By Cassandra Balentine
Wide format print is often utilized for commercial purposes, from banners to vehicle wraps and rigid point of purchase displays. However, as skilled operators learn the depths of advanced print technologies, new opportunities arise.
DMR Graphics is a large format print shop well versed in wide format graphics for commercial and industrial uses. However, it recently started connecting with artists, opening itself up to new opportunities that test the limits of modern print technology.
Above: DMR Graphics printed artwork using its swissQprint Nyala for artist Robert Longo’s exhibition, Searchers, which took place at the Pace and Thaddeus Ropac’s galleries in London, England.
The Background
With 60 combined employees in three plants, DMR Graphics operates from a cutting-edge 35,000 square foot facility near Philadelphia in West Conshohocken, PA. Over 35 years of experience allows the company to specialize in collaborating with designers, display manufacturers, and advertising agencies. It is part of parent company Innvoke, which has locations in Cranberry, NJ as well as a new division in Woodstock, GA.
DMR Graphics specializes in large format digital and screen printing. It offers a range of applications including aluminum signs, backlit signs, banners, billboards, building graphics, corrugated displays, decals, danglers, environmental graphics, fine art reproduction, floor graphics, graphic overlays, packaging, point of sale graphics, pole signs, posters, standees, rail strips, trade show displays, transit advertising, vehicle graphics, wall graphics, and window signs. It completes a lot of projects that blend products together like acrylics, plastics, and magnets.
Much of the print provider’s work is produced on one of its three flatbed devices. It operates two swissQprint Nyala 3.2-meter machines, as well as a Canon U.S.A., Inc. Arizona flatbed printer in NJ.
The first Nyala, which features CMYK plus white and clear, was purchased in 2020 during the pandemic, which Jamie McLennan, GM/senior sales executive, DMR Graphics, says gave the company ample time to learn the ins and outs of the press. The other Nyala was added this June and offers a full color gamut—CMYK, white, clear, neon pink, neon yellow, and orange inks.
Its other wide format printing machinery includes a roll-fed Canon Colorado device featuring Canon’s UVgel inks in CMYK plus white. It also has spot and matte gloss capabilities.
For finishing the print shop employs two Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems CNC cutters, lamination machines, as well as stations for fabricating and bending acrylics and PVCs to different shapes.
When the second Nyala printer was added this year, DMR Graphics refreshed its plant with newly painted ceilings and floors. It now offers tours so that its customers and potential clients can visit and see the depths of its printing capabilities in person.
Flatbed Savvy
Currently, McLennan estimates that at DMR Graphics 80 percent of its business is completed on a flatbed. However, some of this is shifting with improved media compatibility and speeds achieved with its roll-fed Canon Colorado printer.
Overall, flatbed printing is an area of growth for DMR Graphics. “I see our flatbed business growing, mainly due to the materials possible. A lot of eco-friendly boards are coming out and generating interest,” offers McLennan. In fact, at press time, the shop’s flatbeds were booked solid for two weeks.
When the shop was searching for a new flatbed printer, what ultimately sold them on the Nyalas was the quality, various effect capabilities, and the priming solution that solved adhesion concerns. In addition, features like registration and Kea, exclusive swissQprint software, which helps create the pattern used in droptix lenticular software, were also important selling points.
Textured Art
One feature of swissQprint flatbeds is the ability to layer ink for a textured effect. This is beneficial for more than just marketing graphics and signage, introducing DMR Graphics to the art world.
DMR Graphics works with another local business that owns a large format scanner to serve artists. For example, it recently teamed up with artist Robert Longo to create an exhibit taking place at Pace and Thaddeus Ropac’s galleries in London, England during October and November 2024.
The exhibition, Searchers, features a large, five-panel multimedia wall art that showcases Longo’s scaled charcoal drawings. His works are sourced from various inspirations like television, film, news, photography, personal creations, and the internet. From here he selects, alters, and enlarges the images with the help of modern technologies.
With its swissQprint Nyala flatbeds, DMR Graphics creates special effects by layering inks. While it is different from commercial print work, it brings new opportunity and excitement into the business.
Discovering New Channels
DMR Graphics offers a range of large format applications for its commercial clients, from silk screened posters to window graphics and wall murals. It is well versed in printing and cutting high-quality rigid signage and displays on its flatbed printers—everything from acrylics to corrugated board, foamboard, wood, and metal.
Its more recent work with artists allows the company to explore all the possibilities available to them with swissQprint Nyala technology.
Dec2024, Digital Output
