By Melinda Tetreault
Part 2 of 2
Features found on digital printers specifically designed for wallpaper printing include application-specific toners, odor-free toners, and matte printing capabilities. Take-up reels and larger roll width or dual roll production are additional attributes. Continuing this two-part series, we focus on vendors offering dedicated wallpaper printers in the digital space.
HP, Inc.’s Indigo Wallpaper is an HP Indigo 20000 Digital Press solution for wallpaper manufacturers to transition from analog production to a digital color printing process with gravure quality, and benefit from on demand printing, faster time to market, and reduced waste. For high-volume endless printing or a new design every meter, the HP Indigo 20000 solution is capable of producing endless printing at 1,515 square meters per hour (sm/h) with a 74 centimeter width. It is digitally programmed for repeat, frameless printing, making it ideal for repeated pattern wallpaper applications.
Industrial Inkjet Ltd. has spent over two years developing the polymeric water-based ink ColourPrint 562 printer. The maximum material width is 562 millimeters, with the maximum print speed at high-quality output is 1,686 sm/h. The features that make this ideal for wallpaper printing are its matte print, the ability to meet EN15102, and it works on a range of standard wallpaper media. The cost-per-roll is close to that of conventional mass-produced wallpapers. Although the inkjet ink is expensive, the savings is in setup time, waste, and tooling costs, shares John Corrall, managing director, Industrial Inkjet.
Xeikon’s Wall Decoration Suite—combining a dry toner digital press, software, and post- and pre-press equipment—allows for the cost-efficient production of high-quality wall decorations for commercial, retail, and residential purposes. The maximum material width of the Xeikon 3500 press is 508 millimeters, with a maximum print speed at high-quality output of 900 sm/h. A jumbo roll unwinder and a specially developed wallpaper rewinder with slitting and waste removal allows for the delivery of perfectly finished wallpaper rolls. Optional features include a Weko humidifier for non-woven substrates and a web varnishing unit. An Alpine fuser drum guarantees a matte finish. Inline finishing systems ensure accurate cutting in both process and cross directions and output a finished roll ready to be wrapped and sent out.
Early Stages
Industrial digital printing of wallpaper is in its infancy. Vendors continue to tweak existing technology and advance products so that mass production of digitally printed wallpaper can become a reality.
Click here to read part one of this exclusive online series, Dedicated to Wallpaper.
Sep2018, Industrial Print Magazine