For STC France's October 2004 member meeting, we visited OPAG, a Paris-based digital print company. M. Patrice Quiqueret showed us this relatively new technology...
---Résumé en français par Caroline Dannoux... Read on for English text ...
Incroyable ! La démonstration par l'équipe de Monsieur Quiqueret est flagrante : une machine qui se cale en 4, 5 tirages, une qualité imprimerie qui sort en quelques secondes sous nos yeux.
Les possibilités sont à mon sens largement méconnues et pourtant, si j'avais pu bénéficier de l'imprimerie numérique en start-up il y a 10 ans ! Plus de stockage, plus de rupture de stock, plus de centaines d'invendus alors que l'on travaille déjà sur la release suivante...
Tout cela grâce à un devis traité via internet dans l'heure et une production dans la journée. Pas de limitation de support ni de qualité. De plus, OPAG traite les devis les plus simple (par exemples moins de 10 copies) jusqu'aux commandes complexes de ses grands clients - entreprises, grands magasins, modistes, éditeurs... Une flexibilité et un potentiel à ne plus ignorer.
Today, printing technology has become more direct (fewer steps are required to set up the presses) due to the addition of electronics. This allows for fast turnaround, in many cases same day printing. OPAG is open from 06h00 to 22h00. They can provide quotes in a few hours.
We saw four variations of digital printing:
1) Kovor press: A traditional four-colour offset press (oversize A2 paper format). The digital part is in the pre-press, where the image of the page to be printed is engraved on four plates (one for each colour: cyan, yellow, magenta, black) with a laser. Because the electronics used to engrave the plates are designed to provide a repeatable output, the quality of the lithographic process is much more consistent compared with previous techniques. This printing method requires setup time, but provides the highest quality and best price for a large number of copies (more than 500).
2) Heidelberg QuickMaster DI: A four-colour digital offset press. Its method of operation is similar to the above press, but is much more compact (it prints oversize A3 format paper). It takes a PDF file, engraves its own plates, and robotically sets itself up. As such, it is marketed as a Digital Press, though offset presses are called 'permanent master' in reference to the engraved plates that always print the same page, until they are changed. Due to high degree of automation built in to this press, it allows for quick setup, and therefore shorter production runs.
3) HP Indigo UltraStream: This is what I found was the real revolution in digital printing. The speed and quality of offset printing without a permanent master. Now electrography replaces the engraved plates. In electrography a laser beam on a photosensitive plate drum creates a latent image. The image is then "developed" by depositing (or misting) liquid toner onto the drum in four separate passes for cyan, yellow, magenta, and black.
Because there is no longer a permanent master, this press is called Computer-to-Print as the printing plate is exposed from scratch for each new impression. Computer-to-Print is a purely digital printing technology and it allows for personalization (every page can be different). In the 10 minutes we looked at this press running, the operator ran three jobs for different customers. One of the jobs was name place cards for the seating at a reception.
Description: The HP Indigo UltraStream provides offset quality photo-realistic output. As there is no master plate (which is the case with offset), this is called Computer-to-Print. Like an ordinary office printer, it allows every page to be different. Short runs of full colour books, brochures, and flyers can thus be economically produced.
Click here for full specifications.
4) Ink Jet printer: OPAG has two ink jet printers that are big versions of the printer you use at home. Fine nozzles spray four ink colours onto to the paper surface for a photo-quality result. There is no permanent master. These printers are very slow, and as such are ideally suited to low volume, large format jobs. The larger of these two printers can print 2 meters wide by up to 30 meters in length; ideal for posters and convention booth displays.
Other services we saw included binding, plastification, and cutting. Here is a picture of a cutter press.
About Pantone: The Pantone colour matching system accurately specifies a spot colour to be printed based on the colour swatches found in the Pantone colour book. This system works by mixing specific ratios of inks according to a formula. An engraved plate is made for the Pantone colour. Most modern colour presses are made for four colours (cyan, yellow, magenta, black). If you are doing a four-colour job plus a Pantone colour, the paper must be fed through the press a second time to apply the Pantone colour. As such the Pantone colour becomes expensive because of the extra setup time required - the press needs to cleaned of the previous colour to make it ready for the Pantone colour, then after the job it must be cleaned of the Pantone colour.
Cost-saving colour matching fact: Modern presses allow the colour balance to be easily tweaked. Work with your printer to have them match the printed output to a Pantone colour.
We would like to thank M. Patrice Quiqueret for his time and for showing us his enthusiasm for his trade.
OPAG
49 boulevard du Général Martial Valin
75015 Paris
France