White Ink Wall Printer for Dark Walls, Glass and Coloured Paint
A white ink wall printer lays a layer of white beneath the colour image, so the same artwork goes onto charcoal paint, brand-coloured walls and coated glass as well as onto white walls. All four series from WallPrintJet, MAXWAVE's wall printer brand, are available with CMYK + W.
Built for new wall printing businesses that want to say yes to dark-wall jobs, sign and print companies, mural studios, and owners moving up to a machine that prints white.
Illustration: the same artwork on the same dark wall, with and without the white layer beneath it.
Surfaces printed by MAXWAVE wall printers
Blue-grey painted wall
Yellow painted wall
Glass pane
Black acrylic board
Red brick
Metal shutter
Two ink setups
CMYK or CMYK + W: White Ink Wall Printer Setups
Every machine prints with wall UV ink, cured by the LED UV lamp as it prints. The only choice is whether a white channel sits beside cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
CMYK
Prints the colour image directly onto the wall. On white and light walls, the wall itself acts as the white behind the image.
Channels
Cyan, magenta, yellow, black
Suits
White and light painted walls
CMYK + W white channel
Adds a white ink channel. The machine lays down a white base layer and prints the colour image on top of it, so the same artwork goes onto a dark wall, a coloured wall or a sheet of glass.
Channels
Cyan, magenta, yellow, black and white
Suits
Dark walls, coloured walls, glass, plus everything CMYK prints
Ink setup by surface
Surface
Ink setup
Before printing
White and light painted walls
CMYK
Sample patch on new materials
Dark painted walls, dark brick
CMYK + W, white underbase
Sample patch on the wall
Coloured painted walls
CMYK + W, white underbase
Sample patch on the wall
Glass and other smooth surfaces
CMYK + W, white underbase
Matching coating, then a sample patch
How white works
The White Underbase Sits Beneath the Colour Image
On a dark wall, colour ink would otherwise sit directly on the dark paint. With the underbase, it sits on white. That is the whole job of the white channel, and it is why CMYK + W is the setup for dark and coloured surfaces.
Diagram, not to scale: the white layer sits between the wall and the colour image.
White under colour
The white layer is printed under the image, not on top of it, so the colours read as they do on a white wall.
More ink, more time
A white underbase uses more ink than a CMYK print of the same area and adds print time. The wall colour and the image decide how much, so print a sample patch on each new wall.
A lesson of its own
Printing white and colour together has a dedicated lesson in the video library, learned with the rest of the daily routine.
GP200 ink tank caps: W, Y, M, W, K, C.
On a white wall, the wall is the white behind the image.
The main reason to order white
Dark Walls and Dark Brick
Dark painted walls are the main reason buyers order CMYK + W. Feature walls in restaurants, bars, gyms, shops and offices are printed with the white underbase beneath the image.
Charcoal
Navy
Black
Deep green
Sample patch
Print a small section of the artwork in a corner or low area of the wall. Check the colour against the file and the client's expectations before committing to the full wall.
Positioning
Line up the print area as on any other wall. On the GP200, red-light and digital positioning place the image.
Print
The machine lays the white underbase and the colour image, and the LED UV lamp cures the ink as it prints. On dark brick, the dual ultrasonic sensors follow surface relief up to 1.5 cm.
Dark-wall jobs use more ink and more print time than the same image on a white wall, as set out in the print time section below.
The finish is UV-cured, water- and UV-resistant.
Durability on a given wall depends on the paint, the surface condition and the application. The sample patch is your first check.
Brick: relief followed up to 1.5 cm.
Blue-grey painted wall, lamp curing on the right.
Brand colours and painted rooms
Coloured Painted Walls Carry a Full Image
Coloured walls take the same CMYK + W approach as dark walls. A brand-colour wall in a shop, a painted classroom wall or a coloured office corridor can carry a full image when the white underbase goes down first.
Yellow wall
Portrait and handwritten lettering
Yellow wall
Road maze artwork across the wall
Yellow, grey, pink blocks
One print running across three wall colours
Green band wall
Alphabet above a painted green band
Brand-colour walls stay on your price list
If your clients repaint walls in their brand colours, or you plan to sell printing on walls that are already painted, CMYK + W keeps those jobs open. Send photos of the wall colours you see most often with your quotation request.
Each wall colour is a different starting point
Red, blue or yellow: each wall colour is a different base for the same artwork.
Print a patch of the colours that matter most in the artwork, such as brand colours and skin tones.
Compare the patch with the file before the full wall, and show it to the client.
Ink does not key into glass the way it does into a painted wall. Without the coating, the print can come off the surface over time, so smooth surfaces take one extra step before printing.
Coating
Wipe the surface with the matching coating before you print. The coating is supplied as a consumable and ordered with your ink.
White underbase
On clear or tinted glass, the white underbase gives the colour image a base to sit on instead of the view behind the glass.
Sample patch
Print a test section on the coated surface and check it before the full job, as on any new material.
The same step on tile, ceramic, acrylic and metal
Tile, ceramic, metal and the other smooth materials the machines print on take the same coating step.
List the glass and smooth surfaces in your enquiry, and the coating is quoted with the white ink setup.
Dark, coloured or glass
Send Photos of the Walls You Want to Print in White and Colour
Photograph the dark walls, the coloured walls and the glass you expect to take on, with a rough width and height for each. The reply names the series, the printhead setup and the ink setup for that work on one quotation.
White ink is made with a heavy white pigment. Left standing, the pigment settles. The machines keep the white moving, and stirring is part of the ink system on all four series.
Illustration of white pigment in the ink, not to scale.
Settled white ink prints unevenly, giving patchy white coverage under the colour.
Settled pigment also raises the risk of a clogged printhead.
