中文Currie Group had the 1.6m-wide Canon Colorado 5MW on its stand at Visual Impact, and used the event to demonstrate the new Colorado XL, a 3.4m hybrid graphics production printer series. The stand offered a focused technology overview and samples of the hybrid printer, which, like the M series, uses UVgel inks capable of printing gloss, matte and spot UV in a single, instantly drying pass. The XL extends a proven platform into a width that opens an altogether larger class of work.
Paul Whitehead, business unit manager – Sign and Display at Currie Group, said: “The Canon Colorado has earned its reputation as a ‘Business in a Box’ because it gives printers the ability to produce a broad range of applications from a single platform. From signage and wall graphics through to labels, decals, window graphics and premium interior decor, the Colorado opens the door to new revenue streams without adding complexity.” The “Business in a Box” label is the strategic claim: one machine, many applications, minimal operational overhead – the proposition that has driven UVgel’s adoption in the mid-market.
There are four models in the M range, and print businesses can upgrade on the same machine, even for a limited time – for instance, a busy three-month period can be covered by a three-month license to run the printer at an upgraded faster speed. That flexible licensing is a shrewd answer to the feast-and-famine rhythm of wide-format work, letting a shop borrow capacity for a peak without buying it for the year.
As demand for higher productivity and broader application capability grows across the large-format sector, Currie Group has expanded its Canon Production Printing portfolio in ANZ with the Colorado XL-series. Powered by UVgel technology, the XL brings 3.4m high-speed production together with hybrid flexibility, enabling both flexible and rigid applications on a single platform – the combination that lets a business take a job it might otherwise have outsourced.
According to Canon, the XL delivers instantly dry, durable output with consistent colour and the ability to produce matte, gloss or combined finishes in a single pass, all within a modular system designed to scale as production demands grow. Whitehead says the expansion reflects the momentum seen with the Colorado platform across ANZ. “Customer adoption, application diversity, and the commercial outcomes being achieved with UVgel technology have all contributed to strong growth in the category,” he told Print21, framing the XL as a natural progression rather than a departure.
The ability to transition between flexible and rigid within a single production environment gives businesses greater agility and better equipment utilization, creating opportunities to take on work that may previously have been outsourced or inaccessible. “One of the strengths of the Colorado XL-series is its versatility,” says Whitehead. “It opens opportunities across retail graphics, signage, interior decor, packaging, POS display, soft signage, and specialized applications where finish quality and production flexibility matter.” Packaging here means short-run, display and prototype work rather than primary packaging, but it is a meaningful new addressable segment for a wide-format shop.
What continues to differentiate UVgel in real-world production, Whitehead argues, is the balance it achieves between quality, productivity, durability and operational efficiency. “The instantly dry output changes workflow dynamics significantly. It reduces waiting times, handling delays and bottlenecks, which becomes increasingly important in high-throughput environments,” he explains. UVgel also delivers very consistent colour and durable output while operating at lower temperatures than many alternative technologies, opening opportunities across more sensitive substrates.
For ANZ print providers, the pitch is consolidation: one hybrid platform that absorbs rigid and flexible work, scales by license, and is backed by local service and applications knowledge. The Colorado XL-series fits Currie Group’s long-standing approach of bringing technologies to market that create genuine commercial opportunities, supported by workflow integration rather than a box alone. If the 3.4m width converts the outsourced rigid jobs sitting on ANZ shop floors, the XL will have done its job.
Source: Print21 – “VI: Currie Group highlights hybrid Colorado XL” by Wayne Robinson (30 September 2026).
The 3.4m width is the headline because it moves the Colorado from a versatile mid-format machine into the rigid-substrate territory that has historically belonged to flatbed specialists, letting a single hybrid platform absorb both the roll work and the board work a sign shop quotes. For Currie Group, the XL also deepens its Canon Production Printing franchise in ANZ at a moment when large-format buyers want fewer, more capable machines backed by local applications knowledge rather than a rack of single-purpose devices. Whitehead’s repeated emphasis on consistency, reliability and flexibility is the argument that wins the conservative buyer, and the license-based speed upgrade meets the reality that wide-format demand spikes around retail and election cycles. If the XL converts the outsourced rigid jobs sitting on ANZ floors, it will have justified the wider bed.
