Introduction
The initial introduction of wide format inkjet printers in the late 1980s marked a significant milestone, though the early versions were essentially plotters equipped with inkjet nozzles and did not meet today’s quality standards. However, the evolution of this technology was rapid, with companies like Hewlett Packard pioneering advancements that greatly enhanced printer performance. By the late 90s, inkjet technology had overtaken offset printing, what could be considered the golden age of wide format inkjet printers in the new millennium.
The significant advancements in large format printing were driven by the shift to digital-based inkjet printers. These printers utilize numerous small nozzles to deposit ink directly onto various substrates, such as paper, photo-paper, and vinyl. The capability of inkjet technology to produce high-quality, pollution-free, continuous-tone prints has not only matched but often surpassed the quality of traditional offset printing.
However, the main player in pen plotters was Hewlett Packard. The HP ColourPro series was considered the finest at the time. The pen plotter was limited in its use and its best results were seen when using complex lines on a vector-based image. Unfortunately, it did not translate well to image printing. This is considered to be the main reasons for the decline in use of pen plotters. The quality and technology for printing images improved rapidly but was not matched by the 2230ij and its competition. As a result, many consider the pen plotter to be anachronistic and their best days to be behind them. At present, Hewlett Packard has discontinued production of pen plotters since the spring of 2002 and has focused primarily on large format digital inkjet printers. This signifies a great shift in demand and need for higher quality large format image printing.
Large format printing technology has been around for a while but has experienced a considerable transformation from the cut-driven, pen plotter seeking way to the digital inkjet printing methodology that is seen today. Initially, much of the large format printers were pen plotters and one such example of a pen plotter was the electrostatic Xerox 2230ij.
Advancements in large format printing technology
Today, large format printing is most commonly done using digital printing technology. The most popular printers used are inkjet printers. These can be used to print on vinyl, paper, cloth, and a variety of other materials. The most common inkjet printers are aqueous-based and use a dye or pigment ink. These inks are rated for outdoor use, meaning that the print will not fade for one to three years. Solvent inks are in a class above aqueous inks in terms of durability; they are most commonly used by government institutions and universities. Today, most inkjet printing is done on roll-fed printers. This type of printer is used with a wide range of media and it is the most practical for large format printing.
Over the past decade, the tools involved in large format printing have expanded at an impressive rate. According to the article “The Ten Commandments of Digital Printing” in the January 2000 issue of Signs of the Times magazine, in order to think of things in a timely manner, a $100,000 investment in large format digital was only good for 18-24 months. Since then, it reminds us that products such as inkjet, dye-sublimation, and printers that use ultraviolet curable ink were not economically feasible. Now, there is essentially no limit to how wide a graphic can be, how long it can last, and where it can be displayed. These advancements open up countless possibilities for outdoor/indoor digital signage, banners, and photo-realistic prints that mimic nature.
Improved quality of printed materials
Offset lithography is the method by which most printed material is produced. An image is transferred to a plate (usually made from aluminum) which is then placed on a printing press. The press then transfers the image from the plate to a rubber blanket and then to the paper or other printing surface. Digital printing is an umbrella term for a number of different methods, but the common theme is that it skips the steps in the middle and produces the image directly from a computer to a final substrate. Step and repeat digital, for example, produces images directly onto the final substrate, so is comparable to the offset method. Other methods such as inkjet and electrostatic are more suitable for short-run and on-demand printing.
Over the past four decades, large-format printing has grown from a nearly nonexistent industry to a thriving market where companies continue to find new and creative applications for printing. The advances in the methods and technologies of print production have played a significant role in spurring this growth. These advances in printing have had far-reaching effects that go beyond the printing industry itself, to changes in the quality of advertising, design, and art as well as an impact on how these messages are perceived by the public.
Enhanced efficiency in large format printing
Company A is a small signwriting business running a 50″ Roland Soljet Pro II into a second-hand P4 PC with 512MB RAM running Windows 2000 and using Illustrator CS. The best quality output it can achieve is 540×720, printing at 4 pass. The employee working the machine has an intermediate level of skill using design and printing software. The machine is used to print out a series of small format stickers taking up around 10% of the printable area. These are created from an online order system and involve the employee simply ripping an image from a web browser and including it in a ready-made template using a basic cut and paste method and using the fill tool to add some text. Step and repeat is used to fit as many stickers as possible onto the vinyl media and each sticker is guillotined by hand and mailed to the customer. This is the primary function for the machine, with additional larger advertising prints for the business itself created at random intervals. A typical print run may be around 1000 stickers of around 25 different designs on a single day with the print operator intermittently checking the print quality.
Conclusion
The history of large format printing is less than 20 years old, but the advancements in such a short time have been amazing. For the first 10 years, the primary focus was in traditional 4 color process. There were some simulations of spot color with additional ink cartridges, but the implementations were mainly to satisfy proofing needs. Absolutely changed the engine architecture and inks to offer true spot color capabilities. An important additional aspect of these early years was the printer resolution. Early large format printers had a resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch) on any media. While this was acceptable for outdoor signage and viewed from a distance, it was insufficient for close viewing quality of photo imagery or line art. In order to satisfy that need, late in the year 2000 photo quality printers at double the resolution (600 dpi) were introduced. Early printers using this higher resolution were slow and used dye based inks. The speed was improved by using print head arrays which could lay down more ink in one pass, so the resolution increase did not dramatically affect the throughput. The inks being water soluble caused improvements in media to be a necessity. High resolution media for photo quality printers is now commonplace, and has led to the awesome paper presentations and photo realistic posters most prevalent on today’s college campuses. The improvements in resolution and media to support higher quality imaging have set the stage for the current and future market trends in large format printing.
