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Tradeshow Graphics Printer Ideal For All Your Exibit Needs

 

PrintB3 Tradeshow Graphics Ideal For All Your Exhibit Needs

Tradeshow graphics printing in the largest formats available

With the addition of one of the largest flatbed printers OCE 550XT PrintB3 is ideally positioned to be the Trade Show print provider in Southern California.  The OCE 550XT is ideal for producing those close up high resolution photo quality graphics where eye level viewing is the norm.

Outperform the Laser imaged photo emulsion processes 

Translite_UV™ is an improved process that directly prints the photo quality image on a polyester film supplied by Kodak. The OCE 550 XT UV prints the high resolution image directly using an UV ink system. There is no need for darkroom film processing; the resulting image can be seen as it’s printed. UV ink systems produce matte finishes eliminating the need for a coating. This print format offers additional freedom in image manipulation with a “white layer” offering alternative day night presentations. Print Speed offers a throughput many times faster than the wet process methods. Red spectrum heat signatures from high intensity lamps used to back light the scene were not transmitted when compared to Duratrans examples.

Photo Quality images on a variety of substrates

This year PrintB3 had a very special ancillary project to help promote Susan Bernard’s “Marilyn: Intimate Exposures” featuring her father’s photography of Marilyn Monroe and Norma Jean.  The large format prints were produced on our  OCE 550-XT flatbed printer on foamcore. The striking prints were exhibited throughout Palm Spring’s uptown design district.

Full range of materials and print modes are available with PrintB3 

Wide format Vutek printers employing only the highest quality inks from 3M and Fuji are used to print our vinyl and polyester materials with widths up to 16 feet.  Fabrics printed with either Dye Sublimation of solvent inks assure that your imagination is the only limitation on the design of trade show exhibits.

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Palm Springs International Film Festival Update

Founded in 1990 by then-Palm Springs Mayor Sonny Bono, the festival has grown into one of the largest in North America. Palm Springs’ festival is a global affair, offering U.S. moviegoers a rare look at the year’s best international films.  Precursor to the Oscars with 136,000 visitors the festival is a great success for the desert city.

This year PrintB3 had a very special ancillary project to help promote Susan Bernard’s “Marilyn: Intimate Exposures” featuring her father’s photography of Marilyn Monroe and Norma Jean.  The large format prints were produced on our  OCE 550-XT flatbed printer on foamcore. The striking prints were exhibited throughout Palm Spring’s uptown design district.

“The Prince and the Showgirl,” the 1957 Monroe movie that provides the setting for current Oscar hopeful “My Week With Marilyn,” starring Williams as the cinema icon, will also be screened. Photographs from the book “Marilyn: Intimate Exposures” by Susan Bernard will be exhibited throughout Palm Spring’s uptown design district.

The lion’s share of our work for the Palm Springs International Film Festival is in photo backdrops. Step and Repeat walls printed in lengths up to 80 feet as seen in this clip, with 3 foot x 8 foot rigid panels mounted in a variety of formats, from free standing as seen in the entrance to the Palm Springs Convention Center, to wall mounts at the Palm Springs Art Museum.  The color matches are critical  matches. The photography and video is seen hundreds of millions times around the world.  We’re looking forward to this summer’s Shortfest.

The Santa Barbra Film Festival is featured following the clip on the PSIFF red carpet , another PrintB3 project with Sean Pratt of the SBFF.

If you have never attended a film festival Greg Schwenk with the Newport Beach Film Festival presents the compelling reasons to attend a film festival.

There are seasonal film festivals all across the country, not just in Hollywood, take one in and look for PrintB3 in the background.

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Pioneers in Film and Print Collaborate on Translight Production

Pioneers in the film and print industry collaborate to produce life like photo backdrops with direct print on Kodak polyester films, in place of the earlier DuraTrans process. Translites are large, full scale photos of scenes that complete a view, usually from a window or a doorway. They are typically used on motion picture sets as shown in this example from Richard Lund.

Richard Lund at Work on Translite replacing Duratrans with the next generation of Photo Realistic movie backdrops

Richard Lund tweaks his image for test printing the perfect scene on PrintB3 OCE 550 XT UV digital printer. Working closely with Kenny Kim and our staff, several iterations are quickly produced with and without white ink layers.

