THE NEWS IN PRINT

The term PictBridge has been used whenever a photo printer is referred to and I felt that it would be a good exercise if it could be explained briefly for the benefit of our readers. In simple terms, a PictBridge port is an interface between a digital still camera and a printer. A digital still camera can be connected directly to a printer using the PictBridge port and photos can be printed directly without the need of a PC.

Here are the features of a PictBridge from the WhitePaper:
- The ability to quickly print the image displayed by interacting with the digital still camera
- Provide a way for customers to have a very easy to use solution
- A standard that will provide for wide interoperability
- A vender can easily adopt PictBridge
- The specification is independent of the physical interface or transport layer protocol
- Allow for future enhancements that will contribute continuing to build a digital photo culture

The main purpose of PictBridge is to have a common port which will be used across all printers and digital still cameras manufactured. So, buyers need not worry about compatibility issues between the digital still camera and their printers. When you are buying a printer or a digital camera, look fort the PictBridge logo (visible in this post) on the box or check the specs.

The printer need not specifically have a LCD screen inbuilt for the PictBridge to work. When a digital still camera is hooked onto a compliant printer, the LCD screen on the camera will enable the user to choose different functionalities like resizing, cropping etc apart from giving printing instructions.

Almost all the photo printers today have a PictBridge port integrated on it. It has become unofficially mandatory.

There was a time when dye sublimation (DS) printers found home in textile industries and at commercial printing industries. The rise of technology and the reduction in prices of electronic articles has brought DS printers to homes. These printers are used mainly for photo printing. Many of the photo printers discussed on Cartridge Save are DS printers.

The photo quality obtained from DS printers are exceptional and studio quality. It not only provides an accurate photograph with all the colours well blended, but also provides a layer of lamination just like a commercial photograph.

Along with advantages, comes drawbacks. DS printers are expensive as it uses films which are expensive and the speed of printing is slow as it involves a complicated process which is discussed in the next section.

How it works?
Instead of using inks, DS printers use transparent films (cellophane ribbon) which transfers colours on to media (paper) using heat. In a dye-sublimation printer the printing dye is heated up until it turns into a gas, at which point it diffuses onto the printing media and solidifies. Prior to printing, the dye is stored on a cellophane ribbon. Read the detailed working of a DS printer on Wiki.

Sony, Kodak and Canon are some of the major manufacturers of DS printers. They range from £25 to a few thousand pounds depending on the capacity and quality.

Every single company across the globe is aiming at reducing their costs in any way possible. In the current world of softcopies, there is an incredible amount of documents and other hardcopies that are adding up the total cost to the companies. Mail Communications (MAILCOM) conference, the biggest showcase of the printing world is planning on highlighting the ways to reduce printings costs.

At MAILCOM 2007, Kodak will display their cost saving technology, the Versamark DS 7122 printing system. It offers an economical fast drying solvent ink solution for high print permanence on high gloss and plastic substrates. The easy to use unit provides a printing width of 2.13 inches with crisp character definition at very high speeds.

Features of Versamark DS7122:
- Capability to print on a variety of substrates, including metals, plastics, coated papers and films for greater printing flexibility
- Quick-drying inks with 100% water permanence to maximize your printing efficiency
- One-button startup for quicker print production
- User-friendly, feature-rich KODAK VERSAMARK CS150 System Controller with MAILSCAPE XP software for easier operation
- Modular design for easy upgrades
- 2.13" print width
- Print resolutions of 120 x 240 dpi at 500 fpm (152 mpm) or 120 x 120 dpi at 1,000 fpm (304 mpm)

via Press Release

Edgeline technology has surpassed the efficiency of all other printers released worldwide. HP has decided that they would not sell these printers but instead rent it out to businesses. This technology means low cost printing along with fast printing speeds and excellent print quality for text and graphics.

The unique feature of Edgeline technology is that the print heads span the width of the page. The print heads stay stationary while the paper moves back and across unlike all other printers. Here are more details about this technology:

For increased printing speeds, HP Edgeline Technology printers use large, stationary printheads"”arranged in a line"”to dispense ink across the entire width of the page as the paper passes beneath them. The result is more accurate ink-drop placement and breathtaking print speeds for crisp, print-shop quality output"”fast. Plus, the sophisticated printhead design delivers outstanding reliability, allowing for more printing up-time, less maintenance and a lower total cost of operation over time. To complement the new printhead design and increased speeds, HP has specially designed Vivera inks for each current printing system with HP Edgeline Technology to deliver leading print quality.

The HP CM8000 which uses Edgeline technology can print up to 60ppm in black and 50ppm in colour.