Educational facilities are among the fastest-growing adopters of 3D printing, with an impressive 5.4% to 11.6% jump in market share between 2011 and 2021¹, overtaking other traditional applications, such as cosmetic models and jigs and fixtures. Across a wide range of academic fields, such as medicine, art, design and architecture, students and researchers increasingly use this technology to create models and prototypes to assist with their academic endeavours. In particular, material jetting 3D printing technology is making a name for itself within the sector, known for producing highly detailed prototypes, models and figures.

Material Jetting: More Colours, More Detail

While material jetting makes up a small share of 3D printer sales when compared to other printing methods like material extrusion (FDM) and powder bed fusion (MJF or other laser-based processes) which are easier to use, it isn’t a technology to be overlooked. With its ability to produce bright colours, incredible accuracy and fine detail in the final 3D prints, material jetting has become a go-to solution for prototyping, art, architectural and educational models.

Full-colour 3D printers from Mimaki, the 3DUJ-2207 and the 3DUJ-553, both utilise the material jetting method. A piezoelectric printhead travel over the build platform, depositing hundreds of tiny droplets of photopolymer to the desired locations. The material is then cured by a UV LED light, which allows less material warping and more control for complex designs over traditional UV bulbs. The process repeats until the whole part is complete, which is then submerged in the cleaning unit to remove any support material, resulting in 3D prints with vibrant, photorealistic colour.

As the only 3D printers on the market with the ability to accurately print in 10 million colours, including transparent up to 1200 dpi, the 3DUJ Series can create highly detailed, full-colour 3D prints. All these abilities alongside its office-friendly size and low noise level have made these machines the perfect high performing models to the rapidly growing 3D printing market.

The Educated Choice

We have already seen examples of Mimaki’s 3D printers’ accuracy and range of colours being used to full effect in universities. The collaboration between Monash University and Erler Zimmer led to the development of anatomically accurate 3D-printed medical models to address the limitations of cadavers in education. Initially facing challenges with the fragility and colour reproduction of medical models, the 3D printing industry saw a significant breakthrough with the Mimaki 3DUJ-553 colour 3D Printer. This printer revolutionised the process by accurately creating realistic, detailed models with transparent parts to see internal structures. Reliance on cadavers in universities significantly restricts hands-on, interactive teaching opportunities, particularly when it comes to rare pathologies. The ability for universities to produce the desired 3D models as needed, opens up significant learning opportunities for students and medical professionals alike.

In Europe, the printer’s capabilities have also attracted the attention of a team of doctors and researchers from the University of Florence. Facilitating cost-effective solutions and enhancing surgical training and simulation, the technology was also used for a range of anatomical models, reaching a previously unattainable degree of colour fidelity and realistic appearance. Meanwhile, Biologic Models has carved out a niche in creating precise and vibrant colour 3D models of proteins for research facilities and collectors, using the 3DUJ-553 in conjunction with clinical research and x-ray crystallography protein data.

View our 3D Academy Pack offer:

Heart, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Head & Brain, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

One of Erler Zimmer’s medical models printed on the Mimaki 3DUJ-553

Heart, University of Florence Case Study, Florence, Italy

The Mimaki 3DUJ-553

In New Zealand, colour 3D printing has been taken beyond the medical, with the University of Auckland‘s Creative Design and Additive Manufacturing Lab (CDAML) using the Mimaki 3DUJ-553 for vibrant, accurate colour printing in projects ranging from cultural preservation to surgical aids. Initially exploring powder-based printers, the lab shifted to the 3DUJ-553 due to its superior colour palette and durability. This printer has helped to transform how students engage with history, engineering, art and medicine.

The Perfect Tool for the Model Student

Imagine students worldwide crafting realistic anatomical models, bringing historical artefacts back to their former glory, or architecting the cities of tomorrow—all with cutting-edge full-colour 3D printing technology. In the educational field, 3D printing can equip the professionals of today and tomorrow with the tools they need to enhance their skills better.

_{1. Wohlers Report, ‘3D Printing Applications 2011 Wohlers Report’ and ‘3D Printing.}

The post A 3Ducation from Mimaki – How Mimaki’s full-colour 3D Printing Technology is Moulding Education and Academic Research appeared first on Mimaki Europe.

Mimaki Bompan Textile (MBTex) at IBF 2024

How did a team of print manufacturers turn into cycling competitors, racing across 80-kilometres of the picturesque Romagna hinterland?

In September 2024, Mimaki Bompan Textile took on the challenge to ride alongside thousands of cycling enthusiasts and participate in the 2024 edition of the Italian Bike Festival (IBF) in Misano Adriatico (Rimini), a leading event for cycling and other outdoor sports. A platform where the latest innovations in biking, sports apparel, and accessories are showcased and put to the test, IBF proved a great opportunity for Mimaki Bompan Textile to directly engage with a key sector.

