Designing for digital used to involve managing the output of a glorified color copier while experimenting with bizarre process combinations to get something even close to the company logo. Heck, we’ve all even had a late night Kinko’s experience.

But commercial printers who once traditionally only offered offset now have a variety of digital services available to offer you as well (since they’ve embraced the one-stop shopping experience you, the creator, has asked for) — everything from short-run marketing to wide format signage. Several digital press manufacturer’s guarantee SWOP standard output and wide format inkjets make use of very pure pigments, so the color of digital has come a long way.

Applications for digital

The applications for digital are numerous and include short-run on-demand, version printing, personalized one to one, customized variable data, transactional (statements and financial reports), direct mail marketing campaigns, web to print, and all manner of signage and poster work.

Personalization and variable data should speak loud and clear to readers of in-house. You possess both the content and the data. You may lack the skill set with which to put both of these resources to good use. However, all kinds of developers are jumping into the game, to assist you with products that will get you advancing along that learning curve. I would suggest you begin by taking a look at Adobe’s page, http://www.adobe.com...oducts/vdp/main.html on variable data publishing. Here, you will find a host of resources for this type of digital application including case studies and solution providers.

Wide format is an easy addition for commercial print, in-plant and quick print. The cost of these devices has come down and substrate choices have gone up. Many commercial printers have experience using wide format for imposition and page proofs, particularly long doc printing that require folded and trimmed proofs. Color, of course is key here and inkjet pigments have a larger gamut than commercial press inks. They are purer and therefore can reproduce more saturated colors.

Technology that delivers colorant to substrate (what used to be “ink on paper”)

While all digital press manufacturers utilize heat to bond color to the substrate just like copiers (which fuse toner to paper), Kodak’s Nexpress uses an offset-like blanket transfer to deposit their colorant to the substrate which makes their process a little different. Nexpress indicates this transfer method yields a better image. Most use toner that gathers around positively charged areas on a drum and then the paper which is also charged, attracts those particles of toner. Add a little heat and the toner and paper fuse together. Different manufacturers approach colorants differently. On the market you have color toner, Dryink™ (Nexpress), or liquid ink options (Indigo). Each behave slightly differently in terms of the color they produce, how they dry/fuse, and over time how they wear (or wear off).

All of these colorants use purer pigments than traditional offset inks and therefore the color gamut for these devices is somewhat larger. On the flip side only the HP Indigo digital press using IndiChrome On-Press and Off-Press color inks are Pantone approved digital inks for use on their digital presses. For process-color-only digital presses, it’s back to your Pantone process simulator, otherwise known as the color bridge™. (And on a sidenote: have you seen Pantone’s Color Cue™2? A hand-held device that reads color and offers the Pantone equivalent? I saw it demo’d at Xerox’s Innovate ‘05, (a very informative free day of learning about the power of digital), with someone walking around taking readings of color off of clothing, printed marketing materials, you name it, and it was amazingly accurate.)

Screening technologies vary depending on your commercial printer’s digital press manufacturer but generally include halftone (or variation on halftoning, called adaptive halftoning) or stochastic. It would be wise to inquire.

For wide format technologies you have continuous or drop on demand inkjet heads. I’m not sure if either affects the quality of the printed piece, but probably the economy of production as the former recovers ink while the latter does not. Pigments or dyes, for these inkjets are very pure and the color is quite impressive. UV inks are generally available to protect images from fading. Couple that with the high resolution these printheads can deliver (very fine drops) and you can achieve spectacular imagery. Popular product manufacturers include Epson, HP, and Encad.

Substrates, more than just paper

This leads us to substrate (paper, plastic, etc.) which is a huge component to digital printing. It is essential to work with substrates designed for digital presses and there are many choices on the market or recommended by the press manufacturer. Another good resource for paper information is paperspecs.com. Understanding the role heat plays in the process can explain how non-recommended paper can shrink on you. Digital presses usually have a very difficult time printing on uneven/textured surfaces, particularly those that use a dry technology. However, just to set expectations appropriately, you might not find the range of paperweights you’re used to seeing in offset work, especially really light and really heavy stocks.

