Inkjet & Digital Printing
IPA Digital Print Forum Results Released
Wednesday 10. June 2009 - Results from the 2009 IPA Digital Print Forum were released today during the 44th annual IPA Technical Conference. The Forum was an exhaustive examination of the world's leading digital press systems coordinated by Dr. Abhay Sharma, Chair of the School of Graphic Communications Management, Ryerson University, Toronto.
The results provide an invaluable resource for prospective buyers of digital print production devices thereby assuring any prospective system matches the companys needs and market requirements. Results are published in a 100-page book with samples from each digital press examined in the study. The publication is available for purchase.
The purpose of this study and its final report is to educate users and suppliers on the important requirements for success in digital print and promote a continuous improvement in this developing technology. The intention is not to rank or identify “best” systems but to explore the state-of-the-art as it relates to production printing. The report highlights the relative strengths and weaknesses of the systems in a constructive manner that contributes to the improvement of key technology areas. Reviews of this nature improve the technology and thus grow the opportunities in digital production printing.
The ten systems evaluated in the 2009 IPA Digital Print Forum included Canon imagePRESS C7000VP, HP Indigo 7000, Kodak NexPress S3000, Océ CS665 Pro, Presstek 52DI, Screen Truepress 344, Toshiba e-STUDIO6530c, Xeikon 3300, Xeikon 8000, and Xerox iGen4.
The Forum was comprehensive in nature covering all aspects of digital print production including color management and Pantone spot colors, physical properties such as rub resistance, cracking and light fastness, and production issues such as variation over 1000 sheets. The study considered the ability to match GRACoL and SWOP on a digital press and evaluated the deinking and recyclability of the various presses.
As part of the IPA Digital Print Forum, each digital press manufacturer was provided with NewPage Futura Laser gloss coated paper. As part of the testing process each manufacturer printed test pages on this stock and returned it to Ryerson University for analysis. Digital presses fully support the new PantoneGoe system and Pantone supplied a new swatch book to each supplier for this test. Q-Lab Corporation faded the print samples at their laboratory in Florida. The RIT Printing Applications Laboratory evaluated the cracking and rub resistance of the proofs and Fogra in Germany measured how much toner is released from the prints in the deinking and recycling process. Print samples from each system are included in the 2009 IPA Digital Print Forum Results report now available