High impact with low chemical emissions

There are always a series of reasons why you purchase a piece of equipment; sometimes the output is key, the equipment itself or consumables, and even sometimes a mixture of both. OKI is one of a small number of companies that can combine all three drivers and have done so for their new product, the Color Painter M64-s. This wide-format inkjet printer ticks a number of these boxes with specific regard to the environmental impact it makes.

The design of the printer itself has a low green footprint, but most importantly the Color Painter M64-s uses a new series of inks developed by OKI called the SX ink range. The revolutionary low-odour eco-solvent has been developed specifically to provide both a wide colour gamut and associated vividness, along with high colour density. Quite often green consumables can cost more and have less permanent physical properties, but the SX ink range has low running costs and the ink has excellent outdoor durability.

Firstly, considering the printer itself, whilst the Color Painter M64-s comes from a long line of OKI inkjet printers, the eco-printer has a number of new elements. This non-exhaustive list encompasses a new air flow system, large capacity in cartridges, high-speed inkjet heads, substrate take-up systems, and automatic print adjustment.

The new air flow system inside of the printer has been designed to improve the drying of the ink. A general property of low odour inks is they have less solvent and as such need either longer to dry or the process enhanced. The Color Painter M64-s not only has a new air flow system but this also gives OKI the chance to put a large three-way heater inside of the printer body. These two new elements allow air to be drawn from the rear of the printer. Once heated, passes over the printed sheet giving even drying prior to exiting at the front of the machine. As the inks are low odour, this is all accomplished without harm to the operator.

OKI have focused significant design efforts on the ink delivery, after all, the quality of the product is what the printer is judged on. The ink is delivered through OKI’s Dynamic Dot Print Technology (DDP), which controls the dot size to ensure the colours are reproduced accurately. The optimised ink dot size can be accomplished without any loss of production speed. For banners this is as high as 66.5sq m/h. And it prints at 6sq m/h  for maximum quality on PVC substrate.



New features

The first of three new elements of the Color Painter M64-s’ ink delivery system is the large capacity ink cartridges and sub tanks. The main ink reservoir has a capacity of 1.5l with sub tanks. These supplementary tanks allow for the changing of ink cartridges without stopping the printer giving continuous high volume production.

Secondly, the print heads themselves, being the heart of the machine, require deeper examination. The Color Painter M64-s ink heads are of a high frequency drop on demand Piezo type with 508 nozzles in each head. The heads are able to provide a resolution of up to 900dpi, which gives the deep depth of vivid colour the Color Painter M64-s can deliver.

One of the main issues for the product on substrates such as PVC etc. is static electricity. OKI has built into the printer a new on carriage ionizer which neutralises the static that builds up even in low humidity environments.

The combination of all of these elements means that the Color Painter M64-s has all the equipment needed for eye-catching production.


The final piece of the picture is the new inks we mentioned in the introduction of the review—the new SX co inks. The new ink series most importantly delivers the colour depth and vividness needed for sign and banner production and also gives a high durability for outdoor uses. But, in this day and age, when there is an added need for traceability or compliance, these inks are underpinned by the Greenguard gold standard.

Greenguard certification is part of UL Environments ecological compliance program. UL Environment is part of Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and acquired Greenguard in 2011, which provides purchasers with assurances the products being supplied will comply with the highest of ecological standards.

To satisfy the Greenguard gold standard, the inks supplied by OKI must meet the stringent emissions standards based on established chemical exposure criteria. Specifically, the SX inks meet the UL2818 standard which is for low chemical emissions for indoor production.

Just because the inks have low solvent content, this does not affect their durability. After 36 months on OKI’s accelerated weathering test, both black and cyan inks show no reduction in residual density and the yellow and magenta colours having just over 90 percent residual density.

To ensure the product looks as good as possible, the SX ink range comes in up to seven colours, one being a new grey ink that produces highly accurate monochrome output without colour shifts a four-colour separation can produce.

As with all modern equipment, there needs to be software programs that maximise the possible output and quality of production. The Color Painter M64-s has Smart Nozzle Mapping (SNM3) which minimises down time due to missing dots on finished production and SNM3 also allows for the automatic nozzle number configuration.  Smart Pass Technology (SPT4) is a clever piece of software that reduces banding and reduces overspray by the use of improved algorithms and masking technology. Finally, OKI’s Advanced CP_Manger Software has been specifically developed and bundles the controller software, allowing operators to control the Color Painter M64-s via PC, tablet, or smartphone.

Quite often designers can focus specifically on the core elements of the product without care for the peripheral elements that can have a massive effect on production. This is not the case with the Color Painter M64-s. The printer comes with a new take-up system that reduces the stress on the printed surface enabling unattended printing. OKI’s automatic print adjustment has been designed with optical sensors making media advance and bi-directional adjustment possible automatically. Last of the new enhancements is a media lifter that assists with the loading and unloading of heavier media rolls.


The Color Painter M64-s will win a lot of people over as it can demonstrate eco-credentials without giving up the high definition production demanded by clients wanting to ensure that instant visual impact.


Brian Sims is the founder of Metis, a specialised business, legal, and technology consultancy for the print industry. To find out more on the issues in this article or his services go to www.metis-uk.eu or e-mail brian.sims@metis-uk.eu

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