Encad has released an eight-colour, wide-format printer that allows for printing on flexible as well as rigid media, up to an inch (12,7 mm) thick. The new 60" NovaJet 880 prints on any traditional or rigid substrate that has an inkjet receptive coating, and enjoys all of the colour, flexibility and speed attributes of the award-winning NovaJet 850.

To accept thick substrates, the NovaJet 880 includes a media thickness handle that enables users to manually adjust the printer's head-height. A media thickness sensor helps the user fine tune the head-height for the best possible print clearance and image quality. The NovaJet 880 also incorporates a new double drop print technology that doubles the number of ink droplets and boosts the ink saturation level on absorbent, porous substrates. The NovaJet 880 is also equipped with a new rotating dynamic thermal drying system (DTD) that enables users to position the thermal dryer in a vertical position to optimise moisture evaporation on both rigid and flexible media.

Eric Morgan, Digital Imaging National Sales Manager at First Graphics, the sole southern African Encad distributor, believes that the NovaJet 880 takes wide format digital printing to a new level. "Using the NovaJet 880 should allow those users printing on rigid substrates to eliminate mounting expenses, time and labour, and thereby see immediate work-flow and job cost savings." He believes market players expected to be interested in the NovaJet 880 will include digital artists, photo labs, photo enlargement professionals, sign makers, exhibit shops and graphic professionals of all kinds.

Rigid media kit

A rigid media kit can be attached to the NovaJet 880 to assist the user with the feeding and drying of the rigid media. The kit includes several distinctive plates and rollers that guide, flatten, and load the media into the printer. Special brackets allow the printer's dynamic thermal dryer to be rotated into a vertical position thus optimising the dryer's automatic sensors which detect variations in the media's surrounding temperature and humidity. The NovaJet 880 also prints on rolls of flexible media while the rigid media kit is attached. The 60" printer handles industry-standard 48" rigid boards and larger, as well as cut sheets as narrow as 11".

Additionally, the NovaJet 880 operates with commercially available, support tables, stands, or trays to support the substrate while printing.

Media and substrate availability

The NovaJet 880 features eight print heads and eleven ink configurations. Eight-colour ink sets include Graphic Standard PLUS (GS PLUS) high-gamut indoor dye-based ink, Graphic Extend (GX) lightfast indoor dye-based ink, and Graphic Outdoor (GO) an indoor/outdoor pigment-based ink.

First Graphics

(011) 799 3800