Signmaker1234
New Member
From my research this seems like an awesome machine, DC 5! I'm ready to buy, but thought I would check here first! Would be using for mainly vehicle wraps! Thanks in advance!
-
I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...
Pros and cons!
- Thread starter Signmaker1234
- Start date
Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
Just click the banner ad at the top right of the OP's first post.
Quark
Merchant Member
It is a specialty use printer. I wouldn't say main stream modern wraps (or even typical decals) is its niche. Your cost to print will be x3 higher than most. Your speed to print will be x3 slower. Your raster images will suffer greatly. I would say an implant manufacturer use what's this printer is for. Not a typical broadly targeted sign shop. It's hard to justify a $20k machine for such a narrow capable printer. I would suggest sending them your own 3-4 24x36 photographic designs to print and have them price the media and colors. This is a great machine if you have a special use for it. Not for wraps.
J Hill Designs
New Member
this isn't the printer you are looking for
Signmaker1234
New Member
Well
What is this printer's specialty if it is not good for wraps or vehicle graphics? They sent me samples and they looked great! Outdoor life is 5 years without lamination. I didn't research the cost of ribbons or media, assumed it would be reasonable, so I'll check that out! Thanks!
What is this printer's specialty if it is not good for wraps or vehicle graphics? They sent me samples and they looked great! Outdoor life is 5 years without lamination. I didn't research the cost of ribbons or media, assumed it would be reasonable, so I'll check that out! Thanks!
Signmaker1234
New Member
I didn't even know they still made thermal printers, do you still have to run one color foil and back it up every time to run the next color?
What's a "implant manufacturer"?
Quark
Merchant Member
Sorry. In plant
Signmaker1234
New Member
I'm glad
Im glad I asked here before I bought! Thanks all!
Im glad I asked here before I bought! Thanks all!
P Wagner
--
For printing to flexible (roll to roll) media, inkjet printing rules in the outdoor-durable market. Thermal resin was a pioneering outdoor oriented technology that was introduced in 1993 by Gerber Scientific, with their Gerber Edge product. Roland had a couple of short-lived thermal resin devices in the mid 90s before they migrated to inkjet, and Summa has offered the DC-series machines for years. Thermal resin has a sweet spot where it is a preferred technology, but today it is a niche product (my opinion).
For the roll-feed outdoor durable market, solvent ink (including eco-solvent) or Latex inks are preferable for the majority of applications. There are a variety of manufacturers of various solvent printers (including Epson, Seiko, Roland, Mutoh, and Mimaki). For latex ink the major player in this space is HP, which introduced the technology in 2008, and now offers a comprehensive portfolio of HP Latex printers that span the entire market from low to high end. Mimaki has been working on getting a toehold with their version of latex since 2012.
As you are learning, there is a wealth of information (and misinformation) on these boards and elsewhere. Before you invest in anything, you really should do a lot of research into the various alternatives (or for that matter, into outsourcing until you have enough business to justify a printer purchase).