Top Six Trends Seen at drupa

The world's biggest print show, concluded June 11, provoked a lot of name-calling: inkjet drupa, green drupa, technical demo drupa, innovation drupa. It was all that and more.

Sheetfed presses driven by servos proliferated, some truly gearless machines, others just for changeovers. (Using quick-drying Sappi Tempo paper, a German beta user of a 6-color servo-driven DirectDrive manroland 700 made 169 plate changes on 103, 2-sided 1,000-sheet jobs in 24 hours.)

Standard formats have fallen by the wayside, as 28, 29, 31, 33, 40, 41, 44´´ and VLF sheetfed widths with varying circumferences appeared, not to mention the growth of adjustable cut-off and jumbo-wide webs. There were low-energy LED cured inks tuned to offset and inkjet. (See p.17)

Inkjet- and toner-based presses exhibited integrated finishing mastery—the digital enabler that's no longer an afterthought. Agfa, HP, Kodak, Océ, Screen, Xeikon and Xerox can deliver mailers, newspapers and coated products inline.

Optimized workflows now embrace integrated operations management, touching Web-to-print, estimating, scheduling, prepress, print and finishing. Integrated Agfa :ApogeeX and retooled Kodak Prinergy 5.0 and Unified Color Workflow are examples. It includes emerging packaging workflows from EskoArtwork and new players such as Heidelberg and Kodak. EFI enterprise-management systems link the process from order through manufacturing. It features digital and hybrid digital-offset workflows from EFI, Kodak, Press-Sense, Xerox and Océ, among others. It includes Web-to-print enablers like MindFire and XMPie for multichannel marketing. And there are presses, directed by prepress, that learn from prior runs (Komori) or set-ups (manroland). Workflow also includes Muller Martini's Connex portal to JDF connectivity and MBO's bad-copy ejection on folders integrated to KBA sheet-defect inspection.

Value added was seen in Heidelberg's XL105 sleeve embossing cylinder, Komori's foiling and embossing, Ryobi's foiling and holographic casting. The following pages offer a taste. More innovations will be presented each issue as we preview October's Graph Expo, where you can see for yourself.

Agfa :Dotrix Modular UV inkjet printer is the first digital press for flexible packaging/folding cartons to go beyond sampling into real production runs, says the manufacturer. It handles standard flexo media for run lengths over 15,000 meters. agfa.com/en/gs

Nilpeter Caslon inkjet print system was designed by FFEI. Its latest expansion features a 410mm web with a 4-color printing unit consisting of 24 optically aligned Xaar 1001 heads. Advanced data streaming from FFEI allows delivery of 1 billion drops per second. ffei.co.uk

Xerox iGen4 will deliver 35% more productivity by automating operator tasks, speeding cycling and reducing interruptions for tweaks. Print enhancement options from the iGen3 are standard; it prints sheets up to 14.33×22.5´´. xerox.com/digital-printing

Duplo-645 production color digital finisher's new knife folding option extends the slitter/cutter/creaser's online capability so printers can fully finish applications such as greeting cards, folded tent business cards, brochures and leaflets. duplousa.com

HP Indigo WS6000 web-fed digital press offers label and packaging converters up to 7-color printing at high volumes of more than 984,000 linear meters per shift. hp.com/go/graphicarts

Konica Minolta bizhub PRO 2500P digital duplex, cut-sheet printing system features a monthly duty cycle of up to 8 million impressions and is capable of printing 250 letter-size images per minute. kmbs.konicaminolta.us

Xeikon 8000 is its fastest high-resolution digital color press, says parent Punch Graphix. Optimized dry-toner electrophotography yields 1200-dpi print output of 230 8.27×11.69´´ ppm—more than twice its nearest competitor, Punch says. xeikon.com

Screen Truepress Jet520 roll-fed, single-pass, inkjet printer uses Epson multi-tone piezo drop-on-demand inkjet heads and water-based pigment inks to deliver variable-data output on various paper stocks. It's available as a single-engine or duplex machine. screenusa.com

Kodak Versamark VT3000 continuous inkjet print system targets transactional and transpromo applications. It's capable of speeds of 500 fpm that yield up to 2,040 ppm, producing monochrome, spot and/or process colors. graphics.kodak.com

