi.com.

Other new printers introduced by EFI

In addition to the innovations displayed at ISA, EFI has also announced the availability of two other next-generation digital inkjet printers. Introduced at the Sign & Digital UK Exhibition in Birmingham, England was the 3.2-meter VUTEk TX3250r dye-sublimation textile printer. It combines industrial productivity, high-quality output and application versatility to meet the growing demand and requirements of the soft signage and digital textile market. With the ability to print direct to textile and transfer paper, the VUTEk TX3250r is an ideal solution for shops looking to grow their soft signage and textile business with a production-level printer. It also enables users to diversify their offering by converting traditional vinyl signage to a product with lower shipping costs, a greener footprint, easier installation and higher margins.

As mentioned above, the revolutionary VUTEk GS3250lx UV-curing digital inkjet printer is on display for the first time at EFI Connect, taking place at the Wynn through April 29. This new printer is able to produce high-definition point-of-purchase graphics with true 1000 dpi and advanced three-layer white ink printing. The LED system features instant on/off and requires less maintenance, increasing the uptime to produce more profitable jobs. Since there is no warm-up time required and the LED bulbs last the lifetime of the printer, owners will consume less energy and lower hard costs to help reduce overall operating costs. Because of the low curing heat, the VUTEk GS3250LX expands the range of substrates that can be printed to include, for instance, poly banner materials, some cardboard/corrugated materials, and even less expensive, thinner styrenes. It has continuous board productivity that allows users to take on more jobs and turn them around faster. With a time between boards of less than five seconds, it's possible to produce up to 55 - 4'x8' (1.2m x 2.4m) boards per hour.

 * The 3Ma MCSa Warranty backs graphics printed with the EFI VUTEk GS5000r printer on select 3M flexible media and printed and applied according to 3M Product and Instruction Bulletins. This warranty lasts up to five years on EFI co-branded inks that have a shelf life of 15 months.