Digital printing technology will enter the field of packaging and printing

With the increase in print volume and the application of color management, traditional printing processes such as flexo, offset, and gravure still account for a great advantage. Recently, new developments in ink jet printing and toner printing technology are slowly making digital printing technology into the field of packaging and printing. In the field of label printing, digital printing technology has been widely accepted by lithographers, and in the carton printing market, some well-known manufacturers are trying to gain greater market share.

Although digital packaging printing technology is not yet mature, in the next few years, packaging and printing plants are likely to purchase digital printing presses as a complement to their printing equipment. The development of digital printing technology has made it a practical choice for packaging and printing companies. In the past, digital printing of print quality and printing speeds could not reach the standard gravure or flexo printing company, and the print volume was also a problem. But now digital presses have seen a significant increase in printing speed and print quality.

In addition to producing high-quality prints, there are more practical advantages to digital printing, such as shorter preparation times and faster speeds when printing short runs, which are key to print marketing. Manufacturers believe that their products have great advantages in the special, limited edition packaging or label printing field, and that variable data can provide a variety of characterization options. As a result, they are sparing no effort to develop digital presses to squeeze into this market dominated by traditional gravure, flexo, and offset printing. The development of the toner digital printing market in Beijing printing industry is not limited to label printing, and there have been some digital printing machines for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics packaging printing market in Drupa last year. It is generally believed that digital printing is only suitable for short-lived markets, but Mark Stephenson, sales manager at Fujifilm, believes that Gallup can do a good job for print jobs between 2000 and 20000. At the same time, it is also very suitable for the printing of prototype packaging, so as to ensure that the new packaging is effectively tested before entering the general production.

We combined a variety of printing technologies to optimize the cost of label printing, AndyCook, FFEI's managing director, said that our innovation has brought surprise to Newport's customers. In the label printing market, digital printing is not new technology, but printing labels using inkjet printing is a new technology. The next challenge is how to push inkjet printing to new markets. FFEI is seeking special applications of inkjet technology for printing security labels, such as DVD covers, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic packaging.

The current challenge is the text, Cook added. We can use digital screening technology to improve the quality of text printing, but inkjet printing is a non-contact printing technology. For inkjet printing, printing high-resolution text is a challenge. However, when it comes to the annual report of the Chinese printing industry in the field of packaging and printing, word clarity is not the only obstacle that digital must overcome. In the field of packaging and printing, people are very fond of using spot colors, and this is difficult to achieve on digital presses, especially for short-lived jobs, said Stephenson of Fuji. Then the price of each print is the homepage of the Beijing Institute of Graphic Arts. Digital printing is more suitable for special packaging and prototypes.

Speed ​​is also a problem. An inkjet printer operating at 25 meters per minute may be suitable for short-run job printing. However, such speed cannot compete with the printing speed of gravure and flexo printing at all. Stephenson agrees and adds that the high-quality digital printing market has matured. Now that there are some great ideas, it's still a challenge to bring all the elements together, but if you can print successfully, you will get a high return.

Compared with the label printing market that has really embraced digital printing, only time will tell when the market for cartonboard and flexible packaging will shift from traditional printing processes to digital printing.