HP-indigo technology and its application to photo printing

Abstract

HP-Indigo technology delivers superb print quality at a high printing speed over a wide range of substrates, including glossy matt and textured papers, as well as photo or other non paper substrates. Together with its flexibility and end to end solution portfolio it brings state of the art capabilities to a variety of photo applications, making HP-Indigo the dominant player in the digital photo printing market. HP Indigo digital presses use liquid electrophotography based on Electrolnk®, with a hot transfer blanket. After electrically charging the photoconductor a latent image is created by a multi-beam laser scanning unit. Then ink is developed onto the latent image by one of the various colored ink development stations. After ink transfers to the blanket using electric field, the carrier liquid is evaporated off the hot blanket, and the resultant hot melted ink film is transferred to the substrate by means of pressure and tackiness. This process is repeated once for each color. During the printing process a nearly solid ink image is created on a blanket, subsequently adhered to the surface of the substrate with almost no change and without penetrating into the media. Thus the high image quality is independent from the substrate characteristics. In addition, the ink layer is thin enough to achieve the feel of the substrate, so by choosing the substrate one can control the feel of the image, without compromising on image quality. The flexibility of the technology enable both sheet fed and web fed presses, with nearly identical image characteristics. By using HP Indigo unique special inks, such as the white ink or the photo inks (light cyan, light magenta), print providers can create premium products. End to end solutions of workflow and finishing are also provided by HP Indigo and through a network of partners. Work flow solutions include creation software, automatic image enhancement, imposition, high speed rips, and color transformations. Finishing solutions include in-line lamination, inline liquid coating, cutting, stacking, book binding and more. HP-Indigo equipment is used by the Photofinisher and professional lab, to create photo books, self-Published books, calendars, invitations, greeting cards, yearbooks, portraits, photo prints, theme items and more. Most of the photo books printed worldwide today are produced using HP-Indigo technology because there is a consensus among Print Service Providers about the Indigo technology being the one appropriate for the quality needs of the segment. © 2012 Society for Imaging Science and Technology.