News

By: Jose D Morales

In: News

Published: 16 May 2023

Visitors will find many inspirational and innovative solutions that can help them increase productivity and profitability, including new innovations in Direct-to-Garment and Direct-to-Film technologies

Fremont, California. 11 May 2023. Fiery, the largest independent provider of digital front ends (DFEs) and related workflow automation solutions for the graphic arts and industrial print markets, today reported that it is exhibiting at Graphics Canada 2023, scheduled for 11 to 13 May 2023 at the International Centre in Toronto, Canada. Fiery will be located in the EFI Stand 5568 at the show.

At the show, Fiery and Mimaki are combining forces to show a complete solution for Direct-to-Film (DTF) production, adding even more value for customers. The combination of Fiery® Digital Factory v11, also being announced at the show, and the new Mimaki TxF150-75 DTF printer and ink dedicated to DTF printing gives beginners and experts alike the advantage of a complete solution that is backed by two of the industry’s best and most respected suppliers, bringing improved functionality, reliability and productivity to DTF printing.

“At Mimaki, we are extremely thrilled to be aligning with Fiery to provide high-quality Direct-to-Film solutions to customers,” said Yuji Ikeda, General Manager Global Marketing Department of Mimaki Engineering Co., LTD. “DTF is an exciting and growing market where we feel the combination of our new TxF150-75 and Fiery Digital Factory provide a best-in-class solution that makes this expanding business opportunity even more appealing for businesses to invest in.”

“Today’s print producers are looking to get the most they can from each printer investment, including best color and quality, best productivity, and more,” said John Henze, Fiery’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Being able to gain the maximum return on their investment is vital to print providers and to their business success. With a Fiery DFE, printing devices, including cutsheet toner, large format, and specialty printing solutions, are able to maximize their performance. We look forward to sharing our story with visitors to the EFI stand.”

At Graphics Canada, Fiery will be showcasing large format production and specialty printing applications with a focus on:

Fiery proServer Core — driving the EFI™ Pro 30h 3.2 m hybrid flatbed/rollfed LED entry level production printer.
Fiery Digital Factory v11 — debuting at Graphics Canada showing new functionality that improves print results and solidifies Fiery’s market-leading position in specialty printing, especially Direct-to-Film.
Fiery XF — showing best in class JDF integration and it’s industry-leading color management and RIP technology, plus the unified print room with Fiery Command WorkStation®.
Fiery Prep-it™ — demonstrating the latest release for print-for-cut preparation reducing media usage by up to 50% and doubling print productivity.
Fiery JobFlow™ — for automated job preparation steps in prepress workflows to produce ready-to-print files.
Fiery IQ™ — showing print production analytics that connects people, processes, and print devices, for better data-driven decisions.

Other products and solutions visitors to Graphics Canada will be able to experience include:

Fiery FilmMaker — a digital front end designed specifically for inkjet, screen and film production.
Fiery EngraveLab — focusing on fast and professional ADA compliant Braille solutions as well as cut workflow options.
Fiery SignLab — an innovative sign and graphic design production platform that makes it easier to produce even the most complex signs.

“We are excited to show our expanded portfolio covering a wide range of digital print and imaging solutions,” Henze added. “Fiery supports the broadest array of print industry segments, and print technologies including toner and inkjet production printing, wide to superwide format print including vehicle wraps, engraving solutions, and print-for-cut preparation. Fiery DFEs and workflow automation solutions also increase efficiencies in DTG and DTF applications, digital decoration of building materials including ceramic tile and wood, label printing, CNC routing, and more. At Graphics Canada, we will have something for everyone and lots of innovations to spur new ideas for business growth.”

Show attendees can also view Fiery in action at Fiery partner booths, including:

Konica Minolta
Kyocera
Ricoh
TG Graphics
Value-Rite
Xerox

To schedule a personal meeting with Fiery experts during the show, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For more information about products and solutions from Fiery, visit [www.fiery.com].

By: Jose D Morales

In: News

Published: 16 May 2023

EFI experts to lead discussions on wide-format and packaging

technologies in expo seminars and panels

TORONTO, Canada, May 11, 2023 — Electronics For Imaging, Inc., is exhibiting its EFI™ Pro 30h hybrid LED production printer at Graphics Canada Expo in Toronto, Canada, May 11-13, 2023. Making its Canadian debut, the versatile hybrid printer, designed to give customers a wide competitive advantage with more capabilities, versatility, and productivity, will be a major attraction at the tradeshow where EFI experts are also taking part in several topical seminars.

The 3.2-metre wide EFI Pro 30h hybrid roll/flatbed LED is an ideal solution for businesses targeting production sign and display graphics as a growth opportunity. The printer handles a wide variety of rigid and flexible substrates for a wide range of applications, including day/night backlit graphics, retail signage, outdoor signage, and window graphics. Running at speeds up to 230 square metres per hour, it features four colours plus dual channels of white (standard), prints in resolutions up to 1,200 dpi, and includes a Fiery® proServer Core digital front end with FAST RIP acceleration technology.

