Arkigrafix taps HP to print on doors

MANILA, Philippines - Question: When does a paint job become a print job?

Answer: When there’s an HP Scitex FB6100 printer around.

At Arkigrafix, a large-format printing company located in Quezon Avenue in Quezon City, any object with a rigid surface that requires a fresh coat of paint can be fed into an HP Scitex FB6100 flatbed printer and, instead of being painted, get printed on using UV (ultraviolet) curable ink.

The HP Scitex FB6100 is one mammoth industrial wide-format printer that can handle any hard, thick, heavy or flexible media, including glass, wood, bamboo, metal, foam board, PVC, corrugated plastic, and plywood (MDO/MDF) that measures up to 50 mm or two-inch thick and 2.2 meters by three meters wide.

This means everybody can visit Arkigrafix to get their doors, windows, glass or wooden tabletops, ceramic or clay tiles, window slats and shutters, window blinds, kitchen cabinets, even carpets or an entire ceiling panel perhaps, printed on with any color or design in just a few minutes.

To print is to believe

In a demo for members of media, a plain door got its high-quality, multi-color customized printed design in five minutes tops, which is a fraction of the time a housepainter would typically take to finish applying just one color of paint on a single door. During the demo, a 20 cm x 20 cm ceramic tile also served as the canvas for an artwork in less than a minute.

With built-in roll-to-roll capability, the HP Scitex FB6100 can switch between rigid and roll-fed printing modes. The HP Scitex FB6100 can print at a maximum production speed of 66 m²/h (700ft²/h). It can do eight-color printing at speeds up to 52 m²/h (550ft²/h) for high-quality indoor prints, and four-color printing at speeds up to 100m²/h  (1070ft²/h) for outdoor applications.

The HP Scitex FB6100 can switch between four-color, eight-color or six-color plus white ink printing. The eight-color (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light cyan, light magenta, light yellow, light black) printing delivers an image resolution quality of up to 1270 X 800 dpi (dots per inch). The printer’s small 28-picoliter ink drop size and accurate registration produce incredible, high-quality output that is ideal for photo-realistic images or close-up viewing. The four-color printing is recommended for outdoor applications or for fast printing at up to 100m²/h (1070ft²/h).

Aside from the eight-color ink, a primer is also used during printing to make sure the print is sealed well. The white ink, on the other hand, is used to provide the necessary white prints on dark media or as spot color for reproducing the white elements on an image.

Unlike traditional paint jobs, the HP Scitex FB6100 prints with no drying required. Printouts, even as big as doors, always come out dry and ready to use.

The HP Scitex FB6100 comes with its own software called Caldera RIP. Designed for production environments that operate 24/7, this printer is backed by HP Scitex technical support abroad that provides assistance to customers like Arkigrafix anytime.

Arkigrafix

Arkigrafix wants to cater mainly to the technical and special printing requirements of individual architects and architectural companies, but it also accepts large-format printing jobs from walk-in clients. At its plant in Quezon City is an impromptu gallery of doors and other housing fixtures that have unique prints courtesy of the HP Scitex printer.

Michelle Petines, president of Arkigrafix, told NetWorks that she first witnessed what the HP Scitex FB6100 could do in a trade show and was completely convinced that it would make for a good business. But as huge as the printer is its price, which is in the range of $500,000. To invest in one unit, Petines said she had to find business partners to help her buy it. The printer was delivered only last January and since then it has hardly stopped printing, according to Petines.

Petines said Arkigrafix has yet to actively market their new services using the HP Scitex FB6100, but word of mouth has not failed them in getting steady projects for their two-year-old business. Arkigrafix is now getting new types of clients such as a multi-branch bank and a high-end car company on top of those who regularly come for large-format printing jobs like streamers and ad billboards, she added.

Arkigrafix could give any customer’s wooden, PVC or glass door a total makeover look or print for only P2,700 or P3,500 (per side). Customers may provide an endless array of personalized designs on possible materials. Petines said the only time when they had to draw the line was when a customer asked them to print on a coffin. But other than that, Arkigrafix welcomes print jobs that require no less than a little imagination and a very big printer.