Ink Jet Web Printing

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While ink jet technology has been around for many years its has not really impacted the print market like it will now. Wide format web presses are now making inroads into various print markets. On-demand or short run books, publications, trans-promo, transaction, etc., are projected to be major markets for these new presses. While there are many, I'll focus on four major ink jet presses hitting the print market.

HP – HP has four ink jet webs on the market right now, which include the T200, T300, T350 and the T400. All four inkjet web presses are configured as four-color devises. All units have the ability to print, what HP calls, a bonding agent. This material is printed anywhere ink from the ink jet nozzles print. The bonding agent will improve image density.

The other differences between the four presses are web width and speed. Widths range from 20.5” inches to 40” inches depending on the model. Speeds also vary depending on the model with an average speed printing four color is 400 ft/min up to web speeds of 600 ft/min. Ink drying does take place on all models. Again, speeds and web widths depend on the model. Another feature of the higher end presses is that they have ability to print Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) encoding.

All the HP ink jet webs have the ability to print both sides in one pass.

Kodak - Kodak has introduced two ink jet web models using their Stream ink jet technologies. The first model, the Prosper 5000XL which is a four-color unit printing up to speeds of 650 ft/min at a maximum web width of 24.5”and printing both sides in one pass. The other model is the Prosper 1000, which is a monochrome unit. The speeds and web widths are the same for this model as the 5000 XL. Both models have on press drying to completely dry the ink.

Xerox - They recently announced they will be introducing a new wide web format ink jet press which is called the CiPress 500. Unlike HP or Kodak the Xerox ink jet press will print with waterless ink, which I suspect much like their dry inks used in their desktop printers. The ink used is a phase change type ink that is delivered in a granular form and melted onto the paper.
- This press prints four color, both sides in a single pass with speeds up to 500 ft/min with web widths ranging from 9” to 20.5”. Xerox big claim is that this press prints on all types of uncoated paper and that paper needs no special treatments since no water is involved. The press also supports a wide range of basis weights of uncoated paper. At this time coated paper does not work. The press is in beta testing at this time and it is suspected that Xerox will introduce their ink jet web to the market by 2012.

Others - There are many other press on the markets such as the JetStream series from Oce or the InfoPrint series from Ricoh/IBM, The Dotrix from Agfa, etc.

International Paper has several grades available for all these devices and a check on the web site will display the various offerings for the HP T200-400 press, which contains ColorPro Technology, and the Kodak Prosper series presses paper, containing ImagerLok Technology. Grades include both Accent Opaque and Williamsburg offset including 7 and 9 point Reply Card and a cream white book grade. The Converting paper side also has good, best and better grades available for many ink jet roll presses. While these grades are suitable for these pigmented based press, there are grades available for dyed based roll presses. A check at the International Paper web site will give you far more information on all grades available.

"Did You Know" Tips provided by Jim Kohler for International Paper and Printer's Playbook^™.

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© 2011 International Paper Company. All Rights Reserved. Printer's Playbook, Accent, and ImageLok are registered trademarks of International Paper Company. HP, Ricoh, IBM, InfoPrint, Screen, Oce, Agfa, Kodak, and Xerox, and the other brand names of their respective print platforms are the property of their respective owners. All product information on the HP, Kodak, and Xerox inkjet web products was taken from their respective product brochures.