This week the news was less about raw speed and more about what you run through the head and what you run it onto. Drytac put out a double-sided printable film that takes eco-solvent, latex and UV ink on the same roll; ORAFOL rebuilt its traffic-sign printer around chipped ink cartridges; Epson confirmed its ContourJet direct-to-shape system is heading to Europe; a UK supplier took on DuPont's Artistri DTF inks with a freshness-first supply chain; and Fujifilm launched a consulting program aimed squarely at color drift. Underneath all of it is the same quiet variable: the printhead, and whether the ink and the maintenance routine around it are right.
Wide-Format · November 11
Drytac launches PrintDuo, a double-sided printable film with no adhesive
Drytac introduced PrintDuo, a 10 mil (250µ) white matte film built from a multilayered polypropylene/polyester construction that can be printed on both sides. The company puts its opacity at 99.9%, so two different designs can sit back to back without show-through, and says the lay-flat construction resists curl and roll memory. It is compatible with eco-solvent, latex/resin and UV printing, and Drytac pairs it with three window mounting adhesives — SpotOn Duo, WindowTac and ReTac Duo — for two-sided window graphics, retail promotions and directional signage.
PRINTHEAD ANGLE: "Compatible with eco-solvent, latex and UV" is a media claim, not a printhead claim. A film that runs on all three means shops will feed it through very different nozzle plates — piezo eco-solvent heads with solvent-safe wipers, thermal latex heads, and UV heads with LED lamps inches from the nozzle face. A dense, low-absorbency synthetic also means more ink sits on the surface longer, so overspray and misting find their way back to the head face. If you add a film like this to a machine that normally runs vinyl, watch your first few jobs for satellite droplets and nozzle deflection, and tighten the wipe interval before you blame the media.
Traffic & Signage · November 10
ORAFOL updates the ORALITE ECO Traffic Printer — and puts a chip in the ink
At a Technology Day at its Oranienburg headquarters, ORAFOL showed an updated ORALITE ECO Traffic Printer to around 70 invited customers. The machine is built on the Roland DG TrueVIS XP-640 with ORAFOL modifications for reflective traffic-sign production, handling media up to 64 in (1,625 mm) and shipping as a package with ORALITE materials, inks, an ErgoSoft RIP adapted for sign work and technical service. The ECO Solvent ink formulation is unchanged, but the cartridges now carry an integrated ID chip for automatic ink identification and fill-level detection, and ORAFOL reports improved drying that supports higher print speeds.
PRINTHEAD ANGLE: Fill-level detection is a printhead protection feature as much as a convenience one. The fastest way to kill an eco-solvent head is to run a channel dry — air gets past the damper, the nozzle plate starves mid-pass, and you are into a recovery cycle or a replacement. Chipped cartridges that stop the job before the bag empties remove the single most expensive operator error in solvent printing. Worth noting too that "formulation unchanged, packaging changed" is the right order of operations: new chemistry is what forces new dampers and new wiper materials, not a new chip.
Industrial / Direct-to-Shape · November 9
Epson is bringing ContourJet direct-to-shape printing to C!Print Lyon
Epson renewed its Gold Sponsorship of C!Print Lyon, running 2–4 February 2027 at Eurexpo, and said it will unveil its ContourJet technology there alongside its wider print and visual communication portfolio. ContourJet is the brand Epson launched in September 2026 for its Direct-To-Shape Printing System, which pairs the compact PrecisionCore S800 printhead with an Epson-developed six-axis industrial robot to print directly onto three-dimensional objects with curved and uneven surfaces. Epson positions it as a complete package — inks, software, implementation and maintenance — aimed at sports equipment, automotive parts and industrial products.
PRINTHEAD ANGLE: This is the clearest signal yet of where printhead engineering is heading: small, rigid, self-contained heads that a robot arm can carry. On a flatbed the throw distance between nozzle plate and substrate is fixed and measured once; on a curved object it changes constantly, and every millimetre of extra throw widens the drop's landing error. That makes nozzle straightness, drop velocity consistency and firing stability far less forgiving than they are on a banner. If direct-to-shape lands in your shop, budget for the same discipline you would give a single-pass line — a missing nozzle is not something you can hide with an extra pass.
