By Cassandra Balentine
Flatbed, UV printers are often the preferred option for creating cut-out standee displays. For finishing, flatbed cutters are typically utilized.
“This combination minimizes manual labor, enhances output consistency, and streamlines production for high-quality, visually impactful standees,” comments Adam Tourville, channel manager, Fluid Color.
Roll-based printers and cutters are suitable for roll-to-roll standee displays.
Flatbed Printing
Depending on the type of display and point of purchase (POP) signage, a vast selection of printing equipment is available. The best choice depends on the final application type, says David Lopez, product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America, Inc.
For example, flatbed UV printers handle rigid substrates like foam board, corrugated plastic, and PVC. “Their ability to print directly on these materials ensures high-quality graphics, faster production, and reduced material handling. Flatbeds also have higher accuracy for double side printing,” shares Tourville.
“UV LED direct-to-substrate printers reduce the amount of post-print processing by eliminating any lamination processes. These workflows are beneficial because they reduce processing time and required steps, which reduces the risk of error possibilities and the waste associated with them,” notes Hugo Gonzalez, senior segment specialist, Industrial Products, Mimaki USA, Inc.
“UV printers can print directly on thicker materials—foamboard, corrugated plastic, and acrylic—and therefore often used when creating cut-out standee displays, states Lopez.
“The UV curing process also ensures the inks are scratch resistant and long lasting,” adds Rowan Maher, CMO, Xanita.
Lopez says solvent-based, roll-to-roll printers are a traditional choice for signage, including standees and POP displays, thanks to their wide color gamut, durability, and flexibility.
Like solvent printers, Lopez notes that resin printers are commonly used for standees and POP displays. “However, they offer greater versatility with a broader range of compatible media and do not require solvent-specific materials.”
Cutting Solutions
For finishing, Maher says CNC cutting currently works best, it allows precise cutting and shaping, allowing for creative and intricate standee designs.
Tourville points out that flatbed cutters with tools for routing, creasing, and knife cutting are essential for precision shaping and finishing. Brands like Zünd and Esko are popular due to their reliability and versatility.
Display Printers
Here we highlight printers well suited for display printing from those that participated in this article.
Epson
Epson SureColor S9170 solvent printer is well suited for standee displays. The SureColor S9170 compact, 64-inch printer is redefining solvent printing. Leveraging UltraChrome GS3 ink, including red, orange, and an all-new green, as well as opaque white Ink, it achieves an expansive color gamut, reproducing virtually any color and delivering over 99 percent PANTONE coverage. The fast-drying ink set allows for same-day lamination. Coupled with PrecisionCore MicroTFP user-replaceable printhead it delivers consistent high-quality output and unparalleled productivity for small to medium sign shops, print franchises, and ecommerce printers.
The Epson SureColor R5070L resin printers are well suited for roll-to-roll displays. The 64-inch roll-to-roll resin printers leverage multi-purpose resin ink technology to consistently produce professional-quality wallpapers, fabrics, vinyl, uncoated papers, and more with consistent, repeatable color. Touting 2.6-inch user replaceable PrecisionCore MicroTFP printheads coupled with Epson UltraChrome RS resin ink technology, it produces high-quality, scratch-resistant output, ready for immediate lamination.
The R5070L includes three liters of ink per color and a hot-swappable ink system that automatically switches from an empty ink pack to a new ink pack mid-print for uninterrupted printing and consistent color job to job and panel to panel for repeat jobs, wall tiling applications, large banners, wall displays and more. With a three-heater drying system, a 4.3-inch touchscreen control panel, and a fabric wiper system to clean printhead and remove dust, it keeps up with fast-paced print shops.
The Epson SureColor V7000 UV flatbed printer delivers high image quality, productivity, and convenience in an ultra-productive design. Featuring ten-color UltraChrome UV ink, including red ink, opaque white ink, and varnish, it delivers bright, colorful, tactile prints with low graininess and smooth gradation. It’s capable of printing on a variety of media, including rigid substrates, ideal for rigid signage and promotional goods. Designed with ease-of-use in mind, it includes a variety of unique features including a multi-zone vacuum system to keep materials securely in place and automatic thickness adjustment to instantly accommodate media up to three inches thick.
