Digital printing as an integral part of multi- channel communication

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Digital printing as an integral part of multi- channel communication

Havrysh Bohdana Mykhailivna PhD in Engineering, Docent, Associate Professor, Department of Information Technologies in Publishing, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv

Logoyda Mykola Mykhailovych PhD in Engineering, Docent, Associate Professor, Department of Information Technologies in Publishing, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv,

Kustra Nataliia Omelyanivna PhD in Engineering, Docent, Associate Professor, Department of Information Technologies in Publishing, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv,

Abstract

Digital printing is currently one of the most popular continuously evolving printing methods in the world. Today, almost every printing house has digital printing machine. Just a few decades ago, digital presses were just an addition to traditional equipment in printing houses, but with the development of technology, this situation has changed. In recent years, the printing market has been dominated by digital printing. The world's largest corporations compete with each other, introducing new technologies.

We can talk for hours about the benefits of digital printing (time, price and quality), so it is not surprising that so many users use this type of service. The biggest advantage is that prints can be prepared very quickly. They are characterised by high quality - they are saturated, intense, rich in details and perfectly reproduced compared to the electronic version. In just a minute of the device operation, you can get up to several hundred pages. This is, of course, a more cost-efficient method because if the first print fails, it is very easy to fix, unlike offset printing. Digital printing is simple and fast.

The digital printing process is very similar to the laser printing technology. By using digital printing, you can achieve better quality in less time. Digital printing allows you to quickly produce postcards, business cards and other promotional materials. In addition, digitally printed materials can be processed almost immediately. The big advantage of digital printing is its competitive price and the ability to fulfil orders on a variety of substrates and grammatures.

The digital printing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.64% between 2021 and 2026. This statistic is a key indicator of the future printing industry, as it shows that the digital printing market will grow steadily over the next five years. This means that businesses in the printing industry can anticipate positive prospects and plan accordingly to capitalize on growth opportunities. In addition, these statistics can be used to make decisions about investments, marketing strategies, and other business operations.

Keywords: digital printing, variable data, electrophotographic printing, inkjet printing.

Гавриш Богдана Михайлівна кандидат технічних наук, доцент, доцент кафедриінформаційнихтехнологійвидавничоїсправи,Національний

університет «Львівська політехніка», м. Львів

Логойда Микола Михайлович кандидат технічних наук, доцент, доцент кафедри інформаційних технологій видавничої справи, Національний університет «Львівська політехніка», м. Львів

Кустра Наталя Омелянівна кандидат технічних наук, доцент, доцент кафедриінформаційнихтехнологійвидавничоїсправи,Національний

університет «Львівська політехніка», м. Львів

ЦИФРОВИЙ ДРУК ЯК НЕВІД'ЄМНА ЧАСТИНА БАГАТОКАНАЛЬНОЇ КОМУНІКАЦІЇ digital printing variable data

багаті деталями та ідеально відтворені порівняно з електронною версією. Всього за хвилину роботи пристрою можна отримати до кількох сотень сторінок. Це, звичайно, більш економічний спосіб, тому що якщо перший відбиток виходить з ладу, це дуже легко виправити, на відміну від офсетного друку. Цифровий друк простий і швидкий.

Процес цифрового друку дуже схожий на техніку лазерного друку. Використовуючи цифровий друк, можна досягти кращої якості за менший час. Цифровий друк дозволяє швидко виготовити листівки, візитки та інші рекламні матеріали. Крім того, матеріали, надруковані цифровим способом, можна практично відразу обробляти. Великою перевагою цифрового друку є конкурентоспроможні ціни та можливість виконання замовлення на різних підкладках та граматурах.

Очікується, що ринок цифрового друку зросте на 4,64% у період між 2021 та 2026 роками. Ця статистика є ключовим показником майбутнього поліграфічної галузі, оскільки вона показує, що протягом наступних п'яти років ринок цифрового друку буде стабільно зростати. Це означає, що підприємства поліграфічної галузі можуть передбачати позитивні перспективи та відповідно планувати, щоб скористатися можливостями зростання. Крім того, цю статистику можна використовувати для прийняття рішень щодо інвестицій, маркетингових стратегій та інших бізнес-операцій.

Ключові слова: цифровий друк, змінні дані, електрофотографічний друк, струминний друк.

