QUALITY CONTROL FOR BAR CODES!
Verification measures the printed quality of the bar code to international (ISO) standards. This is the standard used by retailers worldwide. According to international standards, verification is mandatory for all companies either designing or printing their own bar codes, ensuring that an acceptable image is created.
Why Verify?
Bar code quality is vital, as every time a bar code fails to scan, costs are incurred. At best the data is required to be input manually whilst at worst deliveries are rejected.
A recent survey by the e-centre (EAN UK) put the cost of poor quality bar codes at over £500 million. Until recently, many retailers have accepted these costs as a ‘fact of trading life’. However, an ever increasing number of major retailers are now taking a very different approach by passing these costs back to suppliers. Goods are returned and fines imposed. For repeat offenders the ultimate sanction can be, and has been, delisting as a supplier.
Insurance
At its most basic level, verification is an insurance policy helping to assure you that your bar code will scan first time at all levels in the supply chain, thus enhancing your supplier/customer relationship.
But it’s more than that. As part of an effective QA system it can help you win business. Are your competitors using verification? Are they questioning the quality of your bar codes with your customers? Is it affecting your business?
Why Can’t I Just Use A Scanner?
Scanning is no substitute for verification as no two bar code readers are identical. They vary from wands to lasers to cameras, from manually operated to automatic. Ambient light will vary as will the distance of scanning. A bar code that is ‘checked’ with a wand gives no guarantee that it will be readable with another wand, let alone a laser based unit.
A verifier is a scientific device, taking precise measurements of each individual bar and space and the amount of light reflected from each. More advanced units will automatically identify the symbology and magnification, check data structure and validate the content as well as providing diagnostic information. It is all very well knowing that your bar code is incorrect but a verifier must be able to identify the problem to allow you to take the necessary corrective action.
Why was the ISO/CEN/ANSI method introduced?
Prior to the Current ISO standard of verifying printed bar code symbols, only two factors were taken into consideration:
• Dimensional accuracy of the bars and spaces.
• Reflectance values of the bars and the background (PCS).
This traditional method would have been a reasonable way of assessing the print quality, except that there was no agreed way of determining where bar edges actually were or how and where reflectance measurements should be made. As well as this, bar codes were being measured with differing beams of light (apertures). Both of these factors resulted in a wide variation of results between verifiers.
With the variety of uses for bar codes and the wide range of printing techniques used, it was felt that a more scientific approach was needed. In particular it was noted that different scanners and the differing environments in which these were used resulted in some aspects of poor print quality being more significant than others. Simple reflectance measurements were also found not to be helpful when the contrast might vary within the symbol. A definition of where a bar-space transition actually occurred was required as were specific aperture sizes dependent upon the symbology and size of bar code.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Trendsetter NX Imager:High-quality CTP for flexo and Offset
High-quality CTP output for digital flexo and Offset plate making
Building on our success and expertise in thermal CTP technology, the Kodak Trendsetter NX Imager offers exceptional productivity and consistency, as well as a wide tonal range for flexographic printing. The reliable and robust Trendsetter NX Narrow and Mid Imagers offer outstanding imaging technology, semi-automatic operation, process stability, and easy maintenance.
As part of the Kodak Flexcel NX Digital Flexographic System,Trendsetter NX Imagers allow packaging printers to produce highquality results to differentiate their products. They use Kodak squarespot Imaging Technology for outstanding process control and to produce an image dot size as small as 10-micron.Trendsetter NX Imagers expose Kodak Flexcel NX Thermal Imaging Layers at an impressive speed of 9.5 m2 per hour. These layers are then laminated to Kodak Flexcel NX Digital Flexographic Plates for exposure and processing. The result is a digital flexo plate imaging solution that eliminates drop off of highlights and provides exceptional printing results.
Speed and versatility
Trendsetter NX Imagers expose the Kodak Flexcel NX Thermal Imaging Layer at an impressive speed of 9.5 m2 per hour, about half the time it takes to image a digital flexo plate with a laser
ablative mask. Loading and unloading are also faster, because no taping or clamping is required.
Following exposure, the imaging layer is laminated to a Kodak Flexcel NX Digital Flexographic Plate. The result? A digital flexo plate imaging solution that eliminates highlight drop-off and
provides exceptional printing results. The hybrid option for Trendsetter NX Mid and Narrow Imagers
enables imaging of both flexo and offset plates on the same device, maximizing your return on investment as well as image quality across substrates.
