HP 10PS becomes the core power of process proofing

In platemaking, colors are extremely important. Accurate and repetitive reproduction of colors is fundamental to the survival of the industry. With the advancement of human society and economic development, people are using more and more of various image prints. The most important factor in image products, color, is more and more valued by users and designers. In the design and production of image products, proofing is an important means of controlling color. In recent years, with the wave of digital waves surging, the plate printing industry has inevitably experienced digital baptism. Computer-to-plate technology has been recognized at an alarming rate. Digital proofing technology and concepts are rapidly gaining popularity in the design printing industry. Digital proofing systems Gradually replacing the traditional photogravure proofing system has become a new way in process proofing. In the digital proofing process, the color is not in line with the requirements of the user, it can not be a true and faithful reproduction of the color of the proofing document, undoubtedly become the focus of attention.

Factors that affect the color performance of digital proofing

The so-called digital proofing is a kind of proofing technology that directly outputs digital manuscripts after digital manuscripts are processed in electronic publishing. It uses digital printers to directly output proofing to replace traditional lengthy proofing techniques such as film making and sun proofing. Process.

From the workflow of digital proofing, we can see that the computer sends the transmitted data to the printer. The printer can output the data with the corresponding RIP software. The customer or the printer can directly get the digital proofing product. In this process, after the computer designing the proofing document, the key to determining the quality of the proofing product is the printer and its supporting RIP software. It directly influences the color of the proofing product and determines whether the sample draft meets the requirements of the user. . Therefore, when we discuss the factors affecting the color proofing performance of digital proofing, the premise that the proofing document is designed by the computer is mainly to see whether the printer used to output the proofing and the supporting RIP software can complete the perfect reproduction of the color.

In the digital proofing process, what factors can affect the color expression of the printer? In general, there are two main external and internal factors. Among them, external factors include: temperature, humidity, dryness, etc. They all affect the accuracy of color. The internal factors are determined by the printer itself. The minimum ink droplet capacity, print accuracy, print head, and ink output in coordination with any problem in any one of them will affect the final output color quality. If you overcome the unfavorable factors that affect the color of the sample draft? What kinds of printers and supporting software can be most suitable for digital proofing? What features of printers and supporting systems can meet the requirements of digital proofing on color?

As a world-renowned provider of computing and imaging solutions, Hewlett-Packard has always been an absolute leader in the field of printing. It has always focused on and analyzed the requirements of users in the image design and printing field for proofing work, and has consistently introduced the most suitable users based on market demand. The print product used and its solution. While seeing the rapid rise of digital proofing, Hewlett-Packard has launched the HP DesignJet 10PS “Photo Manipulator” A3+ format inkjet printer specifically for graphic and graphic applications. This printer is compatible with the color management system developed by Rainbow Dijet and suitable for China’s national conditions. Perfectly adjust the influence of various unfavorable factors on the printing color and satisfy the user's need for true reproduction of digital proofing color.

HP 10ps advantage in color performance

We know that the internal factors that affect printing color are mainly determined by the characteristics of the printer itself. Its ink droplet capacity, print accuracy, print head, and ink are the key factors affecting the output color quality. As the core product of digital proofing, HP DesignJet 10PS has many strong advantages in color performance: it is a complete set of color management and output system, not a simple inkjet printer, its automated imaging technology has changed the traditional proofer The color stability is enhanced by the fact that the ink is manually applied and the pressure is adjusted. The color management system conforms to the Apple Color Sync, Macintoch, and Windows ICC industrial color standards, including the new closed-loop color calibration system and thermal inkjet printing. The technology, color layering technology and 6-color CMYKcm print head technology, together with dedicated print media and ink, can ensure the reproduction of pictures with high quality and true color accuracy. Specifically, the main features of HP DesignJet 10PS in terms of technical features, color management, and output media are:

Technical features: 1, thermal inkjet printing technology. Inkjet printing mainly includes thermal inkjet technology and micro-piezoelectric printing technology. HP DesignJet 10PS adopts thermal inkjet printing technology, that is, the ink is bubbled by instantaneously heating and heating the ink in the nozzle of the print head. The ink in the air bubble is ejected from the print head by the splitting of the air bubble to form an ink drop. Now, Hewlett-Packard has developed a fast inkjet printing technology (JetExpress technology) based on the thermal inkjet technology to achieve a new breakthrough in inkjet printing speed. 2, 6 color ink system. The HP DesignJet 10PS features an impressive new 6-ink ink printing system, including light blue, light magenta, and cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, with a wider range of printable colors for more accurate color reproduction and color effects. Can completely imitate the color effect of the traditional proofing, to meet the user's requirements for color proofing. 3, enhanced color layering technology. The HP DesignJet 10PS applies HP's new high-performance printheads with up to 304 nozzles per printhead, combined with HP's unique enhanced color layered printing technology, enabling each ink dot to reach over 200 colors with resolution Up to 2400 x 1200 dpi, perfect reproduction of every detail and extreme vividness of color tone.
Color Management: 1, closed-loop color correction system. The use of closed-loop technology helps to connect the entire process from prepress to printing and binding. At present, the printing industry is gradually adopting closed-loop technology, which is mainly used for the control of the printing process to meet the needs of printing jobs such as less print, more colors, and shorter time. HP applies this closed-loop technology to the HP DesignJet 10PS digital proofer, which uses a closed-loop color calibration system to bring the printer to the color standard defined under certain conditions with a minimum ink drop of 4 picolitres. 2, built-in color sensor. The built-in color sensor is the key to HP's color accuracy and repeatability. It allows the printer to automatically adjust the output to compensate for color inaccuracies caused by undesirable printing conditions, materials, and the environment. The built-in color sensor of the HP DesignJet 10PS automatically adjusts the output. Once the correct color file is available, digital proofs that are consistent with the preset color file can be output. 3, color file integration. HP's color files can be easily integrated with display color files such as ColorSync to ensure accurate display and printer output matching. HP also created a custom ICC profile that includes the unique features of ink, print media, and printers to effectively control color matching at each step of the workflow to achieve color matching in major color spaces and major international offset standards. To ensure the accuracy and authenticity of the proofing color.

