In response to the significant need for an on-demand printer
that addresses the above issues, Rimage has partnered with Alps
Electric Co., Ltd. to develop the first on-demand, photo-realistic
CD-R/DVD-R printer.
The creative applications of Everest™ are limitless. It
can be used in markets previously not receptive to on-demand printing,
because now you can produce effects similar to those created with
silk-screen or offset processes and just as lasting. Everest™
is the first on-demand printer that can print a label from one
edge of the disc to another, the first on-demand printer that
can print on the hub of a disc, and the first on-demand printer
that can print white ink. Thanks to Everest™, designers
are no longer limited by the printing technology, only by their
imagination.
Until now, CD label designers were constrained by the available
printing technology, with only four printing options available
to them—silk-screen, offset, inkjet, and thermal. While
these four methods all have their advantages, they also have their
drawbacks.
Silk-screen and offset printing produce indelible labels with
strong color, but these processes are most suitable for production
runs of 1000 or more discs. Because of the set-up involved, they
are not suitable for just-in-time and mass customization applications.
To address this limitation in pre-Everest™ systems, Rimage
developed Perfect Print™, which combines silk-screen or
offset with thermal printing. Thermal printers personalize a disc
by allowing text, serial numbers, or other elements to be printed
on the surface of a previously silk-screened or offset printed
disc. This solution, while a good compromise, necessitates maintaining
an inventory of pre-printed discs and diminishes some of the flexibility
for printing custom labels.
Inkjet and thermal are two approaches to printing CD-R on-demand.
Inkjet printing produces realistic images, but not as vibrant
as silk-screen or as permanent. The other method, thermal printing,
produces color custom labels that are highly durable and resistant
to damage, but its color printing capability has limitations that
preclude its use when a label has complex color graphic content.
Applications requiring corporate identity, a compelling marketing
message, and other visually powerful effects demand CD-R labels
that match the print quality of silk-screened or offset printed
discs.
A Revolutionary Printing Process
Rimage, the industry leader in CD-R/DVD-R publishing, knows the
issues involved with printing on CD media. Alps, our partner in
the Everest™ development, has been in electronics since
1976. They entered the personal printer market in the mid-’90s,
introducing MicroDry™ variable dot technology to produce
sharp color graphics. Rimage and Alps combined their strengths
to address the need for better graphics, better color, and better
monochrome when printing on-demand to CDs and in the process created
a revolutionary fifth method of printing to disc—thermal
re-transfer.
Thermal re-transfer refers to a method of disc surface printing
where the entire label image is first transferred to a plastic
transfer ribbon, one color at a time. The finished image is then
re-transferred to the disc. This gives more control over the outcome
because CD surfaces are unpredictable, varying from disc to disc
and manufacturer to manufacturer. The re-transfer process allows
label designers to do things previously unattainable with on-demand
printing, such as edge to edge printing and printing on the hub
of the disc. The effect is a label to rival one produced by silk-screen
or offset methods, yet can be printed on-demand.
Everest™ employs an innovative variable dot technology,
where the dots composing an image vary in size, resulting in sharper
images with greater detail. In addition, the MicroDry™ ink
is actually a thermal resin that contains pigment. This dry technology
produces a dot with a fine edge. Consequently, dots per inch,
or DPI, does not accurately reflect the print resolution. A better
measure is lines per inch (LPI), and that is where Everest™
shines. Silk-screen typically produces 85-120 LPI, and magazines
are generally offset printed at 150 LPI. Everest™ prints
labels at 160 LPI—color or monochrome printing that is better
than silk-screen!
The pigmented ink is UV protected, ensuring vibrant colors throughout
the life of a disc. And because the ink is not water based, there
are no issues with the label smearing. It also won’t scratch
off—you’ll ruin the disc before you can scratch the
label. This enables CD-R to now be used for commercial distribution
because Everest™ printed discs can withstand the rigors
of day-to-day consumer handling.
Bold Color, Crisp Graphics
The color model that Everest™ uses is CMY (Cyan, Magenta,
Yellow) with black represented as a composite of the three. A
CMY-White ribbon is also available; the white panel is for use
as an undercoat. Everest™ is the only on-demand printer
able to print white to a CD. This white undercoat can be applied
to the entire disc, or just a portion, allowing for some creative
results. For example, a designer can apply white to a silver-surfaced
disc in order to reproduce the whites of a model’s eyes,
yet reverse-print the text, so that it appears silver.
For monochrome printing, replace the color ribbon with a black
ribbon. While the durability of the ink makes it attractive for
pure text applications, the variable dot technology allows for
monochrome graphics that are as compelling as color. The technology
gives a depth to the images not achievable with other printing
methods.
What does all this mean to the graphic designer? Creativity.
Control. Riveting results.
Software Makes It Happen
The software that comes with Everest™ was developed to
assist the designer. The printer drivers provide strong color
management, which gives the designer control for accurate color
reproduction—an important consideration when printing company
logos or trademarks or when using pre-existing designs. There
are two drivers: one to support Windows® 2000 and the other
to support Macintosh®, although at this time OS X is not supported.
The Macintosh driver is available for the Autoprinter, while the
Windows 2000 driver supports the Autoprinter and production systems.
CD-Designer label editing software is also included with Everest™.
This software allows the designer to import graphics and text.
Features include serialization, bar codes, and data merging capabilities.
However, you don’t need to be limited to the tools provided
because the printer works well with such industry-standard software
as Adobe® Illustrator®, Adobe® Photoshop®, Macromedia®
FreeHand®, QuarkExpress®, and CorelDRAW®. Graphic
designers can compose labels using the software that they are
familiar with.
For this quality of print result, the speed with which a label
is printed is impressive. In a production setting, the Everest™
disc-printing time is just 78 seconds—printing to the transfer
ribbon and re-transferring from ribbon to disc. In low demand
applications such as kiosks, the print time can be reduced to
as little as 23 seconds, because the image is printed to the transfer
ribbon while the disc is being created.
Everest™ is available in a variety of configurations. For
batch printing, there is the AutoPrinter, an automatically loading
printer that connects via USB connection to a PC or Macintosh.
For true on-demand CD-R/DVD-R production there are the Autostar
II, Protégé II, or Amigo II members of the Producer
II product family.
A New Era In On-Demand Printing
Everest™ is a revolutionary departure from traditional
disc printing technology. There is no cumbersome set-up involved,
and there are no screens or plates to store. The fine resolution
of the variable dots bests most magazines. MicroDry™ produces
an indelible label that contains crisp graphics, in monochrome
as well as color. The thermal re-transfer process results in the
only on-demand printer to print edge to edge and on the hub, covering
the entire surface of the disc. This, along with Mac support,
is an important concern for graphic designers.
Everest™ offers freedom to create interesting designs,
the flexibility of on-demand printing, and control over the outcome.
The industry clamored for an on-demand printer that could produce
disc labels to match the best qualities of silk-screen and offset
printing methods. It’s here now, with Everest™.
