By Ed Avis
Well, it looks like people in the printing industry are no longer worried about Covid. PrintingUnited, held last week in Las Vegas, was packed with attendees. And the number of exhibitors seemed larger than before – both the Central and North Halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center were full of booths.
I spent a day walking the show floor. I estimate that more than half the show was dedicated to services APDSP members rarely do, such as screen printing, embroidery, mailing, etc., but there was a lot to discover among the other half.
For one thing, there seem to be more companies than ever making grand-format printers – is there really room for all of them? And even among normal large-format graphics printers there seem to be many new contenders. For example, Polaroid, a familiar name for sure, now makes a line of large-format printers (like most new entrants to the market, the Polaroid printers use existing technology print heads; in their case, they use Epson, Ricoh, Kyocera or HP heads, depending on the printer).
Here are my impressions of the show. I’m not going to describe every booth I visited; instead, I’m just going to tell you about a few that stood out in my opinion.
KIP Does Fabric
KIP is a company well known among APDSP members, but did you know that they are about to launch a system for dye sublimation fabric printing? Tim Horn, KIP’s VP of sales, explained to me that the KIP EST 480 system stands out from the competition because it uses toner instead of ink. This makes it faster – it can output 2,880 square feet per hour, which is triple the speed of inkjet technology. And because it uses toner, it’s a dry system and there are no wet ink printheads to clog. So if you have been thinking about entering the fabric printing market and want to work with a familiar, trusted company, definitely consider KIP’s offering.
Web to Print
There are several companies offering systems that help print shops create web portals and take orders online. One that stood out was Design N Buy – as the name implies, one highlight of this system is that it has a design feature that allows your customers to design and/or customize products online and then submit them to you for printing. You can put a “personalize” button on your website wherever seems appropriate – when a customer clicks on it, the design tool and an editable template for the given product opens.
Another interesting web-to-print system at the show was Page DNA. Among the features of this system are the ability to create branded storefronts for customers; automatic inventory tracking; a customizable approval system; and automatic page imposition that optimizes production.
Scanning
One of the few scanner companies exhibiting at the show was APDSP Vendor Member Image Access. They showed their entire line of scanners, from the BookEye book scanner to the WideTEK 36 Art scanner. Owner Thomas Ingendoh told me the booth was getting a lot of attention, including from other exhibitors who were interested in integrating Image Access scanhead technology in their own systems. He said an OEM product in that category is on the way.
Interesting Print Options
There’s more to printing these days than laying ink on paper – a handful of exhibitors showed interesting options beyond the normal.
One of my favorites was Scentisphere, which makes coatings that allow printers to make “scratch-and-sniff” products. The guy at the booth told me they are not available for inkjet printers because the tiny scent capsules might clog the heads, but if you do flexo, litho or silk screen, adding a scent could be a fun addition to your services.
Another cool system on the show floor was Epilog Laser printing. The system uses a CO2 laser to engrave or cut all sorts of materials, from wood to glass to rubber to tile. It could be used to make signage for job sites and buildings, but also random promotional items.
A clever way to make raised images on prints is a technology called Dimense. This large-format inkjet printer uses special media with a coating on top that expands when heated, except where the special structural ink is laid first. So you can imagine how a designer can create large embossed prints that could be used for wallpaper, artwork, etc. Very cool.
As I said, this is just a tiny sample of what was at the show. The bottom line is that it was crowded, which I think is a good sign. People definitely wanted to see the latest technologies in person after two years of only-virtual shows. If you were there and want to share your own experiences or favorite booths, please do so using the Comments feature below.