Do you have digital presses?

[geozinger]

Depends upon what you consider a digital press...

We have a Xerox DocuColor 240 , the salesman presented it to ownership here as a 'mini-iGen'... Which ownership repeats to us frequently. We laugh. Because it hurts too much to cry. At least I'm not the guy running the small presses...

I have to say that it does an admirable job, now that we've figured out HOW to use the @#$! thing. I'm still not ready to call it a 'digital press', especially in light of actual digital presses like an iGen or a Nexpress, let's say...

I just got an email update from 'What They Think', it talks about this:

"GRAPHIC DESIGNERS GENERALLY SATISFIED WITH DIGITAL PRESS OUTPUT QUALITY
In Winter 2006/2007, 57% of graphic designers said they were either "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with the image quality produced by digital color printing systems."

It goes on to say that Graphic Designers are critical print buyers (WTF?) and that personalization will be a big market for 'digital presses'. I would stridently disagree.

I think as we race to the bottom, in terms of pricing, quality and design, that the 'digital presses', will inflict the same amount of pain on pressmen and other craftsmen that we in the graphic design/typesetting/stripping etc., community have been feeling for the last 15 or so years.

I can already see a larger proportion of (formerly) small runs that ran on our conventional presses like the Quickmasters going to the 'wonder machine'. There's probably going to be a tipping point in most shops where these things will start taking over most if not all of the small runs and all of one category, such as business card imprinting.

Like it or not, it's coming to a pressroom near you!

[doubting_thomas]

We have a Xerox DocuColor 240 , the salesman presented it to ownership here as a 'mini-iGen'...

A mini iGen. That's pretty funny. Our AB Dick 9810's are sort of like mini Speedmasters, too. 

[30YearsandCounting]

We have a Xerox DocuColor 240 , the salesman presented it to ownership here as a 'mini-iGen'...

He must be a real good salesman if he has them believing.   
Repeat after me...
'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....

[geozinger]

We have a Xerox DocuColor 240 , the salesman presented it to ownership here as a 'mini-iGen'...

He must be a real good salesman if he has them believing.   
Repeat after me...
'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....'it's a mini-iGen'....

Oh yeah, we were laughing... NOT.

We've had different kinds of copier salescreeps here over the years, but this guy laid it on with a trowel the size of Rhode Island! And the ownership sucked it up! Now, two years later, we haven't substantially increased our 'digital printing' volume by much, but at least I don't get lectured to tell potential clients this is 'digital printing'. I think there may have been all kinds of BS floating around how this machine will increase our volumes. Not really. Our salespeople increase our volumes. It's (sometimes) just as much effort for a $200 job as is for a $200,000 job, and I don't blame them.

Besides, good print buyers know what they're seeing. And the vast majority that want to buy printing that cheap know what they are getting, too.

[gtrev]

Got an OCE CPS 9500 - I'd call it all the dirty names I can think of - the piece of shite pay's for itself by serving as a "contract" proofing system for our ctp workflow - it's handy that it prints oversize A3 double sided - I'ts plugged into our Heidelberg workflow - we can spit out impositions reduced to fit & make up mini dummy's for our press & bindery staff - we do use it as a low end digital device, but the way it builds colour would make a blind man fart!

[delooch]

Our "piece of crap color copier" folds and staples too. Can I call it a bindery line too?

man, youre lucky you got the finisher on yours. my jackass management analyst axed the finisher from our high speed color printer. then they bitch about taking too much time doing "handwork" on jobs..

[ChrisP]

We use a Docucolor 6060, and it does pretty well with what we run on it. The problem was that the sales team was there for the pitch and all they heard was "press quality". We constantly have to answer for "it doesn't look EXACTLY like it did last time".

[Sparky]

Hi gang, I would consider all that I have seen here just glorified "printers" as opposed to a "press".
The last place I worked had a Docucolor 250 and the boss called it a "digital printer"
Now, I operate a Presstek 5334 DI, commonly referred to as a 34DI. It is a true "offset" printing press that images the plates directly on the plate cylinder, has a blanket cylinder (2 for each unit, 2 units = 4/color) and the impression cylinder, complete with a paper feed and delivery system. Average runs will usually be around 5,000 the minimum my boss will accept is about 1,000 and I have already run several jobs over 20,000 sheets. size is limited though as the 34 can only go up to 12.4 x 19.2 (or something like that) 34 cm portrait format.