First post: information and question....

[Felix Sepulveda]

Hi all,

My name is Felix Sepulveda. I'm from the Dominican Republic (Caribbean) and have a "small" print shop where my main focus is photographic printing. I have two Epsons 9600 (44") with Ultrachrome inks. I'm very satisfied with their quality and of course have some issues with ink "fragility" and costs if compared with solvents.

I'm researching for a new printer (Solvent or Eco-solvent). I have to print bigger (at least 54") and also would like to venture in the outdoor and signage printing. Right now my shop is very clean and "elegant", so I think that an eco-solvent will fit better, but anyway I'm open for a full solvent option if at the end I get better results.

With my next printer I want to continue serving my current market (mainly printing on canvas and Fine art papers), even if I have to restrict to canvas and some Vynils. So good printing quality and resolution is a must. The printers that I've seen that I like the most are Roland, Mimaki and Mutoh. Of course there are others but I don't know a lot about them.

Opinions and recomendations are extremily welcome since this is an important step and significant investment for me.

Regards and thank you all,

Felix

 

[JMDigital]

Rolands ECO-Solvent printers seem to have a good following. They recently build a new factory and have a new printer out. Check into them. I do know the Solvent printers are not as "PHOTO REALISTIC" as say your epson's. I also have been told they are exteremly close. There are a bunch of people here who have solvent and eco-solvent printers, they should chime in soon..

and also WELCOME TO SIGNS101!!

 

[Checkers]

Hiya Felix,
The newer solvent and eco-solvent printers are great for high resolution and fade resistant prints, but the color gamut is, i.m.h.o., still weak when you compare them to the epsons or other aqueous inkjets.
Did you check out http://www.large-format-printers.org/ yet? They charge for most of their reports, but it's a great place to start when looking for more info.

Checkers

 

[mfarney]

Mimaki JV3

Get a Mimaki JV3 you won't regret it. We also use a Mutoh Ultima 1400D Cutter and it works great too. Onyx 6.5 is the RIP we use and it's been very easy to dial in as far as color profiles go.

 

[Cadmn]

Think I saw roland 54" refurb on here for sale. Howdy from Texas & :Welcome: 2 :signs101: enjoy

 

[Felix Sepulveda]

Thank you all, also for the warm welcome.

Well I think evrything is narrowing down to Mimaki JV3 or one of the new Rolands with Eco-Sol Max inks. I like the fact that the Rolands are Eco-solvent and that I can get one that also cuts......The Mimaki seems to be of high quality for a full solvent, but I think I will need more ventilation with the Mimaki.....

How do the printing costs compare with these two machines ?

Again, thanks !!!

Felix

 

[Colin]

Sorry, I can't help with your question, just wanted to say welcome. I visited Santo Domingo about 8 years ago. Love merengue!

Hasta luego.

 

[Felix Sepulveda]

Thanks Colin, I live in Santiago, the second largest city. It is very nice for us when someone from another country says that he(she) was here and enjoyed. I have been in Canada (Toronto and Montreal) and I love your Country. If you ever comeback you should know that you have a new friend here.

Regards,

 

[mark in tx]

You have to look at more than printing cost.
The question you really have to ask is "Will the equipment produce the quality of print I want to sell?"

 

[Git-R-Done]

Hello Felix and welcome to signs101.

I can speak for the Roland family only when I say that for the cost to run the machine and the space I save by not having two big machines (Printer and cutter) Roland is my choice. I have had no issues or complaints when recreating a large print. As long as the quality is decent when it goes in it comes out great as far as the custome is concerned.

 

[ENTDesign]

Welcome

If you are doing fine art reproduction, hang onto your Epson for that kind of work. I don't think you can get the color gamut for that type of work with a solvent printer.

 

[Gino]

Welcome to ‘101’. Don’t know any Spanish, but I like good Salsa and Merengue.

