German manufacturer AEG has burst onto the wide-format scene by launching a range of UV-curable engines with a channel for metallic ink. The Voyager Pro series is to be unveiled at Sign and Digital UK, opening at Birmingham's NEC today and running until May 1st, and will be distributed in the UK by Atlantic Tech Services.
This series consists of two Voyager Pro machines – the 2.05m Voyager Pro 2050 and its 3.2m counterpart, the 3200 – and two entry-level Voyager machines at 1.65m and 2.2m. All are hybrid engines which handle both roll-fed and flat-bed media, and are anticipated to be of interest to sign and display producers, packaging specialists and label converters who wish to create special effects or use spot colours, or who may wish to create product concepts or prototypes.
Each uses the recently announced Xaar 1002 print-head and carries CMYK as standard, but gamut-enhancing options, including light cyan, light magenta, orange and green or red and violet, can be added, as can white and clear varnish; these can all be upgraded in the field. The Xaar 1002 head allows for variable placement of drops between one and 18 picolitres; meanwhile, AEG’s printer series is adherent to the Pantone Metallic Library, which contains more than 300 matched shades.
The version on show at Sign UK is the Voyager Pro 2050, which can print to media up to 5.08cm thick at a production speed of 70sq m/hr. Visitors can pick this model up for ￡135,000, which includes a free 'double upgrade' to incorporate the metallic and white channels.
"Compared with existing wide-format UV-curable printers available, the AEG series of machines offers a new level of versatility with the ink choices that are available," comments Keith Pratt, director, Atlantic Tech Services. "The price point of this new series will appeal to all sizes of print business, from those who are just starting out in wide-format printing, to those who want an additional machine for specific applications that incorporate special and metallic colours.
"To date there are no alternative engines that provide such a generous range of colour options, and the inclusion of a metallic ink with this chemistry in a UV-curable machine is unprecedented," Pratt concludes.
An unusual entrant
AEG is better known in consumer markets for its white goods, including ovens and washing machines, making it a curious débutant in a relatively crowded part of the wide-format sector.
One might also have expected an established manufacturer, such as Durst or EFI, to be first to the punch with a UV-curable metallic. The artist formerly known as Polytype had even anticipated this eventuality in 2012 by adding a channel earmarked for it to its Virtu range, but didn't manage to finalise this before closing its wide-format unit; Marabu also confirmed in the same year that it had developed such an ink, but this seems to have been reserved for bespoke integrations.
It must be assumed that AEG has done the homework necessary to establish whether or not demand exists for this machine and its capabilities, but the ability to produce metallic for outdoor display and retail on a wide variety of materials should not be underestimated. Similarly, we can expect to witness some developmental applications in functional and packaging printing. It will be intriguing to see who buys the first few machines, and for what purpose.