Textile Printing

Review PSI: Personalisation of promotional items is big business

Wednesday 22. January 2014 - The demand for small series of personalised promotional items and gifts is significant. The manufacturers of these types of articles are looking for reliable machines they can use to embellish objects, quickly and inexpensively, with colourful and razor-sharp prints.

During PSI, the most important European trade show for the promotional product industry, many of these manufacturers found much to their liking at the Roland DG stand. Two flatbed printers were being exhibited there, and they both satisfied their requirements perfectly. The engraving machine being shown also appealed to the visitors. With this compact machine, pens, pendants and other metal objects can be personalised with permanent inscriptions.
Just as in other sectors, the promotional materials industry is also searching for digital alternatives to their traditional processes. The demand for small quantities and different versions of personalised promotional articles is becoming larger, which means that the search for less expensive alternatives is also increasing. The digital printers and engraving machines from Roland DG provide the ideal solution.
VersaUV LEF-20: eye-catcher at PSI
The VersaUV LEF-20 is Roland DG’s newest flatbed printer for gadgets and promotional. The machine has a printing area of 508 by 330 mm. It prints text and images at a very high resolution on a large variety of promotional articles, including iPhone and tablet covers, pens, Plexiglas photo cubes, golf balls and other objects or plates up to 10 cm high.
The interest in this printer was high during PSI. Michel Van Vliet, Product Development Manager at Roland DG explains: “Our LEF-20 was a real hit at the show. Many people are looking for a printer which they can use to print directly onto all sorts of materials. Good productivity and very high print quality are definitely on their wish lists. The LEF-20 fulfils these requirements perfectly, resulting in many of the visitors showing interest in making the investment.”
The LEF-20 uses the four standard colours (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) plus white and transparent ink. The white ink produces beautiful results on dark and transparent substrates. The transparent ink in turn can be used to give prints a glossy or a matte finish or to create doming effects. This effect is created by printing several layers of this ink on top of one other which allows a textured effect to be formed.
The machine uses ECO-UV ink which cures under an LED lamp. No heat is used in this process making it possible to print on an extensive range of materials. Roland DG also offers a solution for glass and metal objects. Michel Van Vliet: “Together with CMR Coatings, we have developed primers for glass and metal articles. The primers are transparent and ensure that the ink adheres properly to the material. Thanks to these primers, you can print directly onto glass and metal with our UV printers with no problems at all.
Large format flatbed printer for larger jobs
Roland DG also demonstrated a large format flatbed printer that also works with the LED-UV technology but which has a larger printing area. Michel Van Vliet: “During the trade show, we demonstrated how you can rapidly print beautiful, multi-coloured images on tabletops using this machine. The LEJ-640F has a printing surface area of up to 1.6 m by 3.3 m and can print on objects and plates up to 15 cm high. The print quality is just as good as that of our LEF-20, so razor-sharp images are guaranteed.”
Permanent inscriptions
In addition to inkjet printers, Roland DG also has a range of durable engraving machines. At PSI they exhibited the MPX-90, a compact machine for making permanent inscriptions on pendants, pens and other metal objects. The quality is extremely sharp; in addition to high-quality engravings of text and logos, the photo engravings were also brilliant.