New dye sublimation printer for roll-to-roll textiles

9th April 2014 – Global print, imaging and innovation leader, Epson, announces the SureColor SC-F7100, a highly productive, reliable and flexible 64-inch digital dye sublimation transfer printer. Building on the success of the SC-F7000, Epson has responded to customer feedback for a textile printer engineered for short to medium print runs. Developed and  manufactured wholly by Epson, the SureColor SC-F7100 features an enhanced auto take-up reel with improved tensioning, a new post-platen heater and an optional print drying system to ensure greater reliability and efficiency when producing textiles roll-to-roll.

The SureColor SC-F7100 is ideally suited to new or existing customers, such as mid to high volume producers of soft signage, who want to capitalise on the growing requirement for short to medium volume textile production. Whether driven by changing trends in fashion, or for the production of promotional material for forthcoming local, national or high-profile events, the SureColor SC-F7100 makes print runs of items including soft signage, sportswear, apparel, accessories or gadgets, efficient and easy.

The enhanced take-up reel, combined with its improved tensioning, reduces maintenance, meaning that users can be confident that the SureColor SC-F7100 can be relied on to print without being constantly monitored. Additionally, the post-platen heater, and the optional Print Drying System, ensures that prints dry quickly, saving users time.

Quick, economical and reliable, the SureColor SC-F7100 benefits from Epson’s experience in hardware and printhead design. This ensures unmatched reliability, leading to effortless performance, low running costs and durability. Central to the SureColor SC-F7100’s reliability, is Epson’s trusted and proven Micro Piezo TFP printhead technology. Recognised as robust, it ensures downtime is kept to a minimum, leading to increased productivity.

With Epson’s water-based and environmentally friendly UltraChrome DS ink, users can be assured of consistently high quality, vibrant output, boasting fine details and smooth graduations. This ink produces vibrant colours, sharp contours and smooth gradations, with excellent light/wash fastness, and abrasion/perspiration resistance. The roll-fed CMYK SureColor SC-F7100 works with all major dye sub transfer papers and a wide range of substrates with polyester coating across a wide range of media, including fabrics, garments and rigid substrates such as fibreboard, metal and plastic.

Productivity is delivered thanks to output of up to approximately 58m2/hour, or typically 30m2/hour in two-pass production mode. This is combined with a 1.5 litre bulk ink system and long-lasting one litre (1.08kg) ink pouches.

As users have come to expect from an Epson printer, the SureColor SC-F7100 is flexible and easy to use. The Epson Professional Sublimation Edition RIP bundled software, created for Epson by ErgoSoft, makes the production of high-quality output quick and simple, while single-operator loading makes light work of control and media handling. Ease of use extends to the LCD panel, which is intuitive and simple to use. In addition to making few demands of its operators, a low TCO means the SureColor SC-F7100 is financially undemanding too, thanks to a competitive purchase and ink price.

Martin Johns, product manager, Epson UK, says: “Not only does the SureColor SC-F7100 deliver on performance, cost, reliability and flexibility, it also opens up new revenue streams for customers. We have listened to our customers and know this is a clear need and we have reacted accordingly. These improvements enable them to respond to and maximise the business potential presented by the demand for short to medium textile production runs.”

Key Features:

• Epson engineered for performance, quality and reliability bringing low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
• Epson’s proven Micro Piezo TFP printhead for high throughput and long production life
• High resolution up to 720x1440dpi image quality
• Prints on a wide range of dye sublimation transfer papers up to 64-inch (1625mm) wide
• High-quality output enhanced with Variable Sized Droplet Technology
• Highly reliable 40kg auto take-up reel with rewinding accuracy of + / - 2.5mm
• Quick drying with the post-platen heater supporting 30 to 55deg C
• Single-operator media loading with lift levers; automatic media tensioning control
• Productivity is delivered thanks to output of up to approximately 58m2/hour, or typically 30m2/hour in two-pass production mode
• Integral and easily refillable 1.5 litre bulk ink system with one litre (1.08kg) ink pouches for low maintenance and longer print runs
• Epson UltraChrome DS aqueous ink produces vibrant colours, sharp contours and smooth gradations, with excellent light/wash fastness, and abrasion/perspiration resistance
• Control the hue or tone of the black by adding other colours to it to create warm or cool blacks
• Comes with the market-leading ErgoSoft RIP