“I have made a lot of translites, actually thousands. When they work well, they are not even noticed.

I was not looking to change for change sake. My friends at B3 finally poked through my mindset to give me a vision for a real improvement. Translite_UV™ is clean and sharp, gives me bigger panels with fewer seams, does not scratch easily like Duratrans, and eliminates the need to matte spray the backgrounds.

Nobody is there on stage when my backgrounds are hung to explain why I made them the way I did. They have to speak for themselves, but speak quietly. B3 Digigrafx partners with me so that what I make works. I know I have done my job when nobody notices.  Richard Lund”

DuraTrans is a durable polyester film with a photosensitive emulsion exposed and processed to produce a positive photo transparency. The process requires a laser exposure unit, and a wet film processor. Once the film is processed it requires the application of a Matte coating, which may affect the resultant image.

Translite_UV™ is an improved process that directly prints the photo quality image on a polyester film supplied by Kodak. The OCE 550 XT UV prints the high resolution image directly using an UV ink system. There is no need for darkroom film processing; the resulting image can be seen as it’s printed. UV ink systems produce matte finishes eliminating the need for a coating. This print format offers additional freedom in image manipulation with a “white layer” offering alternative day night presentations. Print Speed offers a throughput many times faster than the wet process methods. Red spectrum heat signatures from high intensity lamps used to back light the scene were not transmitted when compared to Duratrans examples.

OCE 550 XT UV printer in action printing in flatbed mode on two 4’ x 10’ panels.

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Three Good Reasons PrintB3 Employs The OCE 550xt Flatbed

Technology has improved the image quality of prints dramatically as illustrated here click on the image:

High Resolution printed image up to 8' x 10'
This image printed on the OCE flatbed was photographed with a high resolution camera to illustrate how vivid your graphics can be, click here for the full size image.

Having been an early adopter of new print technologies has helped to keep PrintB3 a leader in the large format printing business, offering its customers the latest in product offerings in a very competitive field.

  • Flatbed Printing  on a wider variety of materials, more options for you our customers:

Keeping up with the latest technology takes resources and a little bit of courage in times like these. Near photo quality images are produced using the OCE “variable-dot” technology. The newest addition to our B3 print systems is an OCE Arizona 550 XT. This printer is capable of printing a 8’ x 10’ rigid substrate 1.8” thick. Near photo quality encourages your designer to be bolder with their graphic presentations. Museum and display graphics were never so stunning, how about a wall graphic that mimics the real world. POP displays were never so effective in showing off a product.

  • An integrated white ink system for seamless transition to transparent and colored substrates:

The OCE also offers a nifty feature called “Night and Day” where white ink can be layered between two color layers. Backlit signs that were just too dark in the daylight now look great even when the light box is turned off. This saves energy during the daylight hours with the illuminator turned off. Turn on the illuminator and the image is just as bright and clear.

Read more from the SGIA Journal in an article authored by Jeff Edwards, International Product Marketing Manager, Océ Display Graphics Systems.

“Is White Ink Capability Really Such a Big Deal?”

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Printing Wood and Natural Materials with White Ink

White Ink Printed on Wood Grand Format Inkjet Printer

Printing Wood  included two elements together in POP display that really Pop! Wood and White Ink, bright rich color printed directly on wood.

When you want to upscale your POP display or branding in general, consider natural materials like wood and glass.  Direct printing with white ink backgrounds will make your project stand out from ordinary print jobs.

Large format printing has been in the exclusive realm for white substrates, where all the color and black in an image is provided by the CYMK process.  These inks are translucent and rely on the white substrate for brightness.

The attraction of printing on rich natural textures for POP displays kept PrintB3 hunting for a method to print rich color directly on wood.  Until white became practical, direct printing on wood was limited to muted color and highlights were out of the question.

Digital Print directly on wood Grand Format Flatbed Inkjet Wall Treatment

You can illustrate the effect of white ink printed backgrounds with your inkjet printed and ordinary transparent velum.  Print your color image on the velum and then place the velum on a white background. Compare the velum image with and without the background.  The brighter the background white the brighter the color image.

