CHICAGO—Benny Landa, founder of Landa Digital Printing in Israel, has revealed some of the upgrades made to the company's nanographic presses since their high-profile unveiling at Drupa last year.

At a dinner during Print 13 for select journalists and analysts, Landa spoke of developments including improved printing quality and an upgraded paper handling system, and a brand-new design.


The first commercial release will be the S10FC

Since Drupa, the Landa team has been busy collecting feedback having travelled to more than 10 countries and engaging with more than 120 customers. It’s that feedback, said Landa, that’s brought about the changes.

Most notably, the "giant smarphone" control panel that everyone wanted to play with at Drupa has been redesigned and moved from the side of the press to the delivery end. This new operator cockpit has touch-screen controls, job management tools, video feeds from key press functions and—in a nice design flourish—a personal area where operators can keep personal items.

New ink ejectors boost resolution to 1,200 dpi, and hit about 85% of offset quality, according to Landa. An automatic paper handling system supports both paper and plastic substrates and accelerates the changeover to new substrates.

Plans also call for an optional inline coating for flood and selective coating and white ink to be introduced with a flexo press.

During dinner Landa showed off the newest samples off the press—admittedly the best of the best and all CMYK—on many substrates from heavy board to toilet paper (drawing many chuckles) to transparent materials. The group consensus was that the quality has improved dramatically since Drupa.

As for actually delivering machines, Landa said the first commercial release will be the S10FC, a folding carton press. This is an altered course from Drupa when the 40" commercial model drew the most enthusiastic response. Landa also revealed that he will be first to market with a machine before his partners. During a Komori press conference execs declined to talk about their nanographic plans.

The upgrades and new design mean that the delivery date, originally forecasted for late 2013, is being pushed back. The first Beta machines will go out in the fourth quarter of 2014; the S10 commercial press will follow shortly thereafter. In the meantime, potential clients are being brought to Landa’s facility to test drive the new press models and continue to provide feedback.