MAILING PRINTER AND ENVELOPE SYSTEM
Digital full-color printing is fantastic for your business. With color, you increase the value of printed material. Color stands out, enhances clarity, maximizes response, and… With Full Color, you earn more money.
But until today, color was also very expensive. The investment was sky-high, or consumables were too costly. Inkjet provided a solution, but it was often slow in affordable systems. It was time for a new technological breakthrough.
Today, we have an answer. We introduce the Astro M1 digital color printer. Astro utilizes the brand-new inkjet technology. What makes this technology revolutionary? The Astro M1 has a fixed print head with over 70,000 nozzles, creating a fantastic image at 1600 dpi and speeds up to 305mm per second.
Moreover, this machine is also very cost-effective. The 5 ink cartridges (each 250ml) allow you to handle larger runs at a very low cost. The Astro M1 does not use drums, ovens, conveyor belts, etc., found in toner systems (copiers and laser printers). With ink cartridges, which already cost less than toner cartridges, you typically last three times longer. It’s normal that we end up much cheaper.
Are you also thinking about the environment? Fewer consumables mean less packaging, and less packaging means less waste. Since there are fewer packages, pollution through transport will also be smaller. The Astro M1 is also very energy-friendly. Since this device doesn’t need to warm up and uses an oven, energy consumption will be significantly lower than conventional systems. This not only saves the environment, but your wallet will also benefit.
Integrated Brand-New Inkjet Technology
The new inkjet print technology is a radical development. It’s not refining existing inkjet technology. Engineers have reimagined printing. With a completely new print head, new processor chips, and software, we print at unprecedented speed with beautiful quality.
New Print Heads
In most color inkjet printers, the print head moves back and forth. This has always been relatively slow and can cause mechanical problems. With the 70,400 nozzles in the new inkjet print head, we spray millions of ink droplets per second. And this across the entire width of the sheet or envelope at once. This process is more energy-efficient, mechanically stable, and reliable. It’s also up to 8 times faster, even faster than many black and white printers.
New Chips
For a fast print head, you need a fast processor chip. Since it didn’t exist, they developed their own chip. This chip became one of the fastest in the world, making personalization a breeze.
New Inks
With a print head 8 times faster than traditional inkjet print heads, you need special inks that are liquid enough but still dry in time. Developed for optimal quality at high speed, inkjet inks may be the most advanced ever made.
New Software
Print heads and chips are only as good as the software that controls them. Inkjet developed the software from scratch with a focus on speed, stability, and efficiency.
Typical Applications for the Astro M1
The Astro M1 is the most revolutionary and flexible printer out there. The integrated feeder, built by Astro (a reference in the mailing industry for address printers, tabbers, and labelers), can effortlessly handle sheets, cards, and envelopes. Since you can continuously load, this device is ideal for larger productions.
Typical applications include envelopes, letterhead, courses, etc. For many of these jobs, a full-color print is expected or desired today but is not feasible due to the cost. With the Astro M1, you have a powerful solution. How about €0.004 (€4.00 per 1000) for a personalized envelope with a color logo, image, and an address. How do we achieve such a low cost? The ink consumption of this printer is very low, and since you don’t have a fixed cost per pass, you only pay for consumption.
Thanks to the printer’s fast processor, this device is ideal for personalization and addressing envelopes and other printed material. A4 letters for mailings are processed quickly and at a low cost.
Envelopes and Covers
Printing envelopes in offset has the advantage that the price becomes very cheap for large quantities. Moreover, printing is extremely fast. But there is a certain startup time and startup costs for each job. Often, to reduce the price, one or two colors are printed, and a minimum order quantity is specified. If you want to address the envelopes afterward, this must be done on a separate machine.
A digital printer can be a solution for small quantities and full-color personalization. However, there are also some limitations. Due to the fixed click prices, you can quickly pay a lot for an envelope with little coverage. Not every printer has a feeder that reliably feeds envelopes. Since toner-based systems are often used, the speed is often still slow, and for window envelopes, you often have to use more expensive envelopes because they do not melt in the oven.
With the Astro M1, we combine the benefits of offset and digital printing. You print in full color, personalized or not, on any envelope, always at a low cost (from 1 to thousands of copies). This printer can also be used perfectly as an address printer for smaller volumes.
Letterhead and Billing Paper
For letterhead, the same limitations apply in offset. Often customers have to buy a larger quantity than they would like. After all, the offset plate, setup time, and setup costs also have to be paid.
Because letterhead is often processed in laser printers afterward, it is always important to be cautious about printing it digitally with a toner-based system. There is a risk that the toner may melt and come off.
With the Astro M1, you print quickly and inexpensively in small and large volumes. The ink will not come off later, and moreover, the colors are exactly the same as those of the envelopes if they were also printed on the Astro M1.
Mailings and Letters
Thanks to the low cost, high speed, and personalization capability, you can also use this printer for producing full-color mailings. With a cost slightly higher than black and white, a color stands out more.
Flyers, Courses, Reports, Billing
The speed and cost allow you to deliver full-color work for just a fraction more than black and white. Use color now and make your message stand out more clearly!
Double-Sided Printing
It is also possible to convert your M1 mailing printer into a duplex printer. This is called the M1DX.
Article Number: ASAJM1