Problem statement

Digital printing has revolutionised the world of printing industry. Thanks to its numerical advantages, such as the ability to print variable data, on-demand printing and cost-effectiveness in case of limited runs; it is constantly expanding its share of the printing market. Today, digital printing accounts for approximately 15% of the total printing market in Europe (about 20% in the US), and studies confirm that this share will increase and reach a 30% share of the printing market in Europe in 2024.

Analysis of recent research and publications

Digital printing systems gradually win the market. However, the fascination with the new technology is starting to become ideological: we hear that digital printing will soon replace offset printing in most applications, or that it is the solution to all publishers' problems. The truth is more complicated, and maybe it is worth looking at it from a different angle. Proponents of digital printing are rather reluctant to admit that today it is difficult to find technology with the performance of offset printing. The fastest machines that are currently manufactured (jet machines) achieve about 80% of the productivity of an offset machine of a similar format; only DI machines (a hybrid of an exposure press and a conventional offset press) are capable of printing with the same performance as offset printing. It is also undeniable that the quality of digital printing is usually lower and the cost is higher than that of offset printing. So why do digital printing systems successfully compete with other technologies?

The purpose of the article is to analyse the transformation of analogue printing into digital printing.

Summary of the main material

Digital technology has firmly established itself on the global printing market. Variable Data Printing (VDP) is a special form of digital printing in which different elements (such as text, graphics or photos) can be changed on individual sheets within a single print run and in a single pass of the printing machine, that is, without the need to stop it. The amount of variable information is practically unlimited. Variable data printing is used primarily in direct marketing, advertising or transpromotional printing. The use of variable data allows direct, almost personal, and therefore much more effective communication with the client. Modern digital printing machines (sheet-fed and roll-fed) today allow us to implement complex projects with a guarantee of the highest print quality [1, 3].

There are many levels of variable data application - from a simple change of address data, to a complete change of versions, when text and graphics are adapted to a specific audience. The pinnacle of possibilities, however, is the production of products for the individual recipient's needs.

Variable data printing uses digital printing technology that connects databases containing content for printed documents to a printing device. Special software helps to effectively manage data, allows selecting specific content from the database, and place it in the document. Variable data printing can be used for volumes ranging from small individual orders to large orders from the banking, energy or retail sectors. Below there are several options for variable data printing.

Transaction printing. These are different types of financial documents. Examples include bills from telecommunications operators and energy suppliers.

Transpromotional printing. In this case, the starting point is the specific needs of the recipient, to which the sender adapts additional advertising content placed on financial documents (for example, invoices), i.e. a combination of transactional polygraphy with advertising material.

Direct mailing. In this segment, there are many ways to contact consumers:

a) lead generation - advertising letter or letter of offer,

b) direct order - the offer is attached to the sent product,

c) traffic generation - information about events supplemented, for example, with discount coupons,

d) information gathering - correspondence aimed at obtaining information from the client, often accompanied by an advertising offer to encourage the recipient to provide information,

e) loyalty communication - this form of communication involves building and maintaining relationships with customers within the loyalty programme - correspondence may contain information about new products and services or advertising campaigns [2, 3].

All these measures are designed to help attract new customers and, in the long run, strengthen the loyalty of the existing ones.

Fig. 1 : Use of digital printing

Fig. 2: Range ofprofitability of digital and classic printing

The lower cost of the digital printing process is due to the fact that digital printing eliminates a number of operations related to the creation of typographic plates or a gruelling organisational process. It should be noted that the break-even point is flexible and depends on many factors, primarily on a specific technical solution (printing machine). As the efficiency of digital printing presses increases and the price of digital printing materials decreases, the break-even point will shift toward larger print runs [4].

Digital printing is a printing process in which the data contained in a digital file is transferred with the help of digital machines and special dyes to a substrate for printing. Any printing process that does not have a typographic plate in the classical sense of the term can be classified as digital printing.

Fig. 3: The principle of division into digital and classical printing

technology

Currently, all printing technologies can be divided into classic printing technologies (analogue) and digital printing technologies. The printing process is a process of multiple reproduction (duplication) of information (illustrations, graphics, text), which consists in applying a colouring material (paint) to a printed base using an image carrier (for example, a typographic plate). In classic methods of printing, the image carrier is a typographic plate. In digital printing methods, the image carrier is a digital file [5]. The use of a typographic plate as an image carrier requires, in turn, that the typographic plate is pressed against a substrate or the surface of an intermediate element (for example, an offset cylinder) during the printing process. For this reason, classical printing methods are also called impact printing. Classic printing methods include relief printing (letterpress, flexography, relief offset printing); flat printing (offset); intaglio printing (rotogravure, intaglio, pad printing); and screen printing (Fig. 3).

