Proof of The Matter (Proof of The Matter)

Since the use of wide-format digital printing presses can obtain high-quality prints, do they still need to purchase expensive digital proofers? Some inkjet printers of Epson or HP can print very perfect pictures. In the eyes of non-professionals, their quality can be almost comparable to real print. But can this wide-format output device be used as a proofing machine? Maybe, they are cheap and of good quality, but their print speeds are too slow, resulting in high costs, low profits, and the fact that colors cannot always be consistent and cannot be used for proofing. However, such things have changed a lot. Manufacturers have improved the hardware of the equipment. The RIP technology that drives the equipment has also undergone a major breakthrough. Now, more and more companies have already launched wide-format inkjets. The printer is used for proofing purposes. But companies that use it as a device for the proofing process throughout the entire process are still rare. The cost for a printing company to buy an advanced digital proofing machine is very large, and an inkjet printing device can be purchased at a small price. At this time, perhaps we have to re-define the next proof. Cromalin is still standard equipment. Some people may have a negative opinion of the above view, because after all, Cromalin digital proofer is still the standard equipment to ensure the quality of digital proofs, but for such a system user costs from £ 20,000 to £ 50,000. Cheap equipment also has many advantages. DuPont Color Proofing is working with Epson to develop a new type of RIP that brings a lot of fresh energy to low-priced devices. Although the product quality of these printers is good, the purpose of their use for proofing is mostly to check the situation of imposition or color matching. This does not mean that they are suitable for sampling and proofing, as this equipment does not guarantee the stability of color quality like Cromalin or other high-end systems such as Kodak Approval. So, what equipment is suitable for sampling and proofing? Can a customer only choose an expensive proofer with a precise network structure? In fact, this is determined by the sample value the customer needs. If you want to print an ad insert for a community magazine, you can achieve the effect of photocopying; but if you print an ad in a beautiful magazine, the standards of the proofs naturally increase. If customers are happy to accept HP-printed non-sign proofs, that's fine, but if they say 'color mismatch' afterwards, it would be a hassle. With Cromalin equipment, the print operator can guarantee that the colors of the prints match the proofs. Therefore, whether to convert an inkjet printer into the company's main proofer has become the focus of debate. Interestingly, Epson does not think that their equipment is a special equipment for sampling and proofing, but only for testing and proofing. The excellent quality Epson introduced the Color Proofer 5000 model to the market approximately three years ago and has since introduced the 9000 model. Both use Epson's high-quality Micro Piezo print head with powerful RIP to produce proofs of superior quality. Epson also cooperated with DuPont and EfI to develop what Epson called "the industry's complete solution". By then, its excellent performance is self-evident. The view of digital proofing often varies from person to person, and some people need an accurate halftone dot structure. However, it is important to match the quality and accuracy of colors, so it must be consistent with the naked eye. The goal of proofing equipment is to match proofs with the final printed product, and the HP 5000 has made bold improvements to achieve this goal. Digital Cromalins devices are somewhat reddish or dark in color, while the HP5000 uses six-color printing. The printed proofs are closer to the finished product than any other proofer, or even proofs from the analog proofer. However, the accuracy of the HP Design Jet 5000 is very much related to the substrate. The standard substrate does not necessarily achieve the best results. But for this particular device, its main selling point is not quality. The device is mainly developed for the poster market, so the printing speed is very fast. The quality of Epson 5000 and 9000 is very good, but the speed is very slow. HP equipment is the standard for printing speed. The 5000 model can output at a speed of 7-10sqm/hour on the surface of copper paper, enough to meet the needs of most people. In terms of quality, the difference between the two devices is small. If you look at the Kodak system, you will find rose spots, etc., but there is a big difference between rose spots in digital printing and rose spots in offset printing. The only way to achieve complete consistency is to use automatic calibration equipment with a densitometer or similar measuring instrument in the system. Cheltenham developed a system called PressMimic that turns an Epson wide format device into a proofer to meet the needs of various industrial sectors. The developers of the system initially believed that digital proofs should not just match the printing press product as much as possible, because no system can exactly match the product printed by the press. It is true that most printers are very happy to accept this point of view. However, failures such as man-made mistakes in printing can still cause great deviations in the results of printed products. Therefore, PressMimic allows users to match five basic printing processes, from high-contrast proofs on glossy paper (like Cromalin devices) to high-quality offset, thermoset web printing, condensate web printing, billboards Picture printing. Buying this system while purchasing Epson 9000 can save a fortune. Compared with Kodak Approval, such sales are attractive. HP devices also add some accessories to the DesignJet 5000 to make it more suitable for the proofing market. The key to the problem is that the price data transmitted to the printer is exactly the same as the data output to the imagesetter and the platesetter, and is interpreted in the same way. Since the DesignJet 5000 is a six-color printing device using magenta and cyan inks, the software used allows it to print halftone rosettes in a digital fashion. These rose spots are caused by wet overprints and dot gains. of. However, the key to the problem lies in the price. The manufacturer may want to spend so much money to purchase such a device rather than buying a digital proofing machine. Others do not think so. They believe that regardless of the price, the key is to look at its performance. Although the software part of these devices has been greatly improved, but actually on-demand inkjet technology is not suitable for signing. Sample proofing. The key factor in considering the problem is the foreseeable choice of sampling proofing machine. The key part to be investigated is the impact of the integrity of all data on the printing effect, and these effects are foreseeable. Although - as previously mentioned - there is no device that can perform 100% accurate copying, the difference can still be overcome if the tool is used for total printing process control. So, in order to overcome these problems, HP and Epson will develop in what direction? The quality and stability of these two kinds of equipment are very satisfactory, at present their improvement is in size. Epson wants to get bigger, and HP wants to get smaller. If you plan to implement quality improvement in the near future, you should now decide where to start and see which customers can accept the proofing with a wide format printer. It is difficult to make a decision on proofing between the printer and the customer because there is a factor of mutual trust. If the relationship between the printer and the customer is excellent, these wide format printing devices are sufficient to meet the needs of the customer, but if they are new to the customer or the customer is sensitive to the quality of the finished product, they need the printer to guarantee their quality. It comes down to the fact that using inkjet printers can be assured with a certain amount of quality.