New System Eradicates Manual Double Sided Proofs

The eradication of manual assembly of double-sided print proofs has been promised with the introduction of the new Preproofer 120 system from Digital Information.

The eradication of manual assembly of double-sided print proofs has been promised with the introduction of the new Preproofer 120 system from Digital Information.

The majority of offset printing jobs are printed on both sides of the paper and prior to printing, the usual manual adjustment and gluing of front and back print work is extremely time-consuming.

In addition, the glued paper can make these proofs look clumsy, awkward and difficult to fold.

To solve the problem, various automatic double-side proofers are already on the market.

They have mainly been conceived for proofing sheets in eight-page format (109 cm or 43'').

However, the electronic-mechanical paper turner built into those printers makes them slow and expensive.

But the Preproofer 120 has been specially designed for proofing forms in four-page format.

Proofs can be checked for correct imposition of the entire print form for content and front and back registration and they can be accurately folded, said the company.

The Preproofer 120 uses two HP Designjet inkjet six-color printers with separate ink cartridges that prints at resolutions from 300dpi to 2400dpi.

With one printer mounted over the other as an integral unit, each is linked via a curved sheet-turning feeder.

Printing of the front side takes place on the upper printer.

The paper is automatically cut off the roll and gravity allows it to drop into the sheet turner.

During the drop, the sheet is turned and positioned with its unprinted side facing upwards in the single sheet feeder of the second printer, which then prints the reverse side.

The paper roll has a capacity of 60 meters of inkjet paper.

A 15cm (6')' paper core prevents paper curling at the end of the roll.

The system uses 100gsm Mediaware DIL Preproofer Duo paper.

The Preproofer 120 produces up to 15 four-page double-sided sheets in formproof quality per hour.

It is controlled by a special version of the DI-Plot software package already operating in more than 1,000 installations.

The acceptance of ROOM-data (rip once output many) from almost any one-bit TIFF file, through delta lists and files in HP-RTL plotter format, to direct connection to Apogee, Prinergy or Harlequin-Rips prepress workflow is easily accommodated said Digital Information.

DI-Plot runs on a Windows PC, prints the prepared data via a USB port and simultaneously communicates with the Preproofer 120 via the serial interface.

DI-Plot can also be upgraded to control other output systems and produce Inkzone or CIP3 files for digitally presetting offset printing machines.

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