Digital Label Printing
Digital printing is the newcomer on the scene with impressive, vivid graphics and flawless color registration. By eliminating the need for plates, electronic artwork can be sent directly to the press eliminating time consuming prepress set up. Corrections can be made with ease and a single job can have entirely different content on each label. Digital printing is more costly, requires specially coated materials and runs slowly (1000-1380 ft per hour) but the results are stunning and it can often succeed where other printing processes fail with tight registration and no need for color trapping. Digital printing is ideal for short runs, variable data, difficult trapping and complex four color process work.
Digital printing process diagram
The Digital Printing Process
Our digital presses are intermittent roll-to-roll presses. Images are created by an electronically charged metal plate called the photo imaging plate (PIP). The scorotron (see diagram above) fully charges the PIP as it passes under it. The fully charged PIP is then discharged by a laser to create the image with each revolution. A fine mist of electronically charged ink is then sprayed toward the plate by the slit injector as the PIP revolves and the ink is drawn to the areas discharged by the laser. The PIP is then fully discharged by the pre-transfer erase (PTE) lamp and the image is deposited onto the blanket. At this point, the PIP is recharged by the scorotron and ready for the next cycle. When each color separation has been applied to the blanket, it engages with the impression drum and the full color image is transferred to the substrate all at once. All of the inks and processing fluids are recycled within the press making it very efficient with consumables.
Because each revolution of the plate erases the previous image, each lay down of ink may be entirely unique. This affords tremendous versatility for personalization and dynamic information like barcodes and serial numbers, however, images and layout may also be unique from label to label. |
