The first installation of Printing Press for the year, What’s Happening January/February 2021, covers printers, printers and more printers. They range from HP Indigo units to meet Shutterfly’s printed photo products demand to versatile Canon printers for home or office. Moreover, Kodak Moments To Go self-service photo printing stations offer the company’s latest touch-free photo printing. We also take a logo at photo paper manufacturer Canson Infinity’s new logo, which pays tribute to its past.
What’s Happening January/February 2021
Record HP Indigo Digital Press Rollout by HP & Shutterfly
HP and Shutterfly agreed to a landmark expansion of their strategic relationship late last year. A record digital press rollout is planned to meet the needs of the growing e-commerce market for photo gifts and products.
“Today more than ever before, tangible, personalized experiences are becoming more precious. Consumers are looking for quick turnaround, alongside real-to-life photo quality. We at HP Indigo are proud to be Shutterfly’s provider of choice in making this a reality,” said Haim Levit, general manager, HP Indigo.
Shutterfly is investing in more than 60 HP Indigo digital presses to drive higher productivity for its high-quality, photo-based personalized products. These products include photo gifts, photo books, school portraits, holiday cards and also home décor. 
The agreement with Shutterfly is the largest single customer order to date for the HP Graphics business. Now underway, the rollout includes next-generation, high-productivity B2-sized HP Indigo 100K digital presses; HP Indigo 12000 digital presses; and a significant investment in web-fed photo presses to transform photo portrait printing to digital.
In the latest wave of installations, Shutterfly is investing across three HP Indigo press generations and formats. Shutterfly was one of the first customer beta sites for the new 29-inch format HP Indigo 100K. It delivers high productivity and nonstop printing, along with Indigo’s digital offset look and feel. In addition, Shutterfly’s new HP Indigo 12000 presses are loaded with a value pack to deliver higher end prints. It uses a wider range of inks and materials, including synthetic, metalized and canvas applications.
Shutterfly will install the presses over the next 18 months in four manufacturing facilities: Shakopee, Minnesota; Fort Mill, South Carolina; Tempe, Arizona; and Plano, Texas.
Canson Infinity Shows Off New Logo with a Nod to Its History
The last pioneering photographic paper manufacturer in business, Canson Infinity is kicking off 2021 with a new logo that embraces the future while honoring the company’s history.
In 1557, in a small village in the South of France, Canson was founded by two brothers, Michel and Raymond Montgolfier. In 1784, the Montgolfier paper mill was elevated to royal manufacturer status as Napoleon Bonaparte completed his European conquest. The mill evolved throughout the French Industrial Revolution.
In 1801, Barthélemy Barou de la Lombardière de Canson inherited the group from Jacques-Etienne de Montgolfier. The Canson name was already synonymous with quality paper. The company creating new styles and applications, notably the 1809 innovations of tracing paper and colored paper. Canson also became a major player in the photo paper industry during the pioneer years of 1850–1880. They secured a patent for photographic paper in 1865, and the business grew internationally.
Here’s the logo background: on December 14, 1782, Joseph et Etienne Montgolfier sent a unique paper bag up above a fire in the Montgolfiers’ garden. It rose up and crossed a river, landing on a hill. The hot-air balloon was born. The inspiration derived from that event became a symbol of innovation, hope and possibility.
Now, composed of easy-to-read capital letters, the new modern logo showcases the symbol of the hot-air balloon. It replaces the letter “O” in Canson, bringing an historical touch. The logo also includes the slogan “Manufacture Depuis 1557” (“Manufactured since 1557”).
Today, Canson combines centuries of experience with the latest technology. The company favors natural minerals and pure materials, without optical brighteners. Papers and canvases within Canson Infinity’s photography and digital art lines deliver durable results, optimal chromatic rendering, a large color gamut and a strong D-Max.
Kodak Moments To Go Self-Service Retail Photo Printing Station
The Kodak Moments To Go is a self-service photo printing station fully managed by Kodak Moments. Coupled with the company’s latest touch-free photo printing technology, the solution provides retailers a low-risk, affordable way to offer photo printing to consumers.
“As the industry is continually evolving to keep up with changing consumer demands, our team developed an intuitive solution that enables retailers to deliver on the wants and needs of the modern shopper,” said Nicki Zongrone, president, Kodak Moments. “Kodak Moments To Go gives retailers a low-risk way to provide a value-added experiential service that is innovative in the marketplace.”
Via the Kodak Moments To Go stations, consumers can use their mobile devices to shop and create photo print orders from anywhere. Once they have ordered, consumers can pick up and pay for their photos from the kiosk during their next shopping trip—touch-free. In addition, the solution allows users to create photo products directly at the kiosk.
For retailers looking to expand their experiential offerings and drive value, Kodak Moments owns and operates the equipment. The company manages marketing, replenishment and service. The goal is to provide a contactless, labor-free, self-service solution that includes payment. By providing a small footprint location and power, retailers receive a revenue share from sales generated by the kiosk.
