PCI GrafXGroup

Installing graphics for the City of Boulder's Energy Future Program

2011-05-24T16:43:00.011-06:00

GrafXGroup installation team was out between thunder storms yesterday installing graphics on buildings promoting Boulder's Energy Future program.

Robb Shurr from the city shot this time lapse video of the install on Walnut Street.

Check out the video here

2011-01-14T14:20:00.003-07:00

Master framer, Paul Rosario, displays a framed photograph headed to the David Brookover Gallery in Jackson, WY.

When does a frame become a piece of fine furniture?

When it's crafted that way. -Heirloom Quality-

1) We use only the highest quality moldings from Picture Woods, Roma and Larson Juhl; solid wood moldings not particle wood composites or extruded plastic like used in less expensive frames. Even if a cheap frame looks good at first, six months later you may start to see warping and separation at corners. Quality frames hold their look for decades.

2) We're experts at mounting all types of artwork, from photographs just printed to antique prints and even three dimensional objects. For example, we use PH balanced dry mount adhesives to mount photographs to the sub board rather than taping. Taping's cheaper, but taped prints ripple after a time and look cheap. Dry mounted prints will look beautiful indefinitely. And when work does have to be attached using other means, we use only museum quality materials.

3) From the moment you come in, you are working with experienced print makers as well as framers. Whether we are handling your artwork or making the prints that will be framed, you can feel secure knowing that we have the experience. We'll help you pick out mattes and moldings that compliment your work. We can explain the differences in glass vs. acrylics vs. laminates for displaying and protecting work. We know our materials and we know what works.

What does value like this cost?

Master framer, Paul Rosario, works with you to come up with a frame that speaks to your goals. Every job is quoted individually. There are no off-the-shelf frames or prices. Each job is special,

What's the best printing process for large format graphics.

2010-10-25T14:57:00.009-06:00

With Photo (LightJet), UV Flatbed, and Inkjet to choose from, what's the best printing process to use?

There is no simple answer as to the best printing process to use for a graphic imaging project. It's possible your project may be best accomplished using several processes, which is why it is good to use a company that can provide multiple methods of printing. We are not talking here about different materials to print on, but the printing process that is used. For example, a vinyl banner can be printed using several different methods. It can be printed on a solvent printer, an inkjet printer using aqueous or pigment inks or a printer using UV curable inks. All can look nice but depending on the use, one process may be far superior to others.

Briefly, here are a few of the differences in the processes:

Photo printing using the LightJet 430
Extremely high image quality especially for photographic images.
Long print life. This is a true, silver based, photographic print.
If you are going to frame it and hang it on the wall, this is the process.

UV Flatbed using the Accuity
A UV Flatbed prints directly to rigid substrates, no need to print first and then mount. It saves time and money. It also has an eco-friendliness in that there are less materials used versus printing and mounting.
Image quality is very high and works well with photo elements as well as graphical elements. It is a CMYK printer and works well with pantone colors so designers trying to match other printed pieces will find this a more suitable process.
UV is great for POP and signage. It stands up well outdoors, however it is not great for flexible materials that will be subject to a lot of motion like outdoor banners as the inks are not as flexible as some other processes, such as solvent.
We also use it for printing to acrylic and exotic substrates such as DiBond. It has a number of interesting designer features in that you can lay down a layer of white ink and then print on top of that. We have made some very cool displays using a variety of materials and UV printing.

Solvent Inkjet printing
Printing with solvent inks (we use "low" solvent inks as they are more environmentally friendly) is the best method for printing banners, outdoor wall murals, floor graphics, window graphics, cloth and the vinyls used for vehicle wraps. Image quality is very good and outdoor durability is excellent.

Regular Inkjet printing
Inkjet printing comes in several flavors. Along with solvent, we offer both aqueous (dye based) and archival pigmented inks.
Aqueous inks are very bright and colorful but will not last long especially if subjected to direct sunlight. We typically use the aqueous inkjet printer for making proofs and for quick turn prints that don't need to last.
Archival pigment Inks are used for printing to canvas and fine art papers. This process, sometimes called Giclee printing, is great when you want a "fine art" look and when you want the ultimate in longevity.

You don't have to feel alone when it comes to choosing the best process or materials for your next project, that's part of what you get when you use the GrafXGroup and Photo Craft Imaging. We bring 37 years of quality imaging experience to every job we do. That's why we call it the GrafX Experience,

the GrafX Eperience.....
Impressive Products, Uncommon Quality, Real Service since 1974
.......... are you ready?