With sports apparel and accessories both key sectors for our company, we were able not only to pedal our way to the finish line, but also forge meaningful relationships, understand industry challenges, and stay ahead of evolving trends. All in all, for us attending events like IBF is about staying connected to the racing heartbeat of the sportswear market.

Working in Tandem

A notable benefit of shows like IBF is that, unlike larger, more general trade shows, they allow for more bespoke interactions with key players in the sports sector. This smaller but more specialised event provided a unique setting for Mimaki Bompan Textile to build authentic relationships, fostering collaborations and partnerships that will drive future business growth.

As the only plotter manufacturer in attendance, IBF provided a moment for Mimaki Bompan Textile to connect with potential partners, customers, and innovators. This setting made it easier to engage in meaningful conversations, understand the needs of the market, and identify new opportunities, ensuring that Mimaki Bompan Textile, with it’s cutting edge technology in the sublimation as well as in the dtf market, is moving forward step by step – or pedal by pedal! – with key players in the sector.

Mimaki Bompan Textile being represented at IBF 2024

Mimaki Bompan Textile being represented at IBF 2024

Bicycle suit printed by Mimaki Bompan Textile

Innovating from the Track, not from the Stands

The minute we stepped foot in the festival, we found ourselves face to face with grassroots innovation. We were able to engage directly with users—whether they were cycling enthusiasts, apparel designers, or small business owners—which enabled us to gain real-time insights into the challenges and needs of the market. This immediate feedback is essential for developing user-centred improvements to the printers themselves.

Thanks to those conversations, we are now able to leverage these user-driven changes to refine our textile printing solutions and ensure that the company remains at the forefront of industry trends as an active player and not just a spectator in the sports textile world.

Staying ahead of the pack

At Mimaki Bompan Textile we love to take on challenges – whether with our customers or in our own print room. And when it comes to sportswear, we are firmly on the right track. IBF 2024 has given Mimaki Bompan Textile a chance to reaffirm its commitment to innovation, collaboration, and stay at the forefront of the sports apparel market – and shape what we will wear. Transfer printing technology is our ace card, and it could be yours too. So, gear up for the future and transfer your way to the finish line and don’t forget to select your most suitable printing solution among the Mimaki line up!

The post Gear up for the future of sportswear with digital textile innovations appeared first on Mimaki Europe.

For decades, polyester has been the cornerstone of the textile printing industry. Its compatibility with the digital sublimation process — a cost-effective, simple technology — has driven exponential growth in polyester printing. However, the very characteristics that make polyester well suited for sublimation printing render this printing technique unsuitable for other types of fabric, such as cotton and some blended fibres, leaving a significant gap in the market.

This gap was, until recently, partially filled by direct-to-textile printing. However, this method requires substantial initial investments in equipment and heavily relies on the time- and resource-consuming pre- and post-processing of fabrics to ensure colourfastness, colour accuracy, and compatibility with different substrates. Consequently, a need arose for a more cost effective and sustainable solution that could cater to a wider range of fabrics.

Bridging the Gap: The Birth of TRAPIS

In response to this demand for sustainable fabric printing methods, Mimaki spent six years developing a breakthrough technology, TRAPIS, a simple two-step textile transfer printing solution, consisting of only an inkjet printer and a high-pressure calender. The design of choice is printed by the inkjet printer onto the company’s groundbreaking Texcol^® pigment ink transfer paper. This is then transferred to the application via the calender.

Entirely removing the treatment stages means that printing on non-polyester materials has gone from an expensive and time-consuming task to one that is simple, cost-efficient and more sustainable.

Ideal for home textiles and soft signage which often require vivid colours but varied materials, this technology gives printers the ability to print on a wide range of materials, including natural fibres like cotton and silk without losing stretchability or colourfastness. All this can be done with just one type of ink, making the process flexible and adaptable to print customer demands. 

Mimaki TS330-1600

Broadening the textile application possibilities for print service providers, the system can print on a wide range of materials, including natural fibres

Mimaki’s TRAPIS solution provides a simple, environmentally friendly two-step process, consisting of an inkjet printer and a calender

A Bright Future: The Environmental Benefits of TRAPIS

The pre-treatment and washing of the fabric is often needed in the traditional method of digital dye printing, producing a significant amount of wastewater in the process. TRAPIS eliminates those stages altogether and is almost entirely waterless, saving around 14.5 litres per square metre of water, an almost 90% decrease in comparison to digital dye printing¹. This reduces water consumption, and as a result, helps the entire printing process’s environmental footprint.

Additionally, this eliminates the need for wastewater treatment facilities, which can be both expensive and constrictive when it comes to where the solution is installed.

This is in stark contrast to traditional methods which generate a staggering 2 billion tonnes of wastewater every day from pre- and post-dyeing processes worldwide approximately². TRAPIS’ water saving abilities will make a significant contribution to reducing a print provider’s environmental impact. Furthermore, with its simplified printing workflow, the complex and CO₂ emission-heavy overseas transportation of textile products is eliminated, and the carbon footprint is reduced.

