Mimaki has announced it will soon release a new small format UV flatbed printer, the UJF-3042MkII EX.
Ronald van den Broek, general manager sales for Mimaki EMEA, says, “We’ve had great reception to our UJF-MkII UV-curable flatbed printing systems since we launched them last summer
“The new addition to this outstanding family of printers raises the bar even more, making it extremely easy to produce high-value-add print. In a single operation, the UJF-3042MkII EX can lay down a base coat of inkjet primer, a base print of white ink, full colour print and a surface coating of clear ink. This adds up to a highly efficient way to produce the value-added printing applications that are growing in popularity among marketers and other buyers of print.”
The company says the new printer combines four steps into one operation: it delivers primer for strong ink adhesion; white ink for high print opacity; full colour CMYK printing; and a clear print surface treatment. It has a fourth print head and the ability to hold eight ink bottles.
The UJF-3042MkII EX has all the advantages of the UJF-3042MkII, plus other features including a status indication lamp; a vacuum table to fix the print substrate; an emergency switch to immediately stop the machine operation; and automatic detection and cleaning of clogged nozzles, substituting them with good nozzles for printing during the process.
The compressed workflow includes inkjet primer to improve ink adhesion. Mimaki says it retains the texture of the material while printing and operators can use the Mimaki PR-200 primer on resin, glass and metal materials. It also uses white ink with high opacity for more vivid expression of full colour, especially on dark or transparent substrates. It uses clear ink, with either glossy or matte effects to add texture and depth. Clear ink can be laid down in multiple layers for an embossed effect.
Van den Broek says customers can add more value to their prints by using texture library available in the Mimaki RasterLink6 RIP that drives the printer. The texture library as part of the Mimaki software offers 129 different textures, displayed as swatches in Adobe Illustrator. Mimaki says application of these textures with clear ink can deliver more elaborate designs, such as a floral motif or other patterns.
