1,290 research outputs found

    A Designer\u27s guide to the evaluation of digital proofs

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    Digital color proofs and pre-proofs are used by graphic artists and commercial printers throughout the prepress process. However the prepress process has undergone radical changes over the past decade due to the introduction of desk top publishing and desktop prepress. Alongside of the desktop publishing revo lution has come a multitude of new digital proofing technologies for use in this ever changing environment. Technologies including, but not limited to, liquid inkjet, dye sublimation, continuous inkjet, color laser, and thermal wax transfer printers have provided an entire range of color accuracy and price suitability to many of their users. However one needs to be able to understand the practical applications and limitations of these technologies to make a suitable choice for a specific prepress operation or design process. Therefore a handbook for the users of digital proofs has been created for their benefit. The underlying structure of this handbook is based on the following six chap ters. The first chapter, entitled Communicating with Prepress and the Attributes of Digital Proofing, contains multiple parts. Firstly, it contains information for the designer in regards to the advantages and disadvantages of all types of digital output devices. It discusses the advantages which digital output devices may or may not have over conventional proofing systems. Additionally, ideas such as the vantages and drawbacks of preproofers and proofers is elaborated upon. Information for this part of the chapter was obtained through questionnaires completed by, and interviews with print buyers, art directors, and production managers from advertising agencies and prepress providers in the Rochester area. More information for this section of the first chapter was obtained through various manufacturer\u27s literature, printing industry reports and various periodi cals. Chapter One also discusses ideas behind the application of color printers (preproofers) and digital proofers. These ideas address issues which pertain to the application of specific printing and proofing processes to specific phases of the creative and production processes. Additionally, discussions regarding proof ing costs, qualities, and production turnaround time may be found in this part of the first chapter. Information for this section of Chapter One was obtained through information found in printing and publishing related periodicals, as well as in manufacturers\u27 literature. Finally, the first chapter develops a system for the correction of digital preproofs and proofs. Multiple groups of ideas pertaining to the correction of digital output are discussed. Some of these include sections entitled Digital File Tracking and Identification, Evaluation of Design Elements, Evaluating Colors, Element Positioning, and Element Dimension Adjustments. Information for this part of the chapter was obtained through the evaluation of previously corrected digital con tract proofs and preproofs, as well as the interviews and questionnaires men tioned above. The second chapter, entitled Proofing Typography, displays the many different ways that printing and proofing technologies affect text type and display typog raphy. Using the CD-Rom included in the back of the book, one may view on screen how the following technologies affect type ranging from 3 points to 72 points in size: liquid inkjet, large format liquid inkjet, phase-change inkjet, ther mal wax transfer, dye sublimation, continuous inkjet, and dye ablation. Information and samples for this chapter were obtained through printing and proofing system manufacturers and advertising agencies in the Rochester area. The Color Primer and Chapter Three: Proofing for Imagery and Color, contain information for the designer which may be applied to proper evaluation of color on color prints and digital proofs. The Color Primer discusses subjects such as color space, the additive and subtractive color theories, and common color mea surement tools. Chapter Three then applies some of this knowledge in its discus sions of proper lighting conditions for viewing prints and proofs, and different human factors which influence the highly subjective evaluation of all digital color output. Information for this chapter was gathered using graphic arts and printing industry related periodicals and industry-wide books related to color and its reproduction. The fourth chapter, entitled Substrates and Digital Output, educates the design er about the effects on text, imagery, and graphics which occur when creating digital prints and proofs on a variety of papers. Various paper surfaces such as gloss, semi-gloss and matte surfaces are addressed. The affects of colored paper on imagery and graphics are also elaborated upon. Additionally, printing and proofing processes are discussed in regards to the substrates that they accept for output. Information for this chapter was gathered through manufacturers\u27 litera ture and various industry related books and periodical articles. The Proofing Process Supplement was created to familiarize the designer with all currently popular forms of digital output technology. The process supplement discusses the imaging processes used by the following digital output technolo gies: liquid inkjet, phase-change inkjet, thermal wax transfer, dye sublimation, continuous inkjet, and dye ablation. Additionally, the supplement contains brief explanations regarding screening technologies. Information for the process sup plement was gathered through manufacturers\u27 literature, interviews with pre press providers in the Rochester area, and interviews with technical representa tives from the manufacturers of devices which use the above digital, color out put technologies. Chapter Five, entitled Image Fidelity, simply illustrates how all of the current ly popular printing and proofing technologies affect graphics and imagery. Using the CD-Rom included with the guidebook, the reader may view magni fied and normal views of printing and proof sample imagery. Information noted by the reader in the proofing process supplement may then be actively applied when viewing these samples. Information and sample prints for the fifth chapter were gathered from several manufacturers and advertising agencies in the Rochester area. The sixth chapter, entitled The Acceptance of Digital Contract Proofing, discusses a new definition of the contract proof in regards to the evolution of digital proof ing. This chapter provides ideas for the designer, art director, and print buyer to realize when considering the use of digital contract proofing. Several questions are raised concerning what requirements a digital contract proof must fulfill depending upon the areas of its application and any agreements between the designer and prepress provider regarding their specific definition of a digital contract proof. Additionally, specific advantages of digital contract proofs, such as their ability to fingerprint a press and/or press run, are discussed. Finally, a discussion pertaining to the education of all users of digital proofing technolo gies is presented to aid the overall acceptance of digital contract proofing. Information for this chapter was obtained through the extensive interviews of leading technical and product oriented representatives from the manufacturers of currently used digital contract proofing systems. Many conclusions have been reached with the completion of this guidebook. In brief, the first and most prominent conclusion which may be reached states that the acceptance of digital contract proofing lies within the education of all designers, art directors and print buyers about digital printing and proofing technologies. As the use of digital contract proofing grows, education and inter est by all creative professionals will orient them towards their use of digital proofing systems. The next conclusion which has been reached is that the proper application of color printers and digital proofers is of major importance for the designer due to the added flexibility and rewards which result from the use of digital color out put devices throughout the creative and production processes. Another conclu sion which may be reached is that the display of proofing and printing process effects on text, graphics, and imagery serves to directly inform the creative pro fessional how these elements may be distorted by the utilized output device. Knowledge gained by the creative professional in regards to these effects helps to answer many questions regarding print or proof quality and proper output device application. Finally, additional knowledge gained by designers which pertains to proper viewing of all color output, color theories, color measurement, and proofing sub strates helps them to better communicate with those prepress and print professionals involved in the production process

