flatbeds and fine art fine art and the flatbed...

16 ■ DIGITAL GRAPHICS ■ SEPTEMBER 2005

About the Authors: The three artists of DigitalAtelier are traditionally trained artists who wereearly adapters and integrators of digital technolo-gies. Their work is widely exhibited in both publicand private collections. The trio co-authoredDigital Art Studio: Techniques for CombiningInkjet Printing with Traditional Art Materials,which was released by Watson-Guptill in 2004.

A s fine artists who have workedclosely with the digital printingindustry for over ten years, we of

Digital Atelier have been in a position to spotinnovation in emerging technologies that haspotential for use in the creation of fine art.Since the introduction of wide-formatprinters, nothing has excited us as much asthe appearance of UV-curing flatbeds.

Our experience with flatbeds began in1996, when we worked on the AlphaMerics Spectrum vertical phase-changeflatbed. Since then, we have had access to aprototype Mimaki JF series T-shirt printer,a UV-curing Zünd 215 UVjet-C and threeEncad NovaJet 880 water-basedflatbed printers. With flatbeds,we saw new possibilities tocreate art on glass, metals,wood, corrugated cardboard,handmade paper and embossedtin ceiling tiles for the firsttime.

WHY FLATBEDPRINTERS?Flatbed printers offer much tothe field of fine art printing. One

drawback to using traditional roll-fed inkjetprinters in producing fine art is that theprinted surface must be flat. With UV-curing flatbed printers, flatness is no longera problem — both the printing surfaces andthe inks have dimensionality.

The ability to print on virtually anydimensional surface without pre-coatingoffers an enormous range of possibilities,such as printing on collage, assemblage,low-relief surfaces and even pre-stretchedcanvases. Prints are equally good on surfaceswith combinations of porous and non-porous or matte and shiny materials.

UV-cured inks sit on the surface of the print

with the physicality of paint or traditionalprintmaking inks. Additionally, white inks,which are becoming more common, offerstartling effects for artists working on unusualnon-white surfaces. And UV prints on glasshave a look akin to etched glass — openingup the printing market for architectural art.

TESTING FLATBEDS FOR FINE ARTOver the last year, we have evaluated thefine art capabilities of nine current UV-curing printers from eight manufacturers.Listed in the chart below are the featuresmost important to fine artists.

COMPANY PRINTER COLORS WHITE THICKNESS WIDTH LENGTH RESOLUTION ROLL/RIGIDDPI

ColorSpan 72UVR 4 .25" 73" 120" 600 x 600 Both

Durst Rho 160W 4 w 1.58" 62" any 360 BothRho 205 4 w+clear 1.58" 80" any 400 or 600 Both

Mimaki UJF-605C 7 w 1.95" 19.5" 23.4" 1200 x 2400 Rigid

Océ T220 UV 6 2" 62.5" 120" 309 x 309 Rigid

Raster RP-720 UV 6 1.2" 72" any 720 x720 Both

Scitex VEEjet 4 1.57" 78.7" 118" 720 x720 Rigid

VUTEk PressVu UV 4/6 w 1.55" 80" any 360 x 600 Both200/600

Zünd UVjet 215-C 4 1.57" 84" any 360 x 360 Rigid

Allium, by Karin Schminke, is a UV flatbed print

on four 24" square silver Dibond sheets printed

on the Durst Rho 205 utilizing spot white and

spot varnish capabilities. 48" x 48", ©2005.

Flatbeds and Fine Art

Fine Art and The Flatbed PrinterThree professional artists spend some hands-on time with nine of today’s digital flatbed printers.

BY BONNY LHOTKA, DOROTHY SIMPSON KRAUSE

AND KARIN SCHMINKE


SURFACES FOR PRINTINGFor the range of media we wanted to test,we headed to recycle centers, junkyards andantique malls, and perfected the art ofdumpster diving. We printed on glass, wirescreen, cement, paper, leather, textiles,Venetian plaster, gold leaf, copper, rustedmetals, lead, old drop cloths, tiles, glass,polycarbonate, polyethylene, wood scraps,doors and all manner of odd bits and piecesof rubble. Low-relief surfaces created bycarving, etching or routing can also becomea surface for a printed image.