GrafXGroup and Photo Craft Imaging go Solar

2010-09-13T20:29:00.008-06:00

In September 2010 GrafXGroup / Photo Craft Imaging finished installing a 46 kilowatt photovoltaic array atop the Photo Craft Building in Boulder, Colorado. The 46 kilowatt system will generate enough electricity to provide for all of the graphics production plus some. This is an environmental statement that your clients will appreciate. Many companies are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint and being able to say all their graphics are produced using renewable energy is something they will like to hear. So, let them know that your production house is a Solar Powered Company.

Check out some shots from the installation.

Picture of the Photo Craft Building shot from across Pearl Parkway showing the full solar array

Photo Craft is going Solar

2010-06-03T17:29:00.005-06:00

The following press release appeared today in the Boulder County Business report.

http://www.bcbr.com/article.asp?id=51886

Ever since we first saw our new building we knew it was prime for Photovoltaic. It's a long skinny building running east-west, which results in a huge south facing roof at just the right angle for PV. But, systems aren't easy to afford, and since we didn't own the building we put the idea aside. When our landlord Lou DellaCava suggested partnering on a system we jumped on it. Fortunately, there are some great incentives for building owners, but without buy-in from the tenants there is no way to pay for it. Being the only tenant meant he only needed buy-in from one.
The production of graphics today, just as photo processing has been forever, requires lots of power. If the 46 Kilowatt solar array performs as expected we hope to provide up to two thirds of our power requirements from the sun.

New Printer! the Fuji Acuity UV Flat Bed

2010-03-22T16:12:00.009-06:00

Well, it was a long time in coming, but we finally installed our first flat bed printer. First we needed to move into our new facility so we would have the room, but even more important we had to wait for the technology to get to a point where we were comfortable that we could produce the image quality we demand.

The printer we picked was the Fuji Acuity. It will print onto rigid materials up to 4 feet by 8 feet, such as foam core, Gator board, Sintra, styrene, clear and frosted acrylics, metals, glass, wood, and coroplast. Actually, almost anything up to 1.75 inches thick, think doors!

Also, the Acuity can print with white ink, which opens a whole world of design possibilities. One of our first jobs was to print large display panels onto 1/2 inch thick acrylic. The customer wanted the background to be clear with blocks of text but there were also pictures that had to look good. The old way would have been to print onto a clear photographic film for the text blocks and photographic paper for the images and then mount onto the acrylic with an optically clear adhesive. You could print the whole thing to clear film but then you would have a transparent look to the pictures or all on photo paper but then you would loose the transparency of the background. With the Acuity we printed everything directly on the acrylic and then printed white ink as a backer only where there was an image. It was beautiful.

Think about other possibilities, with white ink one can use colored substrates. Print white first and then the image on top of the white. Take it a step further and create the image with white as a variable density layer. How about starting with black foam core, Gator or Sintra and print just using white. I've seen some stunning pieces done this way.

The flat bed also presents some interesting "green" angles. First off there is a lot less waste to go in the trash. Since we are not mounting there are no adhesives or release papers being used. There is way less energy used as we don't have to mount. Since the inks are cured instantly there is no out gassing. (Inks have to have a liquid carrier and virtually all carriers have some volatile compounds so if you can cure the ink rather than letting it dry on its own you reduce the release of VOCs.)

Even better, we can turn jobs much faster and pass some of the labor savings on to our clients.

This doesn't mean the end of our 104" wide HP printer or photographic printing on the LightJet 430. There are still plenty of things these systems do better than any other method and we will continue to employ multiple processes so that we can always recommend the right process for the project. Unlike many companies that rely on one type of printing process we know that there is no such thing as a one shoe fits all method.

We look forward to having a lot of fun with the newest tool in our arsenal of great printers.

James Balog speaks in Copenhagen

2009-12-15T09:15:00.002-07:00

Photographer and long time Photo Craft client, James Balog, is speaking at the Climate Change conference in Copenhagen on his Extreme Ice Survey's ongoing photographic documentation of climate change effects on glacial melt.

