Who knew UV printing may very well be this straightforward?

xTool has lengthy been a giant participant within the personalization house, focusing totally on lasers. Eventually, xTool launched some lasers with CMYK inkjet print heads on them. However, earlier this summer season, xTool launched the O1 Omni, its first UV printer, and I’ve spent the previous few months with it. Here’s why I feel the xTool O1 Omni is a whole game-changer for small companies.

8/10

Brand

xTool

Type

UV printer

Color Printing

Yes, CMYKWV

Print high quality

1,200 DPI

The xTool O1 Omni UV printer is likely one of the most unusual UV printers round. It contains a 4-in-1 design, and is available in three completely different fashions. Sporting a single UV head, twin UV head, or a UV + DT head for materials, the xTool O1 Omni is certain to take your small industry manufacturing capabilities to the subsequent degree. 

Pros & Cons

• Easy setup
• Simple but sturdy software program
• Accurate scanner-based positioning
• Versatile materials assist
• Rigid and versatile inks loaded on the identical time
• Integrated printing and laser-cutting workflow

• Print-and-cut settings might be cumbersome
• Designed for pastime work with no industrial improve choices

Price and Availability

The xTool O1 Omni is offered to buy instantly from xTool with pricing beginning at $2,499. You can select from three fashions: a single UV print head, a twin UV print head, and a UV + DT print head.

The single UV print head is simply CMYKW+V (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, inflexible white, varnish). The twin UV print head is CMYKWV + RW/FW/FR/FY (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, inflexible white, varnish, inflexible white, versatile white, fluorescent purple, fluorescent yellow). The UV + DT print head is CMYKWV + CMYKWW (UV: cyan, magenta, yellow, black, inflexible white, varnish + DT: cyan, magenta, yellow, black, white, white).

Accessories, together with the rotary and curler/laminator, may also be bought individually.

8/10

Brand

xTool

Type

UV printer

Color Printing

Yes, CMYKWV

Print high quality

1,200 DPI

Connection

USB, Wi-Fi

UV printing shouldn’t be this straightforward

I used to be up and getting in lower than an hour

I’ve been round UV printing for a number of years now. I by no means owned a UV printer earlier than, however I’ve recognized a number of individuals who have them, and I at all times heard how a lot work they have been.

So, when the xTool O1 Omni arrived, I wasn’t certain what to anticipate. What I skilled was truthfully fairly easy. Take the machine out of the field, insert the inks and waste cartridges, energy it up, and let it run the calibration checks.

There was a little bit extra to it than that, just like the unboxing itself, which required eradicating packaging from the print head, which could be very delicate, and pulling the ink by means of the tubes to purge the strains. But general, the setup was fairly easy.

In about an hour (most likely much less), I used to be absolutely up and working and able to print. Honestly, it stunned me how easy it was general, since I filmed your complete time it was working.

If you have by no means owned a UV printer earlier than, xTool positively made the setup course of fairly easy, and I feel that is precisely the place the O1 Omni excels — making difficult processes easy.

An benefit of getting the twin UV head is that I even have fluorescent purple and yellow inks loaded. These inks fluoresce below blacklight and might add a novel aesthetic to a design. I have not discovered many prints to make use of them in to date with the O1 Omni, however I’m glad to have them if I ever wish to.

One gripe that I do have concerning the O1 Omni is in the way it detects its inks. I’m not alone in experiencing a difficulty the place the ink stops studying and turns into “inadequate” regardless that there’s loads of ink left within the cartridge. However, due to how the machine works, if it thinks that one of many inks is inadequate, then your complete machine stops working to stop injury.

I perceive the reasoning, however there must also be an override. For instance, proper now my machine is telling me that UV-W (the white on the UV1 print head) is inadequate, regardless that I do know it has loads of ink in it. However, I even have the twin UV model, so I’ve the UV2 print head, which has loads of ink within the UV-RW cartridge, which I ought to simply be capable to use.

The scanner takes the guesswork out of placement

xTool actually made this UV printer straightforward to make use of

Not solely was setup straightforward, however printing can be straightforward. Some printers use coordinates-based positioning solely, which means the place you place a graphic within the software program is the place it would print, and also you simply should line it up by eye or with a jig.

xTool went a unique route and makes use of a CIS (contact picture sensor) scanner. It’s basically the identical sort of system a flatbed scanner makes use of and is mounted to the print head itself. Some different UV printers, like the eufyMake E1, use a fowl’s-eye view digicam, which may distort the picture. But a CIS scanner is a flat scan, so what you see within the picture is precisely how the mattress is laid out.

