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DuPont Cromaprint 18UV

This 1.8 meter UV printer was shown for the first time at SGIA autumn 2006. Originally DuPont was interested in the Flora 1.8 meter printer but Raster Printers has the distributorship for this budget, entry-level machine. Raster Printers is selling this as the Daytona (dual CMYK) and the Raster Printers 720UVZ both in the US and increasingly in foreign countries (we have seen Raster Printers in Europe at several trade shows this year).

DuPont Cromaprint 18UV printer at SGIA trade show 2006.

So DuPont took their experience retrofitting the Flora FUV 2200 series to turn it into the DuPont Cromaprint 22uv and put what they had learned into a 1.8 meter model. In other words, this is essentially a new and different machine and is not a DuPont version of the Raster Printers model.

We took a long hard look at the DuPont Cromaprint 18UV and now have a FLAAR Report on it already. We will be discussing price comparisons, cost, and comparative prices with the increasing number of new machines coming out in the last days of 2006 and 2007.

DuPont Cromaprint 18UV printer. Originally DuPont was interested in the Flora 1.8 meter printer but Raster Printers has the distributorship for this budget, entry-level machine.

Other entry-level hybrid UV-curing wide-format inkjet printers

The Gerber Solara UV2 printer has worked hard to stake out a position at the entry level. But if you get your hands on the FLAAR Reports on the Gerber Solara UV2 machine, you will find that it’s printheads are not the same brand or kind as in other UV printers.

If you make the effort to obtain the FLAAR Reports on UV printheads, you can learn more which printhead name you should look for.

Now there is a new competitor at entry-level, the ColorSpan 5440uv, 5445uv, 5460uv, 5465uv-curable wide-format inkjet printers.

The IP&I 1606 UV printers are not at the low price point of a ColorSpan, but are more entry-level for mid-range ($100,000). But since the DuPont Cromaprint 18uv is $112,000 by the time you add all its features, then several Korean printers come in comparison, including the Dilli Titan (rebranded as the Agfa :Anapurna M). Of these we have the most experience with the IP&I 1606S and 1606F because it was possible to spend two days in the factory and see test prints as well as inspect the manufacturing process: very impressive.

Issuing a printer while still in beta stage can backfire; issuing a printer that you think is finished but really still needs to be tested and retrofitted with better parts can also backfire. So it is a good idea not to sell your printer until it really works. End-users get a bit upset when they find out they are really just beta-testers (as we found out from a large print shop that bought a Durst Rho 600 just after it was launched; it took them four months to get it running satisfactorily). So a slow start for a UV printer is not limited to machines made in China. Even the Swiss-made $650,000 Luscher JetPrint had endless issues and glitches during its first three years (serious enough that this European-made printer was withdrawn from both ISA '07 and from FESPA '07).

So even though the DuPont Cromaprint 18uv has been exhibited now for almost a year, and is still not ready to be sold, it is better to be cautious.

DuPont samples.

Most recently updated Aug. 10, 2007.

First posted Nov. 27, 2006. Updated Feb. 12, 2007.