drupa news: Epson expands SureColor wide format printer line-up

Epson has announced the expansion of its new SureColor wide-format printer line-up with the global launch of three cost-effective, high-speed, 4-colour printers for CAD, GIS and POS applications. The Epson SureColor SC-T7000, SC-T5000 and SC-T3000 offer fast, reliable printing on coated and non-coated media up to 44-inch (1,118mm), 36-inch (914mm) and 24-inch (610mm) wide respectively.

Designed to fit seamlessly into the office environment, the printers feature sleek styling, small footprints and low noise levels and are operated from the front to allow convenient placement against a wall.

The SC-T7000, SC-T5000 and SC-T3000 are ideal for applications where speed and economy are paramount, such as printing architectural designs and plans, maps, presentations, posters and indoor signage. The printers take just 28 seconds to produce an A1 print in draft mode on plain paper, and offer optimised running costs with a choice of 700ml, 350ml and 110ml ink cartridge sizes.

Further improving efficiency, the printers are quick to set up, with automatic photo and matte black ink switching, and are so easy to use that operators do not need special training. All controls are at the front of the printers, while media is fed in at the top. The finished prints emerge at the front, stacking neatly into a basket. Tracking how much paper is left on a roll is simple thanks to media barcode printing.

Martin Johns, market development manager, pro-graphics, says, “When developing a new printer, we always ask our customers what they need. Our customers told us they want a printer that fits easily into their current production environment, so we’ve added an HP-GL emulation mode. Another popular request was an HDD drive for print spooling, so we’ve given all three printers an optional 250GB HDD.”

The printers use Epson’s new UltraChrome XD Ink, which has been specifically developed to produce high-quality, durable prints with deep blacks, a wide colour gamut and crisp, dense lines with a minimum width of 0.02mm. Epson's Variable-size Droplet Technology brings clarity to fine detail while delivering optimum efficiency for larger areas of colour.

Helping to reduce impact on the environment, the SC-T7000, SC-T5000 and SC-T3000 use water-based inks and are qualified by ENERGY STAR for their excellent power efficiency.