Mimaki’s bespoke Textile Pigment Ink that accompanies the solution has achieved the ZDHC MRSL Lv.3³ certification and is bluesign® APPROVED, verifying that these are eco-friendly inks, as well as ensuring that it is safe for both workers and consumers.

Offering a Simple Solution

TRAPIS’ simplicity and affordability also make it ideal for localised, short-run textile production. As the process only involves printing and transferring, it does not require specialised skills to operate when compared to the more complex seven- or eight-step system needed by most digital and analogue conventional printing. The lack of a fabric conveyor belt in the system further minimises the need for time-intensive maintenance.

By simplifying the digital textile printing process, compatible with a wide range of textiles, the TRAPIS solution is an innovation that helps to set the pace for a more sustainable practices in the textile industry, while offering an unmatched range of creative possibilities.

[1] According to Mimaki’s original research, digital dye printing generates significant amount of wastewater by textile printing conveyor belt washing and fabric washing after dye fixation (steam).

[2] Based on Mimaki’s own research

[3] ZDHC is a non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, that works to eliminate the emission of hazardous substances in the textile and leather industry.

The post Mimaki’s Textile Pigment Transfer Printing Solution “TRAPIS” Ushers in a Sustainable Future appeared first on Mimaki Europe.

Business owners and printer operators will be familiar with the spinning plate nature of a print shop. Constantly keeping track of ink levels, maintenance status, and printing results are just some of the many jobs people in these positions face daily. PICT software is Mimaki cloud technology, and it offers a slick, simple, one-stop shop for monitoring all the Mimaki printers in your fleet, giving you control and oversight of all the important information.

Make Sure All Your Prints are PICT’d Up with Mimaki’s Software

Mimaki’s Printer Information Cloud Technology (PICT) offers an advanced solution for optimising Mimaki customers’ print operations and production management. PICT boasts several key features such as Remote Monitoring, Grouped Management, Data Precision and Ink Efficiency and Maintenance. Compatible with a vast amount of Mimaki devices, it is an excellent tool for monitoring your Mimaki fleet, providing real-time data and insights into printing operations, allowing you to optimise the print processes, reduce costs, and make more informed business decisions.

Mimaki Cloud Technology is available across a wide variety of the brand’s wide format printers, including: the UJV100-160Plus, JV330 Series, UCJV330 Series, CJV330 Series, JFX600-2513, UJF-7151 plusII, UJF-6042MkII e, UJF-3042MkII EX e, UJF-3042MkII e, Tiger600-1800TS, TS330-1600, TxF300-75, TxF150-75 and the CFX Series.

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

PICT software is all about simplifying the print process, and it begins with an easy setup and installation. To get started, visit the Mimaki PICT Cloud service website and create an account. Once signed in, download the PICT UP application and install it on a Windows 10 or 11 PC that is running RasterLink7, or on a separate PC within the same network. Connect your printers via LAN and register them in the PICT UP application, where they will automatically appear in the cloud service. However, you can print from RasterLink7, Mimaki’s RIP software via LAN or USB.

PICT is also compatible with iOS and Android. Simply use your mobile browser (Chrome, Edge, or Safari) to navigate to the PICT Cloud service website and log in so that you can monitor and manage your printers remotely. This cross-device compatibility combined with PICT’s real-time visualisation feature ensures you receive updates on the operational status of all your printers every 5 minutes; providing control and insight into your printing operations from anywhere, anytime.

Once installed on your PC, you are ready to explore the benefits of PICT software and notice real changes in how you can manage your fleet. PICT offers enhanced data precision, capturing detailed data on printer operations and ink usage. This level of precision supports informed decision-making and efficient resource management, helping you to optimise your printing processes and reduce waste. Efficient group management is another standout feature, allowing you to group printers based on custom criteria. This makes it easier to manage and oversee multiple printers, which is particularly beneficial for organisations with large-scale printing operations.

PICT Workflow

PICT ink monitoring

Printer list overview

PICT in office

PICT in action

PICT also helps in proactive maintenance and ink management by providing insights into ink levels and maintenance needs. Keeping track of ink usage is also simplified through PICT’s ink management features. By providing insights into ink levels and maintenance needs, operators can plan and manage ink inventory effectively, minimising downtime and ensuring your printers are always ready for production. Additionally, the cost control and analysis capabilities of PICT are invaluable. It offers detailed visualisations of ink consumption and costs over specified periods, helping you manage your budget more effectively and identify areas where cost savings can be achieved. On top of this, PICT is also able to offer ink usage projections for the current and upcoming months, helping prevent out-of-stock situations and ensuring uninterrupted production.

PICT’s features keep you in control of the entire printing timeline. It’s detailed historical data and statuses like cumulative operating time, utilisation rates, daily and periodic ink usage, number of prints and print area/length can keep track of your printing past. You can set up event notifications to receive email alerts for key events such as print completion, stoppages and cancellations, keeping you informed about the status of your current print jobs. At the same time, the previously mentioned ink projection looks after the future of your printing fleet, meaning PICT provides complete round-the-clock monitoring of your printers.

