Several hot technologies that have recently affected the printing industry

First, CTP technology will be widely used

CTP technology can greatly improve the production efficiency, shorten the production process, improve the printing quality and other advantages. As its supporting technologies and environment become more mature and perfect, the application pace at home and abroad will be greatly accelerated.

According to statistics, as of September 2003, the installed capacity of CTP equipment in mainland China has reached 226 sets, distributed in 19 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, and has been applied in the printing and packaging fields in China's commercial and newspaper industries. Judging from the type of CTP installed in China, thermal CTP dominates with 146 sets of installed capacity; silver salt and violet laser CTP are 36 sets and 35 sets, respectively; the installed capacity is comparable; the installed capacity of photopolymerized version CTP is 5 set. The updated CTcP also entered the sight of people last year. With the continuous improvement of the CTP supporting hardware and software environment, the application of domestic CTP will show a continuous growth of the hot.

Second, digital proofing technology will become increasingly popular

Digital proofing is a proofing technology that directly converts digital pages into color proofs. It is a necessary supporting technology for direct plate making. With the progress of color printing management technology and color proofing equipment, digital proofing has been accepted by more and more customers. Digital proofing system requires small investment, small footprint, can reduce the cost of paper, has less dependence on the experience of operators, and has a fast proofing speed, stable quality, strong repeatability, and a wide range of adaptability. Therefore, the future digital proofing technology The scope of application will be rapidly developed, especially in areas such as remote proofing and high-fidelity six-color digital proofing.

Third, digital printing technology will develop rapidly

Digital printing is characterized by the direct conversion of digital pages into print. This feature is also the key to digital printing for variable data printing and on-demand printing. When this feature of digital printing is combined with digital networking, a global print service system can be constructed to provide on-demand, personalized print information, product services, and open up a new market. This is the main reason and driving force for digital printing to receive universal attention and achieve great development.

Fourth, digital workflow will develop rapidly

Digital workflow is an indispensable part of the networked printing environment. Without digital workflow, CTP digital proofing and network printing have no basis for implementation. The combination of a perfect digital workflow and advanced equipment and management can enable the company to enhance its core competitiveness and improve its product quality and efficiency.

The digital production process has led to a comprehensive integration of network transmission in the production process and digital media to replace the traditional visual physical media and storage and transportation methods, which may lead to changes in the operation and operation mode of the entire industry and open up a new era. Therefore, the management, effective use, and quality inspection and monitoring of the production process and the overall information/data are faced with new challenges and problems.

Fifth, digital asset management technology will gradually be valued and applied

Printing companies using digital asset management systems can help solve the following issues:

1) Solve the management problems caused by the continuous expansion of production data.

2) Solve distributed asset management issues by integrating asset management systems.

3) Retain "digital negatives" for customers and provide additional digital content services.

4) Reserve past production data for reuse and customer inquiries.

In the era of digital publishing and printing, the digital asset management (DAM) system will serve as the foundation support system, and it will be closely integrated with digital workflow, cross-media publishing, digital printing and other systems, and will become an important link in the digital support environment for the printing industry.

Sixth, cross-media publishing will be the trend of the times

Cross-media is currently a fashionable term. The basic concept is to convert all digital visual information resources (such as images, text, graphics, and other video information, even to audio information) into a kind of data related to the specific media, and to form a pet in the network system. A large network-independent database. All information and data in the database can be accessed, queried, or even reprocessed over the network, into different media products such as print, film, CD-ROM, electronic publications, various display images, and online publications, or Transfer to any desired place through the network. The foundation of cross-media technology is digital technology, and the properties of the production equipment of the final media product must also be integrated into the unified management of system production.

Reprinted from: China Printing and Packaging Network