The latest digital color printing technology

Today, digital press technology is developing very rapidly. Many new models are configured for spot color or offset printing, which greatly expands the range of on-demand color printing applications.

The printing industry giant Xerox has always been known for releasing the latest digital printing technology. Remember that their digital press was surrounded by people at Graph Expo in October? That's amazing. The National Printing Leadership Association of the United States stated in its industry report in 2006: “Digital printing is creating one or another exciting miracle.” The association found that 75% of all companies surveyed have Digital presses are used as the main body of production: these presses are capable of producing continuous variable data content: this service will not be the fastest growing area in the next few years.

The PIA/GATF expects this year's digital printing job to grow by 4.2%, and 2006 will be called the "digital printing year." When people realized the benefits of digital printing technology, the number of members of the Digital Printing Committee increased by three times. Michael Makin, chief executive of the Digital Printing Committee, said: "Most of our members are very interested in digital sound and often research this technology. We have been keeping a close watch on its development trend." In 2007, figures The basic structure of the printing committee will make some adjustments so that all members will benefit from the new management model.

In general, the increase in color production quality and all the digital presses exhibited at this year's show have proven us that print quality is no longer an obstacle. The cooperative relationship between the integrated workflow and the manufacturer enables digital presses to find their place in the offset printing plant. Equipment manufacturers are also constantly striving to reduce the cost of the product, such as xpedx's pay-per-click product JJ Bender for high-speed printers such as iGen3s and NexPresses.

The latest digital printing machine
The core of digital press development is the compatibility between the equipment and toner. The so-called “carbon powder” is digital printing ink. The significant increase in toner production has been reflected in the expansion of Toshiba’s toner production facility in Mitchell, which has tripled the number of employees and doubled the size of its plant area to 100,000 square feet. . This year, Toshiba will also invest US$15 million to increase the production capacity of color toners, and it will also become Japan's only OEM manufacturer of color toner in the United States.

All in all, judging whether a carbon powder is conventional or chemical depends mainly on its mode of production. Mixing plastics, colorants, and additives together and then making these materials into fine powders is the way traditional carbon powders are made. People can also make these powders in different sizes and shapes as needed. The chemically produced toner particles are relatively small and relatively uniform.

IBM enters the inkjet market
IBM's IBM Infoprint color technology demo at Graph Expo showed us how to use inkjet printers to print color twin pages on a 20.4-inch wide web.

Canon produced S carbon powder through a product called Suspension Polymerization.

Konica Minolta's Simitri HD toner and Xerox's EA toner use emulsion polymerization technology. Emulsification is a comprehensive chemical process that enables toner resins to form emulsions, and synthesis means that the various components of the toner are gathered together to produce the proper size (pre-designed size) and shape (spherical shape) ).

Carbon powder is also a continuous source of income for digital printer manufacturers, because whether they produce their own toner or process other brands of toner, these products are designed for a specific press.

John Laing, senior vice president of Xerox's supply department, pointed out that his company and most other printer manufacturers use traditional toner on their own color presses, and chemical toner is used on office/workgroup printers. This change has begun to happen long ago. Laing said: “The intersection of toner size is also the size where traditional and chemical toners can be converted, which is about 7 microns.”

He also pointed out that for toner, there are many more important parameters than size. The choice of pigment and its dispersibility are all critical. The pigment affects the performance of the toner, and its charge efficiency directly determines the gloss of the print.

Kodak also uses conventional toner on its own NexPress press. In the coming months, the company will also introduce a new type of magenta ink with high lightfastness. It will be offered to all new and old customers and will replace the original magenta ink. Kodak will announce this on a specific day.

In terms of chemical toner, Konica Minolta's new Simitri HD color toner was developed specifically for the production of the printing market and will be used for the first time on the bizhub PRO C6500 printer. The company claims that their smaller particle size can help users print smoother tones and clearer text. In addition, it can also reduce the use of toner, thereby reducing production costs.

Canon's latest imagePress C7000 VP toner is a grounded carbon powder, not chemically synthesized. This type of toner has better image quality than chemical toner. V-type toner uses particles with an average size of 5 μm. Because of its small toner particles, it can print out details of the image and improve the overall image quality. The type V toner is not filled with hot melt, but is filled with wax (the wax can help the toner adhere to the page). The removal of hot melt oil helps to reduce the occurrence of faults or the reflection of printed pages. In addition, V-type toner can achieve a larger color gamut than an offset press.

