Details have been announced for the Australian Sign & Graphics Industry Association’s (ASGA) upcoming webinar on LED Signage, the second in the series.

Wide format Online was treated to a sneak preview of the first XpertJet 1341SR Pro 54" (1325mm) printer to land in Australia. A full review will appear next week but we can say with confidence that, for a low-cost 54" eco-solvent printer, the results are outstanding thanks to new printhead, screening, ripping and drop placement technologies. It's also considerably faster than the previous generation.

The Annual General Meeting of the Australian Sign & Graphics Association (ASGA) next month will be a hybrid event for those unable to attend the live meeting to be held in South Australia.

Out of Home (OOH) peak body the Outdoor Media Association (OMA) has welcomed three new members: Scentre Group, Hivestack and the Tonic Media Network. Scentre and Tonic have also joined OMA’s audience measurement system, MOVE.

Ink manufacturer DuPont – distributed in Australia by Impression Technology – has introduced the new series for its Pigment Inks portfolio, DuPont Artistri Brite P5500, at the Impressions Expo printed apparel show in Long Beach, California.

Along with several other suppliers, Graphic Art Mart has no option but to raise prices, faced with skyrocketing PVS and freight costs. The Graphic Art Mart team would like to thank customers for continued support through 2021 which was challenging on many fronts. 

“We had over 40 printers in multiple stores [including Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth] each of whom used to spend tens of thousands of dollars in signage printing,” says WHSmith Australia’s head of IT support, Saurav Chand.

Bookings close on February 4 for the Packaging & Label Association’s rescheduled two-day Technical Forum and Awards event in Melbourne on February 24-25. The event was postponed from September 2021 because of Covid. 

The 22nd annual EFI Connect conference in Las Vegas this week showcased the newly launched 126-inch-wide EFI Pro 30h UV LED printer and EFI’s advanced class of superwide-format inkjet printers. Connect also featured the first live demonstration of the new EFI Fiery FS500 Pro digital front end and the debut of EFI Fiery Prep-it software - an innovative prepress product for display graphics businesses.

FESPA has launched the promotional campaign for its FESPA Global Print Expo 2022 and European Sign Expo 2022 events, scheduled to take place from 31 May – 3 June 2022 at Messe Berlin, Germany. The campaign strapline ‘Experience Print in Motion’ highlights how, despite the challenges of the past two years, the speciality print market and the technology that supports it continue to evolve and progress.

For Sign & Display printers familiar with inkjet technology, offering full-colour labels is a natural path to new markets and profits. Of course, many already do this with print & cut wide format printers but, as the niche short-run label market grows, there may be the need to add a dedicated label printer to the network. Enter Epson with its all-new ColorWorks C4000. The compact ColorWorks C4000 offers expanded connectivity and compatibility, improved image quality, remote management tools, and increased ink capacity.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) has called on employers to upgrade masks, improve ventilation and provide free rapid antigen tests (RATs) in response to what it calls “the government’s failure to keep working people safe during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Global printed textiles trade show Heimtextil – cancelled last month due to a spike in Covid cases in Germany – has been rescheduled as a ‘Summer Special’ physical trade show in June. Elsewhere, Brussels Expo has invested in a new air filtration and recirculation system to host Labelexpo Europe in April, and the US-based International Sign Association opened registrations for the ISA Sign Expo due to take place in Atlanta in May.

Entries are now open for this year’s state Printing Industry Creativity Awards (PICAs), hosted by the Print & Visual Communications Association (PVCA). The state PICAs will run across the country in March and April, with winners competing in the 39th National Print Awards to be held during PacPrint at the end of June.

Specialised textiles supplier Ricky Richards has introduced Polycril 275 and Polycril GW PVC free textiles for wall covering installations and banners.

Three new categories have been added to the renamed HP 2022 National Sign & Graphics Awards, with entries now open for work completed between 1 June 2020 to 7 March 2022.

The Royal Group (TRG), one of the largest independent corrugated box and display manufacturers in the USA, with more than 30 locations nationwide, has invested in a Delta SPC 130 Automatic single-pass inkjet press from Koenig & Bauer Durst to provide mass customisation and high-volume, fully automated digital production to its customers.

Out-of-Home media company JCDecaux Australia has received certification from government group Climate Active for Australia’s first carbon neutral Out-of-Home advertising product across Transit.

Kavalan Sunlight Weldable Frontlit Banner and Kavalan Spiderweb 300 Mesh Banner – distributed in Australia by Spicers - have successfully passed the stringent Certifire - TS62 certification programme.

As medical experts revise recommendations on the best type of masks to use against Omicron’s airborne particles, industry supplier 3M is stepping up production of its top of the line N95 masks (also known as N95 respirators).

“We have received reports or seen media coverage of tests costing up to $500 for two tests through online marketplaces…which is clearly outrageous,” said Rod Sims, chairman of the ACCC, which has joined with Australian Federal Police to investigate excessive pricing on rapid antigen tests (RAT). One online ad offered a single test for over $1,000. Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce says the ongoing shortage of rapid tests is preventing employees from returning to work.