The firm, which is based at London’s Excel centre, installed a new Roland RE-640 roll-to-roll wide format printer in March and has followed the acquisition with the retro-fit of a Lightbar unit.

The £2,250 unit, from Maidenhead-based wide-format digital ink specialist Colorific, uses its next generation UV-Light inks, launched last year, and enables printers that use Epson DX4 or DX5 printheads to move into UV inks without having to pay for a new machine.

Alan Carter of Complete Studio Graphics said the combination of a new printer and the Lightbar was a better investment option for the business.

He explained: "We needed a machine that would give us a faster way of working but at a low investment price, particularly as this is our first venture into UV-curable technology.  We didn’t want to sacrifice quality or our attractive prices for our clients either," he added.

Carter explained that formerly, with jobs on flexible materials being produced using its solvent-based units, output was delayed between printing and laminating because of the risk of outgassing, but that with the Lightbar jobs were now ready immediately.

"With Lightbar, we can print work and use it straightaway, which is something that’s impossible with solvent-based production," he added.

"We’re now far more flexible and versatile, and the saving on lamination is a huge saving on time and money."

Colorific’s business development manager Shaun Holdom said: "Complete Studio Graphics is a typical example of a graphics house that wants to transform its solvent-based print to UV-curable production, but without the huge learning curve and high investment cost."

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