Among the finest commercial materialsavailable for UV flatbed printing is Dibondby Alcan. Dibond’s brushed aluminum andbrushed gold surfaces quickly became ourfavorite substrates for more photographicart. Every printer we tested imaged well tothis rigid board.

PRINTER FEATURESResolution and speed are not of primaryimportance to artists, but the ability torestart the print and do a double strike tobuild up ink layers is a great advantage. Ingeneral, it was difficult — but not impos-sible — to approximately re-register workon these machines.

Printers featuring a vacuum table or con-veyer belt for positioning media, such as theScitex VEEjet, Océ Arizona T220 UV,Durst Rho 160 W and VUTEk PressVuUV 200/600, were easier to realign. Theseprinters hold the material tightly in placewithout rollers coming in contact with theimage. This transport method makes it pos-sible to print edge-to-edge or even full-bleedon very irregular substrates. This feature alsoallows an artist to print an image, leave thesubstrate on the bed in order to add addi-tional paint or collage elements, and thendo a final overprint.

Another type of media feed uses gridrollers on the bottom and rubber rollers


VUTEk has a

proprietary

process for

curing glass that

increases ink

adhesion. The

glass emerging

from this dryer

is 24" x 24".

A 24" x 24"

embossed tin ceiling

tile is fed into the

Zünd UVjet 215-C.

Some custom printing surfaces

used were rusty wire screen,

scrap metals, antiqued copper

leaf and embossed lead.

Pieces of aluminum are

positioned over 22" x 19"

handmade bark paper,

ready to be printed on the

Mimaki UJF-605C.


that clamp the image from the top. Therubber rollers may catch when printing onassembled surfaces. The Raster Printer RP-720 UV, with its 1.5" head clearance, is anexample of a printer with a grid roller feed.We found that by using a carrier tray thatcould be marked for positioning substratesand aligned with the printer’s alignmentbar, we could determine the position of theprint more accurately.

Of equal importance to accurate posi-tioning of print onto substrate is the abilityto measure the often unequal surface ofhandmade substrates in order to appropri-ately set the printhead clearance. Someprinters, like the Mimaki UJF–605C, use alaser system to read the head height; butwith others it is necessary to measure a testpoint by hand.

Some printers are equipped with sensorsthat will stop the print if the printhead hits

a high spot. An exceptional feature of theOcé Arizona T220, for artists, is the abilityto move the carriage out of the way topound down or remove an offending highspot. When printing is resumed, the print-head finds where printing was stopped andflawlessly completes the print.

WHITE INKThe addition of white ink to some UV-curing printers is one of the most powerfulfeatures for fine art printing. While somecan print white only as an underprintbehind the entire image, others can printwhite as an underprint, overprint, spot,underspot, overspot or as a fill color. Forexample, the Durst Rho 160W offers fiveways to use white; the VUTEk PressVu200/600 offers six options. “Spot” printingworks with Photoshop layers or alphachannel masks, while with “fill” printing the

RIP automatically places white in imageareas without color.

Because white is highly viscous, printheadnozzles must be large enough for the heavyink pigment to pass through, often resultingin lower resolutions.

Spot varnish, currently available only onthe Durst Rho 205, is another creativeoption. It adds depth to blacks and can beused to create selected areas of gloss finish.Another unique feature of the Durst Rho160W is the choice of applying a gloss ormatte finish to the entire image without theuse of a varnish.

FLATBED CONSIDERATIONSMaking art on a flatbed printer can pushprinters to new heights. The operator mustbe skilled and creative and the artist needsto understand the parameters of this newtechnology. It is good to be aware of thefollowing:

• Visible color shifts, or “metamarism”,can be caused by screening, ink density,order of ink layering, dither pattern orlighting conditions. Test ink on a varietyof substrates and lighting situations toavoid surprises.

• The order in which ink is applied cantint clear media, such as polycarbonateor Plexiglas, giving a colorcast to one orboth sides. If images are to be viewedfrom the back or from both sides, theability to control the ink printing orderwould solve this problem. If the printerdoes not have that ability, test colors onthe final material.

• The ability to make a double-strikewith perfect re-registration allows usersto build greater color opacity and inkdensity.

