As a new generation of technological forces in the era of digital printing, referring to digital printing, people in the industry are not unfamiliar, it is easy to think of short-range printing, on-demand printing, and variable data printing and other universal applications. However, I do not know if anyone has tried to transplant digital printing in the CTP pre-press area, leading the monologue of front-end singer singers, and thus significantly improve efficiency, save time, and reduce costs.
Taking Lifeng Accor Dongguan as an example, there are 4 original digital proofing equipments and 8 blue paper proofing equipments. They are specialized in nearly 20 proofing personnel (two shifts). Since the introduction of digital printing presses as proofs this year, the average production efficiency has increased by 5 times. , reducing operators by nearly half.
What advantages does digital printing have compared to the general proofing method? How does it achieve a substantial increase in the productivity of proofing? We start from the industry status quo analysis.
Current industry status
As we all know, the general CTP process covers two important front-end proofing links, namely digital proofing and blue paper proofing. The former is an important process for color monitoring, while the latter focuses on the inspection and printing with the post-press cooperation, emphasizing the large version of the paper, folding orders, binding methods and so on.
With inkjet printers and specific proofing papers, plus professional color management software, digital proofing can simulate the final printed color effect. Moreover, with the popularization of CTP in recent years, digital proofing is also easy to operate, small in size, fast in speed, and stable in quality. It is increasingly favored by experts and sought after by enterprises, which greatly replaces the trend of traditional proofing. However, it is undeniable that it is limited by the special high-gloss coating proofing paper, the reverse side is not easy to glue, can not show the texture of the final printing paper; and due to the difference of imaging, media, such as the performance of the fluorescent color, PMS spot color There is also lack.
Because of this, the tedious traditional proofing has not completely faded out of the stage of history because its principle is more similar to printing, and more customers have specified that they should use traditional techniques. In fact, the proofer uses a round flattening, wet and dry process, and DotGain is smaller, and the press uses a round pressure, wet and wet process, DotGain is larger than the traditional proofing, so these two methods There are still differences.
Blueprinting is also known as layout proofing, which is a relatively fast but low-accuracy proofing in which the printed version is the output unit. More emphasis on proofing speed, and the quality requirements are not high, it is generally not color management, use more compatible or alternative ink, ordinary book paper can be. Naturally, the graphics are not precise enough and they are not easily handled on both sides. After finishing, they need to be “post-processedâ€, such as scribe cutting, double-sided alignment, and glue binding, which takes time.
Both have their own emphasis and the use of different proofing media and carriers is an indispensable part of the CTP process.
After introducing digital printing proofing
Digital printing, as a new proofing method, creatively integrates digital proofing and blue paper proofing into one process, and completes the past two proofing operations with one proofing. Specific reference from the following aspects.
Consumables cost: Digital printing directly uses inexpensive printing paper, powdered paper, matte paper, and book paper, ranging from 80g to 220g, without the need for special digital proofing paper, not only can completely reproduce the final print texture, but also significantly reduced Proofing costs. In addition, through the cooperation of the departments, it is also a good idea to collect or reutilize the redundant corner scrap in the printing shop.
Sample format: In general, digital printers have limited format, A4, A3 or A3+, it seems impossible to replace large format proofing such as blue paper proofing. However, when we consider that the blue paper will eventually be cut and folded, we will find a solution to the problem.
Through the software's front-end processing, such as using Blueline function in Creo Prinergy, the large-format version of the software is sequentially divided into a single format suitable for digital printing output, and then proofing is performed, and then automatic binding is performed.
Thanks to the procedural arithmetic processing and automated equipment operations, the sample books that come out are not different from the finished products obtained after the blue paper proofing. However, many major elements can still be checked. On the contrary, the colors are vivid and can be compared with printing samples; the output is positive and negative on both sides, and the alignment accuracy is high; the manual steps are omitted and the efficiency is greatly improved.
Proof quality: The same color management instrument and software are used, and the adjustment and the optimization can adjust the matching with the printing sample. And because the proofing paper for digital printing is exactly the same as the printed paper, the result is closer to the printing effect.
Some high-end digital printing devices have made great progress in digital printing in fluorescent color and PMS spot colors than in digital proofing due to the differences in imaging principles and methods. Some have achieved 90% or closer matching.
Proofing time: Digital printing is known as a short version of fast printing, the speed is far more than ordinary digital proofing and blue paper proofing can be compared.
Taking the inkjet machine in the industry as an example, it takes about 35 minutes to output 16 posts of A4, and with a digital printer, it takes only 1 minute to print on both sides.
The normal time for outputting a blue paper (8×A4) is about 1 minute, because it takes 4 minutes on both sides of the paper to take paper out, and it takes a total of 8 minutes to manually produce the sample book. The digital printing simultaneously outputs the positive and negative sides. All the post-processing programs are automatically processed by the equipment until the output of sample books is finished. The size of the same blue paper is only about 1 minute.
Operators: Before the two proofing sessions, like the SNP Dongguan Li & Fung Accor, a similar scale, and the use of digital printing, the entire process only once proofing, and the automation of the equipment is very high, usually two people is enough.
In addition, digital printing can bring greater freedom for printing, and can also add more value-added services, such as various types of on-demand fast printing, temporary printing, variable data printing and so on.
However, digital printing is not without its drawbacks. The format is a significant problem. If a single page is used, it is not conducive to binding. The useful life of the equipment is relatively short, generally only 3 to 5 years, and it is no more than 15 to 20 years. In terms of color, saturation is slightly higher than that of printed matter.
Investment Analysis and Application Considerations
If you are interested in investing in digital printing prepress management, you also need to consider and measure the following aspects.
Cost investment: Digital printing can achieve quality, efficiency and stability with one sample at a time. However, it is believed that some people will question the cost of investing too much. What is the value of equipment worth one or two million yuan? Should choose a flexible payment method, it is best to be bundled with the equipment manufacturers to achieve shared benefits, value win-win situation.
In addition, it is necessary to re-evaluate and prepare new consumables suitable for digital printing, as well as preliminary training for operators.
Compatibility with the original process: As a new element introduced, it is best to be compatible with existing systems. For example, we are using the Creo Prinergy process, ideally using the same process.
Color management: The purpose of proofing must be to restore the true color of the print and ensure consistency with the final print. The color matching between digital printing and actual printing is a brand-new topic that requires considerable time and effort. When we first started using digital printing, we wereted a lot of material and time, and we took a few detours. However, we finally figured out a set of effective methods to optimize the color matching even beyond the original digital proofing.
Consistency: The function of the blue paper is the same as the output zinc plate, so the setting must pay attention to such effects as stealing, overprinting, and transparency.
Scope of application: Taking into account a large number of proofing and automatic printing and binding, more suitable for commercial printing companies based on books and magazines.
The creative application of digital printing in pre-press proofing has been simplified and combined into one. It has surpassed digital proofing in color reproduction and has approached traditional proofing in analog printing, leading to blue paper proofing in production efficiency. Shows its extraordinary proofing strength, bursting out of its unique proofing style.