INNOVATION
The Flexcel NX System uses unique technology to deliver print quality and
print performance that is a significant step ahead of traditional digital flexo.
Flat-top dots
Unlike traditional digital flexo plate making where oxygen inhibition during UV exposure causes the dot profile to become rounded, especially in highlight areas, the Flexcel NX System eliminates all oxygen during UV exposure to produce full amplitude flat-top dots with sturdy bases and strong shoulders. This dot structure is the key to superior on-press performance, Delivering a consistent, repeatable printing form that is resistant to changes in impression and wear from substrate or cleaning.
High resolution imaging
The third piece in the puzzle is high resolution imaging to ensure maximum tonal range and fine image reproduction. The Trendsetter NX Imagers use squarespot imaging at an effective resolution of 10,000 dpi to enable printing dots as small as 10 microns, allowing subtle highlight detail, vignettes that fade to zero and use of all available grey levels—and because of the one-toone image reproduction and the flat-top dots, none of that detail is lost from the beginning to the end of a print run.
DigiCap NX Screening
DigiCap NX Screening is a softwarebased feature for the Flexcel NX System that enables a major Step forward in ink transfer efficiency through the application of a micro surface texturization pattern to the surface of all elements on the Flexcel NX Plate. Print applications that traditionally struggle with efficient ink transfer can now enjoy higher print densities, smooth solid area ink coverage and expanded color gamut with process printing.
Building on our success and expertise in thermal CTP technology, the Kodak Trendsetter NX Imager offers exceptional productivity and consistency, as well as a wide tonal range for flexographic printing. The reliable and robust Trendsetter NX Narrow and Mid Imagers offer outstanding imaging technology, semi-automatic operation, process stability, and easy maintenance.
As part of the Kodak Flexcel NX Digital Flexographic System,Trendsetter NX Imagers allow packaging printers to produce highquality results to differentiate their products. They use Kodak squarespot Imaging Technology for outstanding process control and to produce an image dot size as small as 10-micron.Trendsetter NX Imagers expose Kodak Flexcel NX Thermal Imaging Layers at an impressive speed of 9.5 m2 per hour. These layers are then laminated to Kodak Flexcel NX Digital Flexographic Plates for exposure and processing. The result is a digital flexo plate imaging solution that eliminates drop off of highlights and provides exceptional printing results.
Speed and versatility
Trendsetter NX Imagers expose the Kodak Flexcel NX Thermal Imaging Layer at an impressive speed of 9.5 m2 per hour, about half the time it takes to image a digital flexo plate with a laser
ablative mask. Loading and unloading are also faster, because no taping or clamping is required.
Following exposure, the imaging layer is laminated to a Kodak Flexcel NX Digital Flexographic Plate. The result? A digital flexo plate imaging solution that eliminates highlight drop-off and
provides exceptional printing results. The hybrid option for Trendsetter NX Mid and Narrow Imagers
enables imaging of both flexo and offset plates on the same device, maximizing your return on investment as well as image quality across substrates.
INNOVATION
The Flexcel NX System uses unique technology to deliver print quality and
print performance that is a significant step ahead of traditional digital flexo.
Flat-top dots
Unlike traditional digital flexo plate making where oxygen inhibition during UV exposure causes the dot profile to become rounded, especially in highlight areas, the Flexcel NX System eliminates all oxygen during UV exposure to produce full amplitude flat-top dots with sturdy bases and strong shoulders. This dot structure is the key to superior on-press performance, Delivering a consistent, repeatable printing form that is resistant to changes in impression and wear from substrate or cleaning.
High resolution imaging
The third piece in the puzzle is high resolution imaging to ensure maximum tonal range and fine image reproduction. The Trendsetter NX Imagers use squarespot imaging at an effective resolution of 10,000 dpi to enable printing dots as small as 10 microns, allowing subtle highlight detail, vignettes that fade to zero and use of all available grey levels—and because of the one-toone image reproduction and the flat-top dots, none of that detail is lost from the beginning to the end of a print run.
DigiCap NX Screening
DigiCap NX Screening is a softwarebased feature for the Flexcel NX System that enables a major Step forward in ink transfer efficiency through the application of a micro surface texturization pattern to the surface of all elements on the Flexcel NX Plate. Print applications that traditionally struggle with efficient ink transfer can now enjoy higher print densities, smooth solid area ink coverage and expanded color gamut with process printing.
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