D***ed if you do and d***ed if you don’t
By Gail Nickel-Kailing on June 16th, 2008
Getting our arms – and our minds – around “green printing” is definitely a challenge! Here’s a little quiz to check the validity of what we think we know about “green printing:”
- Using FSC/SFI papers makes a print project “green.” True or false?
Check out what Vic Barkin has to say about certification here>> and here>> - Laminating a print project automatically makes it “not green.” True or false?
Read about new laminates here>> - Using inkjet printing technology makes a project “not green.” True or false?
Take a look a Andy Tribute’s comments on PrintCEO Blog about inkjet technology at drupa here>> - Digital printing is “greener” than conventional offset printing. True or false?
Watch a video snippet from Andy Tribute, Print is Greener Than You Think!, or Pat Henry, Efficient Printing Equals Green Printing.
The answer is almost always “it depends.” We really need to clarify what shade of green?
Before we get all tangled up in our shoe strings, it is really more important to look at a print project from beginning to end. Not just beginning with the print production process, but consider the purpose of the project, the design process, the distribution/fulfillment methods, and “end of life.”
Submit, if you please, your definition of “green printing.” I believe we will find that green comes in all shades!
2 Responses to “D***ed if you do and d***ed if you don’t”
By Erik Nikkanen on Jun 17, 2008 | Reply
If one wants to obtain a greenish existence, then one has to correct real physical problems and not just talk about goals. No matter how much one talks about a goal, one won’t get there unless one knows what to do to fix the problems.
If the goal is to print only what you need and do that without disposing of spent fountain solution, much of that can be done. But one needs to make some changes to how you think about the process and how the press technology works.
For some reason, the industry does not want to accept the idea that printed density variation and lack of predictability is due to still not having positive control of the ink feed on modern presses. Some day the industry will all accept this as true as we now know the world is round and not flat. It will be taken for granted but until then there are many flat-worlders around.
One of the by products of having a positive ink feed is that the ink feed becomes independent of the water feed. You will not have ink/water balance exist in the way you perceive it now.
When ink and water independence is obtained, there are several opportunities. Formulating inks and fountain solutions can be more directed at performance than at some perceived interaction that was actually press design related.
Also the application of fountain solution can be redesigned to avoid the disposal problem. Presently fountain solution is circulated and eventually gets contaminated and therefore needs disposal.
It has been shown in several technical papers that fountain solution can be applied to the press at almost any location. One reason to apply it close to the plate is to keep it as far as possible from the ink feed. Normally changes in water in the roller train affects ink transfer at the ductor. Applying water close to the ductor only aggravates that problem. But if the ink feed is made independent of the water, then water can be applied anywhere without affecting density. It probably would improve the print quality by applying the water away from the plate.
If printed density is not affected by water then the water feed does not have to be so accurate. This then allows the unidirectional (non circulating) application of fountain solution into the press. Therefore nothing to dispose of.
If some rethinking of the process is done, the print shop can become much greener both environmentally and economically. They go hand in hand.
By Pat Berger on Jun 19, 2008 | Reply
If it smells of solvent it ain’t green, if it has to be coated for ink drying it ain’t green. These are a few items I would put on an It AIN’T green list.
What else can be added?
Pat Berger