EFI is introducing a line-up of innovative printing systems that promise to redefine ceramic tile printing. Advanced electronics, a newly engineered ink system, new EFI ceramic ink sets, automatic printhead cleaning technology, more compact design and a new vacuum system are among the innovations on display at Tecnargilla. EFI is also demonstrating a new release of the EFI Fiery? proServer giving the industry the first complete colour management system for ceramic tile printing. EFI's new Cretaprint systems will be on display at Tecnargilla in Pavilion C1, Booth 081. EFI is also showing samples of tiles printed using its EFI Wide Format H1625 LED curing printer.

The introduction of EFI ceramic inks brings the power of the world's leading developer and manufacturer of digital UV-curing ink to the ceramics industry. EFI Ceramic inks provide intense colour within a wider colour gamut. Colours include dark blue, reddish brown, yellow, golden yellow, beige, pink and black. Special effect inks include sinking ink, extra white, matte glaze, glossy glaze and lustre.

EFI ceramic inks, combined with the Cretaprint printer and Fiery colour management, produce the best quality ceramic products with low ink consumption.

Being shown for the first time at Tecnargilla is the new Cretaprint C4 printer. With a width up to 745mm, the competitively priced new C4 engine offers a more compact footprint and is 30% lighter. A new user interface and advanced nozzle plate cleaning system are among its additional features. The easy-to-use product lowers maintenance costs andenergy consumption.

The Cretaprint C4 printer includes a number of innovations such as:

A new vacuum system working with higher pressure for greater efficiency without affecting quality.

A compact frame holding eight individual bars that can be pulled out if required, making all the components accessible for maintenance tasks.

Bar separation optimised for a highly-efficient steam and mist extraction without compromising printing quality.

Automatically adjustable height of both the vacuum bars and the jetting distance.

New cleaning system ensuring a longer printhead life.

The ability to detect and correct missing nozzles.

A newly designed transport system ensuring greater accuracy with precision alignment.

Also on display are the new Cretaprint C3+ and Cretaprint P3+ printers with widths up to 700mm and 1400 mm wide respectively.

Additional EFI enhancements introduced at Tecnargilla include:

New ink System - The new ink system was designed to produce the highest accuracy under any printing conditions. A simpler design reduces the number of pumps, which enables different ink flow rates. This means operators can use the same ink system with different （multiple） printheads. A reverse flow capability allows automatic printhead cleaning to avoid jams or shuttering. The system also allows faster and easier refilling without spillage, producing less waste. Plus, fully extractable ink tanks make ink changes easier and faster. Anti-settling tubing design protects the printheads. EFI's vision system can detect any non-functioning nozzle and automatically compensate for perfect printing quality.

New EFI electronics offer greater flexibility, enable faster image upload and allow the user to modify settings on the fly for small re-adjustments during production.

Enhanced user interface - the new user interface offers the convenience of a touch screen. Navigation is friendly, and basic functions are permanently on display. All main functions are accessible in one or two clicks. 

Tone Adjustment System （TAS） - based on an intuitive interface that guides the user through the process of study and application of changes in tone or intensity to apply to a model. These features enable adjustments or variations on existing models in the system without use of external additional software or extensive knowledge in colour management.

Tile thickness laser detector - a dual laser detects both the position and the thickness of each piece, automatically adjusting for the height of each tile.

Synchronisation - this allows two separate Cretaprint engines to be synchronised for printing.

Double tile printing - double Tile Printing allows simultaneous printing of two tiles of different formats with different designs

SMS alerts - this new kit allows users to track and send any incident warning in real time to users' mobile devices.

Cretavision relief recognition - Cretavision takes the tile's relief pattern into consideration and fits any design to the tile's relief, regardless of the order in which the tiles enter the system.

The Fiery proServer gives all Cretaprint systems the industry's first complete colour management system for ceramic tile printing. It ensures accurate and consistent colour quality while lowering ink consumption. The Fiery also allows automatic creation of a special effect channel for digital decoration as well as automatic white ink-channel generation for dark coloured glazes.

"Tecnargilla is the ceramics industry's most important event of the year, and EFI's teams are excited to bring so many innovations to the tile manufacturing market," said EFI CTO, Ghilad Dziesnietik. "We are combining EFI ink expertise, colour management and the best-in class workflow software in the graphics arts world with our market leading line-up and the industrial robustness of Cretaprint ceramics printing technology."