Society realized by Commercial Printing Business
22,000 redesigned transit stop signs printed quickly and beautifully with the power of digital printing

In Belgium's Flanders region, a major project was undertaken in 2023 to replace signs at some 22,000 bus and tram stops in just three months. Much of the project's success goes to Zenith Graphics, headquartered just outside of Brussels. Zenith Graphics designs, produces, and installs printed graphics for automobiles, building interiors and exteriors, signposting, machines, and other applications. The firm has earned a reputation for impressive printed materials that look like they were printed directly on a building or car.
For this project, the company turned to the Colorado series of digital commercial printers from Canon Production Printing (CPP).^*1 The series delivers high productivity, with print speeds of 40 m²/hour even in high-quality mode and quick drying for immediate post-processing after printing. The 1.6 m roll-to-roll printers use CPP's proprietary UVgel ink, an ink that is cured with UV light and overcomes the main drawbacks of digital printing — namely, durability and scratch resistance — for prints with vibrant colors. The Colorado series easily surpassed the rigorous requirements of Zenith Graphics, which prides itself on guaranteeing the very best quality.

• *1 CPP is a Canon Group company that develops and manufactures digital commercial printers.

Transit stops must, of course, display accurate information. Digital's flexibility in printing one-off designs proved invaluable for the project, during which routes were changed, by reliably printing from data the name, route numbers, and other information for each stop. The 22,000 signs were completed in an unprecedentedly short time span.
Zenith Graphics had also installed Colorado M5W printers, which were launched in 2023. The model comes with white ink for creating a white base on transparent sheets and other materials. This allows the printing of decals^*2 for cars and buildings with vivid details that pop. The Colorado series have become the designers' and operators' absolute favorite printers, and the firm now runs five machines.
An additional benefit of Canon's digital commercial printing is the huge reduction in time spent on color adjustments, media replacements, and maintenance. Zenith Graphics can now focus on its main priority of producing designs even on Monday mornings, which used to be devoted to printer maintenance. The firm is sure to see greater successes as a result.

• *2 A decal is a type of sticker printed on special paper or film and then transferred to an object.