In my testing, the scanner has been very spot-on for positioning, inside lower than 0.5 mm of variance. xTool charges it at ±0.2 mm of accuracy, and I’d say that is pretty spot on. The solely time I actually discover a giant accuracy concern is when UV printing a spherical graphic on a problem coin, since that can present anyformat misalignment.

In regular use, although, UV printing on issues like slate coasters, ornaments, journals, and extra (I’ll speak about what I’ve UV printed on within the subsequent part), the alignment has been unbelievable, and I actually benefit from the CIS scanner module on the Omni.

xTool Studio can be a pleasure to make use of. I’ve used numerous laser software program through the years, and I’ve additionally used one other UV printer since getting the O1 Omni, in addition to a DTF printer a number of years in the past, and xTool Studio is simply so easy to make use of.

The solely workflow that I feel may very well be improved is the print-and-cut, which I’ll additionally speak about in a piece a little bit additional down. But general, the xTool Studio expertise is extraordinarily straightforward, and I like working inside it, particularly for UV printing.

I do additionally wish to level out the print mattress sizes actual fast. The small mattress is 4.8 inches by 13 inches, whereas the massive mattress is 16.5 inches by 13 inches. I’m very pleased that the small mattress is over 4 inches, because the eufyMake E1 is just 3.54 inches.

Why is being over 4 inches such a giant deal? Well, you’ll be able to’t do a 4-inch coaster on a 3.54-inch mattress. So, in case you needed to do any regular measurement of drink coaster on the eufyMake, you’d have to drag out the massive mattress.

However, different corporations, like Morpho, have discovered a solution to make the small mattress a lot much less small. The Morpho UV printer’s small mattress is 8.7 inches by 13 inches, whereas the massive mattress is 16.5 inches by 13 inches. Morpho does this by transferring the UV printer head forwards and backwards as an alternative of transferring the mattress.

I want xTool would have finished this, however no less than they gave us a small mattress that might maintain coasters and different 4-inch objects.

This printer works on principally any materials

Wood, slate, leather-based, acrylic, and extra

Now, what can a UV printer print on? Well, nearly something. I say nearly, since you actually should not print on a mirror (the UV gentle might treatment the printhead’s nozzles), and a few supplies want an adhesion promoter.

Oh, and cloth. If you intend to print on cloth, you do not need UV; you need DT, however xTool has you lined there, as they’ve an O1 Omni model that has a DT head along with UV! But I’m testing the twin UV model on this evaluation.

Outside of mirrors and cloth that must be washed, UV printing principally works on something. So far, I’ve UV printed on: slate, plywood, MDF, leatherette, cardboard, plastic, leather-based, 3D printed components, acrylic, and doubtless extra that I am unable to consider.

The solely time I’ve had adhesion issues was with acrylic, and I did not use an adhesion promoter, which is advisable for acrylic, so it was my fault.

One of the issues I like about UV printing is that it is full-color on any floor. Since it is CMYKW, it could actually print a white layer down after which lay colour on prime, which provides full colour it doesn’t matter what colour floor you are printing on. Of course, it could actually print simply white or black too, and the varnish permits for shiny or matte prime coats as properly.

One of my favourite issues concerning the O1 Omni twin UV model that I’ve is what the second head allows. Normally, with a UV printer, you must select between inflexible and versatile white ink. Rigid white ink cracks when it flexes, and versatile white ink does not have the sturdiness that inflexible white ink does.

xTool contains each sorts of ink in its twin UV model, so there is a easy software program toggle to modify between inflexible and versatile white ink. The eufyMake E1 requires a full white ink swap to get versatile white, and big-name UV printers require much more reconfiguration than that to vary it over.

Sadly, as of the time of scripting this evaluation, you are unable to place versatile white ink into the one UV or UV+DT model of the O1 Omni. So, if you wish to run versatile white ink for issues like leatherette, canvas, or different versatile supplies, then you definitely’ll need the twin UV model.

I run a small personalization industry, and had a buyer attain out a couple of month or so in the past wanting me to laser engrave a journal for her. I could not confirm the fabric the journal was constructed from. It was leather-based, however the tanning course of was unknown, and if it was chrome-tanned or any type of artificial tanning with one thing containing PVC, then it could create chlorine fuel if engraved.

However, I used to be capable of pivot the shopper from engraving a single journal to a a lot bigger order as soon as she came upon I might do full-color printing. So, after exhibiting her the mockup of what the journal would appear like with a print, she ended up getting the journal printed in addition to 12 slate coasters and 12 problem cash.

