Digital Presses--Making the Grade

Digital press, to me, means any press that accepts a digital file and prints without other equipment between the file and the press. It assumes a maximum of manufacturing automation, a reduction in processes and time, and a lack of flexibility in changing the output parameters except in a digital fashion. This means digital presses can, but not exclusively, be electrostatic in nature. Digitized offset presses, many types of ink-jet printing technologies and more could, under the right circumstances, be classified as a digital press.