| Christoph Staub at Hapa AG outlines the power of digital print for pharmaceutical packaging and its potential to transform the industry
The onward march of digital technology has had a significant impact on many areas of business, and none more so than on the print sector. Traditional print technologies such as litho have harnessed the power of digital technology in computer-to-print (CTP) processes; and the past decade or so has seen a huge growth in the number of digital presses which eliminate the need for printing plates altogether.
INKJET TECHNOLOGY
First seen in the early 1970s when manufactures and users were seeking a cost-effective and robust alternative to dot matrix printers, inkjet technology is undoubtedly one of the stars of the digital revolution. Due to their low cost, ease of use and impressive colour reproduction capabilities, inkjet printers are now the most commonly-used technology for consumer printing.
In the professional print arena there is a huge market for inkjet printing, with applications generally divided into three categories – proofing, page-width printing and wide format printing. Inkjet proofing has now largely replaced the expensive and time-consuming analogue system of proofing print jobs for colour accuracy before a large volume run. Broadly speaking, page-width applications involve the production of items such as bills and individually-addressed catalogues or magazines, where each item in the run is unique because of the personalised data it carries. Wide format technology is principally used for the production of advertising graphics, such as billboard posters, but as a non-contact technology with a print width of up to five metres, a vast and growing number of applications can be addressed. |