Putting Operators on Cloud Nine

PICT’s blend of advanced features and practical benefits makes it an indispensable tool for any organisation looking to streamline its print operations, enhance efficiency and achieve greater control over production costs. By integrating PICT into your workflow, you can ensure that your Mimaki printers operate at their best, providing you with the data and insights needed to maintain a competitive edge in the printing industry.

The post Sit Back and Watch the Cloud: How Mimaki’s PICT Software is Making Life Easier for Print Operators appeared first on Mimaki Europe.

By Marc Verbeem, Supervisor Product Management, Mimaki Europe

Since launching the first UV printer with white ink in 2004, Mimaki has consistently pioneered the development of innovative UV-LED technology. Our range of UV printers grew as recently as September last year, with the introduction of the UCJV330-160 and the UJV100-160Plus. In this blog, Marc Verbeem will detail how using UV-LED printing, you are not only upgrading the quality of the print but also meeting sustainability targets the entire industry is striving towards.

Better, faster and for longer

Striking, high-resolution prints are naturally the number one priority for any printer in any industry, and a switch to UV can not only elevate your designs but also expand your printing possibilities. Our new printers add gloss, matte, or other textured finishes during the printing process through layered printing functions, giving designs an almost 3D effect. As well as this, UV inks dry instantly, without any smudging or colour bleeding, leaving you with a print that not only boasts vivid, photo-realistic image quality but is ready for use immediately.

The removal of the drying process drastically increases the production speed, something that is crucial when keeping up with increased demand. According to Keypoint Intelligence’s research, over 60% of large format print jobs in the sign industry require turnaround times of less than 24 hours.[1]. Having a UV printer will help supply keep up with demand, and also save money in investing in additional printers to do so.

UV printing is incredibly versatile, with the ability to be applied to a wide range of traditionally hard-to-print surfaces, such as paper, plastic, glass, metal, wood and more. This is a massive advantage in the luxury packaging industry, where bottles and containers can be irregular shapes and be made of a variety of materials. Another advantage of UV, in comparison to traditional methods, is the durability of the inks. UV inks are more resistant to scratches, fading and abrasion, which makes them particularly suitable for outdoor applications, for example, car wrapping.

Leaving your mark in print, not on the planet

While the immediate focus of printers is providing high quality prints to customers, there is an underlying long-term goal to make the industry more sustainable. By using UV-LED, you can make significant reductions in your waste and carbon emissions, while improving the quality of your print.

As mentioned previously, there is no curing and drying process with UV, which subsequently means there is no accompanying curing heater. By removing this part of the process, you can reduce energy consumption by 90%, thus significantly reducing your carbon footprint.

Another way that UV-LED printing is more sustainable is through use of waterless inks. There is a myth that water-based inks are better for the environment, however, health and safety data show that 35% of chemical make up in latex inks, for example, are harmful and toxic to humans and the environment. The drying process consumes more power because evaporating the remaining 65% of water requires significant heat. Water is the most valuable resource on the planet, the less we use the better and so using waterless inks is a fantastic way to reduce the amount of water we use.

Not only does UV-LED printing use less water and energy, but it also produces less waste. Traditional thermal print heads for latex printing need replacing regularly, however, UV printing uses Piezo electric print heads which have much longer durability. These print heads do not suffer thermal stress like thermal print heads do, which means they experience less degradation and also provide a more stable print quality. Over the lifetime of the printer (approximately five to seven years if well maintained), with a Piezo print head, you will only go through two to three print heads. When you compare this to thermal print heads, which you may need to replace over fifty times in a two-year period, UV-LED will not only save on money spent on print heads but also significantly reduce waste.

Printers seeking to create stunning prints across various sectors and applications while aligning with their own and their customers’ environmental objectives will find UV-LED printing an ideal fit. This innovative and reliable technology offers a safe pair of hands to ensure both your prints and the planet are better off moving forward.

The layered printing functions of our new printers allow for gloss, matte or other textured finishes to be added during the printing process, giving designs an almost 3D effect

[1] Source: Keypoint Intelligence: Global printed signage market

The post Sustained Success: Make UV-LED Printing the Future of your Prints and the Planet! appeared first on Mimaki Europe.

An effective design is one that can catch the eye of the passer-by. However, the design or message can be missed if the final print is not dynamic and striking enough to draw the attention of the intended audience. Nowadays, advanced printing methods allow users to achieve striking results, through special effects, such as glossy or matte surfaces and glitter effects. When combining print layers with special textures, the results get even more eye-catching. Multi-layered printing can take your designs to the next level, by printing coloured, white, black, and clear layers over the top of each other, it allows for more interesting textures and colours, allowing your signs to reach their full potential.

Why UV?
Efficiency is a key benefit of UV printing. UV LED ink cures immediately, so your sign and decorations will be ready as soon as you print them. By curing immediately, there is no need for a drying heater, which reduces energy consumption and makes it the more sustainable printing option. In addition to this, UV ink can be used on a wide range of materials such as cloth, paper without a receptive layer, and PET film, which are difficult to print on using traditional latex or solvent, making UV LED printing not only more sustainable and effective but also more versatile than traditional methods.