InfoPrint 4100 duplex, continuous-forms electrophotographic system prints up to 2,640 6×9´´ impressions per minute or 1,440 letter-size ipm (two-up) at 600 dpi. Also, 9.5´´ wide paper enables 3-up pages. infoprint.com

Océ JetStream 2200 twin inkjet system—printing variable color at 500 fpm and supporting a monthly duty cycle of 66 million letter impressions—employs DigiDot piezo drop-on-demand technology for 600×600 dpi resolution. The SRA MP (Massively Parallel) controller enables high-speed, uninterrupted workflow for data streams. oceusa.com

PitStop Professional 08 performs a wide range of fixes for common PDF prepress errors. PDF profiles based on PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3 and PDF/X-4 and the latest Ghent PDF Workgroup standards are incorporated. enfocus.com

ColorMunki line color controls from Pantone simplify color management, calibration and matching. The product, available in Photo, Design and Create versions, is a combination of software and hardware, and embraces Goe standards. colormunki.com

Kodak Darwin variable-data software line includes a new graphical user interface and scripted rules options, cross-media capability (personalized HTMLs for high-end VDP campaigns). Also at drupa, Prinergy 5.0 integrates new Staccato CX screening technology (below) enables adjustment of highlight, midtone and shadow dots on AM and FM screens. graphics.kodak.com

RealVue3D plug-ins, from FFEI, add ability to preview effects of textured papers, embossing and metallics to its interactive simulated soft proof. Users can convert a multi-page PDF into a 3D visual. realvue3d.com

Trueflow SE v. 6.0 workflow RIP is core to Screen's Equiosnet—a workflow combining CTP, POD and TransPromo—and driving the firm's new inkjet presses. screenusa.com

ECRM Mako NEWSmatic HS plus— fully automated CTP production for newspapers—leverages patented flatbed, violet laser imaging (120 mw) for up to 25x36.5´´ web widths. Optimized handling allows output of 150 plates per hour at 1016 dpi. ecrm.com

Heidelberg Suprasetter 145, 162 and 190 large format, thermal CTP setters—for Speedmaster XL 145 and XL 162 and other presses with up to a 74.8´´ sheet width—output up to 35 plates per hour. Available Q4 2008. us.heidelberg.com

Presstek Compass 4000 four-up CTP platesetters, imaging up to 250 lpi, are for use with the firm's Aurora Pro chemistry-free plates. They also image a range of low- energy (830 nm laser), third-party thermal plates. presstek.com

Kodak Magnus XLF 80 platesetter supports extremely large formats: 89´´ wide for 80-page web presses (front and back). It features speeds approaching 27 plates per hour at 2,400 dpi. graphics.kodak.com

Xanté Platemaker 5 XL images 16-up polyester toner plates (and paper proofs) up to 36x48´´ with no processing chemistry. xante.com

Screen PlateRite Ultima 24000 handles big 64´´ plates. With dual plate loader and twin heads, it outputs 40´´ punched plates for a 12-unit press in under 15 minutes. screenusa.com

Martin Automatic's LRH nonstop roll changer is available in 31´´, 72´´ and specially configured wider widths, and accepts a wide range of materials, from film to paper to paperboard. martinautomatic.com

Baldwin's WebSiliconer, newly developed, applies silicone to the printed web on exit from the dryer, avoiding ink smearing on the press guide rollers and adding a controlled dose of moisture to it before finishing. baldwintech.com

Rockwell Allen-Bradley, in its first drupa, showed scalable Integrated Architecture—an information-enabled integrated controls platform for motion, drive, safety and process control. Above: Its MP-Series tracks linear movement of webs. ab.com

Scalable Motion Controls and servo motors from Rexroth automate print machinery. Products include decentralized, intelligent internal and external closed-loop controls to synchronize cylinder positions for presses, embossing and cutting machines. boschrexroth.com

Saphira Performance Kits show Heidelberg unified branding of all consumables; these enhance performance of its Speedmaster SM 52 with Anicolor and UV, and SM 102 coating perfectors. us.heidelberg.com

Goss Ecocool/T Model press dyer features an integrated after-burner and pollution-control system that increases heat efficiency and reduces energy usage up to 40% from earlier models. gossinternational.com