SignWeb | signweb.com

(February 2009) posted on Sun Feb 22, 2009

The M, Mv and M4f printers deliver excellent prints for indoor and outdoor applications.

Tweet

By Chris Morrison, Kathi Morrison

• 
• 

If you were a photographer prior to the digital revolution, the name “Agfa” will remind you of 35mm film. If you’ve worked in the commercial-printing industry, you’ll relate “Agfa” to platemaking and printing presses. In either case, your final thought may not be signmaking. However, over the last few years, Agfa, with its introduction of numerous, solidly built and superbly integrated UV-cure printers, has successfully accessed the sign and display-graphics industry.

We were impressed with Agfa’s M line of printers at the 2008 SGIA Expo. Although they’re not inexpensive, you should consider Agfa if you’re searching for industrial-class, UV-printing solutions. Further, we think its machines’ printed images look great.

The C3-Systems Solution

Before diving into the printer details, we want to discuss the philosophy behind Agfa’s product-development processes, those used to develop the M family printers. Agfa refers to these processes as its C3-Systems. In July 2007, ST’s sister publication, The Big Picture magazine, wrote: “The C3 Strategy, stands for:

• Complete Integration, the tuning of UV-curable inks, printheads, workflow software, and the printer or press;

• Complete Services, installation and maintenance, spare parts, customer training, and financing tools; and

• Complete Benefits, combining color, prints with resistant and durable images, and printers with increased productivity.”

The first “C” of the C3 philosophy ensures printheads, ink and printer hardware are perfectly matched to provide the best possible images and user experience. The second “C,” backed by Agfa’s worldwide service facilities, handles installation, maintenance, training and finance tools. The last “C” ensures vibrant, durable images printed onto a wide range of media.

The M line printers

Agfa’s M family’s industrial-grade printers are built and designed for 24/7 operation; they’re also a good fit for signmakers. The line comprises three printers Agfa M, M4f, and Mv – with the inkset and printhead configuration as the chief variations.

They all share the same dimensions (136 x 60 x 63 in.) and weigh approximately 2,050 lbs. They’re substantial pieces of hardware – even the printhead carriages are heavy-duty. The printheads contain 512 nozzles, each with a drop size of 14 picoliters.