Why We Chose wallPen for Wall Printing in the UAE: Our Experience on Site
When we print a wall, we work inside someone else's property, often with the client watching. This is our own account of why we chose the wallPen E2 for that job, and what we weighed beyond the purchase price.
The short answer
We chose the wallPen E2 for one main reason. Wall printing happens inside someone else's property, and we wanted a machine we could bring into that space with confidence.
It is developed and manufactured in Germany. It travels in an organised way. The operator controls it from a separate tablet. And it reads the wall with a laser while it prints.
This is our own account, as the people who own and operate the machine. It is not an independent review. Sun Studio belongs to the same Dubai group as PRO TECHnology, which is wallPen's authorised distributor in the Middle East and supplied our machine. Please read what follows with that in mind.
We print in your space, not ours
When we print a wall, we bring our equipment into someone else's home, office, clinic or shop. The client often watches. Partly that is because the process is interesting. Mostly it is because they care about the wall.
During office hours there may be employees around, or an engineer who is responsible for the site. On a weekend installation the owner may come in, or send someone to represent them. Quite often the space has to be ready to open the next morning.
A technical interruption that looks manageable to an experienced printer can feel worrying to a client. It is their wall, their premises and their opening schedule. We feel that pressure too, and we think it is fair.
So our aim is a process that is organised, controlled and reassuring. For us, professionalism means preparation, clean equipment, clear communication and knowing how to respond when something needs attention. It does not mean hiding a problem. If something needs attention we say so, explain what we are doing, and carry on.
This is different from the work we do in our Al Quoz studio. On a UV flatbed we can inspect the material, run a test on matching stock and check the result in our own space before anything is delivered. A wall gives us no rehearsal on the day. The print goes onto the customer's actual wall, in front of them. The care has to come earlier: the site visit, the surface check, the artwork prepared at final size, and a machine we trust.
A finished wall keeps talking
A printed wall becomes part of a client's home or business. Visitors ask who printed it, in the same way they ask who designed the interior or supplied a piece of furniture.
That is why we care about the day the client remembers, as well as the wall they keep. A smooth installation gives them one more reason to mention us. This is simply how we see our business. We have not measured it, and we are not going to put a number on it.
Why we chose wallPen
Seven things decided it for us. Each one is here because of what it changes on a client's site.
It looks and feels like professional equipment
We like the appearance, the finish and the solid feel of the machine. It looks professional in a client's space, and our team is comfortable bringing it on site. That is our judgement, and we know its limits. Appearance alone proves nothing about reliability or print quality.
wallPen states that the machine is developed and manufactured in Germany, at its facility in Wissen. We repeat that as the maker's statement about the machine, not as a claim about where every part inside it comes from.
It travels and sets up in an organised way
Before we chose wallPen we looked at other machines. With the ones we assessed, the weight, the bags and the way they had to be handled did not suit the workflow we wanted. That is a statement about the options we looked at, not about every machine on the market.
wallPen lists a six-piece transport bag system for the E2. Our own transport setup keeps each part protected and in its place, so unpacking on site is a routine and not a puzzle.
The controls stay with the operator
The E2 is operated wirelessly from a tablet. wallPen supplies an Android tablet with the machine and lists its app for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.
This mattered to us more than it sounds. The operator can stand back, watch the whole wall and the machine together, and still have the controls in hand. Some of the alternatives we considered had their controls mounted on the moving machine. That was our experience with those options. It is not a rule about printers from any one country.
It does not mean we leave the machine alone. The tablet connects over Wi-Fi, in the same room. Someone from our team stays with the print from start to finish.
The software is clear enough to teach
We find the interface clear and straightforward. The steps follow the order of the job, which helps colleagues understand the workflow and makes training easier to follow.
Clear software does not replace training. wallPen includes two days of training and certification for two people with the machine. A wall job still needs artwork preparation, an assessment of the surface and supervision on the day.
A laser reads the wall as it prints
A laser sensor measures the distance to the wall as the machine travels, and the printhead moves in and out to keep its distance from the surface.
wallPen states that this compensates for wall irregularities of up to 10 cm. That figure describes how far the head can follow the wall. It is not the depth of texture that can be printed. For texture, the maker gives a workable surface contour depth of about 10 mm. A gently uneven plastered wall is normal work. A deeply raked brick wall needs to be looked at first, and it may not suit.
We have not personally seen the same arrangement on the other machines we assessed. That does not prove that no other manufacturer offers one.
