Grapo Manta UV dedicated flatbed printer

Here is Nicholas Hellmuth in his site-visit with the GRAPO Manta.

The Grapro Manta was shown at the Reklama-Polygraf fair, in Prague. I was giving a 3-day UV printer workshop in Athens and out on the Aegean island of Hydra testing a Canon EOS 5D camera those days, so could not be in the Czech Republic.

A Grapo news release for Sept 20, 2005 states that the printer would be at Viscom in Italy, but if it was there, it was well hidden (the show had so many students that it was a challenge to see equipment).

Since the Manta was tough to study at hectic trade shows, the Grapo staff invited FLAAR to visit their factory in the Czech Republic. So for two days it was possible to inspect the Grapo Manta and the Grapo Octopus inside-out, since we could study them along the assembly line.

As a result we are substantially updating our reports on these printers.

Other UV-curable Factory Visits

The first company that realized the importance of arranging a factory visit was actually Raster Printers. We spent a week there. As a result our FLAAR Reports on this printer is among our most comprehensive.

Then MacDermid ColorSpan arranged for us to visit their factory in Minneapolis. Everything we learned here made it possible to prepare a through report on the ColorSpan 9840.

We are now waiting for visits to the factories of other UV-curable inkjet printers. The invitation has already arrived to visit the factory of the Sun/Inca FastJet.

FLAAR Reports now available on other dedicated flatbed UV-curable printers

More and more manufacturers are producing dedicated roll-to-roll or dedicated flatbed printers. This reminds us that a hybrid machine can’t be perfect at both roll-fed and rigid material. There is no hybrid vigor in UV-printer design like there is in evolution, where a hybrid may be better than its progenitors.

FLAAR Reports are available from www.wide-format-printers.NET on
•    Gandinnovations Jeti flatbed (two reports: evaluation and site-visit)
•   Inca Spyder 150
•   Inca Spyder 320
•   Inca Columbia
•   Luscher JetPrint (two reports: evaluation and site-visit)
•   Mimaki JF-1631 and JF-1610
•   NUR Tempo, Tempo II and Tempo Q (eval combined with notes from site-visit)
•  Oce Arizona 250 GT

We do not have an update PDF on the Scitex Vision VEEjet+ ( HP Scitex FB6300) since we lack information on this particular printer and thus few of our readers ask about it. The next version of this old ex-Sias Digital printer will be named the HP Scitex FB6500.

Now (since October 2007), a serious new competitor has been launched, the Gerber Solara ion dedicated flatbed printer.

No matter what brand of UV flatbed you select, a cutter will be necessary too

To finish your UV print you will eventually need a flatbed cutter. These are available from

• Zund
• Kongsberg
• Gerber M-series
• Mimaki CF-series

Grapo Manta UV that we saw and photographed in the Bedigital booth at FESPA Digital trade show, May 2006. We will be able to learn much more about this interesting UV-curable flatbed printer when we visit the Grapo factory in the Czech Republic after Photokina trade show. It is important to document that this printer is Made in Europe. It is not made in China. Plus, tech support is also provided by Bedigital if you buy it from Bedigital (in those countries that this company covers).

Most recently updated October 9, 2007.

First posted April 17, 2006, updated May 29, 2006, October 30, 2006.