Global wallcoverings brand Seltex has invested in a new Agfa Anapurna wide-format H3200i LED hybrid printer to help it to meet growing demand for shorter runs and interior design personalisation.

Specialising in the commercial and high-end residential markets, Seltex mostly supplies the hospitality sector, including hotels, cruise ships, and restaurants across the world, and works directly with architects and interior designers. It uses both gravure and digital processes.

The north London-based family business, which was established in 1985 and has been a customer of Agfa for more than 10 years, took delivery of its new machine in mid-October.

“The extra benefit of the new Agfa wide-format Anapurna for Seltex is the design flexibility it offers,” said Aksel Fenman, managing director of Seltex.

“We can produce one off wallcoverings that are fully personalised for a feature wall in a project, and we can produce longer runs too at an affordable price. The flexibility also allows us to provide sample swatches for a project with ease, to the size that the designer requires, and with a really quick turnaround time, which was not possible before.”

The Anapurna H3200i LED has replaced the company’s previous Anapurna M2 and MW print engines and can cope with the workload produced by both machines and more. The company reviewed the market before ordering but found the Agfa machine to be best suited to its requirements.

The hybrid Anapurna LED Series produces a high speed four- or six-colour plus white, UV LED curable inkjet system, with printing widths from 1.65m to 3.2m. It is suitable for combining board and roll-to-roll print for outdoor and indoor, rigid, and flexible jobs.

The machines are fitted with air-cooled UV LED lights with minimum energy output, and powered by the Asanti workflow software.

“So far, we are impressed with the results. The installation went really smoothly and our operators are happy with the speed and quality,” said Seltex director Aktan Fenman.

“We have been testing both the machine and the Asanti workflow, and we’ve had some great results with Ombre wallcoverings in a selection of colours and metallic like patterns using print ink layering.

“We’ve also been practicing with the seamless step and repeat function in Asanti which is a great feature for wallcovering pattern design.

“The new Agfa engine brings some great energy saving features with its Thin Ink Layer technology, and the use of environmentally friendly Greenguard certified inks. We definitely see our relationship growing with Agfa; once this engine is bedded in, we’ll be looking at a dedicated roll-to-roll machine with Agfa too.”