Weather-resistant prints in a flash with the Colorado!
Opening up new routes with Canon UVgel
Teletransfer provides graphic liveries for the Barcelona municipal fleet of 600 buses. Born in 1992 as an advertising agency, Teletransfer started its own digital printing service four years later, aiming to provide a more competitive proposition to customers.
The company came to realise that outdoor advertising on vehicles entails many production challenges. Prints need to be resistant to weather conditions, retain vivid colour from the day of installation until they are removed, and must be produced quickly to meet advertisers’ expectations for swift delivery.
With demand for its self-adhesive graphics escalating, in 2017 Teletransfer was looking for a new digital print solution and chose the Colorado 1640 roll-to-roll printer based on Canon UVgel technology.
Accelerating production
Teletransfer had previously worked with eco-solvent technologies. These prints needed to be laminated to withstand the stresses of the outdoor environment in Barcelona, including wet weather, bright sunshine, abrasion and air pollution.
Waiting for ink to dry before lamination had a significant impact on turnaround time. In contrast, Canon UVgel prints are instantly dry and durable enough for use without lamination. The commercial impact for Teletransfer was immediate; reduced lamination costs and no production delays.
For Teletransfer, with its focus on quick delivery, one of the main advantages of the Colorado 1640 is its high productivity. The company can print a 67 metre roll of self-adhesive media in just over an hour – with the vinyl ready for installation as soon as it comes off the printer. At the same time, Canon UVgel lowers print costs per square metre, boosting cost savings even more.
Ready for any climate
The Barcelona city buses are cleaned every day, which had tended to deteriorate the quality of Teletransfer’s printed graphics. The Canon UVgel graphics withstand removal of even the toughest blemishes, including graffiti. As a result, Teletransfer has been able to reduce the number of livery changes on the buses due to general wear and tear, enabling significant production and cost efficiencies.
Every bus graphic produced on the Colorado 1640 is fit for purpose and the Canon UVgel technology ensures consistent quality over long periods of time. The graphics are highly durable, with excellent light fastness and weatherability, and the printed images stay bright and clear for months, even in the city’s demanding environment.
With the Colorado 1640 printer, Teletransfer can print reliable and consistently high quality colour graphics across the fleet, while streamlining production, resulting in substantial cost savings for the business. This has given the company the confidence to expand its offering, carrying out various projects for indoor and outdoor graphics in Barcelona and the neighbouring area of El Maresme.
“I like everything about Canon UVgel technology. Something that I am particularly impressed with is the colour gamut that the technology delivers – I have never seen such vivid colours.”
Diego Rosa, Technical Director, Teletransfer
Watch the video:
Published 12th Feb 2020