The advanced Cretaprint M4 platform and Cretaprint M4 SOL digital inkjet printing technologies drive more value and efficiency for customers in the analogue-to-digital transition in ceramic tile decoration.
The new products will help customers maximise production quality and ink savings, minimise production cost and expand chromatic richness so they can manufacture at the highest possible quality in the most efficient way possible.
The company launched the technologies at the Ceramics China tradeshow in Guangzhou (27-30 May 2016). EFI’s complete exhibit at the show, which also included advanced EFI Fiery digital front end (DFE) technologies and genuine EFI Cretacolor inks, bolster the EFI Cretaprint ecosystem for ceramic decoration printers, ink and colour management.
The EFI Cretaprint M4 platform allows customers to print on popular, larger tile sizes up to 1180mm wide and offers enhanced imaging quality with variable-drop greyscale imaging, giving users a cost-effective and efficient alternative to analogue methods for vibrant full-colour decoration.
The printer includes eight bars for colour and special-effects inks, and features a new, automatic nozzle cleaning system that yields a much longer print head life compared to other ceramic tile printers.
The new Cretaprint M4 SOL is a soluble-salt digital print offering specifically designed for producing high-transit, porcelain-polished tiles. Users can jet soluble-salt inks and bring richer colours to their porcelain tile decorations with lappato and polished finishes.
This innovative combination of Cretaprint inkjet technology and a soluble salts application widens the possibilities of creative design of porcelain tiles. EFI Cretaprint digital inkjet technology also brings tighter control on process parameters for constant ink lay down and temperature, resulting in higher tone stability on finished porcelain jobs.
EFI Cretacolor inks used with the Cretaprint printers at Ceramics China help tile manufacturers profit from the full value of the complete EFI Cretaprint ecosystem. Users gain predictable running costs and high performance and reliability. Combined with Cretaprint printers and the Fiery proServer, the inks help users achieve maximum colour intensity and gamut, chromatic range and colour stability over time, and uniformity throughout the manufacturing line.
‘China is the world’s largest producer, consumer, and exporter of ceramic tiles, and we were thrilled to showcase our portfolio to new and potential customers who are looking for new innovations that can help them earn more profit with efficient, high-quality digital print technologies,’ said José Luis Ramon Moreno, vice president and general manager for EFI’s Cretaprint and Nozomi operations.