Read more at the following link.

http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=dabc4054cea8007a75b7fe20c&id=6a607ddca9&e=5e93fd0871

For more information on the Extreme Ice Survey and to see some awesome video footage click the following link

Extreme Ice Survey Web Site

Photo Craft Imaging / Boulder Digital Arts Party

2009-10-18T15:52:00.002-06:00

Photo Craft Imaging (parent company of GrafXGroup) joined forces with Boulder Digital Arts to celebrate BDA's 5th anniversary and Photo Craft's 35th anniversary plus we wanted to break in our new space at 2901 55th St in Boulder.
We got a bit of a write up by the Boulder Reporter including a video. Check it out via the link below:
http://boulderreporter.com/2009/10/digital-artists-and-friends-get-wild-at-bdas-5th-birthday/

Nice artical about GrafXGroup and Photo Craft Imaging in the Boulder County Business Report

2009-10-07T18:28:00.009-06:00

Photo Craft eyes bigger picture with GrafX
By Clayton Moore
September 18, 2009 -- The paint is barely dry on Photo Craft Imaging's brand-new headquarters, but the ink is already flowing at the graphics manufacturer. Armed with better facilities, the company is meeting the new needs of the digital age by diversifying its products and streamlining its processes via a new division, the GrafX Group.
Read the whole article. Click on the link below or copy and paste into your browser
http://bcbr.com/article.asp?id=102156

Visitor Center Lobby Graphics Project for Grand River Dam Authority

2009-09-24T13:32:00.016-06:00

-- Click on any image to view larger and slower --

Kearstin Cowan was the GrafXGroup project manager on this production. Here's what she has to say, "Starting in January of 2009, I had the pleasure of meeting with Lee Buchsbaum of LMB Industrial Photography who was contracted by the Grand River Dam Authority to photograph, design and provide graphics for the visitor center lobby of one of their power plants. The lobby needed a face lift so Lee contacted us, PCI GrafXGroup, to help him orchestrate the production and installation."

"Lee came to us with his design ideas and we discussed all possible options to make his project a success. We worked with him for months narrowing down the ideas for the final design which consisted of seven large panels ranging from 48” x 84” up to 120” x 84”. We used metal frames, light weight substrates and standoff plexi-glass pieces for a modern, 3-dimensional look."

"After producing the graphic panels in our facility in Boulder, Colorado, we dismantled them and on September 18th we drove them to the plant east of Tulsa, Oklahoma, to personally handle the installation. The visitor center lobby was located on the fourth floor of the facility. Due to the size of the panels there was no elevator or stairway that would accommodate bringing them to the fourth floor so we lashed them onto a trailer and hauled them up by crane. From then on the installation was fairly straight forward. The finished display will educate visitors to the area about the Grand River Dam Authority."

For more information on the Grand River Dam Authority see: www.grda.com/

Book Project - 50th Reunion of the Class of 1959, East High School, Denver, Colorado

2009-08-12T10:55:00.007-06:00

This project involved producing 275 copies of a 190 page book with a custom designed hard cover. The client designed the interior book block and submitted it as a PDF. We worked closely with the client and after several iterations, the 190 page book block, which included full Color as well as Black and White photographic images along with text and graphics was printed on our Xerox digital press. The hard cover art was printed on an HP inkjet printer and assembled on site using FastBind and ExactBind equipment.

We are in and running at 2901 55th St.

2009-08-05T09:40:00.003-06:00

The move to 55th St. in Boulder is complete. Come on by!

The new facility is 50% larger than our old facility on Arapahoe Ave. We are expanding our digital press offerings and have already installed a new hard cover binding machine for doing hard cover books up to 12x12 inches. Two large bay doors at the back of the building will allow us to drive even large vehicles inside to complete vehicle wraps. We have expanded our custom framing department as well as our mounting and laminating/finishing area. Come on by for a tour of the new Photo Craft Imaging facility home of the GrafXgroup, Rosario Custom framing and the PC Digital Press.

Trip down memory lane with Roddy MacInnes

2009-07-23T06:32:00.004-06:00

As Photo Craft Imaging, the GrafXGroup, Rossario Custom Framing and PC Digital Press continue the move into our new location at 2901 55th St in Boulder, our good friend and photographer, Roddy MacInnes, takes us on a trip down memory lane from the time when he worked at Photo Craft. I'd love to say that these pictures were not taken too long ago but ...........

