Harwood King, which specialises in screen and digital wide-format print for independent artists and publishing houses, tripled its flatbed print capacity by installing the Nyala 4 alongside its two existing Canon Arizona 1380GTs.

The team opted for a six-colour hybrid model with white, orange, and varnish channels, and six-inch diameter rolls to better handle the thicker paper stocks demanded by the fine art market.

Capable of up to 206sqm/hr, the Nyala 4 represents a significant jump in print power for Harwood King, which also houses a pair of Canon ImagePrograf 4000 printers. The company took on an extra unit in December to house its screen printing kit, with the factory’s total footprint standing at 830sqm total.

“We had so much work going through the two Arizonas that we decided we either had to buy two more – or get a different kind of printer,” explained Caspar Harwood-King, managing director of the 40-year-old family-run firm.

“We’ve been looking at the SwissQprint for years now, and finally bit the bullet. It has already proven to be the right choice.”

The new machine’s capabilities have immediately impressed, with the Harwood King team now fully up to speed after around a month’s adjustment and a new version of the company’s PrintFactory RIP.

“There was quite a lot of learning to be done. You have your hand held for a couple of days, where they show you around the machine, but like anything else, you really only start to learn it when you operate the machine,” Harwood-King said.

The Nyala 4’s ability to print in relief by building up layers of ink has already proved popular with customers. Harwood King persuaded one large client to hold off for two months while the machine was installed, because the team was so confident it would suit the project.

“When they received the job, they were very relieved that they’d let us do that: we printed a 2-3mm build with gold leaf and high gloss, all on the SwissQprint. Now we’ve had four or five other artists start working with us, based on the quality of the work,” Harwood-King said.

“The big difference is in the orange head. It gives you huge depth, especially in the red tones. We’ve just done a digital proof with gold – it didn’t need any gold leaf, it genuinely looked gold, just because of the strength of that orange.”

Given the demanding requirements of their clients, Harwood-King and team have also found the Nyala 4’s individually-toggled vacuum channels extremely helpful in keeping image quality as sharp as possible.

“We still get some of that misting effect on the ink – but as soon as you turn off that vacuum channel, the ink stops giving the fuzz [effect] where the vacuum holes are. We save so much paper with the SwissQprint: even being able to pause the print halfway through is really good,” he added.

“Our customers look at everything with a microscope, so we’ve got to make sure that it’s all perfect. They reject jobs for having an inconsistent edge, or a speck of dust in the varnish – you have to be fastidious. Some of them might be paying £100-200 for one print, so they want it to be perfect.”

The £1.5m-turnover business has grown rapidly over the past six years thanks to a collaborative approach with clients, with Harwood-King saying he enjoys his work best when the team gets to consult with the artists on how to best represent their work.

“We try to find quite a few grassroots artists: it’s nice to have them come in to see what we can do. They’ll often look at a printing process, and come up with new ideas for their art,” he said.

The new machine has only increased the firm’s appetite to bring in new customers, with Harwood-King confident in the future of the market.

“A lot of the people we work with are starting to feel a bit more positive. Although the SwissQprint costs a lot, it feels like we are going to save quite a lot of money through quick proofing times, for instance. The new year is looking positive – but we’re hungry to get more people in, now we’ve increased our capacity.”

Pete Smallwood, regional sales manager at SwissQprint said: “We know that our customers demand a machine that produces exceptional results. 

“In the fine art print market, the best-in-class Nyala is an ideal fit for Harwood King Printmakers. It produces high quality prints efficiently and sustainably and we are delighted that they are already seeing its impact.”

Harwood King employs 15 at its site in Newhaven, East Sussex.