Continual Innovation

Large format print applications, equipment, media, and finishing

Lone Eagle Digital Imaging is a constant innovator. We utilize state-of-the-art aqueous (water-based) inkjet printers and eco-friendly mild solvent inkjet printers/cutters. We create our own ICC profiles for optimal color matching. We’re constantly evaluating new materials and fine-tuning our processes to ensure great quality, maximum efficiency, and fast turnaround times. No more trial and error—with Lone Eagle, it’s done right the first time.

Applications

Lone Eagle produces a huge range of graphics for applications including:

Call us for a free consultation. We’ll find the right solution for you, from media to laminates, from mounting to finishing.

Equipment

Lone Eagle utilizes a wide range of high-quality printing equipment to produce outstanding results for our clients.

Epson 9900—state-of-the-art, 44″, 10-color inkjet printer for photo and fine art reproduction. The 9900 uses Epson’s UltraChrome HDR (high dynamic range) archival inkset. There is no better system for producing stunning photographic prints and high-end fine art reproductions (Giclee).
HP 5500uv—60″, six-color printer that uses HP’s pigmented inks. The 5500 produces great-looking prints for retail/POP graphics, posters, and backlit displays. Finish these prints with lamination and/or mounting to make beautiful & durable graphics for your store, business, or tradeshow booth.
Roland 545ex—54″, six-color printer/cutter. The 545 uses Roland’s eco-MAX mild-solvent inks for vibrant, durable prints used for outdoor banners; vehicle graphics; non-slip floor graphics; vinyl, mesh, & fabric banners; wall murals; and custom decals. Its integrated contour cutter can produce any complicated 2D shape.
Seal 62Ultra—62″-wide hot/cold laminator used for applying adhesive onto the back of prints for mounting to rigid substrates. Also used to apply clear laminates onto the face of graphics for a glossy, luster, matte, dry erase, or non-slip surface.
Microtek Scanmaker 9800XL—12″x17″ flatbed scanner capable of scanning up to 2400ppi (pixels per inch). Also has a transparency adapter for scanning X-rays, MRIs and other transparent media.
Nikon Super Coolscan 8000—a high-end film scanner that can scan 35mm slides, transparencies and medium-format film up to 4,000 ppi.
Gretag-MacBeth Spectroscan—a professional xy-scanning spectrophotometer used to make custom ICC profiles. Can also be used to scan small patches of material to enable printing of a matching color on any of the above printers.
Onyx ProductionHouse RIP (raster image processor)—X10 is state-of-the-art, high-end RIP software used to drive our large-format inkjet printers. Useful for tiling large prints such as wall murals; grouping multiple prints together on a roll of media; and making ICC profiles.
Adobe Creative Suite 4. Photoshop, Illustrator, etc… (hmmmm…. “content-aware fill” in CS5 is really cool. Time to upgrade…..again).

Media/Inks

The exact materials and technologies we use depend on your specific needs—the display conditions, display duration, and print size, to name a few. Prints can be as large as 60 inches wide by dozens of feet long in one contiguous piece. Need a truly super-size image? We’ll carefully piece it together in tiles for a super-sized mural. We can also print on both sides of a vinyl banner.

Lone Eagle uses both water-based inks and eco-solvent inks to directly print on a huge array of media. Here are a few general guidelines about which one is best for your needs:

Outdoor signage (vinyl banners, window graphics, mounted signs, etc.) are printed onto durable materials like vinyl, polyethylene, or polyester with eco-friendly, mild solvent inks. We recommend lamination for this kind of long-term or outdoor display.

Indoor displays (convention/trade show graphics and retail/POP graphics, etc.) can be printed on materials like paper, Tyvek, polypropylene, polyester fabric, or vinyl. Lamination adds the right surface look, but it usually isn’t required for durability.

Vehicle graphics are printed on durable, industry-leading 3M brand cast vinyl with mild solvent inks, to achieve a great mix of vibrancy and durability. Lamination is a must here, to protect against the wear & tear of the road, and to get that eye-catching “wet-paint” glossy look. Try our reflective vinyl to give your graphics a really awesome look.

Photo/fine art reproductions (often referred to as Gicleé) use archival (piment-based) inks printed onto gloss, luster, semi-gloss matte, or metallic photo papers; acid-free watercolor papers; semi-gloss or matte canvas; or various fabrics. Many types of media are available. If you have a favorite media that we don’t currently stock, we’ll get it just for you.

Eco-conscious inks: Solvent inks are bad for the environment, not to mention bad for the health of the person doing the printing. That’s why Lone Eagle instead uses aqueous (water-based) inks from HP & Epson and eco-MAX mild solvent inkjet inks from Roland. These inks contain no cyclohexanone (which is a known carcinogen). Developed to be eco-friendly, this inkset has no strong odor. Our aqueous inks are 85-90% water and also contain no carcinogens. For more on our eco-conscious practices, look here.

Color Matching

For maximum quality and reliability, Lone Eagle creates its own ICC profiles. Here’s why that’s important. ICC (International Color Consortium) is a standard used for communicating color information and converting colors among various devices and color spaces. Digital cameras, scanners, monitors, and printers all use different technologies to capture or display color. They also possess different color spaces. These devices, when linked together through ICC profiles (or translators), can then “speak the same language.” Without a proper ‘color-managed’ workflow, a print shop will need to continually print, tweak, and adjust until your graphics look right. We know you don’t have time for that… and neither do we.

With that in mind, ask your current print provider how they handle ICC profiles. If they tell you they download generic profiles from the web, know that you’re taking a risk. And if they give you a blank stare and ask “What does ICC mean?”, just walk away. Then call Lone Eagle.

Finishing

Lone Eagle also provides laminating, mounting, & other types of finishing. Most graphics aren’t truly “finished” until they are laminated to protect them and/or give them the proper surface finish (matte, luster, semi-gloss, glossy). We can provide the right kind of lamination for dry-erase boards, non-slip floor graphics, or graffiti-resistant signage, for example. We can also mount your prints to Gatorboard, recycled Eco-Board, Sintra, bio-degradable polystyrene, or other substrates, or add pole pockets and grommets for vinyl banners. And we can provide a huge range of display hardware like retractable banner stands, backlit display boxes, tradeshow hardware, and more.

Durability: We know that you want your graphics investment to last as long as possible. That’s why Lone Eagle uses pigmented ink systems. They offer the highest longevity & resistance to smudging, smearing, and fading. Lamination further enhances durability, especially for outdoor graphics. Fine art prints, produced with pigmented inks on archival media, will be around for generations: 100-200 years, according to detailed testing by Wilhelm Imaging Research.