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Taking a Space at the Major Chinese Fair Proves Successful for Innova Art With more than 300 exhibitors and thousands of visitors, the halls were buzzing with excitement at AFA Expo 2023. The first show since the official end of the COVID-19 pandemic in China meant visitors felt a new wave of freedom. Many business partners took the opportunity to reconnect and make plans for the future. There was also a larger turn out from younger visitors than seen in pre-pandemic years. With everyone taking the opportunity to get familiar with the ever-popular Innova range of inkjet fine art media. Drawing the gaze of attendees on the Innova Art stand was a stunning display of work by American photographer, Peter Hewitt.This included images printed on the new Innova Supernova Chrome as well as papers from the Innova Editions® portfolio and some of the FibaPrint® digital darkroom baryta type surfaces, unique to Innova Art. Visitors flocked to the stand to see the newest product in the range: Innova Supernova Chrome. This flexible, dye-sublimation receptive media is being hailed as the alternative for images previously produced using the traditional C-print process. The high gloss surface, vibrant colours and sharp reproduction capabilities, combined with flexible application options caught the eye of many guests. Most participants were looking for something new. Not just new products, but new opportunities too. Ron Xia, Sales Director in Asia for Innova Art was at the show, “The market is moving,” he reports. “We saw people looking for something beyond the usual requests for high-end reproduction media. People are looking to diversify into the décor and open edition markets, aiming to open up more revenue streams.” Luckily for visitors on the Innova Art stand, [...]

After an introduction to Innova Supernova Chrome as a dye-sublimation alternative to the C-Print process, Eric T. Kunsman decided to investigate further. Click Here to Download the Full RIT Report Kunsman has years of experience using Lambda printers to produce C-prints using the RA (Radio Alpha) 4 silver halide process. These years of experience have shown him that not only are Lamda printers capable of excellent output quality, they can also be difficult and expensive to maintain. The dye-sublimation process on the other hand is a growing technology. The output on Innova Supernova Chrome mimics the continuous tone of the traditional RA4 C-print process. Dye-sublimation printers and presses can be run using a relatively low maintenance process, without the need for multiple recalibrations per day required when using RA4. On top of that the cost to set up a dye-sublimation process from scratch can be as little as one-quarter of the set-up for an RA4 process and the learning curve is not particularly steep. After seeing an example of Innova Supernova Chrome, Kunsman felt the output visually matched the C-print quality. But did it match on a technical level? As an assistant professor at  Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), he set his students the challenge to find out. Working alongside the visual communications students, Kunsman developed a series of intensive tests to analyse the performance of Innova Supernova Chrome in comparison to the leading RA4 process medias. The results spoke for themselves. Innova Supernova Chrome matched or out-performed the RA4 medias in every area. Leading to the conclusion that it is a true alternative for traditional processes using media such as Ilfochrome Deluxe Gloss. Click here to read the full report.

Innova Art exhibited alongside IT Supplies at ISA Expo 2023 (April 12-14) showing the latest developments in their dye-sublimation receptive media.  The halls were buzzing at ISA Expo 2023 as the North American trade show market continues to recover after years of disruption. Visitors returned to Las Vegas in force to experience the latest and greatest products on offer from the sign industry. The experience for Innova kicked off with a presentation from Global Supply Chain and Quality Manager, David Williams. Speaking to the IT Supplies team in attendance, Williams created an educational rundown on the features and benefits of the latest revolutionary product from Innova Art: Innova Supernova Chrome. This dye-sublimation receptive film is set to take the market by storm. Providing printmakers with the opportunity to offer cost effective alternatives to the traditional c-print process and to expensive rigid medias. The flexible surface encapsulates vibrant colours and deep blacks whilst providing multiple options for shipping and display.  Jeff Lucido, CRO/General Manager of IT Supplies was in attendance alongside the wider team at ISA Expo 2023. “Everyone loved the price point of Innova Supernova Chrome,” he says. “Compared to ChromaLuxe it is easy to achieve the same look by simply mounting the Chrome to a rigid material.” Not only did the price point of Innova Supernova Chrome catch visitors attention. The ability to complete the process in multiple locations was also a major selling point. “It’s great that the sublimation process and the mounting process can take place in two different locations. Innova Supernova Chrome is flexible so can be rolled into a tube after sublimation and shipped to a location close to the final display point for mounting. It completely removes the stress [...]

