Diana Varma, Columnist for Graphic Arts Magazine, Instructor at the School of Graphic Communications Management at Ryerson University in Toronto, and owner of ON-SITE First Aid & CPR Training Group (a health & safety company that provides training to the graphic arts industry), is on the drupa tradeshow floor and is sending first-hand reports today and tomorrow.
My second day on the drupa floor was filled with interesting demos and further insights into the direction our industry is heading. The overwhelming presence of digital technologies is nearly impossible to miss. This includes the fact that most, if not all, conventional press manufacturers are unveiling their digital offerings here at drupa.
Although there are plenty of conventional machines on the floor running at impressive speeds with increased efficiencies, these huge pieces of equipment are often overshadowed by the excitement of a company’s new, digital offerings. Flexibility, versatility, and the ability to adapt quickly to a changing marketplace, are what many companies are looking for. Digital printing is still not as fast as offset, and in some cases it doesn’t even come close. But it feels like it’s getting much closer.
For example, Heidelberg’s Primefire 106 is based on the configuration of the Speedmaster XL 106 offset press, but it uses Fujifilm printheads. At the show, the press was running at 2,000 sph that was much slower than the Speedmaster XL 106’s top speed of 18,000 sph. However, Heidelberg promises that when the Primefire 106 is released into the market, it will run at 2,500 sph, with the ability to print up to 5,000 sph in “productivity mode.”
Digital ink technologies are also turning exciting new corners and they’re beginning to overlap with conventional specialty inks and coatings. HP is showcasing new inks within their “HP Indigo Technology Fair of Experimental Inks.” Some of these inks include colour-shifting ink, glitter ink, spot gloss, silver ink, adhesive ink, thermochromic ink, phosphorescent ink, conductive ink, “expanding” ink (which gives the appearance of a raised spot UV ink or one-sided embossing), and scented ink.
Although they’re still considered experimental, the possibilities are exciting for a wide range of printed applications that enable interactivity and sensory opportunities beyond the printed page – while leveraging the added benefits of digital printing (flexibility, versatility and the option to print as few as a single copy).
At the end of the day (after feeling like I had seen a lot, but also like I had seen very little) I did some quick math as to how long it would take me to see everything drupa has to offer. If I were to spend just 3 minutes at every booth (continuously with no breaks), it would take the entire 11 days of the show (or over 88 hours) to see everything. So basically, it’s nearly impossible to see it all.
However, I will do my best to fill my drupa quota tomorrow and report back some new and interesting finds.
