Digital Printing Technology Innovation and Market Interaction

Digital printing does not require a printing plate, and it is possible to print a printed product with variable information content at any place. It can be said that variable data printing is its essence. Therefore, the digital printing market also includes the original printing market. Any area that needs printing can become its market. For example, electronic circuit wiring records, transistor device production and other applications for the electronics industry; DNA sheets, micro lens arrays and other very fine records; department stores, supermarkets within the propaganda logo; large wall flags hanging on the building wall Can use digital printing. In addition, digital printing not only can be printed on paper, but also can print images and texts on various materials such as pottery, plastic, wood, and metal, and has a wide application field. In particular, inkjet printing can not only print flat prints, but even three-dimensional objects can be printed.

Let's talk about the latest market and technology trends in digital printing.

1. Market trends

Among the various types of companies, the small batches of compressed inventory and ordering are being promoted, so that the last profit source object left behind becomes logistics expenses. In the past, corrugated paper printing mainly used flexographic printing and offset printing. Inkjet printing was used only when printing company names, product names, etc. on the surface of corrugated cardboard boxes. Japan generally uses large-format inkjet printers to print on corrugated cartons, but large-scale special devices have been used to print in Europe and America. At present, there are dozens of such devices in operation. From the aspect of use, high-speed printing is required, and products with a speed of 150 square meters per minute have been put on the market. In Japan, Box Corporation and others have already introduced such inkjet printers. The same is the case of inkjet. The development trend of the logo industry is different from that of the corrugated paper industry. In addition, supermarkets and retail stores in Europe and the United States also use inkjet printers to print POPs (point-of-sale display ads), which may become another market for digital printing in the future.

In addition, digital printing is entering a world where gravure printing has always been the mainstream. For example, the printing of wall decorative paper has a large variety of wallpapers. If gravure printing is used, a large space is required to store the plate cylinder. Especially for small batches of jobs, it is impossible to print several or dozens of wallpapers with gravure printing, because that would not be economically advantageous, and the use of inkjet printing systems makes it possible to print small amounts of wallpaper. Especially for interior decoration of public facilities and some shops, if ink-jet printing is adopted, the owner’s idea can be fully adopted to meet the decoration needs at the time of remodeling.

On the other hand, in electrophotography, the main method is dry toner recording. A4 format color printing generally reaches 60 pages per minute. An integrated device that connects several printing engines has also been introduced, which can print 100 pages per minute. Thanks to the integrated production method, high-efficiency production can be achieved, which is very advantageous for the user. If the cost of digital printing can be reduced, the popularity of digital printing will be greatly accelerated. However, the printing costs are closely related to the unique business model of the photocopier industry. It will take some time before the printing industry can achieve the desired level.

The market for copiers and printers in some European countries and the United States has become saturated, and the key to expanding the market in the future is in China and Asia. Especially in China, color printing is accelerating and expectations are even greater. In order to print products such as flags and outdoor advertising, large-scale inkjet printers have been widely introduced in China's Shanghai-centered region. This trend will continue in the future.

In addition to paper printing, there are advertising printing. In particular, advertisements printed on clear light boxes can be used indoors as well as outdoors. Now people can see that there are various colorful advertisements on the outer walls or interior floors of some buildings, buses, subways, and even jets. This market has a very broad prospect. Everything that can be seen with the naked eye can be the object of digital printing. It is expected that advertising printing will continue to grow in the future.

2. Technical trends

With respect to the ink jet technology, the speed and high quality of color printing have progressed, and some have used fine ink droplets of 1 picoliter in size to ensure image quality. However, for more high-speed applications, such fine ink droplets have not yet been realized, which is a future research topic. In the field of high-speed variable data printing such as billing and direct mail, quality will be further improved. The most recent model has a print width of 316 mm, uses four print heads, a resolution of 600 dpi or more, and a color print speed of 105 sheets per minute (A4). The ink-jet printing paper uses coated paper to ensure good color reproducibility and to prevent the back side from becoming dirty.

At present, water-based inks are used for ink-jet printing on paper media, and solvent inks are used for printing on resin-based media. However, solvent-based inks have environmental pollution and odor problems, so people are studying the feasibility of using UV inks. In the past, some people thought that UV inks had problems stimulating insufficient skin and adhesion, but recently the newly introduced UV inks showed sufficient adhesion to films and other materials, indicating that there has been a great deal of technical progress.

For inkjet manufacturers and some ink manufacturers, UV ink is a hot topic. However, UV-cured inks have problems such as large power consumption of the light source and large power consumption. There is still much room for improvement in the use of Uv ink printing for small-size ink jet printers. At present, Japan is exploring the application of inkjet printing technology in the field of circuit board printing as the center of the Industrial Research Institute. In addition, the use of paraffin wax and starchy materials as an “ink” rapid prototyping method has also been applied in the design field. Although the current market share of these new application areas is still small, people have high expectations for their future development.

In electrophotography, digital printing equipment using polymerized toner has been put into production. In fact, this was a technology that was explored as early as 20 years ago, but it took a long time to really reach the practical stage. Polymerized toner facilitates control of shape, and its particle size uniformity is very good.

Interestingly, printer manufacturers seem to have little interest in dry electrophotography. Instead, there are many examples of liquid development methods that have been co-developed with copiers and printer manufacturers. It may be because everyone is more familiar with liquid ink, so the interest is also greater. From the perspective of complementing offset printing presses, printing press manufacturers are gradually conducting research on inkjet printing and electrophotographic printing to adjust their business direction according to market demand.

Actually, there are electronic papers corresponding to the technical trends of ink jets and electrophotography. In particular, electronic paper for optical recording is highly expected for industrial use. This e-paper can replace billboards or signs in the workshop. The industry has various researches on electronic paper, and it is not eager to use it to replace paper, but it has gradually become practical in terms of providing industrial applications and utilizing its characteristics.

In summary, the digital printing technology developed as a backbone recording technology for copiers and printers not only can be printed on paper, but also uses a variety of different media as printing targets; it can not only print flat prints but also print three-dimensional images. Three-dimensional items. In the current chaotic economic environment, it is the best policy to make this highly promising technology continue to develop, to make clear the social needs as early as possible and to make the forerunners profitable. In the constant technological competition, the printing industry, photocopying industry, printing industry, etc. will surely receive the necessary moisture.

Source: Coinprint