The exhibit of advanced technologies from Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (Nasdaq:EFII) at this year’s Shanghai AD and Sign Expo includes end-to-end capabilities EFI™ offers in high-end digital inkjet graphics production, including EFI VUTEk® LED hybrid roll/flatbed and aqueous dye-sublimation soft signage production offerings, advanced EFI Fiery® digital front ends (DFEs), and integrated web-to-print and multi-channel communications software. EFI will also highlight new opportunities for customers with an expanded product portfolio that now includes faster 3- and 5-metre roll-to-roll LED inkjet printers and a 5.2-metre EFI VUTEk FabriVU® soft signage printer.

“Four years ago, we premiered our first 5-metre, roll-to-roll LED printer with 7-picolitre UltraDrop™ Technology in Shanghai,” said Frank Mallozzi, senior vice president, worldwide sales and marketing, EFI. “It was well received in a region that has a great need for roll-to-roll technology innovations. At the 2017 Shanghai AD and Sign Expo, we will be displaying not only a multi-purpose 3-metre LED inkjet hybrid printer and a 1.8-metre soft signage printer, but also will show visitors how they can do more with brand-new roll-to-roll LED and soft signage technologies that we believe will find a warm reception in the Chinese market.”

EFI’s end-to-end workflow

The range of innovative products on display at the EFI stand, #A0287 in hall 3, helps customers drive productivity, quality and profitability in signage and fabric soft signage operations.

·The latest-version EFI Fiery proServer and Fiery XF DFEs on display at the tradeshow provide accurate, superior colour management on a wide range of substrates, including textiles and transfer paper for soft signage production. Plus, the Fiery proServer features a highly advanced FAST (Fiery Accelerated System Technology) RIP engine for quick file processing on EFI superwide hybrid and roll-to-roll printers.

·EFI DirectSmile VDP Studio software allows for easy creation of variable designs that can be used in signs, display graphics and textiles. This desktop application allows the use of Adobe InDesign to prepare designs, personalize by rules and introduce impressive personalized images that grab attention.

·EFI Digital StoreFront®, an award-winning, flexible eCommerce solution, allows online submission of designs for printing and storage of a catalogue of designs and images for repurposing. It can be customized to reflect branding for individual customers.

·The EFI VUTEk LX3 Pro 3-metre LED hybrid roll/flatbed printer is designed for high production throughput, higher volumes and shorter lead times while maintaining the image quality needed for retail signs and point-of-purchase displays. It features EFI’s powerful green LED technology, eight colours plus white and 12-picolitre greyscale print technology for superior imaging quality, and has the versatility to support the widest range of media and applications.

·The EFI VUTEk FabriVU 180 printer is an ideal soft signage solution for printing displays, high-density backlit signs, and much more direct to textile or indirect via transfer process all with ultra-high resolution four-colour printing. The 1.8-metre printer produces soft signs and fabric displays that retain the drape and soft hand customers prefer, can be washed and dried without wrinkling, folded without leaving marks, and reused.

Shanghai AD & Sign Expo attendees can also discuss brand-new product innovations with EFI at the show, including the EFI VUTEk 3r and VUTEk 5r, the most technically advanced LED roll-to-roll printers on the market. This new platform is designed to offer the highest image quality at the highest rated throughput speeds with powerful LED curing technology and native UItraDrop Technology 7-picolitre printheads with true multi-drop addressability that produce smoothness in shadows, gradients, and transitions.

Superior productivity and a comprehensive range of options on these printers help customers do more work in less time. The 3-metre 3r model offers speeds up to 345 square metres per hour, and the 5-metre 5r model offers speeds up to 455 square metres per hour. Value-added options, including an inline finishing system for all-in-one printing, slitting and collecting, automated double-sided printing, multi-layer white ink, and additional light colours, expand the capabilities and quality customers can offer.

Industry-leading innovation in soft signage printing

EFI’s soft signage portfolio leverages the technologies and industry leading expertise of EFI Reggiani – a market leader with 70 years of experience in textile printing – together with EFI’s recognized expertise in workflow, colour management and business management solutions. EFI’s versatile soft signage printing platforms can print direct to fabric as well as onto transfer paper with an easy changeover using the same ink set, and feature unique media handling and ink-saving technologies that drive efficiencies and profitability into the production process.

VUTEk FabriVU printers, including the FabriVU 180 model on display at the expo, have proven to be especially successful in helping signage and display companies move into higher-value soft signage display work as they offer an unparalleled combination of productivity and quality with fast speeds and printing resolutions up to 2,400 dots per inch (dpi).

EFI’s newest FabriVU model, the 5.2-metre EFI VUTEk FabriVU 520 printer, was introduced in January and has already seen a number of installations worldwide among customers who are now able to produce larger displays, theatrical backdrops and other oversized graphics without having to seam together multiple panels.

EFI’s complete printer portfolio, which in addition to industry-leading LED and UV inkjet narrow-, wide- and superwide-format technologies, includes aqueous textile and ceramic decoration printers, gives customers profitable opportunities for the Imaging of Things, delivering greater product customization and appeal in everything from signage and packaging to décor, apparel and industrial manufacturing. To see many of the extensive, imaginative applications possible with EFI print technology, visit www.ImagingofThings.com or www.efi.com.