ScreenPro offers high-speed halftone screening & quality improvement for inkjet printers and presses

1. July 2018Tom Mooney, Product Manager, Global Graphics
Software
Introducing ScreenPro™
with PrintFlat™
180329
Copyright © Global Graphics Software Limited 2018

2. High-speed halftone screening
& quality improvement
for inkjet printers and presses

3. 3
Two editions of ScreenPro technology
ScreenPro core
technology
Contone raster
or PDF
Screened
raster
ScreenPro core
technology
OEM code
Contone raster Screened raster
ScreenPro ScreenPro Core

4. 4
ScreenPro
 Turn-key application
• Fully brandable and translatable
 No need to develop code yourself
 Hot-folder manager for input and output
 Input file formats supported:
• TIFF
• JDF (for integration with an Esko workflow)
• Optional Direct PDF (with an integrated Harlequin
RIP)
 Output to TIFF
• Or use BreakThrough to develop custom raster
formats
 Available on Windows

5. 5
ScreenPro Core
 Integrate ScreenPro into your
own application
• Simple to integrate, simple to
license
 Windows DLL or Linux Shared
Object
 Includes sample command line
application

6. Improve print quality “out of the box”
on many inkjet presses so they
are quick to deploy
Copyright © Global Graphics Software Limited 2018

7. 7
Screens and screening engines
 Advanced Inkjet Screens (Mirror and Pearl)
are halftone screen designs
• Similar to Elliptical or Round dots for offset
printing but optimized for Inkjet
• They need to be applied to each job as it’s
processed through the Digital Front End (DFE)
for a press
 Think of
• A halftone screen design as equivalent to an
ICC color profile
• The screening engine as the equivalent of a
color management module (CMM)
 ScreenPro is a screening engine
Job
Halftone
screen
design
Screene
d job
Screening Engine

8. 8
 Advanced Inkjet Screens may be applied either:
 In Harlequin:
 In ScreenPro
Where to apply screens?
Job
(PDF)
Harlequi
n
Screened
job raster
Electronics
& heads
Job
(PