LAS VEGAS - The EFI™ exhibit in booth 650 at this year's ISA International Sign Expo in Las Vegas provides a full portfolio of products for signage and graphics professionals to capitalize on some of the industry's best growth opportunities. The exhibit highlights innovation, high productivity, quality and reliability available with production-class low-, middle- and high-volume UV and LED inkjet printers, combined with a full range of industry-leading, integrated workflow products.

EFI's offerings - from a new web-to-print technology and a significantly faster image processing workflow, to 7-picoliter grayscale printhead technology for near-photographic imaging, to the world's top technology for energy-efficient "cool cure" LED imaging at full production speeds - open doors to new revenue streams and greater profit opportunities.

More consistency, higher image quality with cool cure LED

LED technology is a key feature in EFI's exhibit at the expo. With more than 500 LED inkjet printers installed at locations worldwide, EFI is leading the charge in the significant advantages of higher-quality, versatile imaging on broader range of substrates - with virtually no VOC emissions and significantly reduced energy usage. EFI customers are gaining a competitive advantage from their ability to print on thin, inexpensive films, corrugated board and other materials that cannot withstand the heat associated with other drying or curing methods.

One LED inkjet technology user, the Sir Speedy printing franchise in Raleigh, N.C., expanded the range of products it sells to new and existing clients with a 65-inch EFI H1625 LED hybrid roll/flatbed printer. The printer's flatbed capabilities have eliminated a good amount of outsourcing the business once did, opening the door to more-profitable selling opportunities on jobs printed on brushed metal and other specialty substrates. The printer, which is on display in EFI's booth and in the booth for print technology dealer Nazdar SourceOne (#1557), is an entry-level product offering high-quality, eight-level grayscale imaging and superior white ink capabilities at an affordable price.

"Our sales team has really embraced new capabilities with this printer," according to Sir Speedy Raleigh's owner, Lloyd Newton. "It uses much less power than traditional UV curing, and it takes many of the variables out of the printing process."

Other LED printers on display at the expo include:

• The EFI VUTEk® GS2000lx Pro with UltraDrop™ Technology, a 2-meter hybrid printer with eight colors plus white that delivers exceptional quality, including crisp four-point type and vibrant color, thanks to high-end capabilities of its variable-drop, grayscale 7-picoliter UltraDrop printheads.
   
• The 3.2-meter EFI VUTEk GS3250lxr Pro, a dedicated roll-to-roll printer that extends LED UV imaging into the fleet and vehicle wrap, textile soft signage and specialty out-of-home markets with advanced SuperFlex Inks from EFI and 3M.

EFI's exhibit also includes the award-winning flagship of the EFI VUTEk portfolio, the 3.2-meter, hybrid EFI VUTEk HS100 Pro press, a high-volume, analog replacement solution that uses a combination LED/UV pin and cure imaging process to provide exceptional quality and high productivity. The press also features automated material loading and unloading systems, along with a material edge guide system for printing corrugated board and other challenging substrates at press rated-speeds.

The 2-meter, hybrid EFI VUTEk H2000 Pro UV inkjet printer on display features UltraDrop Technology and gives users a more-affordable entry point into mid-volume, premium production printing while giving them the option to add features - including white ink, clear varnish and roll-to-roll media handling - as they grow their business.

Show attendees can also see unique, pre-decorated inkjet-printed sheets created with an EFI VUTEk GS Pro-TF series printer and thermoformed in the booth, as well as cost-effective, label and narrow-web inkjet converted applications printed with an EFI Jetrion® digital inkjet press.

Furious speed: EFI Fiery proServer is seven times faster

The newest-version EFI Fiery® proServer is driving VUTEk printers at the show. Its Fiery FAST RIP technology processes complex vector data up to seven times faster than its predecessor. EFI Fiery software for wide- and superwide-format printing installed on the proServer offers dynamic smoothing for improved quality, new tiling options for reduced waste, an updated media catalog and online help.

The Fiery proServer also touts enhanced integration into the EFI Productivity Suite of web-to-print and MIS/ERP products. Those advanced software offerings give signage and graphics professionals the important additional advantages of streamlined, efficient production and administration of everything from templated, online design and job submission to estimating, scheduling, production, shipping/fulfillment and accounting.

More power in web-to-print with enhanced Digital StoreFront software 

On the web-to-print end of the workflow, the International Sign Expo will feature the debut of the newest version of EFI Digital StoreFront® software. Available now, this advanced software platform provides an industry-leading print buyer experience, including new, EFI DirectSmile options that extend the types of variable-data and personalized print and electronic campaigns that corporations can successfully create online. Printing companies can profitably produce more work using the industry's top online job submission solution integrated with a complete Productivity Suite, which offers real-time, bi-directional integration and data sharing with EFI MIS/ERP and EFI Fiery digital print workflows.

Print buyers for larger corporate enterprises gain more flexibility and capability with the web-to-print software's new Enterprise Model, a useful feature that allows a print provider to subdivide a single Digital StoreFront license into different interfaces serving franchises or subsidiaries of a parent organization. Print buyers also gain more-convenient, one-stop-shopping for a range of services using a new marketplace sales offering that can incorporate content partners such as copywriters, photographers and graphic designers in a single online ordering interface — all important features that print providers can offer to their clients to give value beyond just print.

"Our customers are fueling their success by reducing costs, expanding throughput and developing profitable, new product offerings," said Scott Schinlever, senior vice president and general manager, EFI Inkjet Solutions. "LED inkjet technology has been a game changer for many of these companies, but they also have the opportunity to do more with 7-picoliter grayscale UltraDrop imaging and our integrated workflow products. The range of technologies we are showing at the International Sign Expo can make a huge difference for signage and graphics professionals determined to differentiate themselves and grow their businesses."