Mimaki has been at the forefront of UV LED printing, with its latest UV printers, the UJV100-160Plus and the UCJV330-160, both excellent options when looking to multi-layer print. Based on the UJV100-160, the UJV100-160plus is the definitive entry-level model for sustainable sign and graphic printing with low running costs, versatile expression, and ease of printing for everyone. It has the basic functions of the conventional UJV100-160 with several additional features, most notably the pull-back printing function, which enables multi-layer printing up to three layers for a wide range of applications. The UCJV330-160, available from the beginning of 2024, implements many new features and innovations based on Mimaki’s proprietary UV printing technology and feedback from customers and resellers. It provides multi-layered printing up to five layers, and its new generation of high-precision print heads allows for incredibly detailed prints and high print speeds.

Discover our latest UCJV330-160 UV LED printer:

Single and two-layered printing

Printing on a single layer is the fastest method and works well for general signage. On a single layer, the print layer construction can only be colour, white, or clear. Colours can still be vibrant and dynamic; however, this method has limitations and won’t fully utilize Mimaki’s UV printers’ capabilities.

Adding a layer can level up your backlit or window sign. When printing with one layer for a backlit sign, the colours look too dark when the backlight is off, however, when printing on two layers, the quality of the print when the backlight is off is far better. It also allows you to add an additional clear layer, giving the sign more texture and a glossy effect.

For window signs, printing on just one layer will result in poor visibility due to the colour transparency, however with two-layer printing, having a white layer underneath will allow the colours to be more vivid, making the decoration more vibrant and brighter.

Three Layered Printing

Printing on two layers can enhance the vibrancy of colors for signs and decorations, but you can achieve even more with three-layer printing. For backlit signs, two-layer printing keeps the sign bright with the backlight off, but some parts of the image appear clipped white when the light is on. Three-layer printing, which adds a white layer in between two coloured layers, can maintain the beauty of the image even when the backlight is off.

Returning to window decoration, two-layer printing only gives great visibility from one side, with the back being all white. By having a colour layer under and on top of the white layer, window prints can be colourful and vibrant from both sides.

The UJV100-160Plus pull-back feature allows for multi-layer printing regardless of the ink set. So, depending on the sign you are trying to create, you can either print white over colour, colour over white, or clear over colour. Alongside the pullback, another new feature of the UJV100-160Plus is the RasterLink7 software and its Tilt Compensation Function. If the media is slightly skewed, the printer can scan for any misalignments and print the final layer according to those misalignments. Guaranteeing quality printing even after the pullback.

A feature the UCJV330-160 can offer on three layers is watermark printing, allowing for two types of image expression on a single sign. Clear ink images and symbols appear when the backlight switches on because of the different densities in the white layer printed under the color layer. This can give these images and symbols a stylish ‘hidden’ or ‘invisible’ effect that livens up your design.

Three-layer printing, which adds a white layer in between two coloured layers, can maintain the beauty of the image even when the backlight is off.

The Simple POP software is compatible with the Mimaki UCJV150 and UCJV300 series

UV 2.5D effect at Drupa 2024

Four Layered Printing

By adding a fourth layer, you add a layer of black ink as well as white, colour, or clear. This unlocks the eye-catching ‘day and night effect’, where the image can change appearance depending if the backlight is on or off. For example, you could display an image of a car, which once the light turns on can reveal the engine and the interior of the vehicle. Or, more literally, display a city or town during the day with the light on and at night with it off.

To achieve this, first print a colored layer that displays when the backlight is on, known as the ‘floating color layer.’ Then, print a black layer on top to hide the floating layer when the light is turned off. Next, a white layer is applied, increasing the density of the fourth and final layer, the colored layer that will display when the backlight is off. While it may sound complicated, thanks to the four-layer printing capabilities of the UCJV330-160 and its RasterLink software, stunning day and night designs can be created easily.

Five Layered Printing

The primary objective of a sign is to display information, and standard signage can display a single message to a single audience at one time. However, what if you wanted to display different information, to different people, at the same time? For example, a café would want to display to passers-by that they are open or advertise their products to entice people in. However, once they entered, the café may want to inform them on the free Wi-Fi they have on offer.

Five-layer printing allows the printing of two different images on the front and back of the same sheet. Printing colour, white, black, white, colour creates two high-quality images for the front and back. This is perfect for shop window stickers, as the side facing out can advertise the products, while the side facing in can display important information for customers.

Summary

Multi-layered printing is a great way to add some style and uniqueness to your signs and displays, with new possibilities at every layer. Mimaki’s UJV100-160Plus and the UCJV330-160 are not only great options for multi-layered printing through their versatility and innovative Mimaki technology, but by using UV they are also the most sustainable options for your sign and display.

The post How Mimaki’s UV LED printers can add an extra layer to your signage appeared first on Mimaki Europe.

