1. Printing technologies
compared
Source :
Frank Dieckhoff
fd@digi-com.org
The digital universe of paper and printing knowledge
www.sappi.com/houston

2. Analogous printing processes
• Silk screen printing
• Planography (offset printing)
• Letterpress printing (flexo, typesetting)
• Gravure printing

3. Offset printing
Printing unit
1.Ink fountain
2.Ink fountain roller
3.Film roller
4.Ink transfer roller
5.Ink oscillator roller
6.Ink form roller (oscillating)
7.Ink form roller (oscillating)
8.Water fountain pan
9.Water fountain roller
10.Dampening transfer roller (oscillating)
11.Dampening form roller (oscillating)
12.Oscillator
13.Plate cylinder
14.Blanket cylinder
15.Paper web
Source: manroland

4. Reel offset printing
• Coldset process
(newspaper print)

5. Reel offset printing - History
• Offset replaces lead typesetting (1970)
• Increasing use of colour in newspaper offset print
(1980)
• 8-Couple printing towers and satellites replace
arch type and 6-cylinder units

6. Reel offset printing - History
• Speed increase:
– 20.000 Rev./hour in 1980
– 35.000 Rev./hour in 1995
– 50.000 Rev./hour in 2010

7. Current state of affairs in
reel offset print
• Web speed up to 17.2 m/second (1032m/minute)
• Machine width approx. 2 meters
• Gapless single drive
• MIS-systems
• 6/2 configurations

8. Digital printing processes
• Electrophotography
• Ionography
• Inkjet
• Magnetography
• Nanography
• Thermoprocessing
– Thermotransfer
– Thermosublimation

9. Electrophotography
Source: bvdm

10. Electrophotographical
processes
– Dry toner
• Kodak Nexpress
• Océ ColorStream
• Xerox iGen
• Xeikon
– Liquid toner
• HP Indigo
• Océ Infinity-Stream
• Xeikon “Trillium study“

11. Electrophotography
High-speed digital printing presses based on the
electrophotographical principles:
- Nexpress SE 3900
- Océ-Infinity-Stream
- Xeikon-8800

12. Nexpress SE 3900

13. Toner sheet presses
Kodak
- Nexpress SE 3600
- 5c printer
- Printable surface 340 x 510 mm
- Speed
3600 sheets/hour (A3)
131 sheets/minute (A4)
- Resolution 600 dpi
- Optional: reels instead of sheets;
gold, silver and safety colours

14. Océ-Infinity-Stream

15. Toner web presses
Océ
- InfinityStream
- High-viscosity liquid toner
- Machine width 710 mm
- Speed
up to 120 meters/minute
(approx. 7200 B1 sheets/hour)

16. Xeikon-8800

17. Toner web presses
Xeikon
- Xeikon-8800
- 5/5c printer
- Machine width 512 mm
(print range 504 mm)
- Speed
up to 260 sheets/minute
(A4, depending on substrate)
- Resolution 1200 x 3600 dpi (240 lpi)

18. Inkjet technologies
• Continous Inkjet
• Thermal
• Piezo

19. Inkjet processes
– Drop on Demand
• Thermo
– Dye/pigment
» HP Txxx
• Piezo
– Mostly dye/pigment
» InfoPrint 5000
» Océ JetStream
» Kodak VL
– Continuous
– Dye/pigment
» Kodak Prosper

20. Short history of inkjet
technology
• First continuous inkjet printhead
(Mead Printhead, 1970)
• Versamark printhead (1982-1986)
– 1600 jets, 120 dpi
• Scitex printhead (1992-1996)
– 1024 jets, 240 dpi

21. Current state of affairs
in inkjet technology
• Machine widths 0.5 to 0.8 meters
• Resolution 600 to 1200 dpi
• 4 Grey shades (sometimes)
• Pigment and colourant inks
• Infrared dryers
• Speed up to 220 meters/minute

22. Web presses
Machine Width Speed Pages/ Resolution
(cm) (m/min) minute (dpi)
(A4)
HP T400 106.6 183 4926 1200 x 1200
Kodak 62.4 200 3600 900 x 600
Prosper
6000 XL
Océ 76.2 150 3030 600 x 600
JetStream
3300
Screen 57 220 2917 720 x 360
Truepress
Jet 520ZZ
Kodak S10 10.56 306 600 x 600
Xeikon 51.2 17 Max. 230 1200 x 1200
8000

23. Production systems
Quelle: manroland

24. HP T410

25. Inkjet web presses
HP
- T410
- 4c printer
- Machine width 106 cm
- Speed
183 meters/minute (4C)
244 meters/minute (B/W)
- Speed 1200 x 600 dpi

26. Impika iPrint eXtreme

27. Inkjet web presses
Impika Inkjet Solutions
- iPrint eXtreme
- 4c printer
- Machine width 71.1 cm
- Up to 375 m/min
- Resolution 600 x 600 dpi

28. KBA RotaJet 76

29. Inkjet web presses
KBA
- RotaJet 76
- 4c printer
- Machine width 78.1 cm
- Up to 150 m/min
approx. 3000 pages/minute (A4)
- Resolution 600 x 600 dpi variable drop size

30. Xerox CiPress 500

31. Inkjet web presses
Xerox
- CiPress 500
- 4c/4c printer
- 152 m/min
Up to 2050 pages/minute (A4)
- Resolution 600 x 400 dpi
- Granular resin ink

32. Landa W50

33. Inkjet web presses
Landa
- W50
- 4c printer
- Machine width 56 cm
- Up to 200 m/min
- 40-300 g/m2
- Resolution 600 x 600 dpi

34. Nanography
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVrCvocyC2o&feature=endscreen&NR=1

35. Nanography

36. Advantages and disadvantages
– Thin ink layers/low ink consumption
– Suitable for most substrates
– Fast print runs (?)
– High quality (??)
– Possible health hazards (???)

37. The 4 elements of nanography
• Nano ink
• Printing process
• Printing presses
• Partnerships

38. Ink layer thickness
Procedure Wet Dry
Screen printing 15-50 µm 15-50 µm
Offset 4,5 µm 1.1 - 8 µm
Elec.photography, -- µm 18 µm
dry toner
Elec.photography, 18 µm 4.5 µm
liquid toner
Inkjet 20 µm 1.5 µm
(water based)
Nanography ?? µm 0.5 µm

39. Ink layer thickness

40. Nano inks
• Colour pigments (10 nanometer)
• Water based inkjet print
• Good light reflection
• Brilliant colours
• Dry ink film
• Good dot definition
• Gloss depending on substrate

41. Nano inks
• Dot definition
• Dot definition

42. Nanography
• Kyocera piezo inkjet printheads „ink ejectors“
• 600 dpi
• Striped print samples
• Sheet presses have Komori paper transport
mechanisms

43. Nanography

44. Nanography
• Partners:
• Komori
• Manroland sheetfed
• Heidelberg

45. Nano inks

46. Thank you for your attention !