Behind the looking glass

I love riddles, ever since I saw the Mad Hatter ask Alice: ‘Why is a raven like a writing desk?’…and I never did find out the answer. So here is one for you: what is green and white at the same time, harnesses the power of the sun but without the heat, and can be both rigid and flexible? I will not leave you hanging; it’s the new Mimaki JFX200–2513.

It was officially launched at Viscom last year and had its first outing at Sign and Digital UK 2014. I saw it there for the first time and wanted to see it again for myself to double check a few things. As they have only just started shipping in the UK, I took myself off to FESPA Digital in Munich to have a closer look.

Flexible and rigid

The first thing you notice about the Mimaki JFX200-2513 is it is a neat machine. The design is compact and robust and the one litre ink bottles are easy to access, situated at the front of the printer. Inks can be replenished on the fly and the one machine can be configured for either CMYKW and clear (LH-100 inks) or CMYKW (LUS-150 inks) as interchangeable ink sets.



The LH-100 inks are designed specifically for good adhesion to rigid substrates such as acrylics and wood. They are extremely scratch resistant according to Mimaki and they handle chipping and scratching better, although I did not get a chance to test this. It would be worth asking for a sample print to try, or better still, go and see it in action with the UK distributor Hybrid Services.

The LUS-150 inks are designed for more flexible substrates such as pop up materials or boards and plastics that will curve or bend. I have mentioned the importance of white ink before; well on this machine you will not be penalised for wanting the best as it comes included in the cost, and priced at £60k installed with one year warranty; I am thinking this is a great value machine for the quality.


With a great price you usually have to sacrifice the quality or the speed. However, having seen this printer running in Germany and the UK I genuinely feel the draft mode is actually very acceptable quality for most jobs, which Mimaki quotes at 25sq m/h.

Green credentials

It seems like a simple change on the surface, using LED UV curing instead of standard lamps, but actually changing to LED lamps has made a significant difference. I predict that LEDs will be the future for UV curing if the statistics are proven in the field. Sources state that using LED lamps to cure your print produces 75 percent less CO2 emissions, uses 75 percent less power than standard UV lamps, and importantly emits zero Ozone.


The LED lamps are guaranteed by Mimaki for 5,000 hours, which is phenomenal if you think that the equivalent competitor printers’ lamps need changing every three to six months on average. How is this achievable? With LED, it is instant light; there is no heating or cooling element to it when you switch on or off and they are known to last for years. The benefit is that there is no downtime. You can set the printer running in the morning; the LEDs run on minimal power and they flash on or off when you need them to, and there is no heat involved. Of course, the very fact that there is no heat involved eliminates shrinkage and ‘blow-out’ issues traditionally associated with UV curable machines, meaning you can print onto a whole host of new substrates from as thin as tissue paper all the way up to 50mm thick board and still have consistency across the output. The other benefit of LEDs of course is that they do not have mercury content, making it a more environmentally-friendly product from factory to floor.

It was the environmental and green factors associated with LED lamps that prompted UK-based Graphic Station Limited to purchase a Mimaki JFX200 just minutes after Sign and Digital UK opened its doors in the spring. The Romford business, founded six years ago by partners Paul Fox and Stuart Vaile, invested in the system to expand its wide-format print services into the fine art and photographic sectors.


Fox explains: “We set up Graphic Station as a commercial operation, but I come from a wide-format back-ground. About 18 months ago we invested in our first Mimaki wide-format system and demand has just grown and grown since then.”

To meet this increased demand Fox reviewed a variety of solutions: “When we heard about the new JFX200 we knew it would be perfect to help us to continue to expand. It will allow us to be a lot more creative and facilitate our move into the fine art and photography markets. Its environmentally-friendly approach immediately drew our attention. The printer uses less energy and its LED curing technology means work is ready to be handled much quicker. This will, for sure, improve our productivity.”

Overall, I believe the JFX200 is a cracking printer with truly innovative features, and I have seen it in action twice now. I have not yet spoken with a user of the machine so it is a little early to hang my hat on it. Yet with the pedigree of Mimaki and both ink versions available to test at Hybrid’s UK headquarters, I would suggest if you are seriously looking for a flatbed UV machine, you would have to go a long way to find a more innovative printer with a value: quality: speed ratio like this…perhaps even as far as wonderland?

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