How green certifications play a key role in reducing your business’ environmental impact,

By Mustafa Okanovic, Senior Product Specialist, Mimaki Europe

Despite a growing commitment to sustainability, the textile industry remains one of the most polluted sectors globally. The extensive use of chemicals, water, and energy in textile manufacturing processes contributes significantly to pollution, waste, and carbon emissions. However, amidst these challenges, adopting green certifications, such as bluesign®, has emerged as a crucial strategy for driving positive change.

Green certifications provide a framework for assessing and verifying environmental performance, encouraging companies to adhere to stringent sustainability standards. By obtaining reputable eco and sustainable certifications, companies active in the textile industry can demonstrate their commitment to reducing environmental impact, promoting transparency, and ensuring the welfare of workers throughout the supply chain.

As part of a long-term strategy that sees the company committed to improving its sustainable footprint, Mimaki has recently achieved bluesign® approval for its dye-sublimation inks. This marks another milestone for the company, positioning Mimaki at the forefront of sustainable textile printing and enabling it to provide customers with a responsible choice, without compromising on quality or performance.

Becoming planet-certified

bluesign® is the most stringent sustainability certification in the textile industry. It goes beyond simply regulating harmful substances; it evaluates the entire production chain, from raw materials to finished products, ensuring responsible use of resources, minimal environmental impact, and worker safety.

Achieving the bluesign® approval positions Mimaki at the forefront of sustainable textile printing, and also validates the company’s long-term sustainability approach. Additionally, Mimaki’s bluesign® approved dye sublimation inks meet the most stringent chemical management standards (ZDHC Level 3) for textiles. Being recognised within the ZDHC Chemicals to Zero Framework is also a testament to Mimaki’s strong commitment to sustainable development and careful management of chemicals.

So, what are the benefits for the textile industry of using Mimaki’s bluesign® approved dye-sublimation inks?

• Reduced environmental impact: Choosing bluesign® approved dye-sublimation inks is an effective and trusted way for textile producers to significantly reduce their environmental footprint. The use of approved inks and cutting-edge sublimation printing technologies can guarantee lower water consumption, reduced energy usage, as well as minimized CO2 emissions.
• Regulatory compliance to access major markets: As environmental concerns grow, so does the amount of stringent environmental regulations and the bluesign® certification can help meet those new rules. With leading textile brands demanding sustainable practices be a key part of production, Mimaki’s bluesign® approved inks help textile companies unlock new partnerships with eco-conscious businesses.
• Improved brand image: As well as across businesses, consumers are also increasingly demanding sustainable products. The use of bluesign® approved inks not only validates sustainable practices, but also empowers consumers to make informed choices, driving demand for eco-friendly products and incentivising further industry-wide improvements.
• Future-proof investment: Sustainability is not just a temporary concern. Given the damage already done to our planet, it is hard to envision a future where sustainability is not a top priority. By investing in bluesign® approved inks now, brands are getting ahead of both market and regulatory trends of the future.

Mimaki Sb411 inks are provided in a 10kg ink tank supply unit for enhanced efficiency and sustainability

Broadening the textile application possibilities for print service providers, the system can print on a wide range of materials, including natural fibres

The Tiger600-1800TS, Mimaki’s industrial-volume sublimation printer, uses bluesign-approved MLSB510 inks

A bluesign® for a Green Future

To conclude, green certifications play a pivotal role in catalyzing the transformation of the textile industry towards a more sustainable and responsible future. Choosing Mimaki’s bluesign® approved inks is a trusted way of getting your sustainability goals on track. As a company that highly values sustainability, this approval represents a significant milestone in efforts to enhance the green performance of printing companies and ultimately help create a more sustainable textile printing industry.

The post Going Green with a bluesign® certification appeared first on Mimaki Europe.

Technologies new and old are helping revolutionise the luxury packaging industry, allowing for printing direct-to-object on any shaped surface or substrate, and in any colour or effect.

The Luxury Landscape

Gold and silver are colours synonymous with luxury and riches. “Worth its weight in gold” and “silver lining” are common sayings denoting the status of these precious metals, which are also common in the realm of packaging to convey a level of status.

The luxury goods packaging industry is a constantly evolving landscape, and yet, everyone knows what to look for when identifying these high-end products. Not only the careful use of these colours, but also the combination of sleek designs, detailed finishes, and impeccable quality, all add to the esteemed “luxury” nametag. The likes of perfumiers, distillers and cosmetic giants, constantly seek different and increasingly efficient ways of providing their consumers with lavishly finished products. Emerging technologies that combine digital printing with traditional padding methods have the potential to provide these packagers with just what they’re looking for.

Many luxury goods come packaged in glass, metals, and other irregular, impermeable surfaces that are notoriously difficult to print on. This challenge has long been recognized as an area in need of innovation. A new application of digital foiling, conjured up in collaboration by the experts at Mimaki and GTO is the golden ticket for packagers looking to evolve and digitalize their production. It combines newer digital printing methods with the more traditional lamination padding process, opening a whole new avenue of accuracy, quality, and efficiency, and offers a new frontier of digital print embellishment.

