The German company wallPen has been offering direct printing on walls for several years. This allows not only logos but also all other types of drawings to be realised cost-effectively and quickly. By Sabine Slaughter
Paintings on houses, inside and outside, are a tradition not only in Austria and are admired all over the world. For a long time, not to say until a few years ago, this was only possible by hand. Small and large works of art were created and applied to the walls of houses by specialised painters.
wallPen now offers an alternative: drawings and paintings, as well as logos, can be digitally printed and applied to almost any wall surface. These include concrete and clinker, glass, metal and plastic as well as plaster, wallpaper, wood, brick and stone. The printer for this was developed and built by the company itself. The software was also developed in-house and is thus a product from Germany.
The wallPen requires a minimum height of 1.70 metres and can be extended to a maximum printing height of four metres. The printing width is unlimited, but of course, in the interior, side walls and the distance to them must be taken into account. The printing is done with UV ink and the curing is direct, so the print image is dry and scratch-resistant immediately after application. wallPen guarantees a colour fastness of 12 years indoors, for outdoors there is a guarantee of two years which can be extended to more than five years by applying a transparent UV varnish. The drop-on-demand technology prints with process colours (CMYK), whereby each colour is assigned its own print head.
Speed is between 1.2 and 14 square metres per hour, depending on quality and resolution. The print resolution is between 300 and 1,200 dots per inch. Uneven floors can be compensated for thanks to levelling in the rear axis. Optional rails are available so that floor unevenness does not affect the print image. Wall unevenness up to 10 centimetres is detected by the built-in laser sensors. The scanning system ensures that the print is of high quality, true to colour and detailed despite unevenness.
In addition to the purchase of the wall printer, the company also offers time-limited rental contracts, whereby trained personnel are also provided.