Three is a magic number

As I write this article, the doors of Heimtextil in Frankfurt are about to open, hailing the first print show of 2014. Though not strictly a trade show dedicated to print, it is most definitely wide-format in nature and focused on contract and interior textiles. Foll-owing the success of their first outing at Heimtextil in 2013, in collaboration with internationally renowned designer Karim Rashid, HP has chosen this year to showcase the capabilities of their flagship latex printer—the HP Latex 3000. This year’s stand is designed in conjunction with the world renowned Markus Benesch and HP is showcasing the complete digital wallcoverings work-flow. At Fespa 2013, where the product was officially launched, the company had more orders than machines ready, so I have taken a look to see what is so attractive about this latest latex incarnation.

HP positions the Latex 3000 at the top of its chain of latex products for the wide-format print market. This 3.2m-wide latex printer has gained brand-new ink, printhead and delivery systems, an improved media advance system, and improved drying and curing. What is especially exciting is that HP claims higher productivity and colour accuracy on a wider range of substrates with higher efficiency curing, using less energy and a lower temperature.

Swath, OP, and curing

 Under the hood, the HP Latex 3000 print carriage houses seven HP881 Latex printheads, with a total of 70,000 nozzles to work with, six colours, and the new HP Latex Optimiser. The bi-colour printheads are set out as a double-swath configuration and the staggered arrangement is designed, accordingly, to improve colour-to-colour registration and gives it a very impressive 10,080 dot-row print swath in colour—equivalent to 213mm per pass. The Optical Media Advance Sensor (OMAS) is another crucial component in this high-quality print at high speed.

A key criticism from competitors of the very early HP Latex units had been the high amounts of electricity used in the heating and curing of the print. HP seems to have tackled this head on and introduced a number of energy saving technologies to bring it well within the expected running cost parameters.

The environmental impact of manu-facturing and print solutions is core to HP’s strategy, so with its new ‘advanced writing system design’, HP combines its six colours (C Lc M Lm Y K) with its Latex Optimiser (OP) to improve productivity and speed, whilst maintaining quality. The latex opti-miser immobilises pigments chem-ically in the print zone and enables the printer to cure the print at lower temperatures and using lower energy (77sq m/hr at 9kw). The new Latex Optimiser also allows the printer to use a wider range of media, including heat-sensitive polyesters and textiles. 

The Optimiser is only printed where the inks are laid down; they interact and the pigments are immobilised. The Print Zone dryer begins the evap-oration of the water and then the Curing Zone dryer evaporates the remaining liquids, causing the latex particles to coalesce and the pigments are encap-sulated. The finished result is a high-quality, ready-to-use, straight-off-the-printer print, for indoor or outdoor use.

Flexibility and anti-scratch

The new HP 881 Latex inks also include what HP calls an ‘anti-scratch’ agent, which purports to deliver long-lasting scratch resistance on PVC banners and self-adhesive vinyl comparable to full-solvent inks. Of course when HP first introduced its Latex range, the flexibility of the ink was one of the reasons that propelled it successfully into the vehicle wrapping market. Looking at the results on printed 3M wall vinyl, the added agent certainly seems to enhance the finished output and increases the durability without affecting the conformability of the vinyl, so it is sure to be a hit with vehicle wrapping specialists, sign-makers, and interior designers alike.

Up against the wall

The other main complaint that HP’s competitors voiced when Latex was first launched was its lack of compatible materials. Today, a number of leading media manufacturers are now including HP?Latex compatible
 products in their portfolio. 3M for example now also offers its world-class 3M MCS warranty with HP Latex ink, assuring the brand owner that their image, constructed with 3M branded graphic products, will perform as expected for the life of the graphic.

Of course, HP would not be exhibiting at an international event without showing the latest HP materials available; it will be showcasing its range of wall coverings and poly-ester based textiles for interiors. Its PVC-free wallpaper is GREENGUARD Children and Schools certified, meeting health-related VOC emissions standards for indoor building products.

Not like this…

The fact that there are no harmful VOC emissions in latex printing will change the way interior design and retail display jobs are approached. For sure, the benefits of durable, high-impact wall graphics have been proven to improve the customer experience and retailers return-on-investment already. Health and safety and personal environment considerations will become increasingly important as standards are set. Already European standards on VOC’s are in force and have affected the vehicle manufacturing and repair industry, requiring paint and lacquer manufacturers to change their formulas and recipes; it will not be long before the print industry is forced to follow suit. So it seems that HP, with its third generation latex ink in the HP 3000 may just have found its magic number.

Berni Raeside is a well-known and respected marketing consultant and PR professional in the wide-format print and signage industry. Her company BRPR works with manufacturers, suppliers, sign-makers and printers,achieving success for her clients both in the UK and across Europe. See www.brpr.co.uk for examples of her work and testimonials.

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