Inkjet Printing Technologies

Inkjet Media

Refilling Ink

Scanning & Printing Tips

What is Ink Jet Printing ?

- Printers must effectively control the placement of the media, and disbursement of the ink.

- Ink must provide a cost effective, vivid & reliable presentation.

- Media must minimally compliment or enhance the ink’s presentation of the image.

- Thermal (Bubble Jet)

- Piezo Electric

- Complex Ink System requiring maintenance

- Multiple Dedicated print heads

- Best suited for graphic arts and industrial applications

- Drop-On-Demand System

- Voltage pulses applied to a heater which gassifies

- Force of the bubble foreces ink to jet out

- Most popular technology

Examples:

Canon Bubblejets

HP Deskjet, ThinkJet, Design Jet

Lexmark

- Drops are produced by a transducer

- Droplets are subsequently distorted relative to the data charge

- Yields small drop sizes/high resolutions

- Open orifice requires careful control of ink drying characteristics

Examples

Epson Color Stylus & Photo Series

Some Industrial plotters

COATING REQUIREMENTS

and PROCESSES

MEDIA TYPES

and APPLICATIONS

- Limit and control dot size and shape

- Hold colorant on surface, control the absorption

rate. (Store the carrier until medium has evaporated.)

- Provide brilliant and neutral reflective background

- Prevent "curling"

- Provide various textures, and appearance

- Barrier coating (prevents saturation)

- Reflective coating

- Sealer coating

- Texture/Finish coating

- Gloss coating

A wide array is available from low end "thrifty" paper to "photo quality".

ALL inkjet paper is coated on BOTH sides Brightness ranges from 80 to 94+

Opacity is extremely important

- GLOSSY PAPERS,

Bond paper used as a substrate, various thickness

and glossy finishes applied. (Usually premium)

Whiteness is not always the best measure

Consistency sometimes a concern

- GLOSSY FILMS

Synthetic materials (polyester based)

Durability is greater than Glossy Paper

Much thinner, usually more expensive

- SPECIALTY FILMS

Transfer Paper, Backlight, Silver, Gold,

Transparency, UV Reactive Transfer

- TEXTURED MEDIA

Canvas, Silk, Linen, etc.

COATED INK JET PAPER, 20 - 24 lb

- Inexpensive trial prints for more expensive

materials

- Reports, Correspondence, Graphic

ULTRA RESOLUTION, 27lb

- Relatively inexpensive

- Photographic quality bond provides a

"matte" finish, with "true" color presentation.

- Heavier paper, accommodates dense and high resolution, (greater ink volume)

- May be framed

- Reports, Correspondence, Graphic

PHOTO GLOSSY

- Photo paper achieves "snapshot" thickness, and glossy finish.

- Primary applications are photographic, and signage

DOUBLE SIDED WEATHERPROOF

- Glossy one side, matte the other

- Water Resistant

(AVAILABLE SOON !!)

OPAQUE GLOSSY FILM

- Much thinner, greater durability!

- Excellent photo material !

- Creates very unique business cards, calendars, craft activities

· SPECIALTY FILMS

TRANSFER PAPER (actually film)

- Extremely popular !

- Transfer is accommodated via a

dye-sublimination process

- No longer required to remove backing

while it is hot !

- Can be applied to most porous surfaces

(cloth, some wood)

- Ultra-Violet Reactive is available !

(Changes color in sun light)

- Special surface to hold the ink

- Printed w/mirror image makes great signs

- Pre-attached fly sheet

SILVER REFLECTIVE FILM

- Excellent special affects;

- Black & White Photos

- Applications include marketing, certificates, crafts, business cards

- Clear film with an adhesive backing

- Ideal for decorations, decals, bumper stickers, labels, etc.

- UV and Water Resistant film, developed for light boxes

- Applications include; signs, badges, displays

· FABRIC and TEXTURES

WATER COLOR

- Provides artistic texture

- May be painted as well as printed

- Ideal for photos, greeting cards & crafts

CANVAS

- Actual prestretched canvas

- Great for portraits, and oil painting effects

- Polyester Silk with adhesive backing

- Applications include numerous craft projects; stickers, doll house wall paper, lamp shade appliqués, wedding book, notebook covers, etc.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

- Glow-In-The-Dark-Paper

- Magnetic Backed Photo

- Weatherproof media

CARTRIDGES and INK

- Alternative quality inks and cartridges ARE available !

