It will offer a silver Eco-Sol Max ink on its XC 540 solvent printer and cutter, which will be shown at Sign Ireland in Dublin and Viscom Dusseldorf.

The silver ink can be combined with CMYK to produce a range of coloured metallic effects including gold. It is compatible with paper and plastic substrates and will be suitable for proofing metallic effects for packaging and commercial print as well as for display graphics and signage applications.

"The output is only restrained by the designers' creativity," said Roland DG UK head of product management Brett Newman. "It's a new colour spectrum that stimulates more senses and increases the value of print."

He added that Roland DG had overcome the technical barriers of jetting a metallic ink to provide a "quantum leap in output and a reason to buy Roland".

The company has declined to provide further details of the pricing and productivity of the silver ink until its formal launch in October.