UK’s first Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 inkjet printer with GMG FlexoProof software

To milk the Epson WT7900 for all it's worth you need GMG XG proofing software. We take a closer look behind the next big splash in proofing technology...

The first UK installation of the Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 with GMG ColorProof and FlexoProof goes to the high-end packaging specialist Matthews Brand Solutions.

GMG FlexoProof Software

The global family of world-class specialists in packaging design, artwork and reprographics, has installed the UK’s first Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 inkjet printer and is running it with GMG FlexoProof software to create accurate halftone proofs for flexo and packaging applications.

The Leeds company handles brand manage-ment for a wide portfolio of blue chip clients and requires top quality color management and proofing. By providing a total packaging graphics solution Matthews Brand Solutions concentrates on making sure that its clients’ products appearance on the shelf is consistent, regardless of where in the world the packaging was printed, or by what process.

“We constantly strive to improve our color management offer for our customers and our current system enables us to do this,” says Andy Wilson, Color Manager at Matthews Brand Solutions. “We have carried out extensive trials and there is nothing on the market as powerful and easy to use as GMG. We love the automation possible within ColorProof.”

The company spent 12 months investigating inkjet that can print white and chose the Stylus Pro WT7900 because of the quality feel of the proofs. “We haven’t found anything else of the same quality,” says Wilson. “We were interested in UV, but the look and feel of the proofs weren’t acceptable in our opinion. The Epson fits in with our current strategy for proofing and color management. It is perfect for flexible packaging, either foil or clear film, that requires patterned whites.”

Epson Stylus Pro WT7900

Once the Stylus Pro WT7900 has been thoroughly tested, the company will probably purchase another in order to run different media at the same time. Also it is considering installing them at customer sites. “We are confident that it will deliver the speed and color management we require,” says Wilson. “We are pleased that we can use GMG software to drive this new device. ColorProof has allowed us to do things that we have been trying to do for years and it also helps us to move towards the future.”

Matthews Brand Solutions handles artwork up until print-ready files, flexo plates or gravure cylinders. “We deliver the best quality color- managed files to the printer in the most appropriate format,” says Wilson. “This is our biggest selling point.

We also have our own ink lab where we formulate the inks to achieve the closest match across various substrates such as metallic, transparent, corrugated board etc. We then supply the ink recipes to the printer and advise on how to obtain the best result. ”There are plans to install a Stylus Pro WT7900 at a client’s site in central Europe to cut down the speed of transfer and also courier costs. This would open up avenues for remote proofing. “Our clients are much more amenable to installing a proofer of this size rather than ageing systems with large footprints,” says Wilson. “It takes up very little space, yet it can output larger proofs.”

Flexible packaging producers have been early adopters of digital design technology over the past three decades, but this has not been matched by the availability of affordable digital proofing systems. Finally, that has changed: Epson has now put an important new piece into the jigsaw, a sophisticated digital proofing printer at a price that’s realistic for pre-press and design houses to afford.

The Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 is a high- resolution inkjet printer with a unique water- based white ink that that can work with 24inch (610 mm) clear and metallic films, providing the undercoat needed by many flexible packaging jobs. Working closely with GMG, Epson now has a system that can play a crucial role in packaging production at the design, approval and production stages.

The result looks set to transform production workflows in packaging. This comes at an important time for the packaging sector, which is under increasing pressure to streamline production workflows and achieve ever-higher levels of efficiency and flexibility, but without sacrificing quality. Increased automation is the answer. Brand control is paramount in packaging and so the design, proofing and mock-up/sample stages are critical to confirm the color fidelity of the final product.

Consistency is king and international brand owners want their packaging to look the same whether it is printed in Spain or Scandinavia. They often insist on ‘house’ colors that may be impossible to reproduce in conventional litho or flexo CMYK process inks, hence the frequent need for additional special colors. A digital proof has to be able to match these colors exactly.

Easy of use

Before the introduction of the WT7900, there was a limited choice of proofing and sample making technologies available. There was either the cost of setting up a flexo press for a short proofing run, or laser pigment transfer systems that only worked with multiple ink sheets and needed a separate lamination run to transfer to the final stock. Either was an expensive and time consuming business.