A clogged printhead on a job means stopped work on site.
On a multi-day job, where every band on a dark wall carries a white underbase, the stirring keeps the white mixed in the system through the job. The low-ink alarm warns you before a colour runs out, white included.
End of the working day
Overnight and Daily Care for White Ink
White ink adds care steps at the end of each working day, and the machines are built for them. How the printheads stay moist overnight depends on the printhead type.
DX10
Electric ink suction caps the printhead
Finish the last band of the day.
The electric ink suction tool draws ink and caps the printhead.
Print again the next day.
DX7I1600I3200
Moisturise by hand with the video lesson
Finish the last band of the day.
Moisturise the printheads by hand, following the video lesson.
Clean as the lesson shows before the next job.
What every machine ships with
Moisturising liquid, cleaning liquid, an electric ink suction unit, ink bags and a manual ink syringe; refills come with your ink orders from Ink and Parts. The full care routine is on Consumables and Maintenance.
Ink and printhead connectors are not covered by the 2-year machine warranty, so daily care is the part of running a white ink machine that sits with you.
Electric ink suction unit
Moisturising liquid
Cleaning liquid
Manual ink syringe
Four series, one choice of ink
White Ink Wall Printer Setups on Each of the Four Series
All four series are offered with CMYK or CMYK + W. Pick the series by how you work, then add white.
GP200Fine detail on dark feature walls, moved from site to site.
GP200BA dark wall and a printed floor on the same visit.
UP200Long dark walls printed over several days.
UP200PColoured and dark walls inside finished interiors.
Heights, weights and transport for each series are compared on the Wall Printers page.
Per square metre
Print Time and Ink Cost, Then Add the White
Rated print speed is 8 m²/h in standard mode and 5 m²/h in high-resolution mode. Here is how a standard print area adds up before white.
15 m²2.5 m × 6 m standard print area
2 hAbout 2 hours at 8 m²/h, about 3 hours at 5 m²/h
$6About $6 of ink: 15 × $0.40 per m², CMYK, standard mode
15 m² ÷ 8 m²/h = about 2 h · 15 m² ÷ 5 m²/h = about 3 h · 15 m² × $0.40 = about $6 of ink (about 2 ml per m²)
These figures do not include setup, surface preparation or the white underbase. A white underbase on a dark or coloured wall uses more ink per square metre, and full-coverage images use more again.
Standard mode
High resolution
CMYK print time on 15 m²
Added by the white underbase: confirm on your wall with the sample patch
Build that time into your quotation to the client.
Full-coverage artwork on a dark wall takes the most white.
Configuration
Ink Setup Fixed at Quotation
The ink setup is part of the machine configuration. It is fixed per machine at the quotation, together with the series and the printhead setup, and written on the quotation you receive.
Quotation · machine configuration
Series
Chosen for how you work
Printhead setup
Type and number fitted
Ink setup
CMYK + W
Certificate set
For this configuration
Coating
Added when glass or smooth surfaces are listed
Your enquiry lists dark walls, coloured walls or glass→CMYK + W
You plan only white and light walls→CMYK
You expect dark-wall jobs later as the business grows→Say so now: white from the start
Already own a wall printer from WallPrintJet and want to print with white ink? Send your series and printhead setup, and the reply covers what is possible for your machine.
The certificate set for your configuration comes with the quotation; the CE certificates list the model codes they cover.
CE · EMC Directive
HT22DC-0511882
CE · Machinery Directive
B-S210637248
Also in the set: attestation of conformity M.2023.206.C83822 and SGS report GZHL2303007145OT. The MSDS for the UV ink is available on request.
Files and software
Artwork Files for White Ink Jobs
Artwork for white ink jobs follows the same file rules as any wall print. How the white layer is set up for a job is part of the white-and-colour workflow covered in training and in the video lesson.
300 dpiAt least, at the printed size
CMYKColour mode of the file
4 formatsTIFF, PDF, JPEG or PNG
Control software
BetterPrint, with the Ultraprint RIP applying ICC colour profiles
Also supported
Maintop
Out of the box
Pre-installed and calibrated on every machine before it leaves the factory
Print control software on the machine's touchscreen.
Training and after-sales
Training and Support for White Ink Printing
Remote training covers printing white and colour together alongside the machine, the software and daily care. The full training and after-sales plan is on Training and Support.
Video library
White and colour together
Printhead replacement
Moisturising
Cleaning
Red-light positioning
Routine maintenance and part replacement
When a white print looks wrong
Send a photo or video of the machine and of the print on WhatsApp or by email.
After-sales engineers guide you online through the fix: a printhead to clean, a care step to repeat or a part to replace.
Order ink, coating, care liquids and spare parts through the same contact.
2 years
Machine warranty from the date of purchase
31 days
Report a defect within 31 days of finding it
1 contact
Every request goes to WallPrintJet, which handles it with the MAXWAVE factory team
Your enquiry
Six Details for a CMYK + W Machine Quotation
Send these and the reply names the series, the printhead and the ink setup on one quotation.
Wall photos
The dark, coloured and light walls you plan to print, with their approximate width and height.
Wall colours
The colours you see most often on your jobs.
Surfaces
Painted wall, brick, glass, tile, wood or metal, so the coating is included where needed.
Series
The series you are considering, or how you will move the machine between sites.
Printhead
Your preferred printhead, or your expected job volume.
Artwork
A sample file, if you have one.
CMYK + W quotation
Get a White Ink Wall Printer Quotation
Tell us the walls you print, their colours and the surfaces. The quotation names the series, the printhead setup and the ink setup.
What happens next
Your details reach the sales team the moment you press send.
The reply names the series, the printhead setup and the ink setup for your walls.
The certificate set for that configuration comes with the quotation.
