Growing demand

Although CIP3 is progressing slowly, it is playing an increasingly important role as an electronic system in the production of printed information. CIP3 members In the past two years, an important rookie in printing and prepress development has gradually moved from theory to practice. It is CIP3 (prepress, printing, and postpress). This rookie has begun to unify the different parts of print production into an interconnected whole. The idea of ​​the CIP3 committee is to establish a method for connecting the prepress, printing, and postpress processes so that the entire printing process can be streamlined. This is an important step that is not involved. It is the road to computer integrated manufacturing for printed materials. Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) is one of the predicates used in intelligent robots, dilapidated factories, and non-manual clinics. It's totally different from the noise that the press shop is making. The technology of the CIP3 committee is helping us to turn to this model, although the effect is not obvious at present. Despite this, CIM is still inevitable in the next step in the development of printing. At the same time, unified processing is also inevitable in the digital era. Electronic and digital management technologies have in fact penetrated into all aspects of production, from the capture of digital images from scanners to the control of paper cutting machines, all of which can find the shadow of numbers. Since printing itself is a manufacturing process and it may be the creator of mass production concepts, it is not surprising that printing is more integrated in electronics. Importance Computers have played an important role in print production for many years. Digital technology provides a way to integrate a large number of components so that it balances the leverage of each component. CIP3 wants to use the information obtained at the beginning of the publication to prepare for later stages such as printing ink control and origami machine command. The optimization requirements of the machine setup are the potential drivers of the CIP3 committee. The CIP3 was initially established by the Fraunhofer Computer Graphics Society in Germany and a number of printing press manufacturers, initially Heidelberg, which has become a powerful enabler for the development of CIP3 theory in the industrial sector. A total of 34 companies participated, including equipment manufacturers, software developers and users. These companies have made great contributions to the development of CIP3 basic technologies, which are currently version 3.0. With regard to this technology, a mechanical device is provided by means of which corresponding operating data can be used during processing. This technique is called print production format and also refers to CIP3 PPF. PPF is a format that uses different data generated by a prepress terminal for corresponding management and post-process data processing, in other words, using the knowledge in the prepress system to guide other systems in the production model. Places related to printing and PPF are currently mainly referring to printing ink setting and binding information. When the CIP3 committee began to outline the parameters to be operated by the PPF and consider the commonly used workflows, the PPF clearly had to match the existing standards, mainly matching the PS language. Since PS language is a computer programming language, it makes it more attractive because it provides appropriate latitude and extensibility, such as support for conversion with Tiff format. In fact, one of the subsets of the PS language command definitions is used to describe the CIP3 paper structure. This paper structure describes each element of a layer of information. For example, a piece of paper contains a front and a back surface, and there are Printed content, some registration marks, color control information, and cutting information. The layer model also includes properties for a specific job, such as calculating ink usage, folding information, and general management instructions. This information may be basic data, such as description of the producer, production date, software used, and other related metadata. It is very extensive, including how long the job is processed, how long Rip, how long exposure and output time. The PPF also sets parameters for different content types, such as the appearance of the reduced resolution after screen reduction for the preview of the screen, the additional description of the type and location of the registration mark, color data, ink control, and notes. All this information is described in the PS language and installed in different ways. The CIP3 file can be passed in any PS language translator. The role of the translator is to convert information so that it can be used by subsequent processes. Rip is a warehouse for managing information. The management information includes image data, a conversion curve for calculating the amount of ink, print preset data, and final product information related to the trimming and stapling system settings. Because this information is PS language, it can be printed on the PS printer and it is easy for the user to check the completion of the job or record the production process. This is particularly important when there are many jobs that provide a complete PS file because it records the time required for the production process, errors, and printing. The ability to generate management data is also important when large-scale plants produce large-volume operations and when important management information is needed. Indeed, the CIP3 PPF can also be connected to the MIS just like the connection between the job recorder and the MIS. The CIP3 PPF can even store seller or customer-specific information such as contacts and contact addresses. This can provide the basis for connecting with the customer database. However, the MIS and database connections are still far from the general implementation. Currently, even more powerful and particularly flexible PPFs are only used to provide interface foundations for other systems such as print control or cutting systems. Because the PPF is in Rip, it is at the center of the digital production system where the data is entered. The data input through the PPF includes imposition methods, sheet-fed binding, and ink coverage from the front end. It assumes the tasks of the entire exchange organization, enters