A Survey of Print Copy Technology (2)

1.2.1 Development of graphic imposition processing technology

The development of graphic and text imposition technology can be divided into three categories: one is the color electronic whole-page imposition system, the second is the simple imposition system, and the third is the color desktop publishing system (hereinafter referred to as DTP). The former two are based on the electronic color separation machine and are mainly used to process images. They generally have vivid color display, higher computer operation speed and processing capability. The simple imposition system refers to having general imposition functions, such as masking and revision functions, while the functions of level correction, color correction, pixel editing, etc., need to be relatively complete in high-end systems. In color prepress, electrical extensions and color full-page imposition systems have always dominated, but they are powerless in mixing text and color images. With the popularity of color printing, the demand for printed materials is getting higher and higher. This requires a full-color imposition system to meet the development needs, and the advantages of DTP will be revealed.

Since the mid-1980s, electronic color separation machines and full-page imposition systems have gradually become the main plate-making equipment for color image reproduction in China. The electronic color separation technology has also become increasingly mature. From 1987 to 1991, it was basically the promotion and application period of black-and-white laser phototypesetting systems. In the 1990s, China developed a color desktop publishing system successfully developed by the Peking University Computer Research Institute and reached the international advanced level, setting off a color revolution in the world. The color revolution began with the newspaper industry: it began trials in the Liberation Daily in 1991. On January 21, 1992, the Founder Color Print System at Peking University was put into production and use in the “Macau Daily”, and 4 to 6 editions of color newspapers were published every day. Become the first Chinese newspaper in the world. From that day onwards, the “Macau Daily” completely ridded the traditional extensions, entered color photos with a color scanner, and completed the text-in-one processing within the system. The RIP hooked up the color photos and then output the entire page. The quality is not lower than the electric extension.

The term DTP (Desk-top Publishing) appeared in 1985. It is essentially a full-page imposition system that integrates text and images on a personal computer. In July 1985, Apple Computer Inc. consisted of a Macintosh personal computer with Adobe's Pagemaker, a full-page imposition software, and a laser printer adapted to Adobe's Postscript language. Israel's Scitex company developed the world's first color desktop publishing system in 1988. It is based on Apple's Macintosh II high-end personal computer. Coupled with the maturity and application of technologies such as digital information technology, compressed information technology, page description language, raster image processing technology, and computer communication networking, the electronic platemaking system has become smaller, more individual, and more versatile. At the same time, it has the advantages of being able to add, combine, and network. This has led to the rapid development of the color DTP system and integrated text processing system.

Since the desktop publishing software has a Chinese character processing function and the establishment of a Chinese character PS library, China has the technical conditions for applying a desktop publishing system. After 1994, desktop publishing technology was first promoted in China's advertising production and design fields. Due to the computerization of prepress editing, since the 1990s, desktop publishing technology has become increasingly mature and widely used in newspapers, books and magazines, and packaging and printing.

1.2.2 Progress of Screening Technology

Before the appearance of the color prepress system, all screening methods can be summarized as AM screening (abbreviated as AM screening). The distance between networks in the AM network is fixed and fixed. That is, the frequencies of the networks are fixed and change only the size of the network, that is, the size of the network is different. Therefore, this type of screening is called AM screening. .

In the AM screening method, the electronic screen used by the electronic color separation machine is the IS network point technology (irrational tangent network point) and the RT network point technology (rational tangent network point) developed by the German Hell Company. The Postscript screening technology is used in the color desktop publishing system.

Because of the disadvantages of moiré and rose spots and gradation leap in the amplitude modulation screening (that is, layer jumps occur before and after the mesh starts to overlap), it is difficult to improve the printing quality, and it is difficult to develop the four-color printing mode. Since the 1990s, new screening technologies have emerged, namely FM screening technology. FM network, also known as random network, was formally launched at the International Printing Technology Exhibition in 1996. This kind of screening method has the same network size, uses the degree of density of the network to represent the image hierarchy, and the network distribution is random, so this screening method is called FM screening. It is characterized by the absence of web corners, so that no moiré and rose spots are formed. FM screening technology has been considered as a better screening method through practice, and its quality is higher than that of AM screening.

FM network technology currently has some shortcomings. In the printing, the dot enlargement of the network at the time of printing is 10% larger than that of the AM. Because the dot is small and the dot is easy to lose, the quality of the printing plate is required to be high. However, with the application of computer-to-plate technology, FM screening technology will be better applied because it eliminates the printing process.