The Golden Ticket

While having actual gold or silver lining on our favourite products would be truly luxurious – and done by some, using real gold leaf – this is far from cost effective, and impractical in industrial scale production. With this in mind, the best way to convey these colours in packaging is through the transfer of reflective foils.

Mimaki and GTO, an Italian manufacturer of pad printing systems, were able to come together using solutions from Mimaki’s UJF series of UV LED Inkjet printers, followed by GTO’s heritage lamination padding machinery. They created a process with which to finish luxury packaging with remarkable accuracy, speed and new levels of customisability, when compared with traditional lamination padding methods.  

The first step in the process involves digitally printing a carefully designed primer layer in Mimaki’s UJF-7151 plusII printer, which is ideal for printing onto any material or substrate, no matter the surface texture, size, or shape. The printer also boasts extreme image quality and production speeds and applies the primer straight onto the surface of the substrate. This primer acts as a bonding agent, due to its very high levels of adhesion when heated up.

The next step uses GTO’s specialist pad printing machines. Under the pressure of the hot pad, the machine migrates the foil – whether that’s reflective gold, silver, or any other colour or effect – directly onto the product, only leaving it where the UJF 7151 plusII has digitally printed the primer layer.

So, why is this better?

While traditional foil stamping has been around for decades, what sets this new stamping method apart is the ability to print directly onto irregular surfaces and substrates. Previously, manufacturers could use both hot and cold stamping processes.

For the hot method, create a metal stamp, known as a die, with a specific design. The die is heated and pressed onto paper with the foil in between. The hot stamp pushes the foil into the paper with an embossed or debossed effect. Although this method resembles the newer approach, each job requires custom stamp plates, which significantly increases the time needed for the process. This also has other drawbacks, such as the inability to print onto irregular surfaces, or risks of inconsistencies in the foiling on the grooves of the design.

Cold stamping foil is a step closer to the new method from Mimaki and GTO, where a glue is applied to the areas on the surface to be foiled. The foil carrier film is then applied on top and put through a pressurized roller, for the foil to stick where the glue is present. While this allows for work on thinner materials than hot stamp foil, and without the need to manufacture a custom plate, again this falls short when it comes to printing on irregular surfaces.

Glass bottles and similar objects, typically used for perfumes or spirits, have differing shapes, curves, and surface textures, and used to be nearly impossible to directly print onto. With this new digital process, they can now finish much faster and more accurately, ultimately cutting costs for the user.

Additionally, with this new digital process, they can now finish much faster and more accurately, which ultimately cuts costs for the user. The possibilities are truly endless and will allow manufacturers in any industry to start using this process for their luxury packaging.

The post Could Emerging Technologies be the Golden Ticket for Luxury Packagers? appeared first on Mimaki Europe.

by Marc Verbeem, Supervisor Product Management, Mimaki Europe.

To be at the top of the food chain, you need advantages so you can not only survive but thrive in your sector. Today’s sublimation printing market is increasingly favouring high-volume, high-speed models, which currently make up 75% of the market¹. Mimaki’s industrial-scale sublimation transfer inkjet printer, the Tiger600-1800TS, seeks to outpace expectations. Designed for companies looking to enhance their competitive edge, this printer delivers industrial productivity, consistent print quality, and cost-effective performance.

An Industrial Tiger

As an industrial textile inkjet printer, the Tiger600-1800TS is designed to handle high-volume textile productions and large projects with ease, without compromising the high standard quality Mimaki’s printers are known for.

Due to its size and high performance, this printer would also make a clever, efficient, and cost-effective choice to replace a production line with multiple smaller printers. It can handle diversified production and applications with a flexible, quick, and high-quality process.

The printer’s ability to handle lightweight paper down to 25gsm enables users to save on paper costs, reducing the total printing cost by up to 40%. Additionally, the Mini Jumbo roll unit allows for larger media rolls up to 300kg, further reducing operational costs and providing per-square-meter advantages over standard rolls.

Outstanding Speed

The Tiger600-1800TS doesn’t share a name with one of the fastest land mammals on the planet for no reason. Thanks to Mimaki’s new-generation printheads, the Tiger600 offers unparalleled speed and productive printing, reaching up to 550 m²/h— a remarkable 143% of the previous model’s speed. Combined with its unique features, the Tiger600-1800TS sets a high benchmark for the future of digital sublimation printing.

Due to the latest attributes, high speed printing you can maintain throughout with minimal intervention needed. A new ink system design helps to reduce the risk of nozzle drop out during operation, including components like an internal buffer tank to automatically replace ink, regular circulation of inks, degassing directly above the printheads to avoid air from entering and flushing boxes on either side to bypass the need for additional colour bars.

