There is a lot of chatter about three interesting opportunities for printers: security printing, printed electronics and lenticular printing.

By Mark Smith

The Security Printing Opportunity

Security printing is an expanding class of technology, especially on the digital side, that may offer printers a way to differentiate their capabilities. New developments are making it more affordable to add security features primarily designed to prevent counterfeiting, but also tampering.

Kodak Traceless led off the new spate of introductions. It uses special marker materials that are invisible to the eye, but can be detected by special handheld readers. The technology works with conventional and digital printing methods.

Also suited to both processes, Agfa Graphics’ Secuseal is a plug-in for Adobe Illustrator that enables users to create complex designs and backgrounds in printed pieces that are difficult to reproduce.

For a basic level of protection, using microtext (as small as 1 pt.) and white or gloss printing—in combination with variable data—are techniques that have become commonplace in the digital arena. Some vendors are going beyond that level of protection.

Invisible ink and alphanumeric coding technology were introduced on certain HP Indigo press models. The former is an ink that fluoresces under UV light and the latter generates graphic representations of digits or numbers that can be placed as a visual element on a page.

Xerox’s InfraredMark Specialty Imaging Font technology produces text that becomes readable when exposed to infrared light. It uses two matched sets of CMYK toners that have very different infrared light absorption properties. One is used to print a color background and the other to print text within it.

ANY ATTEMPT to predict the course of technological development amounts to an educated guess at best. (After all, experts once said that Adobe Photoshop and the Mac would never be acceptable for professional graphic arts applications.)

That said, there’s a buzz in the air about three technological developments: printed electronics, security printing and lenticular. Each is still a work in process to a degree, so the exact size and nature of their market potential is yet to be determined.

The term “printed electronics” (printing of conductive inks) is being applied to such a range of processes and applications that it’s hard to make any definitive statements about the opportunities it presents. The raw numbers are very impressive, though.

In its market report—“Organic & Printed Electronics Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2007-2027”—the IDTechEx research firm forecasts the market for currently and potentially printed electronics (including organic, inorganic and composite materials) to increase from $1.18 billion in 2007 to $48.2 billion in 2017, and more than $300 billion in 2027.

Today, conductive inks, sensors and OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays account for almost all of that volume, the firm says, with 31.6 percent of these electronics already being fully or partially printed. That will rise to 90.3 percent by 2017, projects the Cambridge, Mass., firm.

The bad news: Aspects of the process are keeping offset lithography in the “possible future development” category. Also, much of the forecasted market potential of printed electronics is in making components for other manufacturing operations that may set it up as a captive process.

The Impact of E-paper

“Electronic” paper is the development track most likely to impact commercial printing in the near term. There are two technology branches:

E-paper developers have sought to produce cost-effective, flexible displays that can be used in place of printed materials. The initial flurry of activity has since tapered off.

An alternative approach now showing promise is adding printed electronic components to substrates used in conventional (digital or offset) printing. Paper, paperboard and other materials can be made dynamic and interactive with the addition of sound and/or lighting effects, even text displays. Posters, packaging, floor graphics and even wallpaper are among the applications being developed.

T-Ink in New York has been very active in this area, having produced examples with Hallmark, MeadWestvaco, NewsAmerica and Sears. Polymertronics in the U.K. is developing a process for embedding lights into substrates for ink-jet printers.

For the printed electronics industry, ink-jet printing has become a leading production process, but may present challenges in scaling up to volume production. Screen printing was used for much of the pioneering work and continues to be a contender, although it has weaknesses (e.g. printing fine lines, productivity). Flexo is considered a very promising technology.

Offset lithography’s production potential is still largely theoretical. NanoMarkets, a research firm based in Glen Allen, Va., published a white paper: “The Future of Flexography and Lithography in Printed Electronics” (Download it at www.nanomarkets.net.) While the fine lines and high productivity achievable with offset have appeal in electronics printing, NanoMarkets says the ink formulation requirements of the process are a hindrance in this application. The firm says the high profile enjoyed by ink-jet printing is partly due to the promotion efforts of vendors. It believes “flexo will certainly have a leg up on the other processes,” particularly in RFID/label printing.

The concept of lenticular printing isn’t new, but it is enjoying a bit of a rebirth thanks largely to HumanEyes Technologies. The company’s software tools make it easier to create the artwork needed for lenticular printing. Vendor partners like Kodak, HP, KBA and Fujifilm Graphic Systems are helping drive the market.

The term lenticular is somewhat inaccurately being applied to all printing processes in which multiple images are interlaced to create a 3D appearance or motion effect. These composite images can either be printed directly on the required lens material, typically with UV inks, or output on a substrate that is then affixed to it. Solutions are available for production on digital and offset presses, and on wide-format printers.

Those who have gotten involved in lenticular printing are producing items like postcards, coasters, covers for comic books, business cards, invitations and floor displays. There is a minimal learning curve with the lenticular software, and press operators (digital and offset) will need a little practice to get the printing to align correctly with the lens substrate.IPG

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