ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. - Print buyers today look to their vendors for solutions, and Royal Oak Graphics has a reservoir of good ones. Every exciting idea that the Eden Prairie, Minn.-based shop develops to wring the most from its Screen Truepress Jet2500UV board and roll inkjet printer transforms an interested prospect into a new satisfied customer.

"What distinguishes Royal Oak Graphics is our ability to propose unique solutions to customers that they might not have thought of," said Tom Young, president.

The list of challenge-busting brainstorms that have resulted in repeat business keeps getting bigger. Recently, Royal Oak printed customized business cards on clear PETG plastic sheets the thickness of credit card stock. The job consisted of 500 cards containing different images, including a small QR code, on the front and back of 30-point sheets.

"The Truepress Jet2500UV printed the job in three layers of distinct image using opaque white as a designated layer in the middle," Young said. "We used white ink as part of the images on both sides as well. The cards turned out beautifully. The machine held all the fine detail. Barcode readers were able to instantly scan the QR code."

Passion for graphic communications announced itself when Young was a freshman in high school and is still strong 30 years later. Young has worked in photo reproduction, digital imaging, screen printing, lithography and large-format printing throughout the United States. Successfully starting up digital printing divisions for a couple of companies in Minnesota provided the inspiration to launch his own large-format business.

Royal Oak opened its doors last March with the Truepress Jet2500UV, a Kongsberg XL-24 cutting table from Esko and 4,000 square feet of space. Young is banking that these core technologies combined with an unflinchingly do-it-yourself spirit will put the company on the map.

"I am building a niche business based on higher quality and smaller run lengths," he said. "This is different from what I have focused on in the past - boards per hour and monster output."

Showing customers how Royal Oak can handle tight deadlines, unique substrates and fine details is key to this business strategy.

"The fast speed and low setup cost of the Truepress Jet2500UV allow us to produce protoypes quickly and inexpensively," Young said. "The Truepress Jet2500UV is easy to operate and offers considerable flexibility. It prints on a huge range of media up to 98.4 inches wide. We move frequently between roll-fed and rigid substrates on a daily basis. In addition to banner material, adhesive vinyl, acrylics and corrugated plastic, we experiment with new materials and techniques all the time. We can make mockups for just about anything."

Young has seen a lot of digital printing systems in his career, so he had definite criteria on quality in mind when he chose the Truepress Jet2500UV.

"Customers are sold on the print quality of this machine," he said. "The drop-on-demand printhead combines variable droplet technology and grayscale operation. Images printed on the Truepress Jet2500UV are much sharper and have truer color and smoother transitions in the quarter tones and midtones than images printed at the same resolution on other equipment that does not use variable droplets. We have received several customer referrals as a result."

One thing Young had not witnessed before while comparing different printing systems was the outstanding printing with solid white ink.

"Plenty of digital devices on the market feature white ink capability, but no other manufacturer produces a machine that prints white ink like Screen does," he said. "The printed piece exactly matches the source file. The density and fit are fantastic. There is no variance from one print to the next."

Screen USA is demonstrating the Truepress Jet2500UV at SGIA Expo 2012 in booth #2669, October 18-20 at the Las Vegas (Nev.) Convention Center. To learn more, visit www.screenusa.com or call (800) 372-7737.