• A printer that allows the operator tostop prints to make adjustments(flatten a bump on an irregular surface)then re-start and complete the print isvery helpful.


Four pieces of old copper nailed to 24" x 24" black ply-

wood are ready to be printed on the Durst Rho 160W.

Six 24" x 24" images are printed on brushed alu-

minum Dibond with the VUTEk PressVu UV 200/600.

A positioning tray was successfully used to overprint one

image onto the edges of two gold Dibond panels with

rice paper attached, using the Raster Printer RP-720 UV.

A test point is measured by hand and used to set

the head height of the Océ Arizona T220UV.

• To be certain that a surface works with aparticular UV ink set, test for scratchingor lifting.

• When using pinch-wheels and/or gridrollers on rigid media, the printer musthave adequate motor strength. Vacuumsand transport systems need to be pow-erful enough for heavy materials.

• Bi-directional printing on assembled orrouted surfaces can result in apparentmis-registration or banding and result ina blurry image. Printing unidirectionalalleviates the problem.

• On some roll-fed printers it is necessaryto do a media feed calibration for eachdifferent substrate. Failing to do thiscan result in some prints finishingbefore reaching the end of the media,or banding.

• Some printers, like the ColorSpanDisplayMaker 72UVR, may need anextra six or seven inches of media at theend to clear the media sensor. To printfull bleed, it is necessary to tape a tail ofthe same media to the substrate.

PRINTING FOR ARTISTSThe price of these printers range from$55,000 to $450,000, and physical spacerequirements, including, in some cases,ventilation, makes owning a UV-curingflatbed printer prohibitive for all but themost affluent artist. However, we haveselected two that could be accessible to agroup of artists wishing to share use. TheMacDermid ColorSpan DisplayMaker72UVR and Raster Printer RP-720 UV areboth under $75,000. The ColorSpan canhandle 1/4" media, and the Raster Printerprints on media up to 1.5" thick. TheColorSpan prints at 600 dpi and the RasterPrinter at 720, both excellent resolutionsfor original art applications.

Service bureaus wishing to use theirprinters to enter into the fine art marketmay consider several innovative approachesto working with artists:

• Offer a demo/training session to agroup of artists. Show them how toprepare files and substrates. Explain thelimitations and potential of the equip-

ment. Print sample images on a varietyof surfaces.

• Sell artists half- or full-day sessions withexclusive use of a printer and the serv-ices of a technician/operator. If pro-viding services by the hour, be sure tohave fast computers to RIP and feedimages to the printer to avoid frus-trating bottlenecks.

• Consider training select artists to run theprinter themselves and allow them fee-based access during off-business hours.

THE FUTURE IS HEREAs the technologies mature and economiesof scale make them more affordable, UV-curing flatbeds will become the printers ofchoice for fine artists. The physical qualityof the UV-cured ink and the ability to printonto virtually any surface opens many newpossibilities for creating art.

Art utilizing this new technology hasalready moved beyond the experimentalstage. As evidence of this, an exhibition ofthe authors’ art produced on UV-curingflatbed printers was held at the DanforthMuseum of Art in Framingham, Mass.,April 15 to June 24, as part of the BostonCyberarts Festival. It is the first museumexhibition of fine art produced on UV-curing flatbed printers. An additional exhi-bition of Krause’s work with UV flatbedprints was held at the Judi RotenbergGallery in Boston, May 12 to June 4.Lhotka will have a one-person exhibition ofUV art at Walker Fine Art, in DenverColo., Nov. 11 to Jan. 3, 2006. For moreinformation on the artists/authors and theirwork, visit www.DigitalAtelier.com.


DG

The ColorSpan DisplayMaker 72UVR uses a vacuum, pinch

wheels and grid rollers for advancing rigid media.


Village, by Dorothy Simpson Krause, was printed on

copper grid over wood and aluminum with white

gesso using the Durst Rho 160W. 24" x 24", ©2005.

Evergreen, by Bonny Lhotka, was printed on the

ColorSpan onto Dibond brushed aluminum with

white paint under selected areas. 36"x 36", ©2005.

The spot white feature is especially effective when printing on Dibond. This detail shows white

ink combined with spot varnish on the Durst Rho 205 to create deeper and richer blacks.

flatbeds and fine art fine art and the flatbed...

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