Big Prints, Big Profits

Agfa and MacDermid ColorSpan, for example, offer devices that print bi-directionally for faster results, and Canon has expanded the base of the print head on its wide-format printers to 1.06˝ to increase speed.

The printers are also cheaper and more user-friendly.

"The technology has gotten a lot easier to use, and the cost of entry is much less than it used to be. Ink-jet has enabled that," says Agfa's Hutcheson. "You don't have to buy expensive solvent machines. Today you've got aqueous-based ink-jet engines. And they've improved in quality so much."