Without white ink, printing on wood for decorative effects such as wall coverings and artistic images was commonplace. POP displays call for more robust imaging.  POP on wood is seen closely by the viewer, more so than decorative elements.  Direct printing on natural material like wood and leather for POP displays present richer, more durable images than applied vinyl.  White ink in the process makes bright rich color imaging possible on wood substrates.

Transparent materials, glass, polycarbonate (Lexan), and acrylics lend themselves to full color imaging with the addition of white ink. Highlights and bright colors are now possible with the addition of white printed backgrounds.

White Ink OCE 550xt flatbed printerUntil a few short years ago printing white was not practical with ink jet printers. No point going to the gory details of inks and why white was such a problem, but if you really want to know you can read this white ink US Patent 6989054.

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Grand Format Printing for large scale Wall Coverings and Murals

Application of large scale custom graphics to wall surfaces is made practical with grand format printing. Almost any surface can now be employed to tell your story.

wide format printer 16 foot print width with any length

Grand Format Printing wall mural

Here you see a 16 foot x 60 foot vinyl banner printed as a single unit on one of our 16 foot machines. The backdrop was used in the 2000 Olympic coverage. Printing at resolutions up to 720 dpi for applications where close viewing is in order. This vinyl banner has remained brilliant in appearance for almost 10 years.

Large format printing makes high definition custom graphic images practical for indoor and outdoor application. Museum quality presentations are now affordable for any graphic presentation.

30-foot-banner as building wrap installed on parking garage

Grand Format Banner Printing

Grand format banner installed on a building make great use of the space for messaging. The 30 foot x 60 foot banner is constructed with one sewn seam and coated with a UV inhibitor.

Map installed as a wall mural

Map installed as a wall mural

Wall coverings are now High Definition murals using 3M Controltac Films.The film is easy to install without added adhesives and can be removed cleanly. Grand format printing can turn your wall space into a story board for you message.

For additional examples of PrintB3 applications visit our Gallery here:

Some Grand and Large format applications previously printed and mounted can now be printed directly on a flat bed printer. This process will accommodate irregular surfaces as illustrated on this Spiderman image directly printed on a paneled door.

Spiderman image directly printed on a 3D surface

Spiderman image directly printed on a 3D surface

Direct printing on a panneled door. One of our favorites is this ceiling tile print made on our 6 foot by 10 foot flatbed printer.

digital direct printing on ceiling tiles

Digital Direct printing on Ceiling Tiles For more information Contact PrintB3 909,259.0153

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Speed Saves Palm Springs Film Festival Project Step And Repeat Wall

PHOTO BACKDROPS, STEP AND REPEAT BANNERS BY PrintB3

Update on the 2012 Palm Springs International Film Festival

Palm Springs International Film Festival and Gala event is well under way in a number of venues around Palm Springs, California. The principal Red Carpet photo shoot takes place through the entry way of the Palm Springs Convention Center. Eighty feet of Cartier and Mercedes logos on the rich red Cartier background provide the photo backdrop for the Gala event. Foam core panels 8 feet tall provide a number of backdrops surrounding the building structure.

The result is what the fans all around the world see on TV and print.

Event graphics generally demand last minute changes to art, and print requirements, when dealing with large events, with many sponsors, the demand is heightened. Unlike tradeshows or product campaigns, much of the organization comes down to the wire. Sponsors are solicited up to and including the event date. The ability to facilitate last minute additions or changes to art or print formats makes a huge difference to the event organizers. Surprises’ in set-up like “That wall was not there last year!” are not uncommon, especially where events are only held annually.

Step and Repeat photo backdrops, and way finding signs are the principal requirements for the Palm Springs International Film Festival.  Printing directly on rigid 4’ x 8’ panels on PrintB3 new OCE 550xt made possible last minute production and delivery just in time.  Print and mount of adhesive vinyl in producing large panels would not meet the time frame or the price point.

When you have an event that depends on many different print formats and short time frames, contact PrintB3.

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    PrintB3
    8759 Lion Street
    Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730

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