Reprographics printing means many things to different people Reprographics 15 years ago and reprographics today are very different. Reprographics today includes more inkjet but still is based on monochrome toner printers. Reprographics today can be page size or more often wide-format. But do not forget the background of reprographic shops: blueprints and diazo printing technology, and primarily monochrome: not full color at all. I tend to view reprographics as CAD, and comparable drawings or renderings which can do okay in dye ink. Dye ink jets easier than pigmented ink. Dye ink has slightly better color gamut. But dye ink deteriorates in really humid climates, and colors do not last long in the sun. However for many reprographic applications, dye ink is fine. You can also consider reprographics printing as being fast production at good quality but with priorities mainly for speed and low-cost-per-print. So you can use an HP Designjet Z3200 for reprographics but this is a giclee or fine art printer, not a reprographic printer. Reprographics generally implies printing on plain paper. Plain paper costs significantly less than coated media that is required by most wide-format inkjet printers. So any ink that can print well on uncoated stock has potential. Fifteen years ago, reprographic was synonymous with a Blueprint shop Considering that the concept of blue prints, diazo and even electrostatic wide-format printers disappeared long ago, it is remarkable how many printshops still feature the word reprographics in their corporate name. But 15 years ago reprographic printing was a way of life. Cygnus even published a reprographics magazine (Modern Reprographics). But as reprographics shops went out of business, and as everyone woke up to realize there was not much “modern” about reprographics, Cygnus had to rename this as a wide-format imaging magazine. Unfortunately for them, Digital Output and other magazines already were previously established in the signage, giclee, and photo printing niche. A reprograpic shop also provides scanning services. Contex is one brand of wide-format scanners, but there are others. Canon and HP rebrand scanners from the basic brands. Reprographics printer trade shows (expos) IRgA is correct when their slogan is “Built on Blueprints.” However their nice trade show deteriorated to the point there was almost nothing left. So cleverly they now co-locate with ISA (since 2011). What is sad is that (in mid-September 2011) you learn that IRgA intelligently decided not to have any more trade shows under their own name. Not enough interest or demand for pure reprographic workflow vendors. Today is mult-tasking: doing more than just repro work in a printshop. IRgA stands for International Reprographic Association. Applications for a reprographic print shop
To survive, and prosper, reprographic shops now include more kinds of signage. The first wide-format inkjet printers for reprographics were Encad While HP was still making pen plotters, Encad was already selling wide-format printers. Be very leery about buying any used Encad printer, as even new they had infamous quirks. Here are a few models: Encad Chroma24 Encad’s remnants were bought by Kodak. Typically, Kodak was not able to keep any wide-format enterprise afloat, and Kodak finally dumped the remains of Encad several years ago. Many years ago the following printers were used in reprographics HP was so into pen plotters that it took a long time for their management to understand the potential of wide-format inkjet. Still today HP managers use the word “plotter” to describe wide-format printers. But Encad became successful selling wide-format inkjet (the FLAAR reviews began circa 1997-1998. HP Designjet 450C, 24” and 36” The early model Designjet were not very fancy, and it was not until Encad sales rose even higher that then HP woke up by about 2001, making their Designjet printers available to FLAAR to review and to compare with the Encad system. In more recent past years reprographic printers from HP included the HP Designjet 500, entry level (a polite way to say low-end) Nowadays, in 2011, the models from HP which can do reprographics include HP Designjet T510 HP Designjet T610 HP Designjet T770 HP Designjet T790 HP Designjet 815mfp, a printer with wide-format copier HP Designjet T1100 HP Designjet T1100mfp, a printer with wide-format copier HP Designjet T1200, HP Designjet T1200PS HP Designjet T2300 HP Designjet 4000 (not very successful) HP Designjet 4500mfp, a printer with wide-format copier New HP Designjet models for the reprographic industry include HP Designjet T1120 SD, printer with scanner HP Designjet T2300e, HP Designjet T2300e PS, printer with scanner HP Designjet 4520mfp, printer with scanner Canon reprographic printers for CAD Canon had a slow beginning in the world of wide-format; they used technology from Selex. These were so rudimentary we did not evaluate them. But then Canon gained enough experience to produce some more acceptable printers, and then we began to evaluate the newer models. Of the many imagePROGRAF printers, here are some that are more for reprographic applications: Canon iPF500 Mutoh has tried to enter the reprographics market Mutoh DrafStation, successful because it is good albeit basic Epson has tried to enter this reprographics market Mutoh succeeded because their DrafStation is used as a dye-sublimation printer and a low-bid signage printer. But the Epson models that Epson attempted to sell in Europe as 4-color CAD printers were never successful. Epson Stylus Pro 4400 About every two or three years somewhere in Epson Europe attempts to offer a 4-color model as a CAD printer. I don’t list the model numbers because they were so unsuccessful that I can’t remember their actual names. Plus these are rarely attempted in the USA (since most architects are spoiled by HP printers and don’t want to put up with Epson piezo printhead quirks). Years ago Seiko I Infotec Inc. offered oil-based printers We actually have evaluations of these oil-based printers. Seiko IP-4500MK-II But they were “before their time” and the first models produced what is most politely called curious quality. Years ago Xerox also offered oil-based wide-format inkjet printers for reprographics These were okay for basic reprographic but not adequate for color photographs. The Xerox publicity team made too many overly enthusiastic claims for what these printers were supposed to do. Plus, everything about the printer was so overpriced I could hardly believe that any printshop would pay such a price (you could get the same if not better RIP software for much less, for example). The unrealistic claims, and excessive prices, resulted in FLAAR reviews which reminded people of the reality. XES Xpress Toner-based printers: KIP The main KIP printers are their Oce reprographic printers Oce TDS400, scan and print system, LED electrophotography, toner Oce 9300, looks like a wide format inkjet, but is laser Oce 9400, 9500 Oce PlotWave 300 Seiko printers for AEC Seiko Teriostar LP-1020. Seiko LP 1030 Xerox printers for architecture, engineering, construction Xerox failed twice trying to get into wide-format inkjet printers for reprographic applications in AEC. But they still make toner machines for reprographic purposes since Xerox is still a respected brand name.
Additional considerations Wide-format inkjet does require intelligent thought to operate. These are not plug-and-play machines. Yes, you can print okay without knowing ICC color profiles and color management jargon, but you can do a better job with wide-format inkjet devices if you understand color management. You can print with wide-format with an idiot-proof RIP, but it sure helps if you actually understand what a RIP is and how it can assist you improve your output (and lower your ink costs with ink limit settings). So toner-based systems tend to be a tad more idiot proof, in part because there is no color science involved.
First posted October 5, 2011.
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