The MacDermid ColorSpan Mach 12 Printer

We have been looking forward to the arrival of a new MacDermid ColorSpan Mach 12 printer at the Large Format Digital Imaging Lab at Bowling Green State University since we learned of its availability in May. The ColorSpan Mach12 printer is the latest model from Colorspan in the 72" inkjet printer line. We installed the printer on June 11 and 12 with the assistance of Jeff Ohlmann from ColorSpan.

The Mach 12 features many improvements in both mechanics and print quality

Mechanically, the printer features a new modular print head and ink reservoir system for ease of installation and swapping. The print heads are independent of the ink reservoir and typically will be capable of lasting through multiple 960 ml reservoirs. The printer is designed to handle various configurations of ink, including both pigment and dye ink setups simultaneously. It is capable of handling 8 ink colors (our current setup) as well as handling 12 colors in the near future. We will be testing and documenting these features as well as comparing it to the Series XII in future reports.

The print head carriage now has a tilt-up capability for easy access for cleaning print heads and image sensors. There is an easy access panel to get to the service tray in the printer. There are 2 sensor assemblies for print head calibration as well as color calibration and the creation of ICC profiles. The print head height is now automatically adjusted to the type of media loaded. The control panel on the printer now features touch screen buttons for the most commonly used functions of the printer. The hierarchical menu is still available from the screen.

ColorSpan has now included 2 forced heat dryers in the printer

Both of the printer dryers use 220 volt power. Be sure to consult the site specs of the printer to make sure you are ready for the installation. The glossy paper stock supplied for installation takes a good hour to air dry without heat.

Nicholas Hellmuth (right) with Ashley Webb (left) testing ColorSpan Mach 12 wide format printer at BGSU

Now ColorSpan has an even newer model, the X12. We just interviewed an owner of a ColorSpan DisplayMaker XII. He said that every feature he wished his early model had, he noticed that ColorSpan has now included on the X12. However so far at our university we continue to use the DisplayMaker XII and Mach 12. They both work just fine so we have not yet upgraded. But if you are buying a ColorSpan for the first time, it would seem logical to start with the X12.