Azon
New Mirage brings high volume printing into sharp focus
The new Mirage DTG printer from Azon
Azon has launched the Mirage – the latest generation of the company’s wide format DTG printers and “the ideal solution for high volume printing requirements.”
The Mirage’s large 600 x 800 mm format allows printing onto a range of textiles, including silk, cotton and polyester, and an even wider range of finished products, such as T-shirts, sleeves, jeans, caps, aprons, sheets, dresses, and cloth panels. The single wide format platen can easily be exchanged for specially designed dual 300 x 500 mm platens, which enable printing on to different types and colours of garments to further increase the machine’s productivity and profitability.
The new printer has a maximum resolution of 1440dpi, and Azon claims to have cut the curing time of the heat-affixed inks by half, enabling faster production of full-colour prints, which are also highly durable and washable and exhibit minimal colour fading.
Other notable features include the new improved LCD touchscreen, larger 220ml ink cartridges and new sophisticated Azon RIP. Unlike the previous generation of Azon DTG printers, which used a belt system, the Mirage employs a servo motor and ball-screw system, ensuring maximum accuracy of the forward-backward movement of the printed object.
Amaya Sales UK
Combining screen and digital on the Texjet Plus Advanced
Screen printing a white underbase and printing CMYK with the Texjet Plus Advanced reduces the cost per print and increases production
Amaya Sales UK has seen the Texjet Plus Advanced DTG printer become a “firm favourite” in 2015. “Its robust construction and excellent value for money has positioned it as a leader within its class,” states the company, which has introduced several new developments and updates over the past 12 months.
The Texjet Plus Advanced, which is manufactured by Polyprint in Europe and sold through over 50 distributors worldwide, uses refillable ink cartridges with a pressurised ink system to help circulate the ink, and prevent white ink blockages and drying out. According to Amaya, the refillable system can save around 50% on ink costs when compared with sealed cartridges, and allows the machine to be left turned off for around a month yet still work normally. Other advantages noted by Amaya include low running costs, one-pass printing, and laser-eye print head adjustment for optimum print quality.
A new feature this year is the Easy table platen, which allows different size platens to be fitted quickly and easily as there are no screws. The Easy table platen range includes sleeve, children’s, standard and Max formats, along with a shoe clamp.
Also new is the Texjet Long, which offers a larger maximum print area. The Texjet Plus Advanced supports a print area of 42 x 60 cm, while the new Long model has a maximum print size of 41 x 95 cm and also offers the option of using dual platens with a maximum printing size of 36 x 40 cm each.
Another new development in 215 was the introduction of the Ver7 RIP software, which includes an enhanced white mask creation tool and removes the need for additional editing software like Photoshop. It has a redesigned interface and gives higher function speeds and excellent one-pass printing, says Amaya.
In addition, 2015 has seen Polyprint successfully mixing screen print with digital print in order to reduce the price of printing on to a dark-coloured garment. Screen printing equipment is used to print the white ink then the Texjet Plus Advanced is used to digitally print the CMYK colours on top, reducing the cost of print to around 10p for medium to high runs, while production increases to around 60 dark shirts an hour. No pre-coat is required, and effects such as glitter and gold can be added (for a closer look at this go to www.amayauk.com/texjet-videos).
Amaya offers next day service on Dupont Artistri DTG inks as well as selling the new Polyprint Power inks in CMYK: these require just half the normal curing time, according to the company.
i-Sub
Even pretreatment and quick printing
The Schulze Pretreatmaker III
The Epson SureColor SC-F2000 and Schulze Pretreatmaker III offer an ideal DTG printing set-up according to Epson resellers, i-Sub.
The company highlights the fact that the SC-F2000 is capable of printing a single T-shirt in 27 seconds, making it ideal for those seeking a quick production machine. Its single, adjustable height platen allows printers to achieve precise results on fabric that is up to 25mm thick. Epson’s MicroPiezo TFP print head delivers print resolutions of up to 1440 x 1440 dpi, resulting in accurate dot shape and placement, together with a wide colour gamut for vibrant colours and smooth gradations.
The white ink is circulated within the system to reduce clogging, explains Simon Lymm of i-Sub, adding: “It is a very reliable machine. You just turn it on, it circulates the ink and then it’s ready to go: its ink wiper system is effective at preventing the print head from becoming caked.”
To complete the print set-up, Simon recommends the Schulze Pre-treat Maker III, which, he reports, is capable of pre-treating a T-shirt in just four seconds at a cost of around 10p.
“The advantage of using the machine over manual application is that the Schulze sprays exactly the right amount of liquid whereas manual application is less precise and can lead to lots of waste, and more liquid means a longer drying time,” Simon explains.
The Schulze Pre-treat Maker III has four nozzles, 10 levels for controlling the level of liquid that is applied, and the spraying area can be adjusted in 2cm increments via its touchscreen.
