Variable data printing is still a dream (a)

Since the first appearance of digital presses eight years ago, variable data printing in the imaging field has been shrouded in a halo. First of all, variable data color printing is being touted as a way to solve things that are not popular. But as with the prospects of other technologies, it cannot survive in all kinds of boasting.
The current situation has undergone some changes, and variable data printing has gradually become the people's choice. At the same time, the price of full-color printing, which is known for its speed, simplicity, and reliability, is also declining. It is even lower than last year's price.
Users who eventually realized the feasibility of variable data printing began to look for ways to use this technology. Press retailers are also starting to provide devices for different page sizes and printing speeds driven by RIP that can ultimately handle variable data.
But TrendWatch (an excellent monitoring company in the printing industry) believes that these phenomena may be an illusion. Digital color variable print jobs as printers and digital printing equipment business opportunities, such as Indigo and Xeikon's presses, showed a downward trend in last year, digital color variable data operations plummeted from 26% a year ago to 4% . However, the consultancy report also mentions that small commercial printers (companies with no more than 9 employees) that started variable data printing last spring have increased from 4% to 7%.
TrendWatch believes that unless there is a dramatic shift, variable data printing is still a dream, as Indigo and other companies envision. The company pointed out that although some of the voucher makers of variable-data printing are eagerly touting, the acceptance of the market has been slow; while the Internet industry, which is in a state of repetitiveness, seems to be better able to adapt to individual market demands.
Regardless of the fact, TrendWatch concluded that the fundamentals of variable data printing are based on color copiers and digital printers.
For fast and small commercial printers, such as the Xerox DocuColor 2045 and 2060, and even the DocuColor 12 have the ability to achieve variable data printing, and are also being used by commercial printing companies, document service organizations, and internal departments to achieve this. Change data printing.
In fact, some users who already have Indigo or Xerox DocuColor 2060 are considering Xerox technology for variable data printing and non-variable data printing, because it has more powerful features, lower operating costs and excellent The print quality. Next year, Xerox will introduce a new type of press to the market, currently called FutureColor, which is expected to further reduce the cost per page.
In addition, among the digital printing equipment, it is worth mentioning that NexPress was used to demonstrate the operation of variable data printing at the CeBIT exhibition in Hanover, Germany, a few months ago. The NexPress 2100 is expected to be launched in early 2002.