A new inkjet printer designed for high-quality, on-demand colour label printing is aimed at meeting the needs of a range of industries, including food and beverage, chemicals, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and logistics.

Epson notes that its recently launched ColorWorks C8000e printer is designed to help eliminate pre-printing costs, such as label waste and excessive inventory. It incorporates PrecisionCore printhead technology for detailed, high-quality, and accurate colour labels. The label printer is said to achieve an image resolution of 1200 600 dpi x 600 dpi, for reproduction of barcodes and small fonts, while its print speed of 300 mm/sec helps to minimise run times for on-demand jobs. The printer features Epson’s nozzle verification technology to help prevent misprints, as well as spot colour matching and International Colour Consortium profiling for easy and precise colour management.  

The printer supports a variety of media types, including matt and gloss paper, film and synthetic. It can print label widths from 2.5 cm to 10 cm, while an adjustable platen gap of up to 0.6 mm enables the use of thicker media for applications such as price tags or floral labels. With no loss of quality on BS 5069-certified media, the printer is also suitable for the production of labels for use in harsh and demanding environments such as exposure to salt water or chemicals.    

Promising a low total cost of ownership, the machine is said to deliver optimum efficiency and reduced environmental impact. The use of high-capacity ink pouches means that it contains 75% less plastic than cartridges and provides 1.65 times more volume compared with its predecessor.  It has also been manufactured using 2.6 kg less metal parts than the previous model.

Connectivity options include USB 3.0, high-speed Ethernet, WiFi and an I/O port, enabling integration into new infrastructures without changing existing software systems. In addition, ZPL and ESC/label support ensure integration with legacy systems. Integration with the SAP infrastructure is also enabled, using the advanced business application programming drivers for enterprise resource planning direct printing. 

The new printer model enables on-demand label printing to be moved to the cloud, using Loftware labelling and artwork management solutions, or NiceLabel Cloud. Print management and configuring can be simplified with new applications and cloud services.

With a footprint reduced by 35% compared with the older model, the C8000e requires less space for installation and operation. It features a one-side access design, which helps to simplify printer management and maintenance by enabling all operations, such as paper loading, ink replacement, and printing operations. In addition, the large ink pouches allow longer, uninterrupted print runs. The printer is backed by an Epson warranty with CoverPlus available for volume customers.