Textile & DTF · November 12
Inkloft takes on DuPont Artistri DTF inks for the UK — with freshness as the pitch
Newcastle-based Inkloft Ltd, founded by Gary Weyman and Andy Hancock, marked two months in business as the official UK distributor for DuPont Artistri DTF inks. The company's stated differentiator is supply-chain speed rather than price: it restocks directly from DuPont's US factory within days, which it says reduces the risk of degraded ink reaching customers, and it reports that every order since launch has shipped from UK stock for next-day arrival. Its range also covers film, adhesive powder, cleaner and capping solution, with UK-made cleaning and capping fluids.
PRINTHEAD ANGLE: Ink age is a printhead issue in DTF more than almost anywhere else. White pigment is heavy, it settles, and a drum that has spent months in a warehouse will have denser pigment at the bottom of the bottle than the top — which is how you end up with sludge in the damper, starved white channels and a head that will not recover with a normal clean. A distributor competing on stock rotation is competing, whether it says so or not, on how long your white head lasts. Check batch dates on delivery, agitate white before every fill, and keep capping solution fresh — a dried capping station undoes a good ink supply overnight.
Business & Services · November 12
Fujifilm launches ALIGN, a consulting program aimed at color drift
FUJIFILM North America's Business Innovation Division introduced ALIGN, a consulting-based color quality program for print businesses still seeing color variation, reprints and slow approvals after their equipment has been calibrated. A Fujifilm specialist works on-site through discovery, assessment, recommendations, implementation and training, covering offset, digital, proofing and flexo, on both Fujifilm and non-Fujifilm equipment. Packages run from ALIGN Simple, for a single problem, up to ALIGN Premium, which can qualify a full production system to G7 Master Printer standards.
PRINTHEAD ANGLE: It is telling that the program explicitly targets shops whose equipment is already calibrated — because calibration cannot fix a mechanical problem. In inkjet, a large share of "color drift" starts at the head: a partially blocked nozzle that drops density in one channel, a deflected nozzle laying ink a fraction out of place, an aging wiper leaving a film that changes drop weight. Before paying anyone to re-profile a machine, print a nozzle check and a density step wedge. If a channel is down, you have a maintenance job, not a color-management one.
Investment Watch · Week of November 9
Where print shops actually put their money this week
The week's installation roundup is a useful read on real buying behaviour. Sepec Numérique brought a Canon ProStream inkjet press into production for short and medium runs and reprints of titles previously produced on offset. Fabbro Printing installed an HP Latex R530 hybrid with white ink for printing directly onto rigid and flexible substrates using water-based inks. On the labels side, Sud-Ouest Numérique added an ABG Digicon Lite 3 finishing line with a Quick Change semi-rotary die-cutting turret to shorten changeovers on digitally printed labels — the latest ABG line in the Sopano Group fleet.
PRINTHEAD ANGLE: Two of those three purchases are inkjet, and both are the kind of machine that runs for long, uninterrupted stretches — which changes the maintenance maths. A production inkjet press or a latex hybrid printing white is not a machine you nurse through a bad nozzle; downtime costs more than the part. Shops moving into this tier generally end up holding a spare head, a spare damper set and a known-good capping assembly on the shelf, because the question stops being "can it be fixed" and becomes "how fast." If you are quoting one of these machines, price the spares into year one.
Whatever equipment you run — or are thinking about running next — the printhead is the heart of it. If you ever need a replacement head or a hard-to-find component, browse our full range of printheads and printer spare parts and accessories — our team is always happy to help you find the right fit for your machine.
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Sources: Wide-format Impressions (Drytac PrintDuo) · Wide-format Impressions (ORAFOL) · Texintel (Epson C!Print Lyon) · Epson (CONTOURJET) · Texintel (Inkloft) · Wide-format Impressions (Fujifilm ALIGN) · PrintIndustry.news (investments)
