New Products

The Print 01 "Must See 'ems" program, organized by William C. Lamparter (PrintCom Consulting), comprised the most compelling products, services, and exhibits at the event as selected by a panel of industry consultants and trade magazine editors. The Must See 'ems and the accompanying Worth-a-Look selections (judged important for niche markets and selected groups of printers or converters) were derived from over 200 nominations.

Following are selections that were categorized under Production Technology and Individual Products.

Must See 'em:

Agfa—Grand Sherpa digital proofing systems: Turnkey digital proofing solution includes 1,440x1,440-dpi resolution ink-jet engine color management, quality management/calibration software, high-performance proofer RIP, media, and technical support. Prints eight colors up to 33x46" at 360 dpi.

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DuPont Imaging Technologies—Certified Color Contract remote proofing: System links Cromalin Digital or Digital WaterProof ink-jet proofers automating the processes of sending proofs and receiving hard-copy contract proofs at remote locations. Color-critical data from sender to receiver is compared and certifies that a match has been achieved.

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Heidelberg—Color Open digital proofing: Heidelberg workflow with integrated color management outputting to the HP DesignJet 5000 on specially certified proofing paper with standard ICC profiles produces contract-quality proofs at 1,200x600 dpi.

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Hewlett-Packard—DesignJet proofing system: With a low-cost sensor, closed-loop color calibration, and proprietary color correction algorithms, the DesignJet promises to deliver accuracy with 90% on Pantone colors and all major offset standards; 2,400-dpi, six-color printing up to 13x19" in four minutes.

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Imation Corporation—Virtual proofing system: Combines Imation color technology with RealTimeImage image streaming, collaboration, and color management tools to deliver a CMYK color proof to a monitor. System includes customized CRT monitor, color management technology, and a suite of proofing solutions. Claims to accurately render CMYK color to RGB displays.

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Imation/Xerox—Color proofing system: Imation's MatchPrint Professional Server provides RIP network connectivity to the Xerox DocuColor 12 printer/copier to produce color proofs to the MatchPrint standard at 600x600x8 dpi. Color proofing papers help produce proofing fidelity.

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RealTimeImage—RealTimeProof: Suite of on-line proofing products allows printers and their clients to review, annotate, and approve high-resolution production files in a browser on a Mac or PC. With a 56K Internet connection, viewers can see a proof, zoom in, make densitometer readings, and annotate files that can be gigabytes in size. Viewers can see post-RIP, pixel-level detail like traps and fine type, at up to 2,450 dpi.

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Must See 'em:

Heidelberg—Prosetter Series: Heidelberg's new family of platesetters—the Prosetter 52, 74, and 102, for two-, four-, and eight-page formats, respectively—offers output resolutions from 2,400 to 3,386 dpi with an output speed of up to 16 plates per hour. The new line utilizes violet laser diodes for the imaging source, which, coupled with an internal-drum design, offers a lower-cost alternative to thermal CTP systems. The equipment images plates sensitive to violet light in the wavelength range of 405-410 nm, which are generally lower in cost compared to thermal plates.

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Worth-a-Look:

basysPrint, Inc.—UV-Setter: This product, differentiated as the only CTP system exposing conventional offset plates, is available in sizes up to 53x67". A four-up 27x37" model and an eight-up 32x44" offering were demonstrated at Print 01. Product was originally introduced at Drupa '95.

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Heidelberg—Cristala Quickplate Silver D670: With the recent introduction of this digital polyester plate, Heidelberg has joined the ranks of suppliers using polyester plates for full press form CTP. The product is available in eight-mil white (especially for small-format presses) and black, and 12-mil black; it is exposed on a range of Heidelberg imagesetters and platesetters.

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Olec Corporation—Tsunami imaging system: This imaging system uses ink-jet imaging to create a mask on off-the-shelf litho grade grained aluminum with no special coating. Shown as a technology announcement at Drupa 2000, the product is now completing daily production field testing.

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Must See 'em:

Komori America Corporation—Lithrone 640 digital press (formerly known as the Project D press): Currently the only 40" fixed-image digital press, the 640 was shown at Drupa 2000. It uses SquareSpot technology and 830-nm, 240-beam thermal laser imaging systems developed by Creo-Scitex. Komori claims that plates can be imaged at 2,400 dpi in less than four minutes, and that the press can be run by a single operator.

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MAN Roland, Inc—DICOweb: DICOweb is a roll-fed, fixed-image direct-to-press machine that utilizes a unique imaging and de-imaging technology. A thermal transfer tape comes into contact with a blank cylinder surface, then a CreoScitex digitally controlled infrared laser heats up the image areas, transferring ink-receptive material to the print cylinder. After a cylinder conducting step, the press is ready to run. After the run is completed, the cylinder is erased and ready for a new job. Print 01 was the first North American showing of DICOweb, which was introduced at Drupa 2000.

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Worth-a-Look:

Xerox Corporation—DocuColor 233 and DocuColor 400 presses: Shown at Drupa 2000 and debuted in North America at Graph Expo last fall, the two Xerox entries in the offset world are co-branded with Presstek, which supplies the imaging technology and plates. The DocuColor 400 is built on an Adast press base and the DocuColor 233 is built on a unique Ryobi common impression cylinder press base.

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Must See 'em:

Heidelberg—NexPress 2100 digital press: Long-awaited commercial product introduction.

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Scitex Digital Printing—3700 printing system: Offers multiple rows of ink-jet heads to print anywhere on a web up to 40" wide in single, spot, or process color at speeds up to 1,000 feet per minute. Print 01 introduction; commercially available now.

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Xerox Corporation—DocuColor iGen3 digital press: Formerly demonstrated as FutureColor; commercial introduction is scheduled for 2002.

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Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses has announced the debut of its Diamond 3000R 28x40" convertible sheetfed perfecting press, which is rated to operate at 11,000 sheets per hour in perfecting mode or 13,000 sheets per hour in straight printing mode. According to the manufacturer, the press's three-cylinder sheet-reversing unit affords smooth sheet handling and extremely accurate front-to-back register; a double-gripper mechanism ensures precise gripper-to-gripper transfer. Further contributing to print quality are double-size impression cylinders that do not pass the sheet to the transfer drum until it is fully printed. Specially designed ceramic jackets mounted on all impression cylinders after the perfecting unit prevent ink buildup, says Mitsubishi, thus effectively eliminating ink stains, doubling, and dimming of the printed image.

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M.G.I. USA, Inc. has announced the launch of its Evolutiv A330 13x19" digital press, offering 2,400-dpi resolution at 150 lines per inch on paper weights up to 94 lbs. Able to print from three paper sources (sheet and roll feed), the press is available with one to four print engine groups, enabling printing from 360 pages A4 per hour in four-color process mode to 1,440 pages A4 per hour in CMYK/RGB and up to 5,760 pages per hour in monochrome mode (four engine group configuration).

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Mail-Well, Inc. announced that it will immediately begin to produce safety-oriented envelopes for customers in response to the recent anthrax scares affecting the U.S. Postal Service. Included are envelopes with an extra safety window to reveal contents and a tamper-evident envelope. Also, the company is working with several large paper manufacturers and scientific/anthrax experts to incorporate existing biological technologies into new envelope products, such as the Contamination Alert Envelope, which changes color if it contains or has come in contact with a biological contaminant, and the Antibacterial Envelope, which would be treated with agents that can kill biological contaminants.

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