The Indigo is not only superior to non-offset printing technologies such as ink jet and laser jet - but to traditional offset presses as well. The Indigo combines the benefits from digital, offset, and color printing technologies into one powerful printing process. Indigo’s usage of it’s unique liquid ink, the ElectroInk, which contains electrically charged ink particles in liquid form, enables digital printing by electrically controlling the location of the print particles. And unlike powder toner and xerography, where particle size cannot be made very small when printing speed is increased, as particles then become airborne, and uncontrollable, ElectroInk enables incredibly small particle size, down to 1-2 microns. This small size then facilitates higher resolution and gloss, sharper image edges, and very thin image layers—matching conventional offset printing quality, while providing efficiency and allowing prints to be completely customized.
Key Advantages over other printing technologies include:
Sharpness and definition
Even when viewed by the naked eye, it is easy to see that images created with Indigo’s ElectroInk are much sharper than those created with xerographic dry toners, and even offset lithographic dots. When printing on paper, ElectroInk does not soak into the surface of the paper fibers. Thus, printed dots, images and text, stay sharp and well defined on the surface of the paper. Much like ElectroInk, xerographic dry toners do not penetrate the paper either, however, they often suffer from large particle size and stray toner particles scattered outside the image edges, leading to poor edge definition. ElectroInk, as previously mentioned, print using particles of a very small size, guaranteeing sharpness and definition of the final product.
Color switching
Since the Indigo uses a technology it calls ‘on-the-fly color switching,’ which allows it to create a new separation in different color with every rotation of the press, and digitally print in full color, the Indigo press prints multiple colors for each single pass of the substrate through the press. In this, the Indigo is more advanced than the conventional offset litho color presses, which require one complete printing unit per color. Our printing technology allows us to print all color separations on a single station, something that include several advantages, such as better compactness, lower cost of hardware, and better mechanical accuracy, which in turn, translates to better registration. On the Indigo, after one color separation is done, the next color is then created and also printed on the same station, thanks to the equipment which allows one image to be transferred completely from the blanket, and the new image to be formed on the same station.
Dot gain and color consistency
With conventional offset lithographic press, dot gain, the tendency for printed dots and lines to spread out and enlarge as the ink images pass through the pressure of transfer, is common. The fluctuations which occur during a run are caused by factors like fluctuating ink and water temperature, water/ink balance and their tendency to emulsify, plate and blanket wear, and atmospheric humidity altering the absorbency of the paper. In conventional presses, no adjustments can supply a real solution for this problem, because of the time lag between the appearance of the problem and the adjustment going into affect. However, with the Indigo press, the fewer operating variables together with the built-in dot gain compensation, which corrects the exposed dot size so that the print is made in the desired size, the common problem of dot gain is avoided and color and size consistency is guaranteed.
Image gloss
The uniformity of the glossy appearance on a finished print is what makes it look professional and attractive. A very important feature of the Indigo process is the ability of the ElectroInk to give a highly uniform gloss finish, which complements that of the underlying substrate, whether the paper is a high gloss coated or a rough matt one. While products which are made on xerographic dry toner printers and copiers produce images having the same gloss irrespective of the paper which they are printed on, and thus suffer from variable gloss levels between shadow and highlights areas, ElectroInk images match the gloss of the underlying printing substrate. Gloss non-uniformity, which is often the result of using xerographic color toner, is perceived as poor quality printing. However, the ElectroInk layer is only about one micron thick, and therefore can easily follow the ‘hills and valleys’ of the substrate surface texture, rather than filling them in. This Indigo process completely solves the issue of inconsistent gloss, and provides the printout with a beautiful and professional surface shine.
Color space
Indigo’s ElectroInk prints according to the main familiar color standard, based upon the four ‘process’ ink colors cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). In order to meet specific needs, the ElectroInk electronically varies the thickness, and in turn, the color density, of the printed ink. The Indigo then can print in the four process colors, but can also expand the color gamut beyond that of the CMYK, by enabling both 6-color process printing and spot color matching. Also, because of its relative low fusing temperature of about 100 c, the printing substrate is not heated, damaged or distorted. With dry-powder xerography higher temperatures of around 150 c are often used, threatening the quality of the final product.
Color durability
Indigo’s use of the ElectroInk technology is also advantageous when it comes to the durability of colors in ultra-violet daylight conditions. The encapsulation of the pigment sub-particles helps preserve the chemical properties of the color against oxidation and relative humidity effects, making the color durability of printed images superior to the capabilities of the conventional offset printing, as measured by levels of fading or deepening.
Print Finishing
The Indigo has an additional noteworthy advantage over conventional lithography, which after the printing process is done requires either assisted drying systems, or a ‘natural’ drying time of several hours, before any print finishing can be applied. With the Indigo press, the product is effectively dry as soon as it leaves the print, eliminating any risk of ink ‘set-off’ marking other copies. Print finishing, therefore, can be performed immediately, hence assisting in the creation of a print that has quality equal to that of a conventional offset printer, but that can be customized and created efficiently, quickly, and on a wide variety of substrates.
In conclusion it could be stated that through its combination of the offset, digital, and special color technologies the Indigo Digital Press is superior to both other conventional offset presses and conventional digital printers. The Indigo’s unique techniques of processing and printing images, together with the ground breaking ElectroInk process and its handling of issues like sharpness and definition, dot gain and the consistency of color, the image gloss, and color types and durability, provide us and our costumers with a strong, efficient, and professional printing solution.
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