DIGITAL digest

Ford Printing Opts For New DI Press

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA—Ford Printing & Mailing has installed a Presstek 52DI digital offset press to bolster its ability to efficiently produce quality color printing in runs from 250 to 20,000 impressions. The shop’s goal is to better service its existing customer base as a trade printer, while also distinguishing its capabilities to support a drive into new markets.

Océ Sees ‘Solid’ Future for Ink-Jet

TRUMBULL, CT—Océ has launched a new digital printing platform, called Océ CrystalPoint, which it says combines the benefits of ink-jet and toner-based printing. It uses dry toner contained within solid, spherical TonerPearls that are heated into a gel, then jetted onto any type of uncoated or matte substrate where the material crystallizes, eliminating the need for drying. Océ calls it a solid in/solid out process for producing printing that is water-fast, can be cold or hot laminated and doesn’t crack, even when folded.

The company is initially targeting the technical document (CAD and maps) market segment with the Océ ColorWave 600 four-color printer that handles up to 42˝-wide roll media and prints a maximum 1,200 dpi resolution. It is also looking to develop applications in the display graphics arena, especially temporary store signage, because of the cost advantage in using untreated paper substrates (including recycled products).

In addition, during a recent briefing on the technology, Patrick Chapuis, president of Océ Wide Format Printing Systems, emphasized that it is a platform the company plans to take up and down market with future product introductions. CrystalPoint reportedly has been in development since the mid-1990s and is expected to be the foundation for a new generation of printing systems.

In its current ColorWave 600 form, the technology can print 1,575 square feet/hour in Economy (lower resolution) mode. Stepping up to Production quality drops the speed to 750 square feet/hour, and 250 square feet/hour can be output using the top-level Presentation mode. Total productivity is enhanced by prints being instantly dry. Other benefits include no release of ozone, odor or fine powder by the process, as well as a more competitive cost structure with the SmartClick pricing model and integration of black-and-white and color volumes.

PDF Goes Upstream With New Upgrades

SAN JOSE, CA—PDF files chiefly have been end products in the creative process, until now. Adobe Systems is moving to change that with the Acrobat 9 and Adobe PDF Print Engine 2 upgrades.

Increased collaboration functionality is a key focus of Acrobat 9, aided by native support for Adobe Flash technology. Up to three users can share views of, and collaborate live on, Acrobat files via new Acrobat.com hosted services that are being offered free (for now). These services include Adobe ConnectNow, for personal Web conferencing (video and voice) with desktop sharing, and Adobe Buzzword, a Web-based word processor for co-authoring and sharing documents.

Integrating Flash also enables users to include video and application files in PDF documents.

Adobe PDF Print Engine 2 is designed to optimize digital printing workflows by efficiently handling graphically rich content and enabling PDF-based variable data printing. It supports the ISO 16612-2 (PDF/VT) standard under development by a committee of the International Organization for Standardization.

PDF/VT (“V” for “Variable” and “T” for “Transactional”) is intended to specify how to use PDF data to define and exchange all content elements and supporting metadata to produce predictable output for variable or transactional document (including transpromo) content. It supports transparency, ICC-based color management and layers capabilities.

U.S. Printers’ JDF Efforts Earn Awards

DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY—Partly due to changes in the program, there was a stronger showing of printers from the United States among the winners of the 2008 Jürgen Schönhut Memorial CIP4 International Print Production Innovation (CIPPI) Awards. These awards are given annually to operations that submit the most compelling case studies of workflow integration and automation through the implementation of the Job Definition Format (JDF) specification.

For the first time, the 2008 CIPPI program named winners in four regions, along with three global categories. The awards are presented by the International Cooperation for the Integration of the Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress (CIP4) Organization.

Associates Graphic Services, Wilmington, DE, took first place in the “Biggest improvement in quality production and customer responsiveness as a result of process automation” global category.

Taking home three awards was Cox Target Media in Largo, FL, including the top spot in the “Best process automation implementation-North America” regional category. It was also a second place finisher in two global categories—“Best cost/benefit realization and improvement in efficiency as a result of process automation implementation” and “Biggest improvement in quality production and customer responsiveness as a result of process automation.”

Cox combined the operations of three plants into one new, automated facility. The move reduced its labor needs by 75 percent and cut cycle time from four days to eight hours.

Electronic versions of the winning case studies can be downloaded at www.cip4.org/cippi/