Best printer for murals

[CC-CMYK]

I’m looking into a new printer for printing wall murals. Would like suggestions. I run a hp latex 365 and 110. I’m tired of the color consistency issues from both and I haven’t heard good things about the 700 and 800. I’ve been hearing the new Epson R series printers are better for color consistency when doing panel jobs. Is this true? Or should I be looking at the Epson solvent printers?

 

[Boudica]

Epson SureColor S80600. All day long.

 

[greysquirrel]

R series is a whole different class of printer…no to 700/800 absolute=tely to epson SURECOLOR…s40 60 or 80

 

[ikarasu]

The Epson resin is great. I've done tons of wraps, wall murals, stickers. It's like a latex but better... No color inconsistency, I've used it in +30c and minus 15c and there's no shifts. Printed a 10 ft by 100 ft mural and everything aligned perfectly. No complaints are from its a huge heater in a small room!

I've run all 3, currently have all 3 and I like the Resin the best.

For wall murals it's Resin because of the scratch proof ness. If it's busy.. the solvent gets used. We won't use the latex for panel prints anymore, the 700w is way too inconsistent.

 

[CC-CMYK]

Thanks for your responses. One more question. I’ve never used an eco solvent printer. How bad is the smell in the shop and installed. Does the client ever complain about the smell? We deal with museums that are concerned with smells.

 

[zspace]

We run most of our wall graphics on a Colorado 1650. Good speed and consistency.

 

[bigben]

Our main business is murals and printing white on clear. We have the 700w for about a year now and never had a problem. Next printer will be a Colorado for the speed.

 

[rjssigns]

Thanks for your responses. One more question. I’ve never used an eco solvent printer. How bad is the smell in the shop and installed. Does the client ever complain about the smell? We deal with museums that are concerned with smells.

You'll notice eco solvent odor. I exhaust mine outside allowing me to print all day with very little ink smell. Never had clients complain about odor even on unlaminated prints. Once the VOC's are flashed the print is pretty much odorless.

 

[mim]

Thanks for your responses. One more question. I’ve never used an eco solvent printer. How bad is the smell in the shop and installed. Does the client ever complain about the smell? We deal with museums that are concerned with smells.

We use the s80 (and love it) and while there is sometimes an odor it is not like the horrible stink of a UV print, which clients probably would complain about. The client won't notice the smell from an eco solvent print as it will be gassed out by the time it's applied.

 

[victor bogdanov]

Colorado 1650

Fast
Perfect panel length
Very scratch resistant prints
Very Cheap ink cost (I'm at 9cents per sq/ft, pays for itself in ink saving compared to other printers)
Instant cure

Reprint a panel 6 months later and its a perfect match


Full automation available if you need very high volume

UVgel Wallpaper Factory - Canon Europe

UVgel Wallpaper Factory

www.canon-europe.com

 

[victor bogdanov]

Thanks for your responses. One more question. I’ve never used an eco solvent printer. How bad is the smell in the shop and installed. Does the client ever complain about the smell? We deal with museums that are concerned with smells.

All the popular printers are "green guard certified". By the time its time to install the prints won't smell with any of the print technologies

 

[CC-CMYK]

Another question I have is on my HP printers I can swap out ink as it’s printing. Can that be done with the Epson?

 

[CC-CMYK]

Also, how do the Rolands compare to the Epsons?

 

[White Haus]

Colorado 1650

Fast
Perfect panel length
Very scratch resistant prints
Very Cheap ink cost (I'm at 9cents per sq/ft, pays for itself in ink saving compared to other printers)
Instant cure

Reprint a panel 6 months later and its a perfect match


Full automation available if you need very high volume

UVgel Wallpaper Factory - Canon Europe

UVgel Wallpaper Factory

www.canon-europe.com

View attachment 162161

Are you running this full set up? I hadn't seen the #4 option before, that's really neat.

Do you know roughly what this whole set up costs?

 

[rjssigns]

Also, how do the Rolands compare to the Epsons?

On this forum I think you'll find the Epson in the lead. Seems to have been a lot of issues with Roland. Maybe Roland got them fixed but I have no way of knowing.
Either way do a forum search.

Best bet is to make up a brutal file with Memory colors(personal photos work great for this) Pantones, 50/40/40 gray, 50%K, color bars with tints etc...
Then go to the showroom and get it printed. Don't just go by what your eyes tell you. Do an instrumented test with a densitometer.
You'll need to find someone with a densitometer to get color values but at least you'll have an understanding of the printers capabilities.

We just finished our first semester teaching a class about controlling color. Your eyes can tell you a lot but are not reliable color indicators. That's why we rely on instrumentation to tell us exactly what we are or are not getting it terms of output.
No more subjectivity. You either hit the specified DeltaE or you didn't.

 

[signheremd]

Also, how do the Rolands compare to the Epsons?

We have a Roland XR 640 and it has been a workhorse. The Eco Solvent inks are not odorless but are not strong by any means. But we have never had a panel that didn't match the next panel on the Roland.

That said, the Epson will hit a wider range of colors and seems to produce richer reds.

We would either buy another Roland or a new Epson when the time comes to upgrade. We would not buy an HP.

 

[victor bogdanov]

Are you running this full set up? I hadn't seen the #4 option before, that's really neat.

Do you know roughly what this whole set up costs?

I have a colorado 1650 and a colex.

That whole setup would be around 300k depending on the fotoba cutter used. The newest fotoba cutter is 150k alone


for wallpaper panels 1 flatbed cutter could keep up with 3 Colorado printers I think. 1hr to print a roll while cutting a roll takes 20min.

 

[White Haus]

I have a colorado 1650 and a colex.

That whole setup would be around 300k depending on the fotoba cutter used. The newest fotoba cutter is 150k alone


for wallpaper panels 1 flatbed cutter could keep up with 3 Colorado printers I think. 1hr to print a roll while cutting a roll takes 20min.

Thanks. That's not a horrible price point when you consider the amount of volume you could run through that set up in a day.

I'm going to have to check out a Colorado in person one of these days, I've been holding back because I know I'll want to buy one as soon as I see it...

 

[victor bogdanov]

Thanks. That's not a horrible price point when you consider the amount of volume you could run through that set up in a day.

I'm going to have to check out a Colorado in person one of these days, I've been holding back because I know I'll want to buy one as soon as I see it...

That set up would pay for itself in a month if you can keep it busy.

I'm coming up on a year of Colorado ownership and very glad I went with it

 

[Geneva Olson]

Epson SureColor S80600. All day long.

one of my customers was offering to GIVE ME a smaller epson. I called a friend who used to sell printers. He told me he would sell an epson all day everyday.