Signs of the Times - June 2013 - (Page 16)

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE Direct Color Systems Direct Color Systems (Rocky Hill, CT) says its UV-cure, LED-lamped, 1024UVHS, 1024UV and 1014UV desktop printers produce crisp text and vibrant, full-color images on various substrates – wood, metals, ceramic tiles, plastics and glass. The 1024UVHS model offers up to a 50% increase in speed over the previously introduced 1024UV and 1014UV models. Featuring refillable ink cartridges, the machines will single-pass (inline) print-combined groups of white, color and clear channels simultaneously. Its Advanced RIP 9 software integrates with Photoshop, Illustrator, CorelDRAW and Color Byte software. Expectedly, the six-color printers produce flat prints, but they’ll also produce TEXTUR3D™ 3-D prints. Condé GO UNO Condé™ Systems Inc. (Mobile, AL) offers its LaserMPrints™ GO UNO™ color laser printer that’s equipped with an OKI print engine and specifically built for heat-transfer papers. The print engine and proprietary toners produce quality, color-laser transfers for colored fabrics, and coated and uncoated durable substrates. You can transfer full-color, 11 x 17-in., 200 x 600-dpi images onto T-shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags, ribbons, purses and more, at speeds that range up to 30 ppm. Other applications include signage, color separations and on-demand printing. The media range is 3 x 5 in. to 11.6 x 52 in. The printer is compatible with Windows 32- and 64-bit OS and Mac OSX v10.3 and higher – and is PostScript 3 Compatible for Adobe Users. ■ Profiling Media for Purpose Dean Derhak is the product director at SAi (Salt Lake City). As part of his job, Dean visits signshops and large-format print businesses to learn what processes they’ve employed to increase their profits. He often inquires about the shop’s ink consumption and inkwaste costs, and has learned that many shops don’t have such figures. Here, Dean explains how costing effective color management and media profiling can help signshops and large-format print providers reduce ink costs and keep customers coming back. You can enhanceink use by satiscustomer faction and reduce going beyond default profiles and, instead, profile media for specific purposes. Many print businesses use one profile for a print mode, regardless of the required viewing distance, but this can waste a tremendous amount of ink and, in some cases, print time. The cost-effective approach is to profile the same print mode in different ways for different purposes. For example, it’s easy to “over-ink” when you profile for diverse, highquality modes that typically run at slower speeds and consume excessive ink. Although the output looks fantastic, you may achieve the same result with 20% less ink, especially with coated media, which soaks up both ink and your profits. Most default, RIP-software, ICC profiles are for a “quality” print mode, but you can make your own profiles optimized for speed- and economy-print modes, to save both ink and time costs. Profile your own “speed” mode at a lower dpi with fewer passes and reduce the ink by setting little or no light ink and a Maximum K in the GCR. You can use this mode for a large viewing distance. You can also profile an “economy” mode that by-passes the dpi and sprint speed of “quality,” but with less light ink and Max K GCR. This 16 SIGNS OF THE TIMES / JUNE 2013 / www.signweb.com works well for medium viewing distances. Regardless of how much ink your media can absorb, choosing the economy mode (it reduces the light and dark inks) arbitrarily cuts ink use by 20%. The results will often be indistinguishable from the above settings for “speed” mode. Of course, some of these techniques take a bit of practice. However, these are all color-management variables that, with your various, smart-color-management procedures, can help you maintain your profit advantage. You’re not obliged to pass on the achieved savings to your customers, and that, as they say, is the bottom line. Dean Derhak is a product director at SAi with 17 years’ experience in RIP software technologies gained across roles in product management, marketing, sales, engineering, and technical support. Reach Dean at: deand@thinksai.com http://www.signweb.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - June 2013

Signs of the Times - June 2013
Contents
ST Update
Tech Update
Profiling Media for Purpose
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Electric
LED Update
Software Update
Technology Review
Technology Review
Sign Museum News
New Products
Enter ST’s 7th Annual Vehicle Graphics Contest!
The Reality of Your Surroundings
The Great ’scapes
Digital Printers at ISA
It’s a Jungle in Here
Advertising Index
Editorially Speaking

Signs of the Times - June 2013