ALL INKS ARE NOT EQUAL !!

- Be cautious of "1 Ink for Any Printer"

(Refill kits)

- Dye-based vs. Pigment-based

Dye based afford a larger range of colors

Less stable than pigment

(Most inkjet ink)

- Pigment ink is waterproof, better for photocopy

Longer dry time

(Some HP Black)

- Printer warranty will not be affected

- Have confidence in your source

- EXTREMELY COST EFFECTIVE !!

OEM cartridge cost typically $18 - $32 up

After market cartridge cost $ 8 - $25 up

Refill Cost (per cartridge) $ 2 - $ 4

- Some cases After Market cartridges better than

OEM for refilling

- Minimal learning curve required

- Refill same cartridge typically 4 - 5 times

- Media selection will alter the volume of ink released

- Inkjet Paper, nominal amount utilizing the resolution desired.

- Photo Paper, less than inkjet paper due to gloss coatings

- SELECTING THE HIGHEST RESOLUTION WILL NOT AFFORD THE GREATEST IMAGE

- Solvent based "fixatives" will increase the durability of your images and reduce water impacts.

Scan Modes

- OCR, (Optical Character Recognition)

Text, Documents

- Line Art, Images made of solid black lines no shading

- Color/Photo

OCR - Scan at highest resolution your system will support

Line Art - Use the same resolution you are going to print at, if the image is not being resized.

Resizing the image:

Increasing the size - double the ptr resolution

Decreasing the size - half the ptr resolution

Photos/Art - Scan at a maximum of 1/3 the printer resolution, up to a maximum of about 300 dpi. (Print at 720 dpi, scan at 240 or less)

Scanning at higher resolutions will produce HUGE files, but not necessarily better results.

As resolution doubles, file size quadruples,

150 dpi file size is approx. 1 MB

600 dpi file size is greater than 16 MB

Then.....

Using a 600 dpi ptr both images print identically

High Resolution images.....

... take more hard drive space

... longer to print

... drive used as virtual memory

... longer for image data transfer, & display

Not all save file formats are accessible with every image type. For example, some file formats do not support 24-bit color and may be grayed out in the file format list of your scanner.

Lossless formats - When file is opened the image is identical to the originial file.

Lossy formats - Image losses some detail when you save it.

Large file size limited detail.

- Photo CD’s and Floppys

- Photo e-mail

- Fax

- Digital Cameras

- VCR’s

Frequently asked questions . . . . .

Q. Why is the color printed different than what is displayed ?

A. Monitors & Scanners use RGB - additive colors, Printers use CMYK - subtractive colors.

(Some colors display on monitor are not printable and vise versa).

If colors scanned are too dark on monitor adj. gamma setting on monitor, if screen good, & print poor, contact ptr mfg for a Color Mgmt Sys profile for your ptr.

- Flatbed scanners are the most versatile

- Maximize optical resolution (not interpolated)

eg: 600 dpi (H) x 1200 dpi (V)

9600 dpi x 9600 dpi (s/w interpolation)

- Scan area size

- Color Capability:

36 bit 68.7 billion colors

24 bit 16.7 billion colors

12 bit 4096 shades of gray

8 bit 256 shades of gray

- Features (negatives, slides, 3-D)

- Bundled Software

- Interface, System Requirements

Parallel vs SCSI

- Protocol - TWAIN

(Technology without an Interesting Name)

- Determine your printing needs...

Primary text or graphics ?

Speed or Initial Cost ?

Media Requirements ? (Size)

Cost of Operation ?

Cost of Ownership......

Clean your printer regularly !! (Cartridge change)

Coated paper will leave a residue in the paper path.

Invest in a dust cover !

Basic Size - The standard size for a grade of paper, used to determine its basis weight. (e.g. Bond 17x22).

Basis Weight - The weight of a ream of paper in the Basic Size for that grade (e.g. 500 sheets of Sub. 20 Bond paper in its basic size, 17x22 in., would weigh 20lb).

Brightness - The measurement of a paper’s light-reflective qualities that affect contrast and halftone reproduction.

Caliper - the thickness of a sheet, or stack of sheets of paper as expressed in thousandths of an inch (mils); also referred to as Bulk.

Opacity - The ability of paper to inhibit show-through of material printed on its other side or from sheet to sheet. Usually, the lower the basis weight, the less opacity.