Drupa--Direct Imaging Takes Center Stage

At a packed press conference, MAN Roland unveiled its DICOweb, a digital offset press with on-press imaging and erasing. It was built to handle runs from 1,000 to 30,000 copies. Data is transferred onto a form cylinder using Creo's SQUAREspot thermal imaging to image a thermotransfer ribbon. The transferred material is heated to make it last during the print run. The cylinder is conditioned for water acceptance. Changeovers take 10 minutes. After the run, the ink and thermotransfer material are removed, and the cylinder is ready for a new image.