Exploring the Fujifilm Acuity TR and the Power of AQUAFUZE Technology
 "Exploring the Fujifilm Acuity TR and the Power of AQUAFUZE Technology")
The New Standard in Wide Format From Fujifilm
Learn about the Fujifilm Acuity TR and the Power of AQUAFUZE Technology
Value from innovation is what drives the team at Fujifilm. And with anything related to technology, as we all know, there’s always an opportunity for change, or improvement. The world of large format printing is no different, driven by the dual demands of increasing quality and operational efficiency. In the past, print professionals would have to choose between the high durability of UV inks and the media versatility and safety of water-based systems. Now, Fujifilm has broken through with new technology that can provide the best of both worlds. Introducing the Acuity TR, a revolutionary 1.6-meter (63-inch) roll-fed printer that is the first machine to harness its breakthrough AQUAFUZE ink technology. This hardware and ink combination is more than just an upgrade; it is a revolutionary step forward, aiming to establish a new wide format inkjet ink standard in the market. This solution offers a unique, eco-conscious printing solution that delivers photographic-quality results and exceptional durability across a vast range of applications.
AQUAFUZE is Fujifilm’s proprietary, patented technology for stable water dispersion of photopolymers, born from over a decade of research and 70 years of ink development history. It’s a groundbreaking water-based UV ink system built on a unique new resin and intelligent dispersion, leveraging Fujifilm's original synthesis technology to create RxD dispersions. The technology's uniqueness lies in its ability to combine the what everybody would want of both UV LED and traditional water-based inkjet systems, overcoming the biggest problem of producing stable water-based UV curable inks—where traditional UV resins and monomers typically break down and agglomerate in water, leading to poor prints and head blockages. Traditional ink technology could lead to excess waste and lost productivity, but not with AQUAFUZE.
Unique Benefits of AQUAFUZE: A Hybrid Advantage.
The hybrid nature of AQUAFUZE delivers a multitude of market requirements and significant operational benefits:
1. Enhanced Workflow Efficiency and Durability
Keep your team’s productivity at high levels because with the water-based UV AQUAFUZE ink technology offers instant cure and drying. It eliminates traditional bottlenecks because prints are instantly ready for finishing, allowing for immediate cutting and lamination straight after printing, speeding up the production process and enabling faster job turnaround for urgent orders and large fleet projects. This robust ink film provides the benefits of printing with UV, ensuring prints are highly durable and scratch-resistant, designed to withstand the elements without compromising flexibility,
2. Superior Adhesion and Substrate Versatility
AQUAFUZE provides excellent adhesion to a wide range of media without the need for a pre-coat primer, optimizer, or top coat, simplifying the workflow and reducing costs. The advanced formulation is designed for thin-film flexibility, which expands its application versatility across various flexible materials.
3. Safety and Environmental Compliance
The ink offers a low-odor, water-based alternative to traditional solvent and latex inks, promoting a safer, cleaner printing environment. Prints are safety compliant, Greenguard approved, and GHS label-free, meeting global safety standards. This focus on sustainability was recognized when AQUAFUZE technology won the EDP Award for Best Waterbased Inks, with the jury valuing its sustainability, low-energy drying, and safe prints.
4. Optimized Printer Performance
With the unique technology engineered into this ink, it avoids clumping and offers excellent jetting stability and uniform jetting velocity due to reduced nozzle blocking, a direct result of the low-temperature drying process. This uninterrupted printing leads to precise, repeatable production and reliable machine performance.
Comparative Advantages over Other Large Format Printing Technologies.
AQUAFUZE technology stands out by strategically positioning itself between the performance characteristics of UV, solvent, and latex printing, offering a truly hybrid solution.
Technology | Comparison to AQUAFUZE and Triton (TR) |
Traditional Water-Based Inks | Traditional water-based systems typically require significant energy and high temperatures for drying, leading to higher running costs and potential media distortion. The Acuity TR uses an ultra-reliable, low-temperature cure with low energy consumption and rapid startup, avoiding excessive heat buildup. |
UV LED Inks | UV inks offer high durability, but often create a thicker, sometimes less flexible film, and can require pre-treatment for adhesion on certain media. AQUAFUZE prints have a thin film with a 'soft feel' that maintains flexibility, ideal for applications like vehicle wraps, while still delivering strong scratch resistance and durability. |
Solvent and Eco-Solvent Inks | These inks are known for odour, solvent emissions, and long drying times that create production bottlenecks. AQUAFUZE is a low-odour, water-based alternative that delivers instant drying and comparable scratch resistance and flexibility in a single system, enhancing productivity. |
Latex Inks | Latex inks also aim for media versatility but may struggle with adhesion on certain materials and require higher temperatures. The Acuity TR’s low-temperature LED curing allows printing on a wider range of heat-sensitive media without damage or distortion, a key advantage over systems that rely on higher heat for curing. |
AQUAFUZE can help minimize the drawbacks of all these other technologies. It eliminates the slow drying and solvent issues of eco-solvent/solvent, the heat and adhesion issues of some traditional water-based and latex systems, and the heavy film/flexibility issues sometimes associated with pure UV systems. This combination of UV durability with water-based safety and temperature control is why it is considered a genuine game-changing technology.
The Acuity TR Platform: Engineered for Efficiency
The Acuity TR (TR) is a dedicated 1.6m (63-inch) roll-to-roll printer, a size ideal for many wide-format shops seeking a compact, energy-efficient machine for high-quality production. Its design is meticulously engineered to maximize the benefits of the AQUAFUZE ink.
