PRINT
IT
RESELLER.UK
29
OPINION
Creative designs come in all shapes
and sizes, putting pressure on the
graphic communications industry
to provide high quality results for
clients with maximum visual impact,
which means every provider is
looking for new ways to differentiate
their business.
To meet these requirements, print
providers need reliable large format
graphic arts printers that deliver brilliant
colour, photo quality detail and lasting,
high durability results for both indoor and
outdoor applications.
For many of these businesses, finding
the right technology solution is an
increasingly urgent concern.
As the markets in which they operate
become more and more competitive,
businesses are seeking fresh opportunities
and new revenue streams, requiring access
to a wider range of versatile media in order
to provide the greatest variety of high
quality applications.
Scoping the challenge
To deliver business advantage against
their peers, they need to find ways to make
shorter run lengths, faster turnarounds and
high output quality more profitable. That’s
one part of the equation, but at the same
time, hard-pressed graphic communications
businesses are also facing an ever-growing
range of customer driven demands.
The pressure to deliver high impact
results is increasing all the time. Today’s
businesses demand vibrant colour and
sharp photo quality detail from graphic
arts printing. Added to this, maintaining
productivity is essential in busy printing
environments, making equipment
downtime costly, compromising service
levels and risking reputation.
Inside and out
Moreover, there are a range of challenges
that impact both indoor and outdoor
applications. Sunlight, pollution and other
weather conditions cause outdoor signs,
banners and vehicle wraps to fade and
degrade. To ensure customer satisfaction
and repeat business, outdoor media needs
to be robust enough to withstand sunlight,
Andrew Hall, Marketing Manager, OKI Systems UK, shares his thoughts on how print providers
can stand out from the crowd in an increasingly crowded marketplace
Opening up the
large format market
changing weather conditions, pollution
and other external factors. This calls for
stronger, and often potent inks and, in the
past, meant different machines for printing
indoor and outdoor applications.
This put further restrictions on large
format businesses. After all, providing
indoor applications is a growing market
where high quality prints will be viewed
close up. Therefore, high resolution and
accurate print registration are essential.
Additionally, in a confined indoor
environment certified low odour inks are
critical. But businesses have historically
been unable to take advantage of high
quality indoor and outdoor printing in the
one machine.
Unfortunately, graphic arts and printing
businesses were also facing problems with
colour quality. Colours were typically not
strong enough to be lit from the back,
which ruled out many indoor applications
such as exhibition posters and displays. Nor
were they dense enough for applications
like wallpapers. In fact, the colour density
tended to deteriorate when printing
high-speed or towards the end of a mass
production campaign.
Critically too, for exhibition and
other work such as building wraps,
photorealistic prints were not possible
and as the industry had primarily focused
on outdoor work in the past, neither
were fine details and small lettering. Yet
especially when used indoors, high-quality
prints are viewed close up and so high
resolution and accurate print registration
are crucial.
So in light of the raft of challenges
impacting the large format sector today,
how can print services providers operating
in graphic arts businesses effectively
address these challenges and deliver the
high quality output that is increasingly
critical in this space?
Finding an answer
Following recent developments in the
large format printer market, for a relatively
affordable outlay, print shops and small
and medium-sized businesses specialising
in this type of printing can significantly
widen their portfolio and open up new
Today’s
businesses
demand
vibrant
colour and
sharp photo
quality detail
from graphic
arts printing
Continued...
