What Is a Wide-Format Printer?

Wide-format printers are generally accepted to be any printer with a print width between 17" and 100". Printers over the 100" mark may be called Super-Wide or Grand format. Wide format printers are used to print banners, posters and general signage and in some cases may be more economical than short-run methods such as screenprinting. Wide format printers generally use a roll of print material rather than individual sheets and may incorporate hot-air dryers to prevent prints from sticking to themselves as they are produced.

Technologies Used In Wide Format Printing

• Aqueous: thermal or piezo inkjet printers using water-based inks. Similar in general principle to desktop inkjet printers. Finished prints must be laminated to protect them if they are to be used outdoors. Various materials are available, including canvases, banners, metallized plastic and cloth.

• Solvent: piezo inkjet printers whose inks are solvent-based. The resulting prints are waterproof. May be used to print directly on to vinyl.

• Dye sublimation: inks are diffused into the special print media to produce continuous-tone prints of photographic quality.

• Pen/plotter: a pen or pens are used to literally draw on the print substrate. Mainly used for producing CAD drawings, now being superseded by wide-format inkjets.

Manufacturers Of Wide Format Printers

Manufacturers include (in alphabetical order): Canon Inc., DGI, Durst, Encad, Gandinnovations, Hewlett-Packard, Infinity, Infotech, Keundo, Kodak, KVR Systems India, Leggett and Platt, MacDermid ColorSpan Inc., Matan Digital Printers, Mimaki, Mutoh, NUR, Océ, Raster Printers, Roland, HP Scitex (formerly Scitex Vision, joined Hewlett-Packard on 1 November 2005), Seiko I Infotech Inc., Seiko Epson, VUTEk, Xerox, and more.

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