“We’re looking forward to meeting with our customers at Graphics Canada Expo, and showing them the capabilities and versatility of the EFI Pro 30h printer. Our Canadian customers will benefit from its productivity and image quality to meet the growing demands for higher quality with quicker turnaround times,” said Ken Hanulec, EFI Vice President of Worldwide Marketing.

“We’re also pleased to take part in the educational program at the show. Our experts will share the latest in innovative inkjet technology for the wide format and packaging markets, and discuss the importance of sustainability in print, three focus areas for EFI,” he said.

EFI experts will be featured speakers at several seminars and panel discussions:

WIDE FORMAT SYMPOSIUM

Panel: What’s new and what’s coming in the latest technologies?

Thursday, May 11

Speaker: Brent Bourne, Senior Sales Development Manager in Canada

Panel: Entering Wide Format for Commercial Printers

Thursday, May 11

Speaker: Robb Levin, Sales Development Manager, Wide Format

DIGITAL PACKAGING SYMPOSIUM

Panel: Future Technologies in Digital Packaging

Friday, May 12

Speaker: Liz Logue, Vice President Corporate Development

Panel: Sustainability for Sustainable Brands

Friday, May 12

Speaker: Liz Logue, Vice President Corporate Development

with George Perreira from Whitebird

By: Jose D Morales

In: News

Published: 16 May 2023

Use UV printing and Facebook to capture the passion printing market

Passion printing is print that creates emotion, excitement, memories, and energy when received.

PDS Equipment has been doing trade shows for many years. It has been extremely fortunate to meet tons of awesome people and have the opportunity at NBM shows (now GRAPHICS PRO EXPO) to print thousands of UV print samples for customers. Most test prints are personal images or logos that are very important to these customers.

Passion printing examples

Six to seven years ago, I got my first glimpse of how powerful passion printing is for customers. It was just a typical day at one of the NBM trade shows in Texas, now GRAPHICS PRO EXPO. A lady walked up interested in looking at the Mimaki UJF 6042 and wanted to see her image printed on a ceramic tile. She emailed me the file, and in less than 5 minutes, I printed her a 12 X 12 ceramic tile with a cell phone image of her cat. After the print finished, I handed her the product, and she looked at the image and completely lost it. The tears started rolling as this image brought back many memories of her cat that had recently passed. I had no idea what I was in for, but it happened. That was back when we could hug at trade shows, and she gave me a big hug and thanked me for the product she promised to keep forever.

As you get to know PDS Equipment, more of you will learn that we love fishing, hunting, and pretty much anything outdoors. So when we are at one of our UV learning centers doing test printing, sometimes we print fishing, duck, and deer hunting images.

In one project, I used the Mimaki UCJV 300 UV roll-to-roll printer with clear gloss and printed a UV textured decal of a smallmouth bass with the spot gloss to show the texture of the scales and then contour cut the fish out. We printed a couple of extra for my garage and gave a few to my fishing buddies. Then, I posted this image and video to a smallmouth bass fishing Facebook group because I thought the members would enjoy it. (Note: PDS Equipment does not sell printing.) Instantly, my private messages started blowing up, and I had people willing to pay $25-$30 for a 12″ smallmouth decal with textured scales. I had less than 30 cents in this product, maybe 50 cents at most. The response was so significant that I had to remove the post because people were getting mad I would not sell these decals.

These crazy smallmouth fishermen have never seen their No. 1 gamefish look so cool, and they were willing to pay to get it. That is just another example of what you can do when the right products connect with the right group at the right time. This is a true passion printing opportunity for the smallmouth bass fishing group, and there are many other passionate Facebook groups out there to learn about and explore.

Showing off your UV prints in Facebook groups

Once you get rolling in the passion print market, you will have a national reach and national customer base just one free post away. Passion print products bring higher margins — much higher margins than generic promotional or static image printing. We want you to print products that make people smile and ones you get joy out of printing, too.

If you want to break into the passion print market, it’s time for you to have a shop meeting and see what Facebook groups everyone is a part of. If you have 10 different employees, you will all have varying passions, hobbies, and interests.

Business owners, please be ready with a commission plan for your team if you decide to go this route. Don’t expect your non-commissioned employees to post products to groups all of the time for free. You need to compensate them. I feel this is the No. 1 issue with smaller shops; they are unwilling to pay commission to employees and wonder why sales are down.

Everyone in your building needs to be sharing, liking, and posting your products out into Facebook groups, and each employee should post in different groups. Let your team know if one of their posts produces sales, you will pay them for it. Some of the best UV print operators generate tons of business just by posting daily print products a few times a day on different platforms. If you print something cool, post it. If you do not do social media, find someone who does. Do not miss out on this high-margin print market!