With the WT7900, users now have a compact, easy to use system that runs automatically with minimal supervision. What’s more it offers the lowest cost per ‘page’ of any digital proof/sample maker. The printer costs about 7,700 euros, while an A2 area typically costs 12 euros, compared to about 60 euros for a transfer proof. Unlike transfer systems which consume whole sheets of ink whether or not the image uses all of the area, an inkjet only uses as much ink as the image requires.

Also differing from the laser transfer systems, the WT7900 isn’t confined to sheet- by-sheet work: it can take rolls of material. If you need a lot of samples you can repeat them to fill the print width and then simply set it to print multiple copies automatically, with no operator attention needed. Many packaging design and pre-press houses are already familiar with the standard Epson Stylus Pro models.

The new WT7900 is a modified version of the existing Stylus Pro 7900 and uses UltraChrome HDR White Ink. It’s non-hazardous and has no odour, while the printer is compact and quiet so it's ideally suited to office environments. The WT7900 nine colour int set includes CMYK (with a high density magenta) plus orange and green, giving a high dynamic range. In practical terms this means it can achieve colors from its standard set that would require specials on a flexo press.

Unique Ink

However, the real breakthrough of the WT7900 is the new white ink, which allows users to reproduce the white backing layer that’s needed for flexo and gravure production printing on clear or metallised films. While earlier aqueous inkjets can print onto clear films, the lack of white ink means they have to be viewed with a white paper backing or given a white laminate layer as a separate, time consuming process.

No other manufacturer has solved the challenge of producing a water-based opaque dense white. Epson’s answer was to create particles that are not actually white, but are hollow clear spheres that reflect and scatter all the light that falls on them, so the visual effect is white. The only other inkjets to offer white use solvent or UV cured inks, which need special handling and ventilation.

These use real white titanium-based pigment particles that are big and heavy, so they need constant agitation or recirculation to keep them in suspension in the tanks or cartridges, while the size of them can clog print heads. Epson’s particles are the same size and weight as the colored inks and do not need recirculation, though removing the cartridge and manually shaking it once a week is advised.

The white effect works on clear or metallic films and Epson’s research suggests that it is bright and opaque enough to meet the needs of 90% of real world jobs. The white can be applied as an undercoat beneath the colored image, or as an overcoat on top of it (for jobs designed to be viewed through the film itself). White can also be combined with colours to give pastel effects. Another sueful option with silver matalised foil is to print colours without the white undercoat, to create other metallic effects such as gold or bronze.

Epson has introduced several types of film that’s compatible with the inks, with more on the way. One is a premium clear film for final proofs, and another is slightly less clear but costs less, for work in progress checks. A metallised film, self adhesive and shrink wrap media will be launched shortly. These are all thin films which are supplied with a paper backing to support them as they pass through the printer.

The XG effect

Like its Stylus Pro 7900 parent, the WT7900 can optionally be supplied with a built-in SpectroProofer spectrophotometer head for automatic and precise color calibration, profile making, spot color matching and target measurement. This can also work well with the other important component in the system: GMG software. GMG’s ColorProof contone proofing software, together with the halftone modules FlexoProof XG and DotProof XG, take full advantage of the expanded color gamut of the WT7900.

Top quality and repeatability can be achieved with spot colors and white simulation in flexographic, offset and gravure printing. The GMG printer driver’s color management gives close accuracy and matching to the target colors. FlexoProof XG can generate halftone dots for true flexo proofing.

It also exploits the full extended gamut capability of the Epson printer to produce a wide range of spot colors such as Pantone PMS and GOE within the tightest tolerances. It also has full control of the white ink channel, allowing the user to choose whether it is printed first or last, changed in gradation and opacity or programmed to simulate any white ink use in the package design.

The White Revolution

Because the GMG software is easy to use, the time to create new color profiles and to produce the proofs digitally is reduced dramatically. Early users are giving an enthusiastic reception to the simplification and cost reduction of their workflows and their ability to create affordable, color accurate simulations of the packaging on transparent foils.

It is still early days, but already the Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 along with GMG XG software looks like triggering a revolution in flexible packaging pre-media.