    Laser driven variable dot size thermal wax transfer printing

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    A digital image hardcopy device has been designed using a laser exposure mechanism, a pigmented wax /resin donor ink sheet, and an opaque receiver sheet. The writing system relies on image-wise thermal mass transfer of molten ink to the receiver in order to produce high resolution output. With the receiver media and a specially designed donor ribbon being held to a platen through vacuum pressure, a pulsed solid-state diode pumped near IR NdrYAG laser provides the energy necessary to complete the thermal transfer process. By varying pulse width, dot size variation is possible. A mathematical model was developed to explain the physics of the imaging process and aid further experimentation. In order to maximize photothermal conversion and transfer efficiency while maintaining environmental friendliness, a water/ alcohol based multi-layer donor ribbon was designed. Digital image analysis techniques and processing algorithms were developed specifically to provide a reliable quantification scheme for all variables. A randomized four factor central composite design provided a statistically robust means by which to map measured image quality. Response surface methods of factorial experimental design afforded a means to model the ribbon design space. Utilization of the Downhill Simplex Method (Nelder and Mead, 1965) yielded the optimum point on the estimated image quality response surface. The optimum point represented the final donor ribbon composition. It is primarily the continuously variable dot size capability and high thermal efficiency of the developed system that sets this research apart from other published works related to laser driven thermal transfer