At present, there are also network technologies that integrate FM and AM. In 2000, Dainippon Screen Company developed a brand new hybrid screening technology for the first time in the history of printing technology development. It can choose "Modulation Plus" and "Frequency Screen Plus" in due course according to the change of screen color and level. With the in-depth application, the research of screening technology will produce new results.

1.2.3 Development of RIP Technology

In order to meet the requirements of high-speed and high-efficiency data processing before digital printing, the RIP is gradually changing from a single functional component in the prepress system to a smart, multi-functional power source. In the past RIP was usually a black box that was invisible to the user and connected to various output devices. Software RIP running on a standard platform today is self-contained. It continues to drive a variety of output devices and undertakes heavy production tasks such as trapping, panel printing, and automatic image replacement (OPI), which were once the traditional domain of proprietary high-end prepress systems.

In recent years, RIP has become a key point in the digital prepress environment, which is caused by the widespread use of computer-directed plate format and large format photo machines. Because of the high cost of using CTP and large format imagesetters, a RIP solution that helps to find and correct errors is crucial.

Another important research direction is to study multiple RIPs to enhance output capabilities, especially when implementing certain special functions such as screening or trapping. There are two general approaches: symmetric multiprocessing and the use of multiple microprocessors (CPUs). At present, RIP has become the core issue of prepress production. It affects all aspects of the entire production process, from color management and document management to printing. As RIP's capabilities increase, it becomes more server-like, and servers also have RIP processing capabilities. RIP will continue to evolve, enabling tighter integrated prepress operations, helping to create more flexible input and output formats, and the possibility of creating more efficient workflows.

1.2.4 Color Management System

From the mid-1980s to the present, there have been digital output to plate (computer-to-plate technology, hereinafter referred to as CTP technology) and digital printing. The color output of these devices is greatly affected by the intrinsic color management system of various devices, and the color management of each system is incompatible with each other, and the quality of using different devices in the process of color printing and copying cannot be guaranteed.

In order to achieve consistent color conversion among various devices throughout the entire print reproduction process, the International Color Consortium (ICC) was formed in 1993 by eight major computer and electronic audiovisual developers. ICC decided to establish color management based on computer operating systems and use “ICC Profile” (color profile file) to complete color conversion between different devices. Any input or output device supporting this format can be accurately used between them. Color conversion. With only one ICC Profile per device, the system can easily manage colors. Today, more than 50 famous companies have joined the ICC as members, and many new products support the ICC Profile. It can be said that it has become an industry standard. Correspondingly appeared a series of hardware and software achievements to support the color management system; support color management operating system such as ColorSync 2.0, 2.1; support color management system application software, such as Photoshop5.0, FreeHand8.0, QuadXPress4.0, etc.; process flow Hardware devices that support color management systems such as scanners, computers, color displays, digital printers, imagesetters, and printers; and spectrophotometric devices (such as spectrophotometers, transmissive, reflective densitometers, etc.).

The currently mature color management systems include Apple ColorSync 2.0, 2.1 (CMS), Kodak Precision CMS (Kcms), Agfa Fototune Flow, Linocolor 5.0, and 6.0. These different color management software, although the focus and the role of control are different, but its basic goal is the same.

1.2.5 Digital Proofing Technology

Proofing technology is an important part of print reproduction technology. Since the late 1980s, western countries have developed more stable chemical proofing technologies to replace traditional ink proofing technologies. After the emergence of electronic imposition systems, digital proofing has become increasingly mature, and it is one of the most respected technologies. Digital proofing technology is divided into soft proofing and hard proofing. The so-called soft proofing is to look at the color on the screen, the main purpose is to facilitate the trimming process, generally only for internal control purposes. However, with the popularity of color management and network technology, some advertisers have used digital proofing technology to achieve remote proofing as a means of communicating with customers.

Hard proofing is represented by the Iris2044 inkjet proofer developed by Sai Angel, which won the GATF Printing Technology Award. Since Iris printed manuscripts have the advantages of color stability and very close to the printing effect, many foreign printing customers are willing to use Iris draft sample as the receiving standard, but the machine must complete the operation with the Scitex color management system.

The most important contribution of digital proofing is to improve the communication between producers and customers. It can allow customers to look at the prototype first, and output the film only when they are satisfied. This not only saves costs but also enhances communication. It can even be used for proofing on one side of the separation, which is an important breakthrough in the printing process.

At present, the more popular digital proofing methods include inkjet printing technology, thermal sublimation printing technology, and thermal transfer printing technology. In foreign countries, traditional proofing and digital proofing are at the same pace. With the ROOM (Rip once Output Many) output technology becoming more and more mature, and the adoption of the printing dot proofing machine's successful development and price reduction, digital proofing will gradually become the mainstream.

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