This company can paint anything on a fingernail using a scanner, computer, monitor and an ink jet printer.
By CHRISTINA K. COSDON
Published May 26, 2003
[Times photos: Scott Keeler]
Wendy Carlston, client specialist at ImagiNail in Largo, displays an American flag design applied to her fingernails.
Wendy Carlston places her hand into the NailJet Pro printer during a demonstration by ImagiNail president and CEO Michael Weber.
Even Mona Lisa could find herself on a fingernail.
LARGO - The fast lane has hit the nail industry. Now anything from pictures of movie stars and African lions to ... well, anything ... can be painted on all 10 fingernails in a little more than five minutes.
The people at ImagiNail, a company new to Largo, have figured out a way to transfer any image onto fingernails.
Here's how it works:
After the natural or artificial nails are manicured, a series of coatings are applied to prepare them.
When the coatings dry, the hand is placed in a tray that holds the fingers in position for decorating and slides into the NailJet Pro printer.
The art can be selected from more than 2,500 ready designs or customers' photos can be scanned into the computer. A monitor shows the images, which can be rotated on the nails, as they will be printed.
The same or different images can be applied to each nail. The computer automatically adjusts the image to fit the size, shape and curvature of each nail and the NailJet Pro machine applies the fingertip artwork.
In the last stage, a top coat is applied to seal and protect the images and add shine.
The cost could be $20 or more for the job.
Depending on the wearer's lifestyle, the images can last up to two weeks or longer.
According to Nails Magazine, nail services for fingers and toes are a $6.4-billion industry and growing. The magazine's statistics show that Florida had 3,516 nail salons and 33,830 licensed nail technicians in 2002 - more than any other state except California, which had more than 90,000 licensed nail technicians.
ImagiNail was established two years ago to go after the fingernail market. Its purpose: to develop a quick, photo-quality, automated fingernail-painting system. The idea for the business was the product of an afternoon of sailing during which Michael Weber of Palm Harbor and his brother, Paul Weber, a Fort Lauderdale dermatological surgeon, tossed around some ideas for ways to use ink jet printers.
The business started in Clearwater and then moved into TechVillage, a nonprofit community formed to nurture cutting-edge technical companies based at the University of Tampa.
TechVillage closed the end of last year; and ImagiNail moved last month into 3,000 square feet at the Young-Rainey Science, Technology and Research Center in Largo.
Company co-founder Michael Weber, 36, is president and chief executive officer, and oversees daily operations. He has a degree in biology and chemistry from Stetson University and a master's in business administration from the University of Florida. His brother also is involved in the company.
The company's chief technical officer, Luis De Silva, Ph.D., is an authority on fiber optics and light. While an associate medical technology program leader at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., he helped develop and market the "smart probe" breast cancer detector.
"We spent the last two years designing and developing the software," said Brad Billings, ImagiNail's director of marketing and communications. The company markets its machines to Tampa Bay area salons and spas. It will move into national and international markets in the next few months, Weber said.
A complete unit weighs 17 to 18 pounds and includes a computer that runs the system, NailJet Pro printer and monitor for viewing and controling the process. The cost is $3,495.
Weber said the first 25 systems will be assembled at its STAR Center home. After that, contractors will be hired to do the work.
A dozen units, purchased by salon owners attending a trade show, will be sent next month to New York and Los Angeles.
The idea for the business was the product of an afternoon of sailing during which Michael Weber of Palm Harbor and his brother, Paul Weber, a Fort Lauderdale dermatological surgeon, tossed around some ideas for ways to use ink jet printers.
Michael Weber said the product is continually being tested and improved.
Future growth, he said, will be in the toenail market.
The ImagiNail experience is faster and cleaner (no paint mixing or changing) and takes less time than air brushing, hand painting and decal techniques, Weber said.
Sue Perkins of Treasure Island, who worked 17 years in the nail and hair business in St. Petersburg, said the NailJet Pro is "a dynamite idea. I can't imagine people not doing this on a regular basis.
"It's quick. You're in and you're out. It's instant gratification."