Output media: For the "photorealistic hand" digital proofer, HP specifically designed a new high-quality proofing media for proofing that meets the international offset standards (EURO-Scale, SWOP, DIC, TOYO). HP matte or glossy proofing paper allows the output to really mimic the offset effect. Separate ink cartridges allow users to replace monochrome ink cartridges to minimize the cost of printing consumables while using pigmented inks to increase print output and proof color stability and saturation. With such media, the HP DesignJet 10PS can produce high-quality proofs similar to offset quality at a fraction of the cost of traditional proofing.

Overcoming the interference of external factors with print colors

After determining the internal factors that affect the color of proofing, we must also maximize the creation of an external environment suitable for proofing. At this stage, the printing industry in China is not unique to the printability, which brings inconvenience to digital printing. After we grasp the quantification of the printer's technical composition, we must also grasp the variable of printability. These variables include: speed, pressure, embossing, ink, ink volume, and humidity, humidity, dryness and other surrounding environment. In particular, because Chinese users generally use different papers, different inks, and different devices to cause differences in the color of different environments, that is, because the user handles different colors between different devices, their respective color gamut spaces are also different. Different, so there will be color mismatch phenomenon. These color differences caused by different application environments make us at a loss.

How to solve this unfavorable factor caused by external reasons? The standard digital proofing curve used in Europe and the United States is difficult to fully meet the requirements of Chinese users. To obtain a fully qualified proofing effect, it is necessary to provide each according to the differences in different papers, different inks, different equipment, and different colors in different environments that are commonly used by Chinese users. The modified digital proofing curve needed for different combinations. Based on this situation, Rainbow Dijet has developed a rainbow color management system CMS suitable for domestic users, which can help people achieve the required color stability and predictability, and perfectly adjust the influence of various unfavorable factors on color. .

The Rainbow Color Management System CMS uses the ICC standard to manage the color space of different devices in the workflow. It consists of three parts: one is the device-independent CIE reference color space; the second is the device's ICC profile PROFILE; and the third is the color management module CMM in the management process. Among them, the color management module CMM is the core, it is the use of professional digital proofing software combined with other color management software, the color space conversion finely corrected data integration. These data are concentrated on commonly used printed materials and processes in the country, and are subjected to a large number of in-depth color space model experiments under different production conditions to simulate the printing and proofing results, so the data is accurate and comprehensive.

The Rainbow Color Management System manages the gamut space of different devices in the workflow, and uses color management software (RIP software) through three color management steps: device calibration, profiling, and color gamut conversion (color transfer). , The scanned RGB color data is converted to CMYK data, and the CMYK data is converted to CMYK values ​​for different output devices for color proofing or actual printing. The Rainbow Dijet Color Management System was developed based on the HP DesignJet 10PS. HP DesignJet 10PS adopts HP Dijet color management data integration technology. Once the proof color file (ICC file) is determined, the proof color of each picture can be determined, and the staff only needs to follow the steps step by step when printing. Operation can be. In addition, the HP DesignJet 10PS itself is equipped with a temperature and humidity sensor. When the temperature and humidity changes, it can be automatically adjusted to ensure the stability of digital proofing quality, so that it is not affected by the environment and human factors, in the ordinary office environment Proofing.

The impeccable internal quality of the HP Dijet Digital Proofing System coupled with its excellent external systems constitutes an excellent expert in digital proofing. HP DesignJet 10PS is the most realistic output color, the most beautiful expression color, so that it can achieve high quality and high quality prepress proofing. Its process is stable and can meet the digital proofing of different users in different environments. At the same time, HP Dijet Digital Proofing System can easily cooperate with the desktop printing design system (DTP) and the computer direct printing system (CTP). These digital technologies are all inevitable trends in the future printing field, so advanced digital proofing has been adapted. The need for new technology development. We hope that HP DesignJet 10PS, a digital proofing color expert, will certainly be able to fly into thousands of homes to print a more beautiful world for users and make the world more colorful.

Source: HP Corporation