Canon debuts multiple innovations 

Canon Europe, the EMEA strategic headquarters of Canon, has detailed a series of new innovations following its large showcase at this year’s drupa print exhibition.

The company has built on the success of the Colorado M-series, the modular 1.6m roll-to-roll printer which was launched last year with optional white ink. 

The new advancements have been made to allow new and existing customers to expand their application range and open new market segments like packaging and industrial print.

One new feature is FLXture, a five-ink-layer printing technology for the Colorado M-series which adds micro-texture to large-format prints for subtle surface details which replicate materials like wood and leather. 

The technology means printers can enhance printed applications by highlighting parts of an image, adding background texture, or embossing lettering without the need of multiple materials and with the help of PRISMAguide XL software.

Demonstrating the ability for customers to enter new markets is the new UVgel Factory System for packaging which is made as a digital equivalent to litho lamination. 

The solution produces printed sheets of liner material for subsequent lamination to a corrugated base substrate, bringing the benefits of digital print-on-demand to the packaging sector. 

The integrated systems of the UVgel Packaging Factory brings together a Colorado M5W roll-to-roll printer with a Fotoba jumbo roll media loader and output trimmer and stacker. 

The FLXfinish+ option with the Colorado M-series offers further possibilities as it enables the addition of matte, gloss, or mixed matte and gloss effects on the same print, without additional varnish.

In addition to these advancements Canon has also announced a new enhanced Jumbo Roll Interface kit option as well as the potential for M-series and UVgel to be used in industrial print applications by printing graphic overlays for membrane switches (printed electronic circuits).

Mathew Faulkner, director of Marketing & Innovation, for Canon EMEA’s Wide Format Printing Group, comments: “Offering the unique benefits of Canon’s UVgel technology, the Colorado was designed right from the start to deliver the optimal combination of quality, productivity, automation, application range, operating cost and sustainability. 

“The system’s resulting success in the market showed what a great combination of benefits it offers and, together with customer feedback, inspired us to develop the modular Colorado M-series. 

“Launched last year, the M-series has, in turn, set a new standard for productivity and substantially expanded the range of applications that customers can create. And we’re not stopping there. Leveraging the benefits of UVgel technology and the modularity of the Colorado M-series, the advances we’re announcing today focus on application diversification and automation.” 

Faulkner adds: “We passionately believe this long-term strategy of modularity and versatility will change the way large-format graphics and other applications are being produced for the better and will benefit our customers and the wider society.”