    Effective application of digital printing techniques for fine artists in the South African context

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    The question to be answered by this research is how would a fine artist working in South Africa, identify and use the correct digital printing techniques to accurately print their work

    Characterization and identification of printed objects

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    A study about the physical appearance of pre-photographic, photomechanical, photographic and digital positive reflective prints was made, relating the obtained images with the history, materials and technology used to create them. The studied samples are from the Image Permanence Institute (IPI) study collection. The digital images were obtained using a digital SLR on a copystand and a compound light microscope, with different lighting angles (0º, 45ºand 90º) and magnifications from overall views on the copystand down to a 20x objective lens on the microscope. Most of these images were originally created by IPI for www.digitalsamplebook.org, a web tool for teaching print identification, and will be used on the www.graphicsatlas.org website, along with textual information on identification, technology and history information about these reproduction processes

    Novel patterning techniques for manufacturing organic and nanostructured electronics

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    Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2007.Page 206 blank.Includes bibliographical references.Molecular organic semiconductors and nanometer size particles are two new classes of functional materials allowing fabrication of electronic devices on low-cost and large area substrates. Patterning these electronic materials requires the development of unconventional techniques, and the scientific understanding behind the manufacture processes. We introduce the first-generation Molecular Jet (MoJet) printing technique for vacuum deposition of evaporated thin films and apply it to the fabrication of high-resolution pixelated (800 ppi) molecular organic light emitting devices (OLEDs) based on aluminum tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) (Alq3), and the fabrication of pentacene based organic field effect transistors (OFETs) with narrow channel (15 gm) and asymmetric silver/gold contacts. Patterned printing of both organic and metal films is demonstrated, with the operating properties of MoJet-printed OLEDs and OFETs shown to be comparable with the performance of devices fabricated by conventional evaporative deposition through a metal stencil. This MoJet printing technique is reconfigurable for digital fabrication of arbitrary patterns with multiple material sets and a high print accuracy of better than 5gtm, and scalable to large area substrates.(cont.) Analogous to the concept of "drop-on-demand" in Inkjet printing technology, MoJet printing is a "flux-on-demand" process and we show it capable of fabricating multi-layer stacked film structures, as needed for engineered organic devices. We present the concept and the applications of the second-generation MoJet printing technique. Using this technique, we demonstrate patterned molecular organic semiconducting thin films directly printed by a three-step local evaporative deposition, in conjunction with using the HP thermal InkJet printing technology. This MoJet printing technique can be applied to pattern solution-processable molecular organic thin films, providing flux-on-demand in an ambient environment. We develop an Inkjet assisted micro-contact printing technique for the patterning of colloidal semiconductor nanoparticles. Active OLEDs incorporated with a uniform thickness layer of colloidal nanoparticles are fabricated by using this Inkjet printing plus stamp transferring technique. The material usage efficiency is largely boosted. To our knowledge, these three novel patterning techniques presented in this study provide for the first time unprecedented capabilities for manufacturing organic and nanostructured electronic devices.by Jianglong Chen.Ph.D

    An entrepreneurial framework for deciding on the implementation of large format digital printing internationally

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    This study focuses on entrepreneurs within the SME sector using large format digital printing (LFDP) because of the changes in technology that influences the decisionmaking processes of the entrepreneur in the purchasing of a new LFDP. These fast changes are likely to continue and can cause technologies to become obsolete overnight. The entrepreneurs within the LFDP industry find themselves in the midst of these fast changes and are faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, they need to make sure that the technology used produces consistent and quality products. On the other hand, the entrepreneur needs to ensure an optimal return on investments. From the literature and the findings of the study, the researcher recommends a change to an existing model on a consultant involvement purchase of high technology products, which is then adapted to integrate resource-forecasting areas together with timing and type of information required as well as external environment scanning. The existing model’s focus is on the individual’s ability to make decisions based on their own knowledge. However, by integrating technology forecasting components, and scanning the business environment and resource forecasting needed the decision-maker will be better equipped to make decisions that also takes into account the external environment. This will also allow them to plan and manage growth in a systematic way. Therefore the proposed model takes into account individual capabilities and technology forecasting components that can facilitate the decision-making process. The adapted model on decision-making clearly delineates that the combination of entrepreneurial qualities and technology forecasting techniques in the LFDP industry will ultimately assist the entrepreneur on various levels in deciding on a new LFDP

