Epson announces 64" Eco Solvent Printer - Stylus Pro GS6000

Epson released details to the public regarding its newest printer, the 64 inch Stylus GS6000, earlier this week in Orlando. The GS6000 is an entry level eco-solvent printer aimed at the sign, display, and decor industry. Epson has developed a new inkset, the UltraChrome GS inks, which are both Nickel free and allow a wider color gamut than existing solvent printers on the market. Since the UltraChrome GS inks also contain very low volatile organic compounds (VOC's), which allow the Stylus Pro GS6000 to operate in rooms without a special ventilation system. The only ventilation requirement is that air can both enter and exit a room.

In keeping with its reputation for cutting edge technology and vivid colors, Epson has added Green and Orange to the typical six inks in solvent printer to blow the competition's prints away in addition to matching countless more Pantone (PMS) colors. Epson's new Advanced Cleaning System also simplifies printer cleaning, reducing overhead and labor costs for sign shops. The waste from the GS6000 is also disposable into standard sewer systems, eliminating the need for special waste handling procedures.

The Epson GS6000 sports hot swappable 950mL inks, 1440 x 1440 print resolution, ink droplets as small as 3.7 picoliters, and print speeds up to 25 Square Meters per hour. Epson is working with Avery and 3M to continue to develop groundbreaking solvent media for the GS6000. Epson's GS6000 will undoubtedly change the way commercial signage, retail displays, art decor, banners, and billboards will be created. Epson is scheduled to start shipping the GS6000's in Summer to Fall of 2008.

HP Designjet Z3100 Printer vs Epson Stylus Pro 9880 Printer

Some quick pro's and con's as well as a comparison between the two digital wide format printers. This is not meant to be a complete list, simply some lesser known points I feel would be helpful if you were considering buying either of these. These would also apply to the Epson Stylus 7880 vs the HP Z3100 24" printers.

Epson Stylus 9880 Printer

The Epson 9880 printer is not much harder to operate than a desktop printer. It can simply be plugged in to a computer with a USB cable and up and running in minutes. The driver is very straightforward as well.

The Epson 9880 printer can print true 4 side borderless using the double cut feature in the driver on both glossy and matte material.

This Epson printer is still superior in the colors purple, brown, green, and in terms of photorealistic prints. One disadvantage of the Epson 9880 is that you can not have both Photo and Matte black inks at the same time. A work around to this Matte and Photo black issue for the Epson 9880 is using Phatte Black ink and the Imageprint RIP.

The Professional edition of the Epson 9880 / 7880 / 4880 printer is mainly targeted towards Graphic Designers with added Pantone, SWOP, and Postscript abilities.

HP DesignJet Z3100 Printer

The HP Z3100 printer is better at certain colors than the Epson 9880 printer, especially Reds and Blues. Having the additional black and gray inks allow for true neutral black and

The Z3100 printer can only print ** 44" ** borderless on glossy or luster material. This is not a well publicized fact but can be very important for certain applications.

Designed with basically a computer inside, the Z3100 printer is more complicated to install, network, and connect to your computer. A higher level of technical knowledge is required to operate the Z3100.

The Z3100's build it spectrophotometer can be a big advantage if you are using a lot of third party medias and need a simple way to make good profiles. Maybe not the highest quality profiles possible, but at least as good as the canned profiles the Z3100 comes installed with. By far the biggest advantage of the spectrophotometer embedded in the device is that you can return to the factory specs.

The Z3100 printer's semipermanent printheads also extend the useful life of the device, as often with Epson wide format printers when the printhead becomes unusable the device should be scrapped as it is often worth less than the cost to fix it.

--Michael

Photo Tex Printers, Photo-Tex Paper, and Where to buy Photo Tex

We've received a number of questions regarding Photo-tex paper, the re-stickable material that can be used for trade shows, posters, temporary displays, and much more. We've had great success using Photo-tex at trade shows either on the floor in front of our booth or to wrap around columns our booth is near. The possibilities with Photo Tex paper are endless. People have also reported using them as "fathead" or fat-head like posters for their rooms. The picture on the right is an application at a tradeshow, using the Photo Tex material to create a display in front of the exhibit booth.









Here are responses to some commonly and frequently asked questions we get:

PHOTO-TEX FAQ

Where can I find a Photo-Tex printer?
(Where is a commercial printer who can print on Photo Tex paper?)

Elevate Printing can print on Photo Tex for you at a very reasonable price: http://elevateprinting.com/

What is the best Photo-Tex Printer?
(What brand/model of printer should I print Photo Tex with?)

We have printed and tested Photo Tex using Epson, Canon, and HP Printers. If you would like the ICC profiles we use, please contact us. We can recommend the following printers:

• Epson Stylus Pro 9800 / 7800 / 4800 / 3800
• Epson Stylus Pro 9880 / 7880 / 4880
• Epson Stylus Pro 9600 / 7600 / 4000
• Canon ipf5100 / ipf6100 / ipf8100 / ipf9100
• Canon ipf5000 / ipf8000 / ipf9000
• HP Designjet Z3100
• HP Designjet Z2100
• HP Designjet Z6100
• HP Designjet 5500 (UV) / 5000 (UV)
  

We have had bad results using laser printers due to the heating process when it prints, the toner does not adhere well to the media. Since the Photo Tex material is a thicker media, with a canvas like texture, any printer designed to handle fine art paper or canvas should not have any problems.