Digital printing, invented more than 20 years ago, is developing quite rapidly. Initially, electrophotographic printing was widely used, and now inkjet printing is the fastest growing technology. At the beginning, digital printing could only print in A4 and A3 formats, but now it has expanded beyond A2. The long debate about how to compare the quality of digital and classic printing has finally come to an end. Now we can say that the quality of digital prints has equalled the quality of offset prints and, thanks to the selected parameters, may be even better. In addition, the performance of digital printing machines continues to grow and approaches the performance of conventional machines. The undeniable advantage of digital printing is that it does not require the use of aggressive chemicals and produces less waste, so its negative impact on the environment is much smaller than that of the analogue printing. Digital printing is now well established in the printing market, where more than a billion A4 prints are produced annually. The use of digital technology is currently growing and extending into industries such as packaging, decorative and functional printing [6, 7].

Figure 4 shows the dependence of the unit cost of printing products on the volume of circulation in offset and digital printing methods. The course of the curves presented in Figure 4, a, is well known in the printing industry. The price of a unit of production in offset printing decreases with an increase in circulation. For very small runs, offset printing is not economically viable due to the initial costs (costs for offset plates, costs for the process of making the typographic plate and preparatory operations).

Fig. 4: Comparison ofprofitability ranges of electrophotographic, jet and

offset printing

Digital electrophotographic printing is characterised by a different curve, or rather a line, due to the fact that the cost of each print, regardless of the print run, is the same and that small print runs, starting from one print, are profitable. The point

of intersection of the curve and the line, which marks the profitability limits of the two printing methods, used to correspond to a circulation of about 500-1000 prints, depending on the specific printing system. The appearance in recent years of high- performance roll jet printing systems has led to the possibility of competing with offset printing for larger runs (Fig. 4, b), while maintaining all the advantages inherent in digital printing [2, 8].

Fig. 5 : Production of digital prints in the world: electrophotographic and

inkjet

According to InfoTrends forecasts, the share of products printed by digital methods will continue to grow in the coming years, but greater growth is predicted for inkjet printing compared to electrophotography. Forty-two percent of all printed digital colour prints in 2014 were printed by the inkjet method, and in 2024, this figure is projected to increase to approximately 57%. This shows the huge potential of jet printing [3, 9].

Conclusions

Today, we see that digital printing is still a niche technology that meets the specific needs of a certain group of users. Digital printing has another feature that makes printers reluctant to approach it: it says `digital' more than `print. Most of the technology comes from computer data printing systems, and computer systems require databases, archives, etc. - unknown in conventional prepress. However, certain features of this technology, such as the printing of dynamically changing data or the cost-efficient production of small volumes, offer the opportunity to explore new applications that have not yet been tested. Of course, some of these will become standard and do not forget that digital printing technology is constantly improving. The digital press of the future does not have to look like today's.

References:

1. J. Zeng, I. -J. Lin, G. Dispoto, E. Hoarau and G. Beretta, "On-Demand Digital Print Services: A New Commercial Print Paradigm as an IT Service Vertical," 2011 Annual SRII Global Conference, San Jose, CA, USA, 2011, pp. 120-125, doi: 10.1109/SRII.2011.24

2. Y. Wang and Y. Ai, "Research on the Influence of Digital Printing Quality," 2019 2nd World Conference on Mechanical Engineering and Intelligent Manufacturing (WCMEIM), Shanghai, China, 2019, pp. 392-395, doi: 10.1109/WCMEIM48965.2019.00084.

3. Y. Liu, "Research on Intelligent Digital Printmaking Printing System based on Viterbi Algorithm," 2022 IEEE 2nd International Conference on Electronic Technology, Communication and Information (ICETCI), Changchun, China, 2022, pp. 1055-1058, doi: 10.1109/ICETCI55101. 2022.9832163.

