If you are in the print industry, you will know that FESPA Africa 2017 is currently underway at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand. Canon South Africa took the time yesterday to debut its latest and greatest, at least on the Wide Format Printing side: the new Océ Colorado 1640.

The Colorado is designed for large-format graphic-arts and print providers, appropriate for a number of indoor and outdoor applications.

This 64” roll-to-roll printer seems to be the company’s pride and joy, taking centre stage at their stand. One of the benefits to the Colorado, is that customers can handle peak periods with automated media loading of dual online rolls. Two rolls can be of the same media type and size or different media, and once initialised, the print engine can switch jobs between rolls without operator assistance, according to Canon.

The Colorado features Canon’s new UVgel, a technology which the company states provides precise dot placement, since it instantly adheres on contact with your media. UVgel print heads perform continuous nozzle monitoring, using acoustic sampling, to detect and correct any underperforming nozzles.

Canon states that UVgel is responsible for ultra-thin ink dispersion with almost no discernible physical profile, and can provide up to a 40 % reduction in printing costs compared to 64” eco-solvent and latex systems.

Regarding specs, the Colorado can manage a top speed of 155 m2/hr, while its production speeds is pegged at 57 m2/hr. It prints at 600 x 1800 dpi, while the ink reservoir can accommodate up to 2.5 litre per ink colour

Other printers on show from Canon are:

• The imagePROGRAF PRO-6000, a 60” unit that is meant for photographic and fine art printing

• The Océ Arizona 1280 GT, a true flatbed printer that can print across both flexible and rigid media

• The imagePRESS C850, which can complete 85 pages per minute on stock up to 220 gsm

• The Océ VarioPrint 6330 TITAN, capable of running through 28 A4 prints per minute, and with a 10 million average monthly print value.

The above mentioned are a small selection of a number of different options on display from Canon, so if you are into printing, we recommend visiting FESPA 2017, which is on until Friday.