You know that employee that is always on their phone watching TikTok, checking Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter. Imagine if you offered them a commission for a post that generated sales. Do me a favor. Set your team up with a commission plan for social posts turned into sales, then see me at the next GRAPHICS PRO EXPO and let me know how it went.

Group rules and spam

Warning: Do not spam Facebook groups, and always follow the group rules.

You need to be part of the Facebook group community before you starting selling. Do not start selling as soon as you get approved into one of the Facebook groups. The moderators will remove you immediately. You need to be active in the groups and contribute content and information. This should be pretty easy if you picked a Facebook group you are sincerely passionate about and can talk the talk and walk the walk for that group. This goes back to the question: What is your passion?

If you are not real, most people will see right through it. Be real. Be genuine. Be helpful and contribute content that the group needs. These days everyone is looking at their phones. Let’s make sure they are looking at your stuff and deciding how many to order. If you follow the group rules, you will have a great time offering UV printed products to passionate people. These groups can’t wait for you to help them spend their money. Go get it!

Author:GRAPHICS PRO

By: Jose D Morales

In: News

Published: 16 May 2023

Digital Factory color management, production workflow software solutions enable specialty printers to achieve accelerated growth.

Fremont, California. 10 May 2023. Fiery®, LLC, is pleased to announce the much-anticipated release of Digital Factory v11. The product portfolio is already recognized as a market leader by manufacturers, dealers and the 10,000+ customers worldwide. This release further extends its position as a technology innovator in the direct to film, direct to garment, UV/LED, sublimation, toner transfer and wide format print/cut markets by providing superior color, advanced white ink handling, as well as automation and e-commerce integration tools.

Significant Production Advantages Spur End-User Growth

“The incredible growth that the Digital Factory software solutions have shown over the past three years across all specialty print platforms, particularly in the direct to film market, demonstrates how essential they are to end-users and equipment suppliers like ourselves,” says Don Copeland, Digital Products Manager at Coldesi, a leading supplier of turn-key digital print and apparel decoration solutions. “We have a long-standing relationship with Fiery (CADlink) and provide a wide variety of solutions based on their technology. These solutions offer significant production advantages to our customers in the direct to film, direct to garment, white toner and UV/LED markets. As our customers grow and require new software applications, they can count on the familiar interface of the Digital Factory products they have already been using to help drive success.”

Many new and enhanced features including industry-changing single pass, highlight white/underbase printing

The release features a unique, patent pending white ink management technology. An absolute “must have” feature, single pass highlight white/underbase prints the whitest whites, resulting in the most vibrant colors and reducing print time. It also includes a variety of robust job preparation and automation tools that maximize productivity and throughput while minimizing production errors. This enables businesses of all sizes to achieve efficient, high-volume production with the highest possible quality.

“We are very excited about the release of Digital Factory v11, The features included in it were specifically developed based on feedback from our key stakeholders- manufacturers, dealers and most importantly our customers said John Henze, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Fiery. “For example, the single pass highlight white/underbase feature is truly revolutionary when printing with white inks, making white highlights within the design pop off the garment by being significantly brighter. In addition to this, the new automation as well as e-commerce related features enable users to achieve their business objectives by providing the tools needed for high quality, high volume production all using a single software platform”

Fiery Digital Factory: The Details

Fiery Digital Factory offers high fidelity color printing, professional job preparation and management tools that streamline production workflow from start to finish. All packages include a complete set of automated production tools specifically designed for specialty printing applications. The addition of Digital Factory to the Fiery portfolio of products further expands the range of applications available to Fiery customers as they work to grow their businesses and add new products to the mix.

To learn more about Digital Factory v11 and to download a free trial version, visit https://www.cadlink.com/product/digitalfactory11/

By: Jose D Morales

In: News

Published: 15 May 2023

GPX Long Beach & WRAPSCON will be held in California from Aug. 17-19

GRAPHICS PRO EXPO (GPX) lands in Long Beach, California, Aug. 17-19, with WRAPSCON! Registration is now open and is free until the event starts. Click here to register now.

Your free registration includes:

Entrance to the exhibit hall each day, including WRAPSCON
Unlimited Training in the Classroom and Training in the Hall
Chances to win $500 in Buyer Bucks each day
The Mixer, an after-hours networking event at The Auld Dubliner on Friday, Aug. 18, 5-6:30 p.m. The Mixer is sponsored by First Citizens Bank Equipment Finance (formerly CIT) and ORAFOL Americas

Designed for shops in the awards and personalization, apparel decorating, and sign and digital graphics markets, GPX features the latest products, education on a variety of topics, access to related markets and new profit centers, and networking opportunities.

Click here to register for free and save your spot.

Gold sponsors: Epilog Laser, FlexiShield, and First Citizens Bank Equipment Finance (formerly CIT)

Silver sponsor: JDS Industries