It also has Mimaki’s quintessential core technologies, including the Nozzle Recovery System (NRS). This system allows printing to continue even if a nozzle head gets clogged. Colourama, a company which specialises in fashion, home décor and other sublimation printing services, remark that they have only needed to replace one printhead for its four Tiger machines over the past four years.

Dye of the Tiger

Not unlike the striking orange and black fur of a tiger, the printer delivers sharp and high-quality prints. Using high density and wide color gamut MLSb510 ink and eight advanced print heads at 240mm per pass, it delivers vivid results with almost no ink satellites, even on high speeds. The Tiger excels in black dye by achieving an extremely deep black colour – arguably the deepest in the market – all in just one printing pass.

The Tiger600-1800TS is also equipped with Mimaki Advanced Pass System (MAPS4) technology, which calculates the best way to inject the ink drops on the varied materials.

As Tiger-user Colourama primarily prints for fashion and home décor, the team is oftentimes tasked with creating colourful and highly detailed pieces. For this reason, the company chose to invest in several Tiger printers due to the vibrant solid colours and sharp details that it can produce, even on high speeds.

Roaring Ahead: The new generation of printheads gives the Tiger a max speed of 550 m²/h, keeping it ahead of the competition.

Delivering increased productivity, consistent print quality and cost-effective performance, the Tiger has earned its stripes as a leading industrial-scale sublimation transfer ink printer.

Environmentally Conscious

Sustainability has remained one of if not the key issue across all industries for several years now. We created the Tiger600-1800TS with that in mind.

Compatible with Mimaki’s ECO PASSPORT certified ink, companies can create ecofriendly prints, allowing them to pursue the OEKO-TEX® certification. The printer inks are also  bluesign® certified, one of the most stringent eco certifications in the world to certify the highest level of consumer and worker safety, and environmental friendliness.

Improved space-saving design

We considered both the interior and exterior to ensure the printer is fully optimal for its environment. We packed all the mentioned features into a space-saving unit, with the paper set up and removed at the rear of the machine. As it doesn’t need to be accessible from both sides, it takes up 50% less space than the previous Tiger model. The mobile heating unit sits underneath the machine, which makes loading paper easy. The 300kg mini jumbo rolls reduce the need for continuously reloading the paper.

For printers considering making the leap to digital textile sublimation printing technologies, the Tiger600-1800TS is a highly productive and self-sufficient industrial addition, with built-in capabilities to not only keep up with fluctuating demand but also thrive in a fast-paced environment.

_{[1] Source: WTIN}

The post Why the Mimaki Tiger600-1800TS is on top of the Industrial Sublimation Printing Jungle appeared first on Mimaki Europe.

Printing companies are striving to be more sustainable and cost-effective in today’s volatile climate. Mimaki identified ink as instrumental in helping businesses achieve their sustainability objectives. As a result, securing prestigious Nordic Ecolabel approval for the innovative and affordable BS4 eco-solvent ink becomes all the more significant. This demonstrates Mimaki’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact and supporting sustainable printing.

Why Nordic Ecolabel approval is important

The Nordic Ecolabel is a globally respected certification that recognizes environmentally friendly products and services in Nordic countries. It ensures that products meet strict environmental standards from production to end-of-life. Printing companies can now use the approved BS4 eco-solvent ink when applying for Nordic Ecolabeling certification.

Benefits of choosing Mimaki’s BS4 ink

By choosing BS4 ink with Nordic Ecolabel approval, printing companies can achieve their sustainability goals at reduced production costs while delivering high-quality results.

1. Eco-friendly: BS4 eco-solvent ink meets strong chemical and sustainability requirements, showing a commitment to sustainability and attracting environmentally conscious customers.
2. Cost saving: BS4 ink is economically priced, allowing businesses to save money on printing without sacrificing quality.
3. High print quality: BS4 ink, combined with Mimaki’s 330 series printers, produces exceptional print quality with vibrant colors that grab attention.
4. Durability: BS4 ink, when used with the 330 series, creates long-lasting prints that withstand outdoor exposure, satisfying the needs of various industries.

CJV330-160

JV330-160

Who can benefit from BS4 ink?

The Nordic Ecolabel approved BS4 ink, along with the reliable 330 printer series, presents an excellent opportunity for different types of printing companies.

Retail: Retailers can reduce operational costs and do so sustainably by using BS4 ink for in-store displays, promotional signage, and advertising campaigns. The vivid colors and high print quality visually engage customers and create a lasting impression.

Packaging and labeling: Companies involved in packaging and labeling can benefit from BS4 ink’s cost-effective solution. It maintains quality while adhering to eco-friendly standards, making product packaging, labels, and tags eye-catching and durable.

Outdoor advertising and signage: BS4 ink is ideal for outdoor advertising, with its ability to withstand harsh weather conditions. Billboards, outdoor banners, vehicle wraps, and large-format prints created using BS4 ink allow for impactful and long-lasting campaigns, all while minimizing environmental impact.

The post BS4 eco-solvent ink gets Nordic Ecolabel approval: A milestone in eco-friendly printing appeared first on Mimaki Europe.