21st Graphic Expo 2016

"The 21st Graphic Expo 2016 is the country’s premier trade show and marketplace for creative and printing professionals. It connects you with the buyers, decision makers, businessmen and entrepreneurs, top suppliers and industry players/professionals. This event provides networking opportunities, knowledge sharing, engagement with key players in the industry and latest trends in the market.

It is an ideal trade show to expand business, meet serious customers and buyers, get new business ideas, source digital technologies and innovation, upgrade existing tools, and network with industry experts."

We attended this year's Graphic Expo in SMX, SM Mall of Asia, 2 times - 1st on June 2 and 2nd, June 4.
First time we attended this was 3 years ago, 18th Graphic Expo, and I could say that a lot of this have changed since then. Printing technology has advanced and so did cutter plotters, big thanks to Big Pix for showing all these to us.

7G Crew (L-R) Jef, Joy, Nelia, Edu

Well, as usual, BAMs (Big-Ass Machines) are all over the place. For small printers like us, these things are waaaaay out of our league... and price range. But, we're there to learn new things, explore possibilities and see where the printing industry is going. If we get lucky and we're up to it, we'll own one of these BAMs in the near future.

Day 1 Loot Bag Package: Canvas bag + ID with ID Lace 

Day 3 Loot Bag Package: Eco-bag + ID with safety pins + Raffle ticket

Meanwhile, we visited booths that seemed interesting and somewhat a bit closer to our price range... and is actually useful to us.

Useful: Mark Sign Corporation - for corporate giveaways

Intersting: E.S. Print Media Inc.

Sawgrass Sublimation Printer A3

ChromaLuxe sublimated acrylic(?)

Brother GT-3 Series - Direct to garment printer

 

Brother GT-3 Series - Direct to garment
Distributor: E.S Print Media
Printer cost: Php 1.3 to 1.4M
Consumables: Water-based Pigment, CMYK + 4 White (Underbase for dark shirts), Php9k per cartridge
Cost of Printing: A3 size, P75. Lower if White shirt (underbase not needed)
Print durability: 100 washes

Interesting: Luminaire Digital Technologies

UniNet iColor 500

UniNet iColor 500
Distributor: Luminaire Digital Technologies, Inc.
Printer Cost: Php 200k
Consumables: Toner CMYK + White
Medium: Self-Weeding Transfer paper for toner, Php 150 each, A4
Cost of Printing: Php 50 + 150 (paper)
Heatpress settings: 160 deg. Celcius, 30 Secs.
Print durability: 50 - 60 washes

Interesting & Useful: PixelCraft Digital Printing Supplies

Digital Printing supplies and many types of vinyl tshirt transfers.

BajuJet

BajuGet - Direct to garment
Distributor: PixelCraft Digital Printing Supplies
Printer Cost: Php 439k, 1 year warranty on parts and service.
Consumables: Dupont Artistry Textile Ink, CMYK + 4 White
Printer head: Epson DX5
Print Speed: 12 Dark shirts per hour
Print Coverage: 80% for both A4 & A3
Cost of Printing: A4 - Php 30 - 35, A3 - Php 70 - 75
Heatpress settings: for curing 160 deg. Celcius, ??? secs

Useful: Ronrox Corporation

Digital Printing supplies

Interesting: Big Pix 

DYSS Plotter Cutter

Interesting: Silkscreen Flocking method

Interesting: Bending Machine (Metal Sheets)

Useful: Crystal Image
Digital Printing supplies + giveaways

Types of Vinyl T-Shirt Transfer

Glossy Vinyl: Warriors 30

Vinyl Mix  

Sublimation Bags

Interesting: EPSON Large format sublimation printer

 Interesting: Large Format Laminator

Interesting: Colored Tarp, large format printer with white ink as underbase

Interesting & Useful: Tees & Prints
Supplier of Transfer paper & many types of Vinyl Tshirt Transfers including printable vinyls. 
They also offer printing and cutting services to the said vinyls.

Thick rubberized vynil - to be released to market, 2nd week of June, 2016
Price range: Php150 to 200 per square meter.

It was a really good day for me and my crew. I saw a lot of things and learned from it and I hope my crew did, too.
We'll be looking forward to the 22nd Graphic Expo next year.

See you next year!