Key Features Driving Performance and Efficiency:
Optimized Print/Dry Process: The printer’s unique print/dry process is specifically designed and perfectly optimized for the AQUAFUZE ink technology, ensuring maximum production efficiency and consistent, repeatable print results.
High-Quality Output: It is capable of photographic-quality results with vibrant colors and resolutions up to 1200 x 2400 dpi, offering multiple dedicated print modes for speed or fine detail. Maximum speeds reach up to 17.2 m²/hr (185.2 ft²/hr), balancing speed with precision.
Media Handling: The printer boasts an intuitive mechanical design, featuring adjustable head heights and multi-level pinch rollers for smooth feeding and handling of diverse media types. It can handle media up to 30kg and 400gsm, and is capable of long print runs up to 150 meters.
Sustainability and Cost: The integrated UV LED curing system is energy-efficient, protecting delicate materials and significantly reducing energy consumption and running costs compared to conventional systems.
Integrated Workflow: The platform enhances productivity with integrated VerteLith™ Genuine RIP software.
Applications: Best Use Cases for the Acuity TR with AQUAFUZE
The Acuity TR’s combination of adhesion, flexibility, scratch resistance, and low-heat curing opens up a wide range of production opportunities, making it exceptionally well-suited for high-demand, high-variability projects.Best Applications.
1. Vehicle Wraps and Automotive Graphics
This is arguably one of the Acuity TR's strongest application areas. The benefits of instant lamination and cutting significantly reduces the time required for printing and finishing wrap jobs, providing print shops with the opportunity to say “yes” to those rush orders. The AQUAFUZE ink delivers exceptional adhesion, thin-film flexibility, and conformity, which helps with stretching and bending around vehicle contours. The resulting wraps are highly durable and scratch-resistant, designed to resist fading and damage from the elements.
2. Printing on Heat-Sensitive and Specialized Media
The low-energy, low-heat LED curing system is a competitive advantage for this device, allowing the Acuity TR to print on delicate or speciality substrates that would be damaged or distorted by the high heat required by traditional water-based or latex systems. This includes:
Thin films and fabrics for Backlit Displays, which require vibrant color fidelity and perfect curing to glow when illuminated.
Various PVC materials, including cast, polymeric, and monomeric vinyl.
3. General Wide-Format Signage and Displays
Renowned worldwide, Fujifilm develops high-quality, high-performing inks. This helps the Acuity TR produce eye-catching banners used at trade shows, events, outdoor advertising, and retail displays. Its ability to print high-quality graphics on commonly used substrates like vinyl and fabric, coupled with robust, durable results, makes it a production workhorse.
4. Interior and Architectural Graphics
The low-odor and GHS hazard-free nature of AQUAFUZE inks make it perfect for indoor applications where air quality is a concern. This expands its use for decorative and functional applications, including:
Window graphics, decals, and films for retail stores, offices, or homes.
Wallpaper market and graphics for walls and floors, as the ink adheres to a wide range of substrates without the need for primers.
Based on what has been shared so far, the Fujifilm Acuity TR sounds like the best printer in the world. Realistically, there are some very exciting advancements offered with this solution, but it can’t do it all. So, this might not be the best solution for you if your business is focused on some of the following.
Applications: Worst Use Cases and Limitations
While the Acuity TR is exceptionally versatile for a roll-fed printer, its design and dimensions inherently create limitations compared to the broader spectrum of wide format technology.
1. Rigid Media and Flatbed Applications
The Acuity TR is specifically a roll-fed printer. Of course, it won’t work for jobs that require direct printing onto rigid materials such as foam board, acrylic, wood, or metal. Shops focused primarily on printing directly onto rigid substrates would need to invest in a dedicated flatbed printer.
2. Super-Wide Format Projects
The Acuity TR has a fixed maximum media width of 1.6 meters (63 inches). While this is a standard size for many applications, it severely limits its use for projects requiring "super-wide format," such as extremely large building wraps, massive outdoor banners, or seamless printed backgrounds that exceed 1.6m in width.
3. Ultra-High Volume, Single-Pass Production
While the Acuity TR offers impressive productivity for its class, with speeds up to 17.2 m²/hr, it is not designed for the extreme production volumes of industrial, single-pass systems. Companies focused on exceptionally high-volume, rapid production for specific materials (like corrugated boards) would look towards dedicated high-end industrial printers or single-pass solutions. The Triton’s role is high-quality, versatile production rather than pure speed-at-scale.
Conclusion: Setting the New Standard
The Fujifilm Acuity TR, powered by the ingenious AQUAFUZE technology, represents a new chapter in wide format roll printing. By successfully fusing the best elements of UV LED curing with water-based inkjet systems, it delivers low-odor, eco-conscious prints with phenomenal scratch resistance, vibrant color, and the thin-film flexibility required for demanding applications like vehicle wraps. Its low-temperature curing system dramatically expands the range of usable media, including heat-sensitive materials, while the instant-cure capability eliminates production delays associated with drying, speeding up job turnaround.
The Acuity TR is engineered for print professionals seeking maximum efficiency, unparalleled quality, and exceptional durability in a 1.6m roll-fed platform. By reducing energy consumption and eliminating the need for primers or optimizers, the Acuity TR is not just an investment in performance, but also in sustainability. For those focused on flexible media applications, from indoor décor to rugged outdoor signage, the Acuity TR and AQUAFUZE ink technology offer a powerful, versatile, and forward-thinking solution ready to meet the most demanding projects with precision and ease.
 "Paul Ackermann")
Author:Paul Ackermann)