    Recent Advances on Nanocomposite Resists With Design Functionality for Lithographic Microfabrication

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    Nanocomposites formed by a phase-dispersed nanomaterial and a polymeric host matrix are highly attractive for nano- and micro-fabrication. The combination of nanoscale and bulk materials aims at achieving an effective interplay between extensive and intensive physical properties. Nanofillers display size-dependent effects, paving the way for the design of tunable functional composites. The matrix, on the other hand, can facilitate or even enhance the applicability of nanomaterials by allowing their easy processing for device manufacturing. In this article, we review the field of polymer-based nanocomposites acting as resist materials, i.e. being patternable through radiation-based lithographic methods. A comprehensive explanation of the synthesis of nanofillers, their functionalization and the physicochemical concepts behind the formulation of nanocomposites resists will be given. We will consider nanocomposites containing different types of fillers, such as metallic, magnetic, ceramic, luminescent and carbon-based nanomaterials. We will outline the role of nanofillers in modifying various properties of the polymer matrix, such as the mechanical strength, the refractive index and their performance during lithography. Also, we will discuss the lithographic techniques employed for transferring 2D patterns and 3D shapes with high spatial resolution. The capabilities of nanocomposites to act as structural and functional materials in novel devices and selected applications in photonics, electronics, magnetism and bioscience will be presented. Finally, we will conclude with a discussion of the current trends in this field and perspectives for its development in the near future.Fil: Martínez, Eduardo David. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; ArgentinaFil: Prado, A.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez, M.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; ArgentinaFil: Anguiano, S.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; ArgentinaFil: Tosi, Leandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; ArgentinaFil: Salazar Alarcón, Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; ArgentinaFil: Pastoriza, Hernan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; Argentin

    Fabricating microfluidic devices in polymers for bioanalytica applications

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    The research presented in this document focuses on the fabrication, characterization and application of microfluidic systems fabricated in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with the emphasis focused on the fabrication processing steps. Microfluidic devices were produced in PMMA using X-ray lithography. The fabrication methods investigated were sacrificial mask, polyimide membrane mask and embossing techniques. PMMA microfluidic devices fabricated using X-ray lithography were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy, while analytical techniques such as electroosmotic flow determination, separations, and fluorescent microscopy were used to characterize fluid transport in these devices. A novel method for the heat annealing of PMMA to PMMA to create a closed system is described. Characterization of this technique was carried out by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The manufacturing techniques utilized in producing mold inserts for hot embossing and injection molding is discussed as well. Both the mold insert and devices produced from the inserts were characterized using scanning electron microscopy. Devices produced can be used to perform a number of analytical techniques including single molecule detection and fluorescence lifetime monitoring. The primary goal of this research was to develop molding tools consisting of high-aspect-ratio microstructures using robust and reproducible processing steps

    Laser textile design: the development of laser dyeing and laser moulding processes to support sustainable design and manufacture

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    This research developed new creative opportunities for textile design by investigating CO2 laser processing technology to achieve surface design and three-dimensional effects. A practice based and interdisciplinary textile design methodology was employed, integrating scientific and technical approaches with a reflective craft practice. It was found that the synthesis of design and science was imperative to achieving the research goal of evolving techniques that have opened new design opportunities for textile design whilst being viable and communicable for industrial and commercial application. Four distinct Laser Textile Design techniques were developed in this research including: a laser enhanced dyeing technique for wool and wool blends; Peri-Dyeing, a laser dye fixation technique; a laser moulding technique; and a laser fading linen technique. [Continues.
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