Fujifilm Acuity is a family of UV-curable flatbed printers, widely used for printing direct to rigid boards, panels and some flexible media. If you run one and are wondering whether a liquid coating is worth adding, this page sets out how we would approach it. It is Landor’s own guidance, not Fujifilm’s, and it is not endorsed by Fujifilm. Follow the manufacturer’s documentation for anything to do with the printer, inks or maintenance.
Start with the job, not the printer
UV-cured prints come off the bed cured and ready to handle, and for many indoor display panels no further protection is needed. A coating starts to earn its place when the piece will be:
- touched, leaned on or cleaned often, such as point-of-sale, counters or wayfinding;
- in direct sunlight for a long period, where additional UV inhibitors help;
- required to have an even gloss or semi-gloss finish across the whole panel, including unprinted areas.
Two surfaces to think about
On a flatbed print, the coating meets both the cured ink and, often, bare substrate around it. Each needs checking.
- Cured ink. UV ink films are hard and can be smooth, which can make adhesion of an overcoat less certain. Test with a cross-hatch or tape test once the coating is fully dry.
- The board. Rigid substrates vary widely. Foam PVC, acrylic, polystyrene and some plastics can be marked, softened or crazed by solvents. Aluminium composite and wood each behave differently again. See our page on rigid boards, and the general notes on UV-curable inks.
Applying a coat to rigid work
Rigid panels are easier to coat evenly than roll media in one sense, because they lie flat. The challenges are edges, where coating can run or build up, and dust, which settles readily on large flat surfaces. Coat in a clean area, work in one direction, and stop the roller or spray pass cleanly at the edges. For smaller runs or touch-up work, ClearJet aerosols in gloss or semi-gloss may be practical; see aerosol coatings.
If you also print white or specialty inks on the flatbed, test those areas separately, as they can respond differently to the CMYK layers.
What we cannot tell you from a model name
Ink sets, cure settings and substrates all vary between installations, so the same printer family can give quite different results with the same coating. A test on your own output is the only reliable answer.
Print a test panel on the board you plan to use and send an offcut to us, or call 01252 624 411 first to talk through what to include.