Print World 2006 was held in Toronto from November 18-20 and, as usual, had something for everyone interested in the printing industry. Digital presses, direct imaging presses, and offset presses with sheet sizes up to 29 inches were featured at the show. Inkjet models in all shapes and sizes were again present everywhere. There’s much to talk about, but my focus this year was on the new laser digital printing devices. Here, in alphabetical order, are some of the highlights of the show.
Canon
Canon designed their new imagePRESS C1 model to produce outstanding image quality that is quickly approaching offset quality. Targeting the proofing, short-run, and production colour printing market, the imagePRESS C1 digital press will be built with a focus on print quality. The imagePRESS C1 offers several advanced technologies to improve print quality, including a much smaller toner particle size that averages 5.5 microns, which delivers vivid and detailed images. To maximize versatility, the system has saddle-stitched booklet finishing, hole punching, tab-feeding and high-capacity stacking. According the Canon Canada, the imagePRESS C1 will sell for around $46,000. For further details please contact me at pdulis@canada.canon.com.
- 14 pages per minute and oil-less fusing
- 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution
- Maximum sheet size of 13” x 19”
- Media weight range can vary from 64 to 256 gsm
- Recommended print volume is up to 50 000 pages per month
HP
If you are looking for a small- to medium-sized colour laser printer, then the HP Color Laserjet 4700 may be a good answer for you. The Laserjet 4700 offers colour workgroup printing with powerful performance, advanced colour quality, and flexible options. The prints offered at the trade show from the HP booth were very respectable for an inexpensive printer. This desktop printer has been PC Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Award winner for service and reliability for 15 years in a row. There are four models available ranging in price from $2 300 to $5 300.
- 31 pages per minute and 2-sided printing on the higher end models
- 600 x 600 dpi resolution with a 533 MHz processor speed
- Maximum sheet size is 8.5” x 14”
- Media Weight can vary from 60 to 220 gsm
- Recommended volume range is up to 10 000 pages per month
Ricoh
The Ricoh Aficio 5560 is Ricoh’s new colour flagship, offering high resolution, consistent colour printing, scanning, and copying. With this model, Ricoh targets professional users as well as office environments with serious colour demands. A vast selection of powerful network and finishing options is available, as well as a dedicated Fiery print controller for professional colour printing environments. The system comes with extended security features and allows clients to run customized software. The Ricoh 5560 produced an excellent print for a reasonably priced printer. The price varies from $40 000 to $90 000 depending on configuration.
- 55 colour pages per minute
- 600 x 600 dpi resolution
- Maximum sheet size of 13” x 19”
- Media Weight can vary from 60 to 256 gsm through the bypass tray
- Recommended volume range is up to 40 000 pages per month
Xerox
The Xerox iGen3 110 Digital Production Press with SmartSize Technology features automatic make-ready and collation, the ability to mix stocks within a run, and built-in intelligence to maintain colour fidelity and registration. The options for customization and personalization with the iGen3 110 are virtually limitless. You can use customer data captured from CRM databases, Web sites, and call centers to drive variable text, images, and graphics in marketing communication materials. Variable information printing enables you to support high-value customer marketing programs, which can in turn increase customer loyalty and response rates. Xerox-patented dry inks provide for excellent fine line rendering and benchmark colour gamut. Key applications include short-run, on demand printing of brochures, books, flyers, postcards, newsletters, catalogs, manuals, Point of Purchase materials, and sell sheets. This basket of options comes at a price, though—the Xerox iGen3 110 starts around $750 000.
- 110 colour pages per minute
- 600 x 600 dpi resolution with a 8-bit depth resolution
- Maximum sheet size ranges from 7” x 7” to 14.33” x 20.5” (extra large option available, length 22.5”)
- Media Weight can vary from 90 to 350 gsm
- Recommended volume range averages 200 000 – 1 200 000 pages per month
Peter Dulis, Wide Format Printing Specialist T: 647.895.3315 E: pdulis@iprimus.ca
