1ClickPrint launches new 6090R-UV – a low-cost UV flatbed printer targeted at smaller companies
Direct-to-film (DTF) hardware supplier 1ClickPrint has announced an expansion into the UV flatbed printer market with the release of its new 6090R-UV machine.
The 6090R features a 60cm x 90cm print area with a maximum print height of 15cm. In addition to flat items, the unit includes a rotary device as standard, allowing users to print on cylindrical items up to 15cm in diameter and 30cm in length. It is available in both CMYK + White and CMYK + White + Varnish configurations, with the CMYK + White offering the faster print speed of the two.
1ClickPrint fair pricing policy
1ClickPrint director Jamie Turner sees the launch as an extension of the company’s “fair pricing policy” beyond DTF, and hopes it will open the flatbed market up to smaller businesses.
“A flatbed with a big name brand on it can cost as much as a car,” he says. “Yes, they’re superb machines, but look at who ends up priced out. It’s the small shops, the ones who’d put it to work every day. Our DTF machines have proved that you can have a reliable production printer without loading up with debt.
“Flatbed printers are one of the most useful tools a print shop can have, and yet so few actually have them. Having a machine on site allows companies to offer rapid printing of high-margin items and, perhaps most importantly, gives their customers another reason to use a local company rather than give their work to the faceless online mega-printers.”
The pricing, Jamie says, follows from how the machines are built.
“There’s nothing exotic inside a flatbed. Ours uses standard industry components you can buy anywhere, so the machine costs what it should, and so do the parts when you eventually need them. You’re not paying a premium for a badge, and you’re not tied to one supplier for every replacement.”
Having a UV flatbed in-house allows for the rapid printing of high-margin items such as notebooks
Fine detail
He is also clear about where the flatbed sits alongside 1ClickPrint’s existing UV DTF product.
“UV DTF is an amazing product, and it certainly wins on irregular shaped items that you simply can’t put on a flatbed. However, when it comes to fine detail, small text, or full wrap cylinder prints, flatbed printers still offer significantly higher print quality.”
Typical work for the machine includes signage, awards, phone cases, coasters, slate, notebooks and acrylic, with drinkware and tumblers handled on the rotary.
“Take notebooks. Most shops have been buying those in and marking them up, and now you can print them yourself in a few minutes. It’s work you’re already turning away or sending elsewhere.”
The 6090R uses Epson i3200-UV print heads, includes print height detection, and offers an optional integrated AI camera for automatic print placement.
“The flatbed market is one of the last areas where competition hasn’t yet brought prices down. A flatbed printer is still just a printer. Reliable parts aren’t expensive, and consumable sales more than cover the cost of offering tech support. If the average machine price hasn’t halved in two years I’d be astonished.”
The 1ClickPrint 6090R-UV is available now, priced from £12,995.