Fluid Color
For the production of graphics for standee displays, Fluid Color’s high-performance inkjet printers are an excellent choice.
Products most suited for standee displays include the Z105F LED flatbed printer. Its ability to print directly onto rigid materials such as foamboard, corrugated board, and acrylic ensures a wide range of display options. The precision and reliability of the Kyocera printheads deliver crisp, vibrant graphics that stand out in retail or event environments.
The Z84H Turbo (Robo) Linear flatbed printer also excels in printing high-quality graphics on flexible materials such as vinyl and banner materials, as well as rigid materials commonly used for standee displays. Its ability to print at speeds up to 4,000 square feet per hour ensures fast production of large quantities of standees, while the water-cooled LED lamps ensure durability and consistent output quality. The printer’s versatility in color configurations also allows for custom branding and design flexibility.
Mimaki
Mimaki offers many products and systems well suited to standee/POP production.
The JFX200/600 Series UV LED flatbed printers range from economical to high speed, high production capability. They offer wide and large format vibrant, versatile, direct-to-substrate printing to rigid standard and oversized boards.
The CFX Series Cutters ensure precise cutting and smooth finishing with minimal artifacts with features such as backside processing and variable flute-orientation-based crease depth.
Further, RasterLink7 Software with CuttingLink Integration enables ID Cut seamless print-and-cut workflows, reducing setup time and ensuring perfect alignment between the JFX and CFX Series machines. UCJV330 Series includes versatile, roll-to-roll UV-LED printers for creating rigid laminated or flexible standee elements. CJV200 Series includes a very of economical eco-solvent, roll-to-roll solution that enables vibrant laminated graphics for more extensive outdoor life.
Material Selections
Rigid materials are necessarily for cut-out standee displays. Here are highlights of some rigid materials well suited for this application.
3A Composites USA is a full line manufacturer of rigid substrates for the graphic display and signage markets. Its product line includes ten brands. Among these are high-performance foamboards, general purpose foamboards, 100 percent paperboards, and aluminum composite boards.
Under its high-performance foamboard solutions is GATORFOAM. It is the original high-performance board featuring solid, high-impact veneer facers; and GP-APEX, a new high-performance foamboard from 3A with HIPS facers, which replaced GATORPLAST. Additionally, SMART-X is a new 100 percent polystyrene, co-extruded, hi-modulus board, also suitable for exterior applications, as well as being 100 percent recyclable.
Its general purpose foamboards offer a more traditional choice for standee display graphics. The FOME-COR product line spans eight variations and boasts the only “pillowing” foam core that enables unique capabilities such as embossing and crimped edges.
When recyclability is a consideration, 3A offers 100 percent paperboards. POLAR is a new honeycomb display board from 3A, features FOME-COR facers and excellent physical properties. SWEDBOARD FIBRE is a high-strength board for load-bearing applications, features white PE facer for printability, durability and moisture resistance. DISPA is a sustainable paperboard; smooth printing surfaces, flat, stable, and lightweight—no compromise needed.
Oppboga Bruk AG Excellent is a paperboard, which features a triple-coated white surface with white core. It is lighter than most other boards, stays perfectly flat, and thanks to its high opacity allows for two-side printing. It is made from 100 percent virgin wood fibers, a renewable and easy-to-recycle resource.
XCEL Products, Inc. offers Xanita Board, which is well suited for standee displays. Xanita Board is a versatile fiberboard that is lightweight, yet structurally durable, easily packable, and quick to assemble. Additionally, this material is also 100 percent recyclable with traditional paper products. It can be targeted to replace MDF, wood, metal, and thick gauge PVC.
Xanita aspect board is an ideal option for environmentally conscious campaigns, made almost entirely from post-consumer paper.
Ideal Options
There are many choices when it comes to creating standee graphics. For more on this topic, check out our full feature article in the April issue.
Apr25, Digital Output
