CR&A Custom, a leading Los Angeles area graphics print provider, is allowing new creative freedom for designers and clients with its HP Latex printer portfolio delivering high image quality on a new range of materials.

CR&A is an early adopter of HP Latex R technology launched in 2018, installing the 98-inch wide HP Latex R2000 Plus Printer for printing on both rigid and flexible materials using HP Latex water-based inks.

At a June gala, Conservation International and ELLE co-hosted a fundraiser that celebrated “Women on a Mission,” and honored leaders and organizations whose work protects nature for the benefit of people and the planet. CR&A brought the space to life with gallery walls printed on the HP Latex R2000.

The walls also featured imagery from ELLE’s July issue and large-scale prints produced by CR&A on the HP Latex 3100 of the issue’s four covers, featuring supermodel environmental advocates, Gisele Bundchen, Doutzen Kroes, Naomi Campbell and Anja Rubik.

“The motto of the company is to let the designer’s imagination run wild and Latex has enabled to accomplish that,” says Carmen Rad, president of CR&A Custom. “This new printer opens the doors for a tremendous amount of new opportunities including the décor industry, achieving enhanced ink adhesion using a coating technology to print on an expanded offering of materials.” CR&A is moving into printing on new substrates including wood, glass and linens for the wedding industry, taking advantage of printing with white ink.

The HP Latex R2000 enabled CR&A to produce the project on sturdy gatorboard, while delivering high-resolution, photographic gallery quality using the original high-resolution magazine cover photographs.

Hashtag fun with rigid signage
The capability is also driving both rigid and flexible printing applications for CR&A’s new web-to-print signage business, HashtagCutouts (hashtagcutouts.com). The hashtag cutout application lets event guests sharing images share social media tags. The words and colors are customizable and made on sturdy material to resist handling even when guests are having too much fun.

The new HP Latex R2000 Plus Printer uses water-based ink including an innovative true glossy white, printing with no smell. “Now we have no need to start with a white background or curing time. We get a lot of rush orders, so this solves a problem,” says Rad. “We are testing new productions and having a lot of fun with the equipment.”

The new R Series technology supports printing on rigid substrates include foamboards, corrugated board, wood, glass, and ceramic. Flexible substrates include PVC banner, self-adhesive vinyl, coated paper, polyester, and canvas.

For more information about HP Latex R, please visit hp.com/go/LatexR2000.