Xeikon claims to be the first company to use polyester sizing toner in high-speed color printing. The company’s parent company, Punch Graphix, believes that their new FA toner technology combines the advantages of chemical toner and traditional toner. It is understood that FA toner has passed FDA certification and can be directly used in food packaging.

Xeikon launched the Xeikon 6000 digital digital color press in mid-September and exhibited it for the first time at Graph Expo in the United States. The press can print 160 pages per minute, and the maximum monthly output is close to 4 million pages. It can print paper with a thickness between 40 and 350 gsm and can print on a variety of substrates, including paperboard. The Xeikon 6000 press uses the newly announced X-800 digital front-end system, which provides users with high-speed support, FA toner support, fifth-color printing, and color management.

In the low-speed color production printer market, the Océ models 900, Xerox DocuColor 5000 and Konica Minolta's bizhub PRO C6500 digital color printing systems are all newly released in October this year. They use different ink formulations respectively. And printing drive technology.

The deluxe version of bizhub PRO C6500 is priced at US$41,700. It contains an embedded Fiery controller and is a high-end device for low-end and mid-range markets. This tile, it can also be equipped with Fiery IC-303 and Creo IC-304 system.

The Xerox DocuColor 5000 digital printer produces between 30,000 and 150,000 impressions per month. It provides users with 2400 x 2400 dpi resolution, precise registering capabilities and stable color management tools, while also providing them with three Optional front-end system and post-processing equipment. The deluxe version of this device costs $144,000.

At Graph Expo, Xerox announced that it will upgrade its DocuTech 180 Highlight color system, which is well-suited for the production of books, brochures and catalogues. A range of custom colors will appear on all DocuTech highlight color systems early next year.

Océ has added spot color and mixed color printing capabilities to its VarioStream 9000. At Graph Expo, the company also exhibited the 9230 printer, which can print monochrome pages at 231 ipm, or vice versa. Colored colorful page. In addition, Océ 9000 series printers can also have the fourth and fifth color units, which can provide users with more color options. Even in the case of three-color printing, the 9230 can produce superior quality halftone patterns. , And can simulate the effect of four-color printing: This technology has been applied in the phone book printing process. Océ Corporation hopes to bring forward and reversed four-color hybrid color printing systems to market in the second quarter of next year.

Canon's imagePRESS C7000VP is a digital press with a speed of 70ppm. It was first introduced last spring and attracted people's attention at Graph Expo. The printer, priced at $230,000, is equipped with a Fiery-driven image-PRESS Server A3000 server. Its image quality during high-speed production and its ability to print on different substrates are the two most attractive features.

Inkjet technology goes all the way
Although toner technology has been improving, its competitor inkjet systems have also made a series of breakthroughs. After many years of trade-offs, IBM decided to march into the color inkjet printer market. At Graph Expo, the company demonstrated its inkjet technology. This technology can provide users with a 19.96-inch print width and 720 x 360 dpi resolution. IBM said it will launch a "phased" release of the technology by 2008.

Screen Company first exhibited its Truepress Jet520 inkjet printer on Print 05. It is also a continuous-feed printer capable of printing paper widths between 6.4 and 20.4 feet. It can be used at 209.9 fpm. Down to a resolution of 720 x 360 dpi, but if you increase the resolution to 720 x 720 dpi, its speed will drop to 104.9 fpm.

Kodak's Versamark system has a continuous inkjet printhead capable of producing "commercially-colored" prints at high speeds. It is IBM and Screen's biggest competitor. The Versamark system uses a modular design that allows users to upgrade the device according to their needs. The system has three speed options: 250 fpm, 350 fpm, and 500 fpm.

Riso exhibited its own HC5500 inkjet printer at Graph Expo. As an improved model of the HC5000, the 5500's speed, quality, output, and cost efficiency have all been significantly improved. It now has a maximum speed of 120 ppm and can print on envelopes and card stocks. Users can also choose between two new controller options depending on the situation: one for high-end printing environments and one for In a standard office environment. The HC5000 printer uses Riso's Forcejet technology to combine color management software with piezoelectric crystal inkjet printheads. The average cost of a 5500 printed color page is $0.03/page.

These systems show that inkjet technology has challenged digital printing technology: their quality, speed,