How to ensure the stability of digital printing products and boost customer satisfaction even further!

For printing companies, efficient production equipment is important, but stable print quality is equally crucial. For example, image printing is one of the most important applications of digital printing. Each year, graduation albums, personalized calendars, photo books, and similar products are popular in the market. However, if the prints suffer from issues such as insufficient color saturation, color deviations, or poor clarity, the printing effect will be very poor and will fail to attract customers or cultivate the market. Therefore, it is essential to adopt effective methods to inspect and control the quality of digital prints during the digital printing process.Document Quality Control01Color ModeWhen receiving customer data files, the first step is to check their color mode, which is especially important in color printing. In digital printing, spot color printing is commonly used as it can meet customers' personalized needs. Before performing spot color printing, the spot color needs to be properly set, which involves deciding whether to print directly with spot inks or convert the spot color into CMYK for printing.02File FormatThe preferred file formats for digital printing are commonly used print file formats such as PDF or PS. The page layout size is the net size of the print file. Additionally, it is essential to ensure the large-format file size is correct; otherwise, rework or reprinting may be required during later processing.03Content Within the Trim AreaThe basic elements within the trim area include text, images, and graphics. Regarding text, the most common issue is font matching. If the fonts used in the customer file are unavailable, it is necessary to negotiate with the customer for a font replacement, have the customer provide the relevant font files, or ask the customer to embed the fonts when generating the PDF file. For graphics, since they are vector information, attention should generally be paid to the color mode and file format.

04Image ContentRegarding images, it is first necessary to control the image resolution. Generally, color images should have a resolution of at least 300 dpi, grayscale images usually require 600 dpi, and black-and-white line drawings require 1200 dpi. Secondly, the color mode of color images should be CMYK, and it is best to ensure output in TIFF lossless compression format. This facilitates printing and is more conducive to the perfect reproduction of image quality.Raw Material Control01PaperThe range of substrates for digital printing is wide, but paper remains the primary substrate. With technological development, digital printing imposes higher requirements on the physical, mechanical, and optical properties of paper. For example, in digital printing, paper thickness needs to be uniform to avoid affecting the evenness of ink; the paper surface should be as smooth as possible with few pinholes; it should have a certain tensile strength and tear resistance to prevent dust or fiber shedding in high-speed digital printing equipment; for magazines and books, higher opacity of the paper is preferred, whereas for labels, invoices, and other printed materials, it is sufficient as long as there is no show-through.02InkInk also plays a crucial role in the quality of digital printing. Digital printing requires high gloss of ink; the ink film must remain stable when exposed to water, oil, solvents, and other substances to prevent discoloration or fading. Some digital prints may be exposed to sunlight for extended periods, so the ink must have good lightfastness. Stability is also required in terms of pH, conductivity, viscosity, penetration, surface tension, density, and color difference to be compatible with printing technology, and the ink should be non-toxic and environmentally friendly.After checking the above content, one more step should not be forgotten. Before production, comprehensive color calibration should first be performed, followed by printing test samples, and the content of the test samples should be carefully checked and recorded. Similar to traditional printing equipment, digital printing equipment can also be calibrated by controlling registration accuracy, density, chroma, gray balance, and dot gain. Equipment calibration also includes color calibration, ink density calibration, ink conductivity calibration, and automatic pressure calibration.Compared to traditional printing equipment, digital printers have stricter environmental requirements, and their print quality is more easily affected by the environment. This is because changes in temperature and humidity affect proper ink transfer and can lead to paper deformation, impacting paper feeding and registration during printing. Additionally, environmental dust levels can affect ink and paper properties, thereby affecting color uniformity in digital prints. Therefore, to better control the print quality of digital prints, a dedicated workshop should be set up for digital printers, equipped with specialized air conditioning, dehumidification and humidification systems, and ventilation. The workshop temperature should be controlled between 23–27°C, humidity between 40%–60%, and the production environment should be kept clean. Moreover, measures should be taken to minimize personnel movement, promptly close doors, and maintain a stable environment, laying a foundation for consistent print quality.