Friday 26 December 2014

The Basics Of Sustainable Digital Printing

By Stacey Burt


In the recent past people have become aware of the impacts of environmental degradation. As such there have been measures and attempts to develop products for this purpose. Among them is sustainable digital printing. This started only as a fad but has been growing in strength and influence that promoters and publishers have taken a serious approach to it.

Digital Printing refers to transferring a document on a computer or other storage device to a printing substrate by means of a device that accepts text and graphic output. This recent process was developed to replace the earlier lithographic process which depended heavily on printing plates, rubber blankets and repulsive oils, usually found in offset printing.

The advent of environmental consciousness among the general public has caused producers and print companies to feel the need to adopt to their needs. This has brought rise to the new trend of products dubbed as going green. Printing has advanced to green printing with new materials and new forms of printers such as the laser jet and ink jet types.

There are certain steps and measures that people have learnt and adopted in they strive to progress into this particular printing and publishing. Key among them is the use of recyclable, renewable and biodegradable materials. These include vegetable based inks, recyclable paper produced under fair and safe working conditions among many more.

Another undertaking by people who support the digital migration of printing patterns and methods is the new trend of designing, making and using less paper. This is determined in terms of the size and weight of the paper. Designers have discovered that trimming a small portion of the paper in the average book would save up to 1000 sheets.

Package design has also evolved and is now moving towards Eco friendliness and sustainability. They have adopted new printing and packaging designs that are both functional in multiple ways and reusable. This form of packaging can be re-purposed for other uses such as creating chairs, pet houses, and light bulb holders among other uses.

A noted shift in the print and production is the introduction and popular uptake of modular design. This concept was borrowed from modular building from engineering and architectural circles. This trend involves creating custom solutions with prefabricated or standardized materials. Such materials are easily recyclable, easy to update and repair.

Fonts have also been a decision factor in this printing circles. Product designers are being seen to have a shift towards font faces that are not only elegant but easy on the eye in terms of reading. The font type should also be regarded as ink efficient for it to be acceptable to use especially in packaging and promotional material.

Digital printing is a relatively new concept. However it has taken pace and is turning heads as it is continuously and being progressively adopted by individuals and companies alike. This simple concept which started only as a trend by environmentally conscious people has developed from a simple fad to a concept relied on by marketers to brand their products as Green.




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