Epson SureColor V7000 10-Color UV Flatbed Printer
To meet the needs of today’s print service providers, Epson released the Epson SureColor V7000 in January. The V7000 is Epson’s first UV flatbed printer designed for printing quality outdoor signage as well as promotional goods.
Built to deliver bright, colorful, tactile prints with low graininess and smooth gradation, the SureColor V7000 is a 4×8-foot printer. The entry-level printer is capable of printing on a variety of rigid substrates up to 3 inches thick, including foam board, wood, acrylic and metal.
“The SureColor V7000 was specifically designed to address common pain points of flatbed printer customers—quality, productivity and price,” said Matt McCausland, senior product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America.
The printer uses 10-color UltraChrome UV ink, including vivid red ink, gray, opaque white ink as well as varnish. It can produce color or three-layer prints with little difference in production speeds by leveraging eight MicroPiezo printheads. The printhead alignment delivers variable droplets and accurate placement for bright, colorful, tactile prints with low graininess and smooth gradations. The printhead also includes a new circulation system for white ink, limiting sedimentation and preserving nozzle integrity.
Usability features include a pin registration system that enables quick loading and easier media alignment; a four-zone vacuum system to keep materials in place; and automatic thickness adjustment accommodating media up to 3 inches thick. It also has a built-in ionizer that removes static electricity for enhanced durability and reliability.
In addition, the printer includes the Epson Edge Print workflow software. It features an Adobe PostScript 3 engine for layout and print management; color management; and seamless workflow integration. The Epson SureColor V7000 has a price of less than $100,000.
Canon USA Adds Three Pixma G-Series MegaTank Printers
Canon launched three Pixma G-series MegaTank printers: the Pixma G3260 MegaTank wireless all-in-one, Pixma G2260 MegaTank all-in-one and the Pixma MegaTank G1220 single-function printer.
The new printers are for high-volume printing environments, such as home offices or classrooms. They offer enhanced connectivity along with high-quality printing. Each of the new G-series MegaTank printers have a front-facing, built-in refillable ink tank system, making it simple to monitor ink levels and refill when needed. Moreover, the new ink bottles do not require the user to squeeze the bottles to fill the ink tanks; fill-up stops when the tank becomes full.
Specs state the black ink provides up to 6,000 black-and-white pages per bottle; the color ink bottles combined provide up to 7,700 color pages. Further, the Pixma G3260 and G2260 printers deliver print speeds of 10.8 images per minute (ipm) in black-and-white (B/W) and 6.0 ipm in color. The Pixma G1220 printer offers speeds of up to 9.1 ipm in B/W and 5.0 ipm in color.
Both the Pixma G3260 and G2260 MegaTank all-in-one printers also provide users with the option to print, copy and scan; they feature a two-line mono LCD screen.
In addition, the Pixma G3260 printer has Wi-Fi capabilities. Users can dictate print commands through the Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant enabled smart speakers. Also, by using a smartphone and the Canon Print app, they can access the Pixma Cloud Link to print photos and documents from online social platforms and services. The three MegaTank printers support PosterArtist Lite V3.X software to create flyers and posters from 100 templates.
The Canon Pixma G3260, Pixma G2260 and Pixma G1220 MegaTank printers have retail prices of $199.99, $179.99 and $159.99, respectively.
Mitsubishi PhotoPrintMe Calendars 2021 Available
PhotoPrintMe Calendars 2021 are available with one design for all the formats. PhotoPrintMe products are created by Mitsubishi and are collected in catalogues. These catalogues are also shared between PhotoPrintMe stores.
For the 15x20cm calendar there is a landscape and portrait version. However, the 15x36cm and 15x51cm sized calendars can only be created in landscape orientation. What’s more, with the larger formats, creators can change the background of the calendar. Mitsubishi also notes that a Mitsubishi CP-D90DW-P printer is needed to print the 15x36cm and 15x51cm formats.
“To make the products shown in your online catalogue, you have to make them visible and modify the prices,” the company announced. “You can select the languages and designs you want to offer.” 
In addition, if the PSP selects “all,” the customer will have a long list from which to choose. There are two styles for the 12-month calendars: a transparent and a flower version, both 10x15cm and 15x20cm.
PSPs can configure their shops’ catalogues from the catalogue tab on the settings page. Moreover, they just click on the “configure” button on the catalogue they want to setup. The catalogues are structured in folders, with the main folder called root. All the content at this location is shown on the start page.
Main catalogue products are organized in the following categories: Photos, Miniprints (subdivided in small, medium, classic and large), Collage, Greeting Cards, Calendars, Albums, Photo Strips and Bookmarks.
“By clicking on the Visibility button you will show or hide a product or category in your shop page. Use this button to enable or disable the articles that you offer to your customers. By clicking on the Reset button you will restore the article or the category to its default settings,” the company added.
