by Melissa Donovan
Toner-based devices with production-level capabilities present advantages for many businesses. For the purposes of this article, we define production as cutsheet or sheetfed toner-based printers delivering 60-plus pages per minute (ppm).
Above: The Xerox Iridesse Production Press offers on-press automation and advanced media handling.
According to Bob Barbera, director, production solutions marketing, Canon U.S.A., Inc., commercial printers keep returning to toner given its diverse range and capabilities.
“Toner-based printers still have a secure foothold on specific volume bands and categories in the production market,” adds Kent Villarreal, senior product manager, production print, Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America.
Toner-based production printers offer “easy operation, lower cost to entry, as well as ease of paper switching for very short runs,” shares Gregory Pas, manager, marketing communications, Fujifilm North America Corporation, Graphic Communication Division.
Specifically in terms of sheetfed toner, “the lower capital investment costs, toner press capabilities regarding media and inline finishing, print quality, and smaller press footprints are some of the reasons for continued high demand,” continues Barbera.
However, Barbera feels that it’s important to note that inkjet and toner are “not an either-or proposition, and there’s substantial growth expected for inkjet presses within the realm of commercial printing. Future inkjet presses that deliver high-quality work on offset coated and uncoated papers with lower capital investments will help drive this growth.”
Kelly Leahy, global product marketing manager, Xerox Corporation, agrees, explaining that Xerox developed an approach referred to as “better together”—signifying that inkjet is complementary to both toner and offset.
This approach provides diverse and cost-effective quality, speed, media, and finishing options—all supported with integrated workflow automation for seamless coexistence. “Pairing inkjet with toner-based innovation engines unlocks the ultimate in production agility. High image quality, non-standard media, and embellishment jobs can be run on toner-based engines, delivering more ‘wow’ per page. CMYK-only jobs can run quickly, economically, and beautifully produced on inkjet using a wide range of media,” continues Leahy.
While toner-based production capabilities continue to offer the most flexibility in terms of the media type, quality, and capabilities, Villarreal admits that inkjet has come a long way recently and will continue to make advancements and expand into new markets.
Application Strengths
The number of applications accessible from toner-based color production presses is impressive.
Pas lists brochures, books, point of purchase, posters, pocket folders, direct mail, photos, and envelopes as examples. He notes that any application limitations are dependent on the press and how it handles certain paper weights.
Depending on the press’ specifications, toner-based devices are also able to print “high-value” applications like magnets and even packaging applications, shares Barbera.
Another unique application set is what Leahy refers to as “functional goods” or “print being a product.” Items of note include bookmarks, luggage tags, gift tags, coasters, stickers, and magnets.
Notable Products
Over the last two years, Canon unveiled a new line of imagePRESS color presses, comprising of the imagePRESS V900 Series, imagePRESS V1000, and imagePRESS V1350. “The imagePRESS V family consistently enhances strengths like exceptional print quality, productivity, and versatile applications by introducing innovations in automation, image precision, and color calibration,” notes Barbera.
The imagePRESS V900 Series provides a powerful solution in a small footprint that allows customers to run a range of applications and a diverse selection of media and media sizes. The imagePRESS V1000 supports a range of applications with faster print speeds. The imagePRESS V1350 is a workhorse for customers with high-volume production as well as a need to print on stocks up to 24pt, which opens the door for new applications including packaging.
In April of 2023, Fujifilm launched its Revoria series of digital toner presses. The Revoria PC1120 offers high-speed printing of 120 ppm even when printing six colors, high-definition resolution at 2,400×2,400 dpi, and the ability to support a broad range of stocks—both 52 gsm lightweight paper and 400 gsm heavyweight paper.
Sharp recently announced the BP-1200S six-color and BP-1200C four-color digital press series. “Printing up to six colors in a single pass, including CMYK, gold, silver, bright pink, textured, and clear toners, these printing systems feature real-time color stabilization as well as precise paper handling and time-saving finishing options such as square fold, crease, two-edge trimming, and a range of folding options, all of which help set the stage for these workhorses,” says Villarreal.
The color models offer speeds of up to 120 ppm on a variety of media sizes and types with thicknesses up to 400 gsm. They are equipped with a powerful Fiery digital front end and print up to six colors in one pass. Villarreal says the real-time color stabilization and precise paper handling features are the foundation of these precision print engines, which are ready to evangelize marketing messages through beautifully printed works of art.
The Xerox Iridesse Production Press stands out with its stunning image quality, on-press automation, and media handling. Xerox’s Color FLX Technology enables the Iridesse to run six colors inline (CMYK + 2 Specialty Colors including Gold, Silver, White, Clear, and Fluorescent Pink) while maintaining Spot On registration at a rated speed of 120 ppm. This unique configuration allows gold or silver to be placed under CMYK to create unique iridescent mixed metallic palettes and spot effects while fluorescent pink can be blended with CMYK to match more accurately those hard to achieve Pantones. On press automation enabled by EZ Press Check and PredictPrint media manager ensure the best image quality and media handling, all automatically.
Advancements for Toner
Hardware, software, and even service announcements continue in the toner- based production print space.
