6.
The Unity Print Production Handbook 2007 DIGITAL: PRESSES VS PRINTING
Digital: digital
presses vs digital printing
The quality of digital print of these technologies is a true digital press,
has improved so much that however many of the users who own direct
traditional press manufacturers, imaging presses position themselves in the
most notably Heidelberg and market as digital printers. Determining
MAN Roland, have reacted to which is best for a given purpose, depends
the threat. Heidelberg’s Anicolor and MAN on the business environment and on the
Roland’s Direct Drive technologies are both market a printing company serves.
designed to make short run colour
83
economically viable on conventional offset DI
presses. These manufacturers claim that
A direct imaging press is essentially a small
these technologies make it possible to sell
format press with a platesetter built into it
the eleventh and even the tenth sheet off
for imaging thermal chemistry-free plates.
of the press. Heidelberg, MAN Roland,
For printers, this means lower capital
Komori and other press manufacturers
investment because there is only one piece
recognise that digital printing technologies
of equipment to buy, however, some people
are more than viable for short run colour
question DI’s worth, particularly with a four
work, as well as many other applications.
unit press. After all, why should the press
stand idle waiting for plates to image?
The technologies
Isn’t it better to buy one platesetter and use
There are two classes of digital printing it to feed many presses? This may be a fair
devices: direct imaging, or ‘DI’, presses and argument, but isn’t an issue if the press isn’t
digital presses. A digital press is not the constantly running at full capacity or if the
same as a direct imaging press, however press is installed to complement other
both technologies exploit digital data and technologies. This in part is why there has
direct output. There are numerous digital been such an uptake of DI presses. There
presses on the market and a handful of are over 5000 direct imaging presses in the
direct imaging pressses, but each class of market and the majority of them use
device is suitable for different types of imaging heads supplied by Presstek.
application. It could be argued that only one
The Unity Print Production Handbook 2007 DIGITAL: PRESSES VS PRINTING
The Unity Print Production Handbook 2007 DIGITAL: PRESSES VS PRINTING
Presstek is the leading developer of direct Although Xerox has several hundred of its Océ has targetted the graphic arts as being work is extremely short runs, and although
imaging presses for runs of up to 20,000. iGen3 digital presses installed, the company of significance for its future revenues and the cost per copy may be relatively high,
The Presstek 52 DI and 34 DI are 52cm has many, many thousands of copier class recently previewed a colour printing the unit value is as well and sometimes
landscape and 34cm portrait format light production devices, and can claim technology, the Varioprint 9240 capable of extremely so. For work such as estate
presses. Equipped with ProFire Excel market dominance on this basis. The 168 colour A4ppm. In addition to these agent details, or wedding invitations,
imaging heads, they image Presstek’s own recently introduced iGen3 110 is a 110 huge companies, Xeikon which along with menus, travel itineraries and the like,
chemistry-free plates in precise register for colour A4 ppm engine. Kodak with its Indigo was one of the two original people are prepared to pay substantially
high quality output, up to 300lpi. Presstek Nexpress has a solid commercial user base developers of variable data digital presses, more per copy than they might for a run of
sell its technology to other manufacturers as well and recently announced the 100 has a solid market position with a range of 500 brochures. Even if most of the work is
such as Ryobi and KBA who rebadge them colour A4 ppm Nexpress S3000. All three presses based on its own technology. The for static data, printers investing in a digital
as their own devices. leading manufacturers continue to upgrade top of the line Xeikon press, the Xeikon press have the additional capacity to print
their technologies and introduce new 6000, prints high quality colour at 160 ppm variable content, should their customers
Screen also manufacturers a digital press,
models, with different pricing structures per hour. Key to the productivity of a decide they want to try personalisation and
based on Screen imaging technology and
based on performance and flexibility. variable data press are the digital front end variable output.
third party press technology. The Truepress
Besides these, numerous other digital press and raster image processing systems that
344 is an A3 format press that prints with DI and the many varieties of digital presses
suppliers are striving to establish market produce the data ready for output. Most
conventional wet offset processes, from a all have their niches in the market. The
share including Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Océ large digital press manufacturers develop
minimum size of 90mm x 148mm up to A3. choice of technology depends entirely on
and Canon. Of these, Océ and Canon are their own front end systems as well as
The main arguments for investing in these the purpose for which it is intended, from
particularly keen to build their customer bases. supplying technology in partnership with
DI presses are greater productivity and spot colour short run work up to multicolour
other organisations. The leading developers
profitability on jobs because of accurate Amongst these companies, Ricoh is making long runs of variable content. Both classes
of DFEs are Creo and EFI.
register, more precise colour output, stable a concerted effort to build its profile, of press support on demand output,
production especially on waterless models partially through acquisition. This campaign however only a digital press can fulfill
The applications
and reduced waste. began in earnest back in 2005 when the variable data on demand work, such as
company formed Ricoh Printing Systems One of the key differentiators between a single print orders generated from a
Digital presses following its acquisition of Hitachi Printing direct imaging press and a digital press is website. The strength of DI presses is in
84 Solutions. the markets they serve. There are two main their complement to conventional offset 85
A digital press on the other hand, is an
classes of applications for digital printing: and digital presses. A digital press
entirely different beast. Whereas DI presses More recently, Ricoh has entered into a
static and variable data output. Clearly a complements both, and has the added
are based on conventional press and joint venture with IBM Printing Systems
DI press is only suitable for the former, advantage of variable data output.
platesetting technologies, digital presses to form Infoprint Solutions Company, in
whereas a digital press can print either.
have their origins in industrial printing, such addition to acquiring Danka (now Infotec).
The decision for a printer choosing one
as transaction and office printing, using These developments have been comple- Next steps for printers >>>
over the other is generally based on the
inkjet and photocopier technologies. A more mented by the creation of a dedicated
type of work customers want and the
important difference than the origins or professional print division at the company’s To decide which technology is right for
technology fit relative to other kit.
technology, is the ability of digital presses headquarters in London. your business, start with an analysis of the
to print variable data, where every page in There are many DI users who have bought type of work you do. Consider run lengths,
Océ and Canon, relative newcomers to
the print run is different. a DI press to sit alongside a digital press colour coverage, turnaround times and
the digital printing market, have invested
because the DI press is more economic for customer support costs. Then analyse your
It is difficult to say who dominates the substantially to develop technologies and
long runs of static pages. Digital presses jobs to get an idea of which customers and
digital press and variable data printing market share. Of the two, Canon has the
generally follow a click charge model, so jobs might be suited for variable data print.
market, because the leaders define the most impressive technology for commercial
the cost of each page is the same regardless If the prospect of variable data work is
commercial print market and their printing with its imagePRESS C1, an
of the run length. A DI press on the other remote, a DI press is probably a better
technologies differently. HP Indigo has oversize A3 14 ppm device, of which over
hand generally follows conventional option. If however you expect to be able to
over 4000 digital presses installed in the 100 have been sold in the UK since its
commercial print economics, so the unit convert a number of clients to variable
commercial and labels markets, and claims launch in November. The imagePRESS
cost reduces as the run length rises. data, you are likely to be better off
dominance because of this installed base. C7000VP launched in July of this year prints
Conversely many digital press users prefer choosing a digital press.
It recently announced the impressive Indigo 70 colour A4ppm on stocks up to 300gsm.
to use a digital press even for static data.
Press 5500 which prints 68 colour A4ppm.
This may be because the majority of their