We have the ‘Roland’ 540. Simply cherish it. The cost per square foot for ink will depend on your coverage. Our view is… whether it is .17 a square or .48 a square, it’s still a competitive cost. Your customer pays for it anyway. Your media that you put through it will vary from .10 a square to about 1.50 a square. I don’t think that can go much over 2.00 a square on the 540 for most applications. Our average is closer to, under $1.00. You can do anything from wraps to trade show displays and from backlits to everyday real estate signs for a fraction of any vinyl cutting method with layering. You can’t do museum type quality work, but then that’s what you have your ‘Epsons’ for…

Good Luck.

 

[Felix Sepulveda]

Thank you all again, and Gino, Spanish is not neccesary if you like good Salsa and Merengue. Actually I think that Nur should label their next printer "Merengue".

From all of your opinions I will try to make some test prints in a Roland (a couple of shops here have Rolands). As I metioned before I would like to enter the signage market. My Fine Art market is pretty stable but the volume is kind of low for my aspirations and I offer only that: Fine Art prints.

Maybe there are two printers in my future......a 60" pigment (HP or Canon) and maybe the Roland 54" that can print and cut. I visited their website and they are comming with a new model in August (54" with increased speed in the low resolution range....).....I don't think that I can get both of them at the same time so I will go with the Solvent first.

All your comments have been very valuable.

Regards,

 

[iSign]

Welcome

If you are doing fine art reproduction, hang onto your Epson for that kind of work. I don't think you can get the color gamut for that type of work with a solvent printer.

gotta agree with ENT & Checkers on keeping the Epson for true "art" printing. The color gamut of solvet (or ecosolv) is lacking compared to waterbase...

BUT, for the sign market this is 95% irrelevant in my opinion. Unless you have a true fine artist as a client looking at every detail for subtle shifts of color from his original... full color signage is far less dependent on "perfect" color matching... so a few weak spots in the range of greens or oranges etc.... it has only come up once in 8 months with my printer.

I started looking at the same 3 as you & I bought the Mimaki JV3. I am tight for space... but the space I have in my shop is there for running an efficient sign business... I find a seperate cutter to be more efficient in the long run, and "saving space" by not having it would be counter productive for me.

Also, a full solvent printer like the Mimaki is no less appropriate for your "clean & elegant" environment. If you are referring to fumes... yes, you need ventilation, & once you get it, you can be virtually free from fumes. My shop is a clean professional environment & my printer is 6 feet away from the client counter. Fumes are absolutely not an issue. The ecosolv printers do not require ventilation... but it would be unwise NOT to vent them anyway.

I think the biggest concern should be service after the sale. I've had 2 service calls already in 8 months (not counting the tech I flew out here to set it up)

My supplier Advantage Sign Supply paid for all the transportation, labor & parts expenses for both trips to Hawaii (except for $500), because they accepted that needing a new printhead that soon was unusual. This was not (and almost never is... at least for us far-away folks) in the contract or warranty... this was just a good supplier taking good care of a client...SO, think about service after the sale. I think the differences between a good supplier & a not so good one will be worth FAR FAR more then the difference between a Mimaki or a Roland.

 

[Felix Sepulveda]

I will keep at least one of my Epsons, if possible both. The service issue is a very important one. I will have to check and see others experiences, we are not that far from Florida, but having local support is better. I will keep all of you informed about my progress..... more opinions and recomendations are welcome !!!

Regards,

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

The Mimaki JV3 series you can run 3 different ink options HS1, SS2, SS3
with Roland you have only 1 choice.

 

[The Big Squeegee]

Welcome from Oklahoma!

:Welcome: to :signs101:

 

[masterdesigns]

Welcome

Welcome to :signs101:

As far as your question, do a search here; there is alot of great info, but I off hand I agree with other posts here in that the resolution you are currently getting may not be quite as good with solvent.

My advice would be to relook what you want in the future; if it is printing photo realistic, you probably do not need a new printer unless you just want larger print capabillity.

Oh yea, here's your free with the advice.
Bob

 

[Replicator]

I agree with masterdesigns . . . do the research here and abroad, and then decide for yourself,

based on your research.

WELCOME !