I did some more reading last night and I finally found an article that made alot of sense. LFDP will cause sign/display/etc makers to begin stocking white "stock" for LFDP applications, while specialty vinyl will still hold its ground.
When I say "white stock," I mean that there are several materials that you can run through a LFDP such as vinyl, paper, banners, film, etc. See advantagesupply.com for more.
By specialty, I mean gold leaf vinyl, frosted vinyl, refelctive. Color vinyl will lose lots of ground, but there will still be a place for it. Window lettering, simple truck lettering, etc. LFDP will supplement both of these though - I saw some prints onto gold leaf and they were spectacular. Right now, the outdoor durability of LFDP is only 3-5 years with the best machines while vinyl applications can last up to 20 years or more. If someone can patent an inkjet or electrostatic process that can last 5 years or more, they will soon be rolling in it. Ink is currently only rated from 6 months - two years and usually requires lamination.
Thermal transfer - resin or wax summachrome.com makes the best TT printer out there. Scotchprinting is also a thermal transfer process for inkjets and electrostatics that has good durability.
(BTW, Scotchprinting is the the process of printing a mirror image onto transfer paper and then transfering it to vinyl at 200 degrees F @ 100 psi in a very costly second process.)
Print '97 is not as big as Seybold or DPI but I believe RGFX will be there and I'm sure CalComp and LaserMaster will be. If you can just grab a peek at some of the technology displayed at these shows, you will be fascinated if nothing else.
RGFX is returning from its trip to the moon. Hopefully not for very long.
Darren |
