Featured image for “Inkjet Insight Production Inkjet Market Survey on Print Quality Measurement and Paper Qualification”
January 7, 2020

Inkjet Insight Production Inkjet Market Survey on Print Quality Measurement and Paper Qualification

Our latest research surveys production inkjet users on  requirements for print quality measurement when qualifying papers for use on inkjet presses and their satisfaction with OEM services related to meeting those requirements. Executive summary available to all. Premium members can download 18 page report.
Featured image for “Mary’s Wish List: Scanner to Replicate 3D Textured Objects”
December 3, 2019

Mary’s Wish List: Scanner to Replicate 3D Textured Objects

One of the fastest-growing applications in wide-format and industrial printing is textures, and while a lot has been written about how these kinds of materials are printed, typically using UV flatbed wide-format printers, not much has been said about the front end of the required process when developing inkjet imaged home décor such as flooring and window covering.
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November 20, 2019

Importance of Clear Communication with Print Providers

Mike Todryk, Color Technical Specialist for IWCO Direct shares three of the biggest client communication gaps impacting Production Service Provider’s ability to reproduce brand colors correctly. Educate your customers, educate yourself and get colors right the first time.
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October 1, 2019

Primary Ink Management = Savings

Many printers practice ink management by limiting combined process inks (CMYK and +) through a color profiling process. TAC adjustment can help control ink costs, drying, curl and paper cockle by limiting the overall volume of ink printed. Let’s talk about how to find the the percentage value of a color at which we no longer gain any color value by adding ink.
Featured image for “Three Experiments to Try with your Inkjet Press (Part 2)”
September 17, 2019

Three Experiments to Try with your Inkjet Press (Part 2)

Experimenting with your inkjet press is something that should be part of your monthly plan. Here is the second of three experiments to help you really get to know your press. The first experiment was about paper. Today we talk about ink volume.
Featured image for “Lessons Learned About Color Gamut”
September 3, 2019

Lessons Learned About Color Gamut

The sheer number of factors that affect the color gamut in production inkjet can be overwhelming. Whether you are a Print Services Provider or a buyer of inkjet-printed products, these color gamut factors matter. IWCO Direct spends a lot of time answering these questions internally and for customers. Here are some of the things they’ve learned thus far.
Featured image for “Paper is Everyone’s Problem”
August 14, 2019

Paper is Everyone’s Problem

Most inkjet applications require paper. For many reasons, compatible inkjet paper is in short supply. If you are involved in the inkjet print supply chain, or a buyer of the finished product, it is in your best interest to help clear hurdles to identify and qualify compatible papers and to communicate availability as efficiently as possible.
Featured image for “Measuring Paper Against Expectations”
July 30, 2019

Measuring Paper Against Expectations

Companies evaluating paper for suitability for their inkjet environment have different expectations. What is most important to you and your customers: gamut, show-through, small text clarity, mottle, coalescence, edge clarity, or are they all important? Do you get the data you need to see how a paper performs in these areas on your press?
Featured image for “High Speed Inkjet Devices Take on Commercial Print Quality”
June 5, 2019

High Speed Inkjet Devices Take on Commercial Print Quality

Many buyers in 2019 are looking to complement or replace their offset production capabilities. High speed inkjet is gaining acceptance in a market with high print quality and color expectations. We are talking about high end, high value printing such as marketing collateral, magazines and catalogs. Read on for a round up of factors in evaluating presses for this market and top OEMs making the cut.
Featured image for “Combating Coated Paper”
May 14, 2019

Combating Coated Paper

Coated papers being more expensive, we expect higher quality from the printed piece. Gloss coated, which holds the ink high on the surface, will show any defect from inconsistent pre-coating, print head jetting and even inconsistent paper coating. Note that, even though we may not see a difference in surface coating, offset coated papers can come with inconsistencies that originate at the paper mill. If coating is not evenly applied across the entire paper machine, the roll or ream you receive will print and dry differently than the one before.
Featured image for “Preparing Your Brain for Inkjet”
February 12, 2019

Preparing Your Brain for Inkjet

Regardless of whether you are new to production inkjet or trying to work through production challenges, success often comes with a well-rounded approach that includes filling knowledge gaps and executing critical process steps.  
February 5, 2019

Ghosts in the Machine

After the trainers leave and before you develop buyer’s remorse, there are tricks to living with your press that will allow you to maintain your inkjet excitement. That is the purpose of this series, starting with this first episode on dealing with ghosts.
October 31, 2018

Rich Black in Images Shouldn’t Be Scary

Producing quality rich blacks and image details with inkjet can become a scary task. Learn how to control black details (shadows) by understanding the ink/paper/profile combinations that are spooking your results. Happy Halloween.
September 22, 2018

Albert Munsell his Color Space Accomplishments

John Seymour shares a humorous post on the accomplishments of Albert Munsell and his contributions to the field of color management. Provides an overview of the leading sources of color management theory and an approachable way to understand three-dimensional color space.
Featured image for “Global Graphics ScreenPro Version 2 Reduces Non-uniformity in Production Inkjet Printing”
July 10, 2018

Global Graphics ScreenPro Version 2 Reduces Non-uniformity in Production Inkjet Printing

ScreenPro with PrintFlat technology reduces non-uniformity, commonly known as the inkjet smile. Source: Global Graphics Release from Issuing Company Cambridge UK, 10th July 2018: A new version of ScreenPro™, the
June 4, 2018

Color Vision Deficiencies

Knowing he color capabilities of your inkjet device is very important, but understanding the color capabilities of your press crew is critical. Visually tweaking or modifying color on press is never an efficient or repeatable way to run production. Making your staff aware of their potential vision deficiencies will help catch color, as well as print quality issues, before they get to your customer. Here are some things you should know.
Featured image for “Pigment Ink and Creme Brûlée”
May 15, 2018

Pigment Ink and Creme Brûlée

As inkjet moves into applications with high ink coverage and quality demands, users can run into some hard to diagnose problems. If you only focus on the paper and the print heads when trying to diagnose print quality issues, you could struggle for a long time looking in the wrong places.
April 16, 2018

Understanding Paper Specifications-Shade

Shade is important to inkjet color reproduction as the paper’s shade shows through the ink and can shift the ink’s colorant when applied to the sheet. Paper shade can affect all values of highlight, mid-tone and shadow areas of print.
April 10, 2018

Understanding Paper Specifications-Whiteness

Paper whiteness is particularly important in markets for which small text and readability is important such as book as well as magazine. For magazine images, the level of OBA’s in the paper can affect color reproduction accuracy of certain colors combinations.
April 4, 2018

Inkjet for Catalogs and Magazines – What Matters?

Offset printing satisfies the majority of the production requirements for both catalogs and magazines. As marketers seek to increase ROI, you can start to make the case for shorter runs, versioning, hyper-localization, and personalization and then inkjet printing starts to become interesting.

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