Settings chosen for the job
The software lets us choose the resolution and the print settings for the artwork and the finish we want. wallPen lists resolutions from 300 to 1,200 dpi, and says prints are normally rasterised at 600 x 720 dpi.
A higher setting is not automatically better. The result depends on the artwork, the wall, the ink layers, the settings and the preparation together. Small text and fine line work ask for different choices than a soft photographic mural.
White ink, wall size and knowing the limits
Our machine is configured with white ink, which wallPen offers as an option alongside cyan, magenta, yellow and black. White matters on dark and coloured walls, because the process colours are transparent and need a light base under them to read properly. That is a colour and opacity function. It has nothing to do with how the machine follows a surface.
On size, wallPen gives a maximum print height of 4 metres and no limit on width. There are margins the machine cannot reach: about 25 cm at the top and at the bottom, 6 cm on the left and 10 cm on the right. In practice, access along the wall decides as much as the machine does.
Curved and textured walls are a question for a site visit, not a promise. We look at the geometry, the access, the condition of the surface and the limits of the machine, and we say no when a wall does not suit.
None of this guarantees a flawless first attempt. Good equipment supports a controlled way of working. It does not replace preparation, or the judgement of the person operating it.
What we considered beyond what it costs
A lower price is a fair reason to choose a machine. Manufacturers differ widely, in China as everywhere else, and we did not test every brand. We are not going to grade machines we have never owned.
What we can share is the list we used, and why each item matters once we are on site.
| What we looked at | Why it matters on a client's site |
|---|---|
| Transport and packing | Each part is protected and carried by hand, so arriving and setting up looks calm and orderly. |
| A separate tablet | The operator stands back, sees the whole wall and keeps the controls in hand. |
| Clear software | Colleagues can follow the workflow, and training is easier to repeat. |
| Laser distance sensing | The printhead follows the normal unevenness of a finished wall, within the maker's limits. |
| Selectable print settings | Small text, line work and photographs each get settings that suit them. |
| White ink | Dark and coloured walls become possible, after we have assessed them. |
| Training and local support | Two trained operators, and a supplier in the same city as our studio. |
| Presentation | Equipment that looks at home in a finished interior. |
Support was part of the decision too. Our machine came through PRO TECHnology's wallPen team in Dubai. They are in the same group as us, so we are not neutral on this point. What we can say is that having the supplier, the inks and the training in the same city matters when you run the machine for clients every week.
Across the UAE, the same approach
Our studio is in Al Quoz, Dubai, and the machine travels to the wall. We have printed in Dubai and in Abu Dhabi, including the Body Abs gym in Abu Dhabi, and we take wall jobs across the UAE, from Sharjah and Ajman to Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Al Ain.
The approach does not change with the emirate. We start with a site visit or clear photographs of the wall, agree the artwork at its final size, and plan the day on site around the people who use the space.
If you want a wall printed, or a machine of your own
If you want a wall printed, start with our wall printing service, or send us the wall and the artwork. We have written separately about how direct-to-wall printing works, what a printed wall costs per square metre and how it compares with wallpaper and vinyl, so we have kept those subjects short here.
If you are thinking about buying a wall printer, speak to PRO TECHnology, which supplies and supports wallPen in the Middle East. Our own view of the numbers is in wallPen price and return on investment in the UAE. Remember that we are part of the same group, and ask to see the machine working before you decide.
Common questions
Is this an independent wallPen review?
Which wallPen does Sun Studio use?
Can the wallPen print on uneven or textured walls?
How high and how wide can it print?
Do you print walls outside Dubai?
We chose this machine for the way it lets us work in your space. If you have a wall in mind anywhere in the UAE, send us a photograph and the artwork at info@sunstudio.ae.
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لماذا اخترنا wallPen للطباعة على الجدران في الإمارات
نطبع الجدران داخل ممتلكات عملائنا في دبي وأبوظبي وبقية إمارات الدولة، وغالباً بحضور العميل نفسه. اخترنا طابعة wallPen E2 الألمانية لأنها تُنقل وتُجهَّز بطريقة منظمة، ويتحكم بها المشغّل من جهاز لوحي منفصل، وتقرأ استواء الجدار بالليزر أثناء الطباعة، مع حبر أبيض للجدران الداكنة. هذه تجربتنا كمالكين ومشغّلين للجهاز وليست مراجعة مستقلة، فصن ستوديو جزء من المجموعة نفسها التي تضم PRO TECHnology، الموزع المعتمد لـ wallPen في الشرق الأوسط.
طباعة مباشرة على الجدران · طابعة الجدران wallPen · طباعة جدران في الإمارات · دبي · أبوظبي · الشارقة