Check it out on Roddy's Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019345&id=1273154499

The move to 55th St continues

2009-07-09T10:52:00.005-06:00

Here's a picture of the front of our new facility at 2901 55th St in boulder. We've been working on it for several months and all of the production for Photo Craft Imaging and the GrafXGroup has been moved over. Soon we will move Rossario Custom Framing and the Photo Craft Digital Press operations along with our customer service, sales and administration staff. By July 20th we hope to have all operations at the new location. It's exciting. The new space is really open lending itself flexible productions. We also have two bays with truck high doors so we can do vehicle wraps inside. The current plan is to greatly expand the vehicle wrap, digital press and on-demand book production areas of our business. Below are some pictures of the prodcution area.

The processor end of the LightJet 430. This is the only photo printing process that we moved to the new location. Sorry to say we have processed our last roll of E6 slide film. We still have C41 color negative processing, black & white film processing and photo printing through our partner company Boulder Pro Photo. We are also servicing E6 slide shooters by taking film down to Reed Photo in Denver three times a week.

All the digi designers and front end prodcution is located here.

The mounting and lamination area is super. We have lots of room to move things around. This flexi space is going to make complex and multiple projects do-able. 2500 square feet devoted just to finishing.

More on window graphics

2009-06-16T06:19:00.010-06:00

Seems like window graphics are the current craze. It is a great way to increase visibility and add an artistic look to your building. Our biggest user over the past year has been Sunflower Farmers Markets. Sunflower uses both indoor and outdoor graphics to raise the excitement of their new brand of grocery stores. They use solid PSA vinyl on windows where they want to hide what's behind the window and window perf (perferated vinyl, has lots of little holes in it) where they want you to see a big picture on the outside but from the inside it just looks like you are looking through the window; you can't see that there is anything on the window at all. Check out the pics below for some Sunflower window instalations:

Newton Running window graphics

2009-06-07T15:38:00.018-06:00

A recent project was to help Newton Running become more visible in their new World Headquarters location in Boulder, Colorado. Newton Running makes custom orthopedics for athletes using highly sophisticated measuring and digital technology. At the Running Lab in Boulder, they can literally make a custom fitting athletic shoe while you wait. Their new home is located in the lower level (basement) of a building in downtown Boulder, which has very little exterior exposure. They do, however, have a nice glass entrance way leading immediately to the stairs going down to their facility.

The idea was to create a spectacular, highly artistic graphic covering the entire glassed entrance way, but not to reduce the amount of natural light coming in as that was their only exterior window. The other problem was that the windows to cover, faced south and west with no protection from the elements. In Colorado at 5000+ feet altitude that is a real problem when it comes to preventing graphics from fading.

We used a perforated vinyl that allowed the graphic to be viewed clearly from the outside but from the inside you could see nothing. It just looked like a window. The 65/35 ratio of vinyl to holes resulted in very little light loss and with all the windows covered the perception from inside was like nothing was there at all. For added protection from the elements we covered the graphic with a 3mil thick UV inhibitor incorporated laminate. Below are a couple more shots; one closer up and one taken during the installation of the window graphics.

Learn more about Newton Running at http://newtonrunning.com/

Welcome to the PCI GrafXGroup Blog

2009-06-07T14:20:00.006-06:00

PCI GrafXGroup is the design, production management, and installation team formed by Photo Craft Imaging in 2005 to focus on new and expanding technologies for large format digital printing. We grew out of Photo Craft Imaging (hence PCI), which grew from Photo Craft Laboratories, which started in 1974 as a custom photo processing lab. We became involved in digital imaging in 1989 with scanning and slide services. By 1991 we had installed one of the earliest wide format direct digital printers in the country allowing us to print directly from digital files to paper 50 inches wide by virtually any length. From those early frontier days of digital imaging we have added design and installation services to create a one-stop shop for those looking for trade show booths and graphics, banners and banner stands, creative interior displays, high quality photographic art prints and giclee, custom framing and display hardware, and so much more. Recently, GrafXGroup installed the first of what we hope to be several new digital presses for doing on-demand books and greeting cards as well as full color flyers, brochures, postcards, business cards and other commercial printing. Digital presses are taking over from the offset presses for short run, fast turnaround and small volume printing jobs. Combined with extremely high quality makes these types of printing presses ideal for the type of work and customers GrafXGroup seeks to cultivate.

In this blog we hope to highlight new advances in services and products; maybe stimulate your imagination when it comes time for your next graphics intensive project whether that be a banner stand for a weekend seminar, a pop up trade show booth, an advertising campaign at the airport needing large backlit transparencies, or just something simple like covering an entire building.