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These printer systems will scan, copy and print large-format graphics.
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If you own or operate a storefront signshop, a significant amount of your business probably comes from walk-in customers. And, if you have digital-print facilities in that storefront, surely someone has asked you to produce a large-format tradeshow sign, a poster or a blowup of a favorite photo.
Typically, if you accept – or want to accept – such work, your customer would leave the original artwork or photo, to give you time to scan, enlarge, enhance and print it. Your tools list would include a digital-print machine, large-format scanner, RIP or printer driver and, of course, a photo or art-editing software package. The delivery timeframe? An hour to a few days.
Mutoh’s new, ValueJet MFP (multi-function printer) series, with an incorporated, large-format scanner, printer and software, can do such a task in minutes.
About MFP
The MFP concept was introduced last spring, when Mutoh and GEI WideFormat (North Canton, OH) bundled GEI’s Colortrac SmartLF Gx+ 42 scanner with Mutoh’s 54-in.-wide, ValueJet 1304 printer, to create a multi-functional printer that would print outdoor-durable, wide-format prints. The companies arranged a similar bundle for Mutoh’s RJ-900 printer, which produces indoor prints on 42-in.-wide media. We have more information on both, below.
GEI Wide Format Solutions markets equipment, software and supplies through more than 100, North American dealer networks.
The Energy-Star compliant Gx+ 42 scanner is Colortrac’s sixth generation in this series. It’s designed as a graphics, not engineering, scanner and features six, digital-camera, digitizing units. It can handle media up to 42 x 48 in. and features instant start, a long-life LED-illumination system, 600- to 1,200-dpi, optical CCD resolution and fast speeds. Also, you can bump the image resolution to 9,600 dpi through the software’s interpolation.
The final 1304 MFP component is the computer system. At this writing, it’s a Dell Optiplex that includes at least a 2.53GHz core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, an 80GB SATA hard drive, and a 16X +/- RW DVD drive, Windows XP Professional OS and a 17-in., flat-panel monitor. The software bundle includes a scanning application for scanning to file or copying and the Flexi Print RIP package.
You can position the Colortrac scanner on a nearby tabletop or on a dedicated, adjacent stand.
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