Hardware
Canon focused on color calibration with its recent imagePRESS V family. This is in response to customer and market insights, according to Barbera. The latest advancement involves the integration of inline spectrophotometers—further streamlining the automation process.
“With the growing scarcity of skilled operators, automating and simplifying engine color calibration, G7 calibration, and profiling becomes crucial. This automation translates to significant time savings, as any operator can effortlessly execute these tasks,” explains Barbera.
Typically, the calibration and profiling process could take someone 30 minutes (or more) for each media type and requires manually measuring the various color patches. However, with the imagePRESS V family and PRISMAsync print server, operators initiate automated color tasks, which concludes within minutes with minimal manual intervention.
The imagePRESS V family also has an optional unit called the Sensing Unit that streamlines and automates the quality control during the press run with closed-loop control of front to back registration accuracy and color consistency throughout a run. The unit also adds great efficiency to certain press color makeready functions such as sheet uniformity correction and color laydown adjustment for difficult substrate surfaces.
The Fujifilm Revoria Press PC1120 S, its flagship model, has recently undergone updates to offer CMYK+2 specialty color for six-color, one-pass printing, it also includes specialty toner pink to expand the color gamut. These enhancements are in response to customers asking for better image quality and consistency, as well as ease of operation, according to Pas.
The Sharp BP-1200S, in collaboration with Color-Logic and Touch7, stand out. “Unleashing the Sharp BP-1200S opens up a world of possibilities, enables the realization of breathtaking metallic embellishments and vivid colors, limited only by one’s creativity. Furthermore, this collaboration delivers a comprehensive turnkey solution with Sharp bundling both Color-Logic and Touch7 capacities, empowering customers to immediately tap into the press’ full potential and explore the realm of specialty inks,” shares Villarreal.
The finishing portion of toner-based presses also receive attention in the upgrade department. For the Xerox Iridesse Production Press, new Xerox High Capacity XLS Vacuum Feeders and a Plockmatic MPS XL Stacker is available. These enable high-capacity feeding and stacks of standard and extra-long sheets. Leahy notes that these “unlock new applications and revenue streams.”
Software
Updates occur involving RIP solutions as well as workflow support tools.
Much is related to the cloud. “Notably, there’s a significant evolution in the engine and RIP technology, with an increasing integration of cloud-based applications and tools. These innovations leverage seamless communication with the engine and print server, empowering customers to optimize their workflow and reporting capabilities,” shares Barbera.
An example of the advancements in cloud-based applications and tools from Canon are its PRISMAlytics Dashboard and PRISMAcolor Manager. Users compare performance over any period of time and view the graphical results from all supported/connected engines. They can also download the information for their own reporting. And the new version of PRISMAlytics Dashboard now supports the full Canon production portfolio including imagePRESS with PRISMAsync or Fiery, varioPRINT, Canon inkjet production presses, and imagePROGRAF large format printers.
The PRISMAcolor Manager cloud tool verifies the day to day, device to device color performance of CMYK printing systems. “It helps provide customer service ambassadors greater knowledge of press color capabilities while also providing production managers detailed efficacy information about the success of a shop’s color makeready procedures,” shares Barbera.
The increased adoption of JDF/JMF-supported devices and software is important to note. According to Barbera, implementations are revolutionizing file preparation, job settings, and bi-directional communications. A good example is the PRISMAsync app bundle, accessible on the Enfocus App Store. This bundle enables Enfocus Switch customers to make dynamic decisions or adjust settings based on JMF responses from Canon PRISMAsync driven digital presses, enhancing automation and workflow efficiency.
“In today’s world we know that skilled labor is at a premium, so we are continuously focused on workflow automation both on and off the press. This enables our clients to do more with less while maintaining the highest quality,” shares Leahy.
This includes tools like PredictPrint Media Manager, Xerox FreeFlow Core, and Xerox FreeFlow Vision, which create efficiencies by eliminating human touches to save time and reduce the potential for errors or waste. These tools ensure quality and consistency during a print run and allow print providers to monitor the entire production process with real-time visibility and control of production operations via a highly visual, versatile, and modern dashboard.
Service and Support
Canon imagePRESS is sold and serviced by its authorized dealer network and Canon Solution America. For a Canon authorized dealer to be certified to sell imagePRESS they must become service authorized. Canon U.S.A. Inc. provides second level support to its distribution channels.
Fujifilm offers direct service with a click charge maintenance agreement.
Villarreal points out that there are several ways in which Sharp services and supports its production devices. First, it is dealer-centric, meaning that it has made it easy for dealers to sell and service its products. “It’s what we do well with our other non-production print lines.”
Xerox offers full service maintenance contracts that are deployed by trained service and support specialists. The Xerox Productivity Plus program is also available to print service providers. This innovative, client-focused maintenance program makes it easy to simply diagnose and quickly replace many basic and some advanced items on the Iridesse Production Press.
Future of Toner
It is clear that toner-based production presses show promise in the commercial print space, especially as new introductions to the market are on the horizon. With a low capital investment and diverse options in terms of speed, quality, and applications, toner-based production presses offer print providers opportunity to expand their business while maintaining current contracts.
May2024, DPS Magazine