You’ve probably already experienced toner rubbing off or after it’s been printed. Some of these presses have available an additional coating process to mitigate this problem. But the reality of toner and heat make this process a one-shot deal. Preprinting shells with offset, not digital, is your only option for this type of strategy, as the toner is likely to come apart when it goes back through the heat process.

Choices to consider for wide format are quite impressive — everything from paper to synthetics to even foamcore. Obviously these choices afford you the opportunity to take into consideration the placement, exposure, and general “wear and tear” signage or posters receive. In fact, when you land at Encad, you are immediately hit with media, media, media (substrate) choices.

Composition considerations

• type: depending on the resolution of the digital press in question, the adage here is the higher the resolution, the better the type will look.
• rich black: all black is not equal. I saw a killer set of rich black swatches developed by a Parsons student in conjunction with a Xerox project. Ask your service provider if they have color swatches for their device to minimize experimentation (hint: if you have an in-plant device without this type of resource, make a set of swatches for yourself.)
• large areas of color: digital presses don’t do well when covering large area with solid color and so it is not advisable. The general recommendation is to break up large areas with some type of pattern. However, wide format can consistently spray uniform ink while digital presses have issues with even toner distribution.
• images: this is where digital can really shine — take advantage of this strength by using lots of images. After all, you don’t need the high resolution requirements of vector work to reproduce a raster image – you really only need approximately twice your intended linescreen which often falls into the 300 dpi range!
• blends: be careful with banding by watching the distance spanned and your color choices (and this is true for any device). Whip out your Photoshop bag of tricks in order to rectify if necessary
• process and spot: as mentioned previously, you’ll get a greater process gamut but limited spot color options and only with HP. Wide format typically works with 4+, 6+ and 8+ ink options which, again, expand the available gamut. I’ve had commercial printers complain that when using wide format for proofing, often times the proof looks better than the product coming off the press — again it’s the difference between using pigments or dyes and press inks.

Your prepress considerations are by and large the same. Ask your service provider if you need to prep your file any differently. If your job requires bleeds go ahead and add them. Imposition functions in the same way and you will construct in the same way you always have with all your favorite applications. A really cool reality of digital presses, is that you can proof and produce from the same device.

Great Resources

• www.xerox.com
  Xerox iGen3 — an impressive graphic arts group and a large market presence. Winner of the GATF 2004 Intertech Technology Awards
• www.hp.com
  HP Indigo — only major manufacturer using liquid toner and has optional five, six and seven-color ink stations allowing you to use IndiChrome onpress and offpress special colors
• www.nexpress.com
  Kodak Nexpress — uses a a trademarked DryInk™ colorant and an offset blanket application and is a recipient of GATF 2005 Intertech Technology Award for its fifth imaging unit solutions
• www.hp.com
  HP — its 5500 wide format series, which it says is its, “best large-format image quality for print service” with 569 sq ft/hr printing using maximum speed mode
• www.epson.com
  Epson — 7800 and 9800 models offer 8-color pigment based ink system and true border free printing for full bleed options.
• www.encad.com
  Encad, a Kodak company, “boasts-industry leading color gamut” for their Novajet series of wide format devices with a thermal print head and a rapid evaporation drying system. Winner of the GATF 2004 Intertech Technology Awards

A word about Gain.net and designing4digital
I can’t say enough about this fabulous resource. Designing4digital publishes a monthly newsletter, each on a different topic. The September issue covered personalized postage stamps from stamps.com. How cool is that? Previous issues covered applications for personalized imaging, catalogues, direct mail. Frank Romano (it would take me several paragraphs to list out his credits — let’s suffice it to say, “modern era print godfather”) spearheads this awesome effort and he’s informative and entertaining at the same time. He’s championed the leading edge of digital – if you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak, don’t miss it. GAIN.net, the web portal partnership between Printing Industries of America and Graphic Art Technical Foundation, while speaking to commercial printers is also a great resource for you, their biggest customer – ask and you shall receive!

So in summation, digital has come a long way, technologically, and creative uses abound. Our group would really like to hear about the innovative ways you’ve used digital, so send me your comments and or point me in the direction of a portfolio that speaks to digital! We’ll share your innovative ideas with the readership! Hey, just what are you doing with digital these days?