82 email: news@printmonthly.co.uk May / June 2024 - Issue 348 porated into the machine. “The compact XPJ-461UF printer will fit into any regular office, home-based business, or small retail environment,” Mutoh says. An Improving Market Another supplier of DTO print technology, and indeed another exhibitor Print Monthly caught up with at FESPA this year, is Mimaki. Marc Verbeem, supervisor of product management at Mimaki Europe, explains that the DTO market is constantly growing due to the demand for personalisation and its versatility and cost efficiency in doing so. “By using UV LED technology when printing direct-to-object, the variety of substrates you can print on is expanded to even typically difficult-to-print on materials such as glass, plastic, wood, or metal,” Verbeem says, adding: “The demand for personalisation is not going away and I believe the market will go from strength to strength as a result.” Verbeem goes on to say that one example of where Mimaki’s solutions have had significant success is the luxury packaging industry. He says high-end goods such as perfume or cosmetic goods are often packaged in irregularly shaped objects using impermeable surfaces such as glass and metals – and this is where DTO can come into play. “This was an area we felt required innovation and our UJF series of UV-LED Inkjet printers have helped luxury packagers print direct to object on any shaped surface or substrate in any colour or effect,” Verbeem explains, continuing: “Of course, applications extend beyond just luxury packaging, DTO versatility means that printers can look for work in areas such as signage, cylindrical items, promotional items, as well as on rigid materials. “It is important to remember that trends and technologies are constantly evolving in the DTO space, and it is important to remain ahead of these changes to give your business a competitive edge. Regularly investing in the latest kit is a proactive way of adapting to the trends of the market, meaning that you have all the capabilities expected of you at any time.” production, and an optional rotary printing unit for 360-degree printing on cylindrical objects. Finally, the slightly smaller brother of the XpertJet XPJ-661UF is Mutoh’s XpertJet XPJ-461UF which, again, is suited to producing smaller-format work. The machine has a print area of 483mm x 329mm, with the same six-colour set-up as the larger model or a four-colour CMYK set-up, depending on the user’s preferences. The XpertJet XPJ-461UF has many of the same attributes as its bigger brother, including the ability to print on material as thick as 15cm, an intuitive OLED touch display for control, and dedicated intelligent interweaving technology incor- ◄▼ Mutoh had three DTO printers on its stand at FESPA 2024 Inkcups' Helix ONE benchtop digital cylinder printer launched last year 1 DIRECT-TO-OBJECT PRINTING Also from Mutoh and shown at FESPA 2024 was the XpertJet XPJ-661UF, an A2+ UV LED DTO printer that the manufacturer says is suitable for personalised one-off print products and small lot production. The smaller-format printer can handle a wide range of materials including three-dimensional objects up to 15cm thick, which Mutoh says means it can produce personalised items such as phone covers, photo products, pens, lighters, USB sticks, souvenirs, awards, small signs, and prototyping of packaging samples. Stand-out attributes include a print area of 483mm x 594mm, six-colour printing (CMYK plus white and varnish), active nozzle blocks to allow for uninterrupted The quality and speed that can now be achieved printing onto more complex shapes is very impressive
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