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,
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There's often confusion over available consumable options, stemming from the sheer number of products sold, so said Rick Williams, product development coordina- tor for Memphis-based International Paper. There are a lot of manufacturers producing paper, but not all paper is developed to optimize high-speed digital inkjet presses. "With the many machines on the market, and more coming, it is important to under- stand that paper manufactures are working to make sure our products are keeping up with these new presses in order to optimize their performance." For instance, understanding if the press is positioned as pigment-based or die-based may vary the type of consumables one should utilize. "Everyone has markets they deal in, and when they look at buying one of these presses, which are fairly high-cost investments, they look at whether they have a market to justify the purchase. When they make the decision, the paper manufacturers need to come in, and work with them on the papers they offer to position them in the market and ensure the papers are meet- ing their needs," Williams said. Williams has contacts with every inkjet press OEM, and works with them to test and qualify International Paper's digital pa- per lines. Paper manufacturers can also offer OEMs their expertise in developing presses, and provide their own customers with sample rolls to ensure their papers meet the needs of these printers. Identified as Inkjet One of the most important keys is for print providers to ask the tough question: "Is this inkjet-approved paper for my high- speed inkjet machine?" That's the conviction of Ross Van Burkleo, digital sales manager for Neenah Paper. "You can't just ask, 'Is this inkjet pa- per?'" he said. "In the paper world, we think of inkjet as desktop, small office-home office type use. That mentality has to change. Companies like ours are researching the inkjet market to say this has to be high-speed inkjet, distin- guishing it from the small office-home office type use. What we thought in the past has got to change to what will be common in the future, which is high-speed inkjet." The problem, he added, is that differ- ent industries identify different papers as "five-star rated high-speed inkjet paper," and mills have not agreed upon a specific nomenclature to describe high-speed inkjet compatibility in papers. If the task is simply printing black-and- white copy, many substrates fit the bill, Van Burkleo said. "If you are, however, printing high-end vivid color reproduction on a high- speed inkjet press, sometimes a special prim- er is needed on the paper," he added. "It just depends on the actual output. It all has to do with matching the paper substrate with the application being performed on press." Van Burkleo urges PSPs to research the paper mills' inkjet and digital offerings, and what attributes of each paper the mills are promoting. In addition, PSPs should rely on good merchant distribution partners supplying the paper substrates. "These are the local sales- people who can help you navigate through these substrate choices," he remarked. One Size Doesn't Fit All When examining paper, inkjet printing is particular in that it reacts differently than traditional and sheet-fed digital technolo- gies, said Julie Loyer, in communication and sustainable development with Cascades Fine Papers Group. "A sheet that works very well on an offset press will most probably produce lower-quality results with an inkjet press," she said. "This is why Cascades has chosen to start its development process with a focus on what differentiates inkjet from the tradition- al presses. We are using a special treatment that is applied on the surface of the sheet. This allows the ink to stick to the surface of the sheet. It controls the absorption and ensures that colors remain vibrant. It also provides a great gamut and sharp results." Ink technologies, whether die or pig- ments, also perform differently on paper. While most papers specifically address one A guide to ensuring your media will run smoothly through your production inkjet device. By JEFFREY STEELE 14 MARCH 2014 • INKJET'S AGE www.MyPRINTResource.com Sorting Through Papers H ow can you make sure your job runs flawlessly every time? One key is to ensure the paper you're using is compatible with your produc- tion inkjet device. But print service providers are finding that's some- times easier said than done. QPsupp_14-16_0314 Sorting.indd 14 2/18/14 11:42 AM