data into other systems and screens according to the system type and system requirements. Different installations in Rip are determined by dedicated application software developed by Rip manufacturers, which transfers data in CIP3 file format and then translates it into the language of a specific printing, binding or cutting device. In this way, the printer will receive the ink preset information, crop, fold and post-press system will receive data related to it. Ideally, the CIP3 PPF contains all the information related to printing and binding. Potential concepts in CIP3 committee work and PPF have been accepted in printing and prepress units. However, despite the great efforts of CIP3 members, it has taken a long time to reach the daily application of CIP3. At present, the printing community in the UK is one of the most actively supported groups for the CIP3 PPF, as well as fixed print user groups in more than 40 locations around the world, such as Heidelberg, Mann Rolland and Komori. These users apply PPF to the ink settings, but there are also some for creating cutting settings. The reasons for the delay in using PPF's printing group are complex, but basically it is related to the decline in the demand for established digital processes related to PPF. The advantages of implementing PPF can only be realized where all digital production processes are used and where digital processes can already achieve maximum efficiency. With the introduction of low-cost technology into the new market for image production, after years of development, prepress technology has developed to a considerable degree. However, although many printers are using prepress technology, it is also possible to increase production through other methods without using CIP3. But in reality these will inevitably be digital, so we see that the wide application of this technology is only a matter of time. Applications The main producers currently using CIP3 technology are Heidelberg. In the United Kingdom, 32 locations in Heidelberg use CIP3 PPF. All these units are Speedmaster users. Most of these users are commercial printers of printed labels. Most of them have replaced plate scanners with PPF-based applications. According to Andy Rae, a CIP3 spokesman in Heidelberg, UK, these users can achieve a color accuracy of 75% using the plate scanner, but they can achieve 95% accuracy using the CIP3 in the CPC32 print control system. Users can even print 50 copies. operation. On a national and national basis, a group of 32 users led the UK to use Heidelberg as a leader in the CIP3 user community. Most of these customers are using Heidelberg's prepress front-end system with Delta Rip. However, a significant number of users use other front-ends, including Agfa, Screens, Sai Angel and HighWater Designs with Harlequin PS Language Translator. Mann Rolland also did a good job of installing CIP3. According to Malcolm Frost, the prepress director of Perschke's price service, most of the printers they currently sell contain CIP3. In fact, only half of the six CIP3-equipped devices they installed used PPF. These presses are connected to front-end systems such as Saturn, Agfa, and Barco to obtain production capacity. Mr. Frost said: “The CIP3 is really accurate, and the print preparation time is very competitive.” “In the 1980s and early 1990s, the printer had a printing problem. Now it seems that everything is prepress. For the reason, you immediately enter an accessible working state,” he said. For the most part, the ideal location for the CIP3 PPF application is commercial printers with integrated digital prepress systems. It is important that these places have quite a lot of digital prepress experience, although it is not necessary. The integration of prepress and printing is very important for system calibration. In applying this technique for correction, the integration of prepress and printing is necessary to achieve the goal and easily correct any problems quickly. The control problem has another, less obvious advantage, in Mr. Rae’s words, “the benefits of measurable and tangible savings, and the benefits of reducing the time it takes to reach the standard.” If CIP3 can truly Helping to achieve color standards within 50 pages, it will attract many users, especially those who run short-lived and short-cycle businesses. Although we have been constantly hearing about CIP3, it actually took several years to develop. At that time, it had been slow to progress due to the fact that it had hindered the development of other aspects of prepress, but this was not a mistake of the PPF or its members. To be more objective, the demand for it is less obvious. As more printers moved copies and pre-presses into the workshop, there were more photocopying shops and service offices adding printers, and we can feel that the potential users of CIP3 are increasing. They are interested in knowing how PPF works, especially in the digital printing department or where it must be exported through a range of devices. Take KBA/Singapore 74 Karat digital printing as an example. It uses a keyless ink system, so the ink behavior cannot be set. Brisque supports CIP3 cutting equipment because it is Polar Mohr CIP3-compatible cutting. So the data can be included as part of the 74 Karat job. However, since the printer has an R&D angel Rip, job output parameters do not have to be specified for Karat. The CIP3 message may contain a 74 Karat job ticket to assist in outputting the file when requested to be output to a conventional offset press. CIP3 PPF's other areas of interest are as part of MIS. As electronic systems play an important role in information production, we are gradually moving away from traditional separation printing as a stage of independent processing. The requirements for accurate production estimates, processing analysis for specific jobs, and information on consumable usage will increase as traditional industries become involved in competing with other companies' technologies. The CIP3 PPF provides the tools we need. CIP3 members: AdobeAgfaBaldwin Technology GroupBarco GraphicsCreoEkotrading-InkflowEltromat PolygraphEwert Ahrensburg ElectronicFujifilm Electronic ImagingGerberGoebelGraphics MicrosystemsHagen SystemsHarlequinHeidelbergKBAKolbusKomoriMAN RolandMitsubishi Heavy IndustriesMuller MartiniNth Degree SoftwarePolar-MohrRR DonnelleyRyobiScenicSoftScitexScreenShinohara MachineryToshiba MachineUltimate TechnographicsWohlenbergXeroxYamatoya