Visit Munich this May to experience the future of photographic quality reproduction at FESPA Global Print Expo 2023. They say the old ones are the best. But the passage of time means old often becomes obsolete. Equipment becomes expensive to maintain. Consumables become impossible to acquire. Before you know it old, has become antique. The digital print industry is no different. Beginning in the 1990’s the revolution started with the introduction of inkjet printers, replacing the chemical darkrooms that had been around for centuries. Innova Art was there at the forefront, introducing the first baryta type fibre based paper in 2006: the award winning FibaPrint® surface. Technology has moved on and continues to change. Floppy disks are gone. CD storage is in the past. Today you are more likely to store images in the cloud than on a hard drive. With each turning of the technological wheel, files are lost, images capturing a moment in time disappear into bits and bytes. Print remains the most enduring form of storage for images and ephemera. You only need to browse a newspaper archive to be able to see how the presentation of advertising has evolved over the centuries. A new revolution is upon us. Innova Art is launching the next leap in print reproduction media for photography and advertising. Capturing the quality of the traditional C-Print, but utilising the cutting edge reproduction capabilities of dye-sublimation. The D-Print reproduces thousands of colours in vibrant reality. Perfect for printing high quality advertising displays, fine art photographic displays and flexible enough to wrap around architectural features. “We cannot wait to show the world the D-Print,” says Innova Art Co-Owner, Mike Ramos-Gonzalez. “The Innova Supernova Sublimation range gives printmakers the opportunity [...]

Visit the Innova Art Booth to Reconnect with Old Favourites and Discover What’s New in the World of Inkjet Media Established in 2011, AFA Expo is hosting its tenth event in Beijing, April 20-22, 2023. Innova Art will join the ranks of more than 300 exhibitors catering to the expected 18,000 or more visitors. AFA Expo 2023 will cover many areas of interest to creatives in the print service industry, including art reproduction and output technology. Innova Art will be taking a stand (H18) at AFA Expo 2023 to demonstrate the wide capabilities of the Innova range of inkjet media. Visitors will be able to get face to face with the ever popular Innova Editions® range. This includes the inkjet versions of two world-famous traditional artists papers: Fabriano Printmaking Rag and Fabriano Artistico Watercolour Rag. AFA Expo 2023 attendees can claim to be there when the next big thing hit the photographic reproduction market: Innova Supernova Chrome will be on show for the first time in China. This dye-sublimation receptive surface is being hailed as the new alternative to C-Prints. Photographers and printmakers who had a sneak preview of the product couldn’t hold back their praise for Innova Supernova Chrome. Now visitors in Beijing will be able to see for themselves; look out for the vibrant colours, sharp details and deep blacks. Also on show will be some of the FibaPrint® digital darkroom surfaces. FibaPrint® is unique to Innova Art and represents the original baryta type surfaces developed for inkjet printing. Each FibaPrint® surface replicates the look and feel of papers found in traditional chemical darkrooms, from matte to gloss, with the convenience of being able to reproduce your images using the latest inkjet printing [...]

Join the Innova Art Team on the IT Supplies Booth (# 2313) and Experience the New Alternative to C-Prints Described at the only place to be for sign, graphics, print and visual communications industry professionals, ISA Expo is returning to Las Vegas this April 12-14. It is a great opportunity to connect with your network, learn from seminars and discover the latest products. One of those new products is Innova Supernova Chrome. Brought to you by the experts in digital fine art media: Innova Art, you know the quality will be incomparable.  Visit IT Supplies on booth #2313 at ISA Expo 2023 to see for yourself. Based in Illinois, IT supplies has been a long term distributor of Innova Art archival inkjet media. They have an expert team with specialist knowledge of print hardware, media and colour management. Members of the Innova Art team will join IT Supplies at ISA Expo 2023 to introduce you to the new alternative to C-Prints.  Innova Supernova Chrome is a dye-sublimation receptive film that can be used across a range of applications from advertising to gallery displays. Utilising dye-sublimation technology, prints can be produced with the crisp detail, vibrant colours and dense blacks traditionally only found in the chemical chromogenic C-Print process. The flexible surface ensures compatibility with a variety of mounting techniques, from laminating onto rigid substrates to wrapping around curves in tricky interiors. Not only does Innova Supernova Chrome give the exceptional quality and flexible application options you need, it also reduces your impact on the environment. In what Innova Art are calling the D-Print process, you will only need a dye-sublimation inkjet printer and a heat press (either calendar or flat bed). No chemical washes. No [...]

Innova Resin Coated Photo Premium Matte 260gsm (IFA-178) has won the Photography News Editor’s Choice Award 2022 This week the team at Photography News magazine announced the winners of their 2022 awards programme. Innova Resin Coated Photo Premium Matte 260gsm scooped the award for Best Inkjet Media: Photographic Finish in the Editor’s Choice category. Awards in this category are chosen by Photography News editor Roger Payne, rather than the general public. “We started this company twenty years ago and have been in this industry a lot longer,” says Innova Art MD, Nevelle Bower. “It is gratifying that even after all this time we are launching products which are instantly recognised as innovations within the inkjet media market. We couldn’t be prouder to receive this Editor’s Choice award from Photography News.”    Launched in May 2022, Innova Resin Coated Photo Premium Matte 260gsm (IFA-178) quickly became a firm favourite amongst a select number of photographers. All because of unique surface which combines the easy handling of resin coated inkjet photo papers with the flat matte finish associated with fine art materials.  The paper is compatible with both pigment and dye based inkjet technology and is supplied in A4-A2 and 8.5x11”-13x19” sheet sizes, in a standard quantity of 50 sheets per pack. An ideal option for at home print makers with small format professional photo printers. For larger production facilities this matte resin coated photo paper is also available on rolls, 17”-60” wide, 30m in length. Visit the where to buy page on the Innova Art website to find a retailer near you. Read the Photography News 2022 awards issue online

