Canon Takes Capabilities of Colorado M-series UVgel Printer to Next Level with Multiple Innovations
Continuous innovation broadens application scope of Colorado M-series large format graphics printer with unique benefits and extends to packaging and industrial print
SINGAPORE, 31 May 2024 — Canon announced on 27 May 2024 several innovations for the Colorado M-series, designed to broaden its appeal and expand its application range. These updates offer fresh opportunities for both new and existing customers to explore new market segments, such as packaging and industrial print. This development builds on the global success of the Colorado M-series, the modular 1.6 m roll-to-roll printer with optional UVgel white ink1 that was launched last year.
For converters who are looking for a financially viable alternative to outsource very short runs of printed packaging or print service providers wanting to explore other packaging applications, the new UVgel Packaging Factory extends the Colorado’s already broad application capabilities to deliver the digital equivalent of litho lamination. From producing customised printed sheets of liner material for subsequent lamination to a corrugated base substrate, the UVgel Packaging Factory can create impactful printed packaging for retail, consumer and luxury goods.
The integrated system comprises a Colorado M5W roll-to-roll printer with a Fotoba jumbo roll media loader and output trimmer and stacker. It can handle a jumbo roll (up to 2,000 meters long) of the same media used in litho lamination, delivering sheets of high-quality, instantly dry, and highly scratch-resistant output2 at up to 159m2/hr3. The Colorado M-series with the FLXfinish+ option offers further design creativity, enabling the addition of matte, gloss or mixed matte and gloss on the same print, without the need for additional varnish.
As for offset printed sheets, the digitally pre-printed sheets can be handled via the regular litho lamination process. Additionally, with the UVgel Packaging Factory’s high level of automation, print jobs can be left running with minimal supervision.
A new feature that is now available for the Colorado M-series printer is FLXture, a five-ink-layer printing technology that adds micro-texture to large format prints for subtle surface detail, replicating the luxurious and sensory feel of materials such as wood and leather. Creative print applications can also be designed with an easy-to-use recipe in the PRISMAguide XL software, which intelligently prepares the layers of UVgel ink for printing. Regardless the requirement calls for a subtle background texture, elegantly embossed lettering or highlighting parts of an image on high-value packaging, labels or other products, FLXture can help enhance printed applications with additional surface textures without complicated combinations of different materials.
The capabilities of the Colorado M-series and UVgel now also extend to industrial print applications, specifically to printing graphic overlays for membrane switches, which are printed electronic circuits that use pressure to open and close a circuit. Printed on a polymer substrate, such as polyester or polycarbonate, the ink used for graphic overlays needs to be hard-wearing and flexible to prevent delamination. In these aspects, the UVgel technology excels, as it is robust enough to not require laminating in many instances and being specifically developed with the elasticity for printing on flexible media, reducing the possibility of cracking.
To maximise productivity by reducing the need for roll changes for longer jobs, a new Jumbo Roll Interface kit enables the Colorado printer to handle jumbo rolls of all types of media, including transparent, structured, metallic, and dark-coloured media.
The UVgel Packaging Factory can be viewed on the Canon stand in Hall 8a at drupa 2024. Together with partners Fotoba (Hall 9) and Lamina (Hall 12), Canon will demonstrate the complete end-to-end process – from printing to laminating and cutting to the final packaging application.
For more information about the Colorado M-series, visit here.
Availability
The Colorado M-series is now available at Canon authorised partners in the Asia4 region.
About Canon Singapore Pte. Ltd.
Canon is a global leader in photographic and digital imaging solutions. Canon Singapore Pte. Ltd. is the headquarters for South & Southeast Asia driving sales, marketing and service strategies. Besides handling the domestic market, the company covers 22 other countries and regions including subsidiaries in India, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The parent company Canon Inc. has a global network of more than 300 companies and employs about 169,000 people worldwide. Canon is guided by its kyosei philosophy that focuses on living and working together for the common good.
More information is available at https://asia.canon.
1 Nearly 90% of customers have taken the white ink option when investing in a Colorado M-series.
2 With reference to UVgel robustness test methods and benchmarking as published in Canon Production Printing’s UVgel Technology Whitepaper v4.0 (Pages 43-46).
3 Based on product specifications.
4 Covering Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Philippines.
