The great labeler

KUALA LUMPUR—Epson recently launched the new SurePress L-4033A at its Prestige Colour showroom, the first such installation in Asia outside Japan.

SurePress L-4033A is Epson’s first commercial label system for short-run digital label printing. It is designed to make short-run printing much easier, faster, and more efficient, as compared to analog printing process.

SurePress can produce 5,000-10,000 labels in 15 minutes, while it takes an analog printer three days to complete the same task.

The device is powered by Epson’s Micro Piezo print head technology, which provides ultra-precise drop formation and placement to deliver smooth gradations, color quality and sharper details. A new type of ink has also been developed for the label press called AQ Ink. It is a water-based pigment ink with six colors, including Green and Orange (aside from CMY/Black) for an extra-wide color gamut. This new ink was developed to improve image quality, resistance to rubbing, bonding characteristics, and to dry fast. These enable the SurePress to print directly onto paper or any synthetic substrates without the need for special coatings.

With 15 high performance Micro Piezo print heads, SurePress prints on a range of off-the-shelf papers and film up to 330mm wide. Its print speed is up to 5m per minute at 720×720 dpi (on paper) and 1440×720 dpi (on film).

The touch-screen panel is user-friendly with easy to understand menus and procedures. Settings for specific types of jobs can be memorized, which makes setup faster when the same type of order comes in.

Environment friendly

“Epson is responsible for developing eco-friendly printing machines,” says James Lim, Commercial and Industrial Division head for Epson South and Southeast Asia.

The SurePress L-4033A does not use chemicals or plates, requires minimal maintenance and, with the water-based AQ Ink technology, pre-treatment of substrates is not necessary. As a result, standard label stock wastage and ink consumption have been reduced, eliminating specific wash and waste fluid emissions.

Revolutionary printers

Along with the SurePress L-4033A, two other recently launched commercial printers were also showcased during the event: the GS6000 signage printer and the WT7900 proofing printer.

Epson’s first outdoor signage printer, the Stylus Pro GS6000 is a 64-inch eco solvent printer that features the Epson UltraChrome GS Ink, an eco solvent-based ink technology with eight individual colors (CMY, black, light cyan, light magenta, orange and green).

The GS6000 produces the industry’s widest range of colors on a wide variety of coated and uncoated media types. This generates high quality durable graphics for a vast array of commercial printing applications, including both indoor and outdoor displays, banners, billboards, automotive and bus wraps, construction and barricade signs, fine art reproduction, tradeshow exhibits, etc.

The world’s first water-based inkjet printer with white ink, the Stylus Pro WT7900 proofing printer uses the UltraChrome High Dynamic-Range (HDR) ink. This provides an extensive color gamut that produces high color density and varying tints of white.

Using the innovative aqueous white ink technology, it creates precision proofs on a wide variety of media to simulate different packaging, such as transparent soft packages, continuous tone soft packages or clear package boxes.

Like the SurePress L-4033A, both the GS6000 and the WT7900 are also environment-friendly and nickel-free, using odorless inks. The devices do not require special ventilation or air purification systems.

The SurePress L-4033A will be available in the Philippines by December, while the GS6000 and the WT7900 are already out in the market.