Need Help Canon Colorado and Avery vinyl is AWFUL

[nicktheawesome]

I don't know if it is the exact same link but they are from the Canon website, and also ones that tech support has sent me. Nothing looks good.

Just today we also tried Arlon SLX+, and you know what? Printed beautifully. Gloss is amazing, matte is amazing, flxfinish looks awesome, laminated like a dream, even the colors look better. Haven't wrapped with it yet or anything like that which is the next test.

Unfortunately that points to the material being the issue, which is what multiple people said both in this thread and the tech support from my distributor said. I don't understand how it can be an issue like this, as Avery is a big manufacturer and this is their flagship product, but my contact from Avery made it seem like Canon is unhelpful in this process and they are kind of stuck. Don't know how much of that is valid and true, but that's what I've heard so far. Disappointing if true - we have been primarily an Avery shop for years but maybe the future is Arlon. We really like Arlon's reflective line so we'll see!

 

[balstestrat]

I don't know if it is the exact same link but they are from the Canon website, and also ones that tech support has sent me. Nothing looks good.

Just today we also tried Arlon SLX+, and you know what? Printed beautifully. Gloss is amazing, matte is amazing, flxfinish looks awesome, laminated like a dream, even the colors look better. Haven't wrapped with it yet or anything like that which is the next test.

Unfortunately that points to the material being the issue, which is what multiple people said both in this thread and the tech support from my distributor said. I don't understand how it can be an issue like this, as Avery is a big manufacturer and this is their flagship product, but my contact from Avery made it seem like Canon is unhelpful in this process and they are kind of stuck. Don't know how much of that is valid and true, but that's what I've heard so far. Disappointing if true - we have been primarily an Avery shop for years but maybe the future is Arlon. We really like Arlon's reflective line so we'll see!

It's difficult to optimize one product to work with multiple different chemistry. Once you start changing things you risk breaking all hell loose. Majority of wraps is still being printed using solvent and latex.

 

[nicktheawesome]

It's difficult to optimize one product to work with multiple different chemistry. Once you start changing things you risk breaking all hell loose. Majority of wraps is still being printed using solvent and latex.

I completely get that, and I wouldn't really expect Avery to do that either - at best I would expect they would make a separate line, call it like 1107 or something, if the material itself is the issue. 1105 works well for many things, and changing the chemistry will undoubtedly affect that, so I wouldn't expect them to modify their main product for one situation. I would have thought the materials were more similar than different, but there must be a coating or something like that on the surface that is reacting with the ink. Avery's 2105 doesn't print well on the Colorado either.

I'm surprised that Canon isn't the one being proactive about this - 3M's IJ180 and Avery's 1105 are two massive print lines, so if it is a given that the machine cannot print on a main material, at least be up front about it! But saying "bad roll" rather than "broad scale product incompatibility" had me on a wild goose chase for 3 months!

I have attached the pictures of the Arlon below. This is with the 3200 optically clear laminate, laminator set to 125F and speed was 1. You can see the edge of the laminate to show both laminated and unlaminated areas. Colors are smooth and consistent, dot placement is much better and smaller, overall looks way better.