The UV printer not solely saved the order, as I could not have finished it with a laser, nevertheless it additionally turned a $10 buy into an almost $200 sale.

Print-and-cut made straightforward

You simply have to have a suitable laser

Print-and-cut is a stand-out function of UV printers. Essentially, you UV print onto an merchandise after which laser-cut it out after the actual fact. This requires excessive accuracy, which depends on a laser’s digicam system (otherwise you being superb at lining issues up) to work correctly.

As I’ve the xTool P3, which is an formally supported print-and-cut machine with the O1 Omni in xTool Studio, I used to be capable of check out printing and slicing. I did it for a lot of gadgets.

I used print-and-cut to make pins for The Next Level Maker Conference commerce present the place I used to be a speaker in August, in addition to some items for my YouTube subscribers. I’ve additionally used it to make Christmas ornaments, and I like how these got here out.

Printing and slicing is a very distinctive function that may positively be useful in numerous methods. I attempted doing print-and-cut on some leatherette for hat patches, and that did not go fairly as properly. The drawback got here from the fabric puffing up a little bit within the center, which threw off the peak measurement, so the UV print head was a bit too removed from the fabric in some areas, and the print did not come out nice.

This wasn’t an issue with the printer itself; it did what it was imagined to — measured to the best level and printed at that time to stop a head strike. However, I needed to say it as a result of itgenerally is a drawback. Always have additional materials available that you should utilize in case of a print error, as a result of they positively can occur.

Also, I discussed the print-and-cut workflow might use some work. As it stands on the time of writing, you must begin the print-and-cut workflow individually from creating a brand new undertaking. Then you must arrange all of your settings up entrance earlier than you get to every particular person machine.

I actually want xTool would allow you to do the general design on one web page, mark which machine every graphic is for (the print graphics for the Omni, the laser graphics for the laser of alternative), after which select all the pieces else after that.

Having to make all the choices up entrance will get actually cumbersome. I had it one time the place the setting I selected for the laser portion was mistaken, and I needed to go all the best way again to the primary web page to vary it earlier than I might undergo and do it once more.

My first rotary print went flawlessly

I keep away from rotary tasks on my laser just like the plague. This UV printer is a totally completely different beast

I’m not a fan of rotaries. I like what they will do, however I had a number of dangerous experiences with them early on in my laser journey and have principally averted them since. However, with the O1 Omni, I needed to present the rotary a good shot, and I’m glad I did.

I began out by simply utilizing a junk tumbler I hold round to check with, and it labored properly sufficient. I observed that the white layer wasn’t correctly aligned with the colour, so I did a calibration print, and it got here out unbelievable after that.

Then, I moved on to doing one thing far more troublesome — a spice jar. An area shopper reached out and requested if I might UV print their spice jars, so I made a decision to present it a attempt. Sadly, the UV printer takes too lengthy to make it worthwhile for me to do the jars for them, however the consequence was nothing in need of superb.

The automated system that ranges the jar and scans it labored completely. The alignment was spot-on. The print high quality was unbelievable. I cherished all the pieces about it, and positively plan to do many extra UV prints utilizing the rotary sooner or later.

The xTool O1 Omni is likely one of the best UV printers to make use of in the marketplace proper now, and it has actually made the desktop UV printing house a a lot simpler place for newcomers to enter.

With pricing beginning at $2,499, this is not essentially an inexpensive or low-cost asset placement. The mannequin that I’m reviewing prices practically $4,500. However, in comparison with the $20,000 or $40,000 costs that different UV printer manufacturers like LogoJet or Mimaki run, it is a steal for somebody simply beginning out.

So, if you wish to dip your toes into the UV printing house, I feel the xTool O1 Omni is the perfect UV printer to purchase proper now. The price of entry is low sufficient for a small industry to trial out, and it is even within the realm the place individuals who wish to begin their very own industry might simply get one.

However, in case you’re a full manufacturing store that should run many orders a day, the F1080 print head that’s on the O1 Omni may not be ultimate. It’s positively slower than extra premium print heads, and the O1 Omni is unquestionably geared towards hobbyists or small companies simply beginning out within the UV printing house.

8/10

Brand

xTool

Type

UV printer

Color Printing

Yes, CMYKWV

Print high quality

1,200 DPI

The xTool O1 Omni UV printer is likely one of the most unusual UV printers round. It contains a 4-in-1 design, and is available in three completely different fashions. Sporting a single UV head, twin UV head, or a UV + DT head for materials, the xTool O1 Omni is certain to take your small industry manufacturing capabilities to the subsequent degree.