The largest event in printing and graphic arts for the American markets was back at full strength in Las Vegas, October 19-21, 2022. At the first Printing United event since 2019, the halls were buzzing with the sounds of a community coming back together, people meeting old friends and new. Standing out in a sea of 701 exhibitors, covering 1 million square feet, is no small challenge. Hundreds of visitors stopped by the Color Management Group stand to see the latest addition to the Innova Art range: Innova Supernova Chrome. Members of the Innova Art team were present on the booth to show the sign industry just how eye-catching fine art media can be. Exhibited for the first time in the USA at Printing United 2022, Innova Supernova Chrome captures colours and brings imagery to life. Superbly demonstrated by the display on the Color Management Group booth, featuring past winners of the Nature’s Best Photography International Awards. Replicating traditional C-prints, the surface of Innova Supernova Chrome is scratch-proof, chemically resistant and can be mounted onto a wide range of rigid substrates. “It was great to speak to visitors from all over North and South America.” says Wayne Connelly, Director of Innova Art. “We were thrilled with the reaction to the quality of the new Innova Supernova Chrome product, and it was exciting to get involved in the impromptu brainstorming sessions about all the possible applications.” The flexibility of the product was the initial spark for a lot of those conversations. Many visitors to the show have calendar heat presses which allows for production transfer of images. Innova Supernova Chrome will lead many of the textile and soft good producers into the high-resolution imaging world without [...]

Innova Art at Salon de la Photo, Paris, 6-9 October 2022 Photographers, professional, amateur, expert and on-the-rise, were delighted to be back at Salon de la Photo, Paris, 6-9 October 2022, and responded enthusiastically to the exciting range of Innova Art products on show. The live experience makes all the difference, said Nicolas Kaplan of Torpedo, the Paris-based retailer of Innova Art products.  “We had a good turnout with a lot of people keen to return to in-person photography events – the last Salon de la Photo was in 2019! The new venue at the Grande Halle de la Villette was well received by both visitors and exhibitors.” Exhibitions allow visitors to explore and uncover the stories behind the products that catch their eye – to discover how maximise their use of the products they know, and to find out about everything that’s new and innovative. “The Innova Editions range received its usual warm reception from French printmakers,” said Nicolas, who also reported strong interest in Innova Art’s new Resin Coated Photo Premium Matte paper. Innova Art’s acclaimed Editions® range includes classic Fabriano art papers reengineered for digital printing while preserving all the traditional virtues of centuries-old fine art papers. The two cotton rag papers in the Editions® range offer subtle surface texture options; both are OBA and lignin-free and comply with the most stringent archival standards. The award-wining Exhibition Photo Baryta offers a genuine digital alternative to traditional Silver Halide printing, while the Exhibition Cotton Gloss paper has been meticulously developed to replicate the aesthetics of the Palladium/Platinum printing techniques.  It’s unsurprising that Innova Art’s Resin Coated Photo Premium Matte paper prompted such excitement among visitors. The paper’s stunning flat matte finish and super-smooth [...]

Innova Art at Printing United Expo, October 19-21 2022, Las Vegas – because innovation never stops The Innova Art team is delighted to be back at Printing United, the show that brings the entire print industry together under one roof to discover what’s next. Because what’s next is Innova Art’s speciality. It’s a company where the innovation never stops. Innova Art, in conjunction with Mid States Graphics, will be on stand C6947 with partner Color Management Group, expert reseller and distributor, at Printing United Expo, Las Vegas, October 19-21 2022. Innova Art will be showing its world-class range of digital paper and canvas – matchless media for timeless artworks – alongside its award-winning image display products. But in 2022, the focus will be scintillating colour – delivered by Innova’s latest innovation: Supernova Chrome. Innova Supernova Chrome is a ground-breaking technological advance that looks set to transform dye sublimation printing, bringing the exceptional image quality of the process to an entirely different print space. Innova Art Director Wayne Connelly says: “Supernova Chrome is the first dye sub media that provides exceptional image quality on a flexible substrate. The material is scratchproof, chemically resistant and can be mounted to any rigid substrate. Unlike rigid materials, images can be transferred using a rotary or calendar press on a production basis.” Innova Supernova changes the core of traditional Cibachrome prints. Using everyday heat transfer technology, images can be encapsulated on dye sublimation-receptive PET film for large-format, hard-wearing exhibition displays. With Innova Supernova Transfer Paper, images can easily be produced on a matte finish, 190gsm alpha cellulose substrate, ready to sublimate onto receptive media. They are more robust than their eco solvent or aqueous equivalents, which means they can be [...]