4. S. Shao, Y. Xu, Y. Lian and Z. Jia, "A method to characterize and inspect the imprinting quality for a single dot in inkjet-printing," 2016 9th International Congress on Image and Signal Processing, BioMedical Engineering and Informatics (CISP-BMEI), Datong, China, 2016, pp. 629-633, doi: 10.1109/CISP-BMEI.2016.7852786

5. Y. Xu, N. Lin, Jiang Guiping and Guo Ge, "Research on a model for evaluating the perceived sharpness of black text in digital prints," 2011 4th International Congress on Image and Signal Processing, Shanghai, 2011, pp. 1954-1957, doi: 10.1109/CISP.2011.6100563.

6. B. Kovalskyi, B. Havrysh, T. Holubnyk, L. Mayik and M. Dubnevych, "Research of Color Gradation in Digital Publishing Systems," 2020 IEEE International Conference on Problems of Infocommunications. Science and Technology (PIC S&T), Kharkiv, Ukraine, 2020, pp. 221-224, doi: 10.1109/PICST51311.2020.9468097

7. W. Shi, "Exploration of Multi-level Virtual Simulation Digital Printing Experiment Teaching Model," 2020 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education (ICAIE), Tianjin, China, 2020, pp. 185-188, doi: 10.1109/ICAIE50891.2020.00050.

8. S. Liu, Q. Sun, G. Xie, B. Wei and S. Chen, "Quality assessment of digital proofing and discussion on standards of color difference," 2011 4th International Congress on Image and Signal Processing, Shanghai, China, 2011, pp. 1745-1748, doi: 10.1109/CISP.2011.6100532.

9. Y. Kawahara, S. Hodges, N. -W. Gong, S. Olberding and J. Steimle, "Building Functional Prototypes Using Conductive Inkjet Printing," in IEEE Pervasive Computing, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 30-38, July-Sept. 2014, doi: 10.1109/MPRV.2014.41.

Література:

2. Y. Wang and Y. Ai, "Research on the Influence of Digital Printing Quality," 2019 2nd World Conference on Mechanical Engineering and Intelligent Manufacturing (WCMEIM), Shanghai, China, 2019, pp. 392-395, doi: 10.1109/WCMEIM48965.2019.00084.

3. Y. Liu, "Research on Intelligent Digital Printmaking Printing System based on Viterbi Algorithm," 2022 IEEE 2nd International Conference on Electronic Technology, Communication and Information (ICETCI), Changchun, China, 2022, pp. 1055-1058, doi: 10.1109/ICETCI55101. 2022.9832163.

4. S. Shao, Y. Xu, Y. Lian and Z. Jia, "A method to characterize and inspect the imprinting quality for a single dot in inkjet-printing," 2016 9th International Congress on Image and Signal Processing, BioMedical Engineering and Informatics (CISP-BMEI), Datong, China, 2016, pp. 629-633, doi: 10.1109/CISP-BMEI.2016.7852786

5. Y. Xu, N. Lin, Jiang Guiping and Guo Ge, "Research on a model for evaluating the perceived sharpness of black text in digital prints," 2011 4th International Congress on Image and Signal Processing, Shanghai, 2011, pp. 1954-1957, doi: 10.1109/CISP.2011.6100563.

6. B. Kovalskyi, B. Havrysh, T. Holubnyk, L. Mayik and M. Dubnevych, "Research of Color Gradation in Digital Publishing Systems," 2020 IEEE International Conference on Problems of Infocommunications. Science and Technology (PIC S&T), Kharkiv, Ukraine, 2020, pp. 221-224, doi: 10.1109/PICST51311.2020.9468097

7. W. Shi, "Exploration of Multi-level Virtual Simulation Digital Printing Experiment Teaching Model," 2020 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education (ICAIE), Tianjin, China, 2020, pp. 185-188, doi: 10.1109/ICAIE50891.2020.00050.

8. S. Liu, Q. Sun, G. Xie, B. Wei and S. Chen, "Quality assessment of digital proofing and discussion on standards of color difference," 2011 4th International Congress on Image and Signal Processing, Shanghai, China, 2011, pp. 1745-1748, doi: 10.1109/CISP.2011.6100532.

9. Y. Kawahara, S. Hodges, N. -W. Gong, S. Olberding and J. Steimle, "Building Functional Prototypes Using Conductive Inkjet Printing," in IEEE Pervasive Computing, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 30-38, July-Sept. 2014, doi: 10.1109/MPRV.2014.41.

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