I recently attended Drupa 2000, the largest graphic arts industry tradeshow in the world. It is held every five years in Dusseldorf, Germany, and is known for its size and for serving as a forum to introduce the latest technologies in printing and print related equipment. I would add that Drupa was the most sales-oriented tradeshow that I have ever attended. According to the official post-show press release, “exhibitors happily reported good to excellent business deals; some even surpassed their sales goals by over 100%.” This was great for the vendors at the tradeshow, but their intense sales efforts to some degree impeded others who were primarily interested in gaining more in-depth information on hot new industry technology. More than 400,000 people attended Drupa 2000, including 56,000 from overseas, and nearly 2000 exhibitors took part in it.
Eighteen halls of the Messe in Dusseldorf were devoted to the show, covering nearly 1.8 million square feet. Believe me, I have the blisters to prove it. Seeing all of the show was a challenge. If you plan to attend in 2004, I highly recommend that you prepare a plan of action to selectively take in the tradeshow and then stick to it. Also, book your trip early so you can stay right in Dusseldorf. I wound up making plans a little late to attend this year’s show, and paid for it by having to put up with an hour and half commute each way to get there.
At Drupa 1995, the tradeshow was about the emerging computer-to-press technologies then coming out. These have since become fairly widespread in the industry. This year, the theme definitely focused on digital printing. Many companies displayed their new capabilities in digital printing, including digital packaging presses, very large format inkjet printing systems, direct imaging presses, and toner-based digital presses.
Two distinct technological types of digital presses are currently used in the industry, and a third is on the way. Direct imaging presses image a polyester or aluminum plate on the press, which then loads it automatically. The presses come in various sizes from multiple vendors. Although they operate automatically, they resemble traditional printing equipment more closely than their toner-based cousins. These systems focus on quick, make-ready, and shorter print runs. They print faster than toner-based systems, and the quality of the printing resembles traditional offset lithography.
The other available type, dry toner or liquid toner-based digital presses, can image different content from sheet to sheet. Heidelberg, the world leader in direct imaging presses, announced NexPress, its new joint venture with Eastman Kodak, at Drupa. Heidelberg displayed the NexPress 2100, an advanced prototype of their toner-based press at the show. Xeicon, Indigo and Xerox all have versions of toner-based digital presses. These systems are focused on shorter runs and variable data. The print characteristics of these presses are a little different than conventional offset presses and direct imaging presses. The quality of the printing is very good, but it resembles the output you’d expect from a color copier. The NexPress output was very good, however, even on textured paper stock that can give other digital printing systems trouble.
A third type of digital technology is just emerging. Agfa, and other vendors are working on digital imaging technology that will decrease make-ready times for print runs and be less harmful to the environment. This technology could even be made to retrofit some older presses. Agfa calls their implementation of this LiteSpeed. A version of LiteSpeed is currently undergoing testing at CreoScitex’s printing lab.
The LiteSpeed coating is a liquid that is sprayed onto a reusable metal plate already mounted on the press. At the same time the plate is being coated, a laser images the digital artwork to the surface of the plate. This procedure does not require any processing, and a LiteSpeed imaged plate will last for a run of 20,000 impressions. The print quality is indistinguishable from that produced by normal offset plates. It appears clear that these improved technologies, together with the benefits that they bring to printers, signal that digital printing will eventually be the way that all printing is produced in the future.
Digital printing will continue to have a great impact on our fast paced, “gotta have it now,” connected world. As companies need to bring their products to market faster, and change them over shorter time periods, the printing industry will have to keep pace. One way to meet the demand for faster turnaround time, shorter print runs, and the ability to produce greater volume for different kinds of print jobs is through digital printing. The quality of the printed material produced by this technology has come a long way, and it’s getting better all the time.
With these changes come new responsibilities in the supply chain. This is particularly true with respect to designers and content creators. To make the process more efficient, new tools are being produced that will help content creators send ready-to-manufacture files to professional printers. The technological evolution going on between content providers and the printing industry is multifaceted and calls for a long discussion that I look forward to addressing in upcoming editions of Ps & Qs.
If you need a more comprehensive guide to the technologies presented at Drupa, take yourself on the Web to the eShowDaily produced by Cahners Publishing at https://www.eshowdaily.com/drupa/
Copyright 2000 PrintPlace.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
This article was last modified on June 1, 2000
This article was first published on June 1, 2000
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