Full-color inkjet presses may soon join offset and electrophotographic systems in in-plants

By Noel Ward

Continuous Ink-jet

CIJ technology is used primarily by Kodak, initially with monochrome heads for addressing applications and on hybrid offset/inkjet systems, then on the company's VX and VT lines of high-speed four-color printers.

CIJ heads fire a steady stream of electrically charged ink droplets at the paper. Text and images are created by deflecting unwanted drops into a gutter and then to a waste container. While capable of high speeds, CIJ has traditionally been unable to achieve the image quality of other technologies.