kdw75,
If you've got an Epson 9900, and you're using it to produce banners, the client is happy, and you're making money, then more power to you both.
However, what I do for a living is large-format printer color workflow management -- which obviously includes at its core machine profiling -- I've been in business for nine years, I have clients worldwide, and I've seen just about every combination of printer/RIP/media there is out there.
So I can say with a pretty good amount of certainty a few things:
First is that none of my customers put any kind of a finish on solvent-printed banners. There's no need. True, anything will fade if left outdoors long enough, but laminate won't help that. Typically solvent printers laminate vehicle-wraps and floor graphics and the like to protect the surface from abrasion, not from UV light.
Second is that to say your 9900 has some inherent gamut advantage over solvent just because it's an aqueous machine is inaccurate. Overall gamut is a function of many factors, and your 9900 does have an advantage over most solvent printers in that it has orange and green in its inkset. However, frankly, no one producing banners ever gave a damn about green. That's why Epson took the green out of the inkset of their new solvent Sure Color. They had green in the old GS6000, and it fired so infrequently that the pigment would settle out in the cartridges, and that wound up being a wasted slot.
I used to tell people Epson should replace the green with light black -- which is exactly what they did in the Sure Color, however I'm still waiting on my consultant's fee check.
So, basically, as far as gamut-size goes, yes, you have orange in your inkset, so if you're printing banners for Home Depot, or Garden Ridge, you just might have a gamut advantage over a typical solvent printer. Otherwise, in the real world, you don't. And you do not have any advantage over solvent just by the nature of being aqueous. Also, of course, the 9600 has no green or orange; it's CMYKcm. And comparable material for material, it has no inherent gamut-size advantage over solvent. That's all in the material, and in the profile.
Now that doesn't mean you didn't beat out some competitor that had a solvent printer and just didn't print very well with it. However, unless the "roll-up banners" you're describing need to be very near fine-art quality -- and by which I mean at close-in viewing distance you cannot see dots -- then there's no reason, properly profiled and set up, that any one of several solvent printers currently on the market couldn't do them just as well as you, and probably for about half the cost. And if I was you, I wouldn't just toss that off lightly; one day someone is likely to walk into your client with just such a scenario, and when that day happens, they're going to walk out with the job.
Third is that every machine has a rated top speed of some ridiculous number that yes, it will technically run that fast, but no one ever runs it at that speed because what comes off of it at that speed it not sellable.
The 9900 is no different. I've profiled over a dozen 9900's since the machine came out. I love it. It's a great aqueous printer. But I've never had anyone ask me to profile one at anywhere near the settings that would get 440 square feet/hour. If that kind of quality is all you're after, you hardly need a machine with the 9900's capabilities to get it. And if you want to tell me you're running your machine at anywhere near that speed to get these banners you're selling, well, I'll buy my own plane ticket to come to wherever you are to watch.
Fourth is that what the OP asked is if he can use that ancient Epson to print banners.
And the short answer is that no, he can't. Not and make any money.
You may love aqueous. I do too. But outdoor is not its niche. And to tell the guy he has even a ghost of chance at this, is, I think, a real disservice to him.
Mike Adams
Correct Color
