Leeds-based printer Quarmby Colour has invested in an EFI Vutek h3 LED hybrid flatbed/roll-to-roll inkjet press.

Quarmby has taken the opportunity to upgrade the 3.2m machine from three to five heads, providing 47% higher throughput. The press has an eight-colour plus white configuration and the company is using it to drive higher throughput and superior print quality in its display graphics operations.

‘We needed more productivity in a similar footprint area to cater for new customers and workload,’ said colour director Damian Quarmby. ‘We also wanted to upgrade our print quality. There’s been quite a leap in technology with the new VUTEk h3. The print quality is amazing, especially for fine detail, and it’s seriously fast.

‘The multi-layer is superb as we can now print true block-out double-sided window graphics. We are doing some pretty cool stuff with rear projection fabrics incorporating illuminated customer logos along with true block-out screen ratio framing.’

The Vutek h3 is fitted with high-end greyscale printheads that have a minimum drop size of seven picolitres and a maximum resolution of 1200dpi. The printer prints up to 74 boards an hour and its belt drive handles sheet and rigid media up to 50.8mm thick and 90.7kg in weight, while the roll feeder takes rolls up to 40kg.