Inkjet's Age, a print supplement to Quick Printing, is a business and technology brand dedicated to corporate and senior management and focusing on issues surrounding inkjet printing technology in all its forms. Inkjet's Age covers the industry news,
Issue link: https://quickprinting.epubxp.com/i/268657
16 MARCH 2014 • INKJET'S AGE www.MyPRINTResource.com greatly reduced set-up time, big reductions in waste and the advantages of variable printing. Coated papers and inkjet technology have some compatibility issues, resulting from the fact that ink is carried by a substantial amount of water that then needs to be pulled out, leaving the ink on the surface of the sheet, Whalen says. Yet coated paper is highly desired and essential in many projects in the worlds of both book publishing and direct mail. One of the choices PSPs must face when using uncoated papers is whether to use an inkjet treated sheet or not, Whalen said. "If they use an untreated sheet, on the HP press they use a bonding agent that goes on every place the ink will be applied. That works well for light coverage like text. But for applications with more color and heavier coverage, you (will) get a better looking result, and it will be more economical, to use an uncoated treated sheet. A coated sheet is a sheet that has a coating on top; a treated sheet is an uncoated sheet with a treatment." For the HP T-series presses, she added, uncoated treated sheets utilize the HP ColorPRO treatment, and a number of manufacturers of uncoated papers, including Appleton Coated, are licensed to provide that treatment to the papers. HP's Perspective Speaking of HP, Yale Goldis, the company's San Diego-based worldwide manager, product market- ing, inkjet high-speed production solutions, report- ed PSPs must take into account a number of factors in choosing consumables. The first focuses on what is included in the charges. Ink, print heads, other click charges and how they are measured, as well as whether service is included in pricing, are some of the options, Goldis said. Also to be considered is whether other fluids or print head wipes are included in a per-page price. "A second area is media," he added. "What range of media can print on the device, and does it have to be specialized inkjet media, or is a wider range of media able to be printed on that device? I divide the world into a few types. "There is coated media, and uncoated media. There is the offset version, which has both, and the inkjet version, which has both." HP offers the ColorPRO brand, which has spe- cific inkjet technology in the coated and uncoated media that is optimized for printing with HP pro- duction inkjet devices. The company also offers the bonding agent cited by Whalen. Unique for HP, it is a colorless liquid that prints underneath the colored ink, providing vibrant col- ors, low strike-through, and dark blacks, as well as a little feathering. The bonding agent interacts with the ink, fixing the ink on the paper. It allows more media independence, to permit a wider range of media to be used on the inkjet devices, and is digi- tally printed only where it is needed. "The bonding agent will allow you to print on a wide range of standard uncoated media," Goldis said. Goldis offers one final caution to PSPs. When comparing consumables, it's best to "have a wide range of samples in front of you, as well as the ink you want, the media you want and the price associ- ated with that sample, to help you make a good comparison," he said. HP's New Media Certification Program In mid-November 2013, HP announced its new Inkjet Web Press Media Certification Program for HP Inkjet Web Presses. The program is designed to help PSPs save time by quickly identifying a range of substrates compatible with HP high-speed production inkjet systems. The Media Certification Program not only streamlines and simplifies choice points for PSPs, but also encourages paper manufacturers to de- velop and qualify a wide range of affordable media for HP Inkjet Web Presses. The program incorporates several procedures for evaluating inkjet coated, offset coated, inkjet treated uncoated and offset uncoated papers. Once they undergo initial screenings, substrates are given more thorough evaluations of perfor- mance within the press. Gamut, image quality, text quality, show through, durability, runability, and flatness are all tested. After certification of substrates, manufacturers of the papers receive a "Certified for HP Inkjet Web Press" badge that can be used in marketing and on packaging. Inkjet Media Catalog Additionally, Canon Solutions America (CSA) recently invited its media partners to participate in an industry-first effort to develop a global, vendor- neutral inkjet media catalog. Each participating mill submitted media that best represent their capability with inkjet platforms, and each were given a section of the catalog in which to promote its company's offering. The result is a best-in-class tool that allows the user to examine all of the paper products qualified for Océ inkjet platforms. To allow for one-to-one comparison, each printed sample uses the same artwork—a collage of images that demonstrates print quality across shadow, facial tones, logo color, text, reverse print and more—which highlight the performance and unique value proposition of each sheet. The catalog helps to demonstrate CSA's com- mitment to not just growing its approved media portfolio but to ensuring each product is backed by a strong relationship with its manufacturer. ✚ " A sheet that works very well on an off- set press will most probably produce lower- quality results with an inkjet press. This is why Cascades has chosen to start its devel- opment process with a focus on what differenti- ates inkjet from the traditional presses. " —Julie Loyer, Cascades Fine Papers Group QPsupp_14-16_0314 Sorting.indd 16 2/18/14 11:55 AM