Where can I buy Photo-Tex Paper?
(Where is the best store or supplier to purchase Photo Tex media from?)

Check out IT Supplies -- www.itsupplies.com/static/PhotoTex.html
They have a good price on Photo-Tex and offer free shipping.

“Feed the Children” Banner Printing Scam - Part 1

PART 1

Warning and information on the West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria) "Food for Children" Banner Printing Scam. Beware of this if you are a sign shop, copy shop, or printing company.

This is a scam originating out of Ghana (West Africa) regarding an overseas organization needing banners. Variations of the scam involve wanting custom printed glass sheets, signs, vinyl banners, or other typical sign shop product.

The organization, claiming to be a charity based in Europe, contacts your company via email (usually to info@yourcompany.com or web form) requesting a quote for around 50 items to be printed. This is the first part of the scam. What they want printed is typically simple, such as “Feed the Children” or “Food Needed for Child” in blue text on a white background. This seems to be legitimate up to this point, as most people would have no use for “Feed the Children” banners, and the whole charity aspect gives them some credibility. You should simply ignore these requests, as it is NOT cost efficient to ship such banners overseas (regardless of the value of the dollar).

If you reply to the RFP, or their request for quote, the scammer will send you a very kind email accepting the bid and requesting payment information. This is the second part of this scam. The scammer will ask if you can please take their Visa, MasterCard, or other credit card as payment, regardless of whether or not your quote clearly contains information on your payment policy. This is another red flag.

Banner Printing Scam Part 1
Banner Printing Scam Part 2
Banner Printing Scam Part 3

“Feed the Children” Banner Printing Scam - Part 2

PART 2

Warning and information on the West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria) "Food for Children" Banner Printing Scam. Beware of this if you are a sign shop, copy shop, or printing company.

If you let them know you will accept credit cards, the scammer will write back to request a shipping quote from their preferred shipping company (a fake shipping company), telling the fake shipper the number of packages, their weight, and your location. This is the third part of the scam. The scammers will tell you that this (fake) shipping company will make sure they don’t pay any taxes or import fees on the product, and / or is the only shipping company that can locate their church / compound / refugee camp. This is another blatant red flag, as it is highly unlikely that only one company in the whole world has figured out the horribly complex international shipping and tariff situation from your country to theirs.

When you contact this shipping company, they will reply with a quote and also offer services such as crating and packaging the shipment. Once you reply to the original scammer what their total price of product plus shipping is, the scammer will email you their credit card information. They will send their name, billing address, 16 digit card number, expiration date, and CVV but no other supporting documentation (red flag). The scammer will also instruct you to charge the entire amount to their card and send them an invoice or receipt when you have done this. Usually, if you process the compromised or stolen credit card the scammers gave you it will be approved by the AVS system. This is the fourth part of the scam. Once you have charged the card, the scammer will coerce you to proceed with the shipment as soon as possible, citing some rush or critical date.

Banner Printing Scam Part 1
Banner Printing Scam Part 2
Banner Printing Scam Part 3

“Feed the Children” Banner Printing Scam - Part 3

PART 3

Warning and information on the West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria) "Food for Children" Banner Printing Scam. Beware of this if you are a sign shop, copy shop, or printing company.

The fake shipping company will tell you that you must pay them for the shipment before they will schedule delivery. This is the fifth part of the scam. The fake shipper will tell you that they only accept credit cards for domestic shipments, and for international shipments you must prepay with a wire transfer (red flag). They will recommend you bring cash to Western Union and to email them the confirmation number from the wire transfer so they can schedule a pickup. If you contact the original scammer and ask to use another shipping company, they will insist they use their fake shipping company or cancel their order entirely. What is a better policy in dealing with international transactions is that both the buyer and the seller request quotes from their preferred shipping agents.

Once you have irrevocably transferred thousands of dollars overseas to their fake shipper, you will most likely never hear from anyone involved up to this point again. When the owner of the credit card receives the bill in 15-30 days they will dispute the charge with their credit card company and most likely win. This is the sixth step of the scam. This is typically were the scam ends, with you losing the money wired for shipping plus your time and cost of producing the products. If you find yourself with 50 “Feed the Children” banners, go ahead and contact your favorite charity and donate them, please.

OVERVIEW AND REVIEW OF
THE FEED THE CHILDREN BANNER SCAM

1. You Receive email from overseas requesting price on ~50 items valued around $3,000
2. Scammer asks if you will take their Credit Card as payment
3. You contact fake shipping company requesting a shipping quote and they send you a shipping cost. You send total to original scammer.
4. Scammer emails their Credit Card info and you approve their card for total amount
5. You wire the shipping money overseas via Western Union and never hear from either of the two parties involved again
6. The true owner of credit card disputes their charge (See #4), they win, and that money is automatically deducted from your account

Banner Printing Scam Part 1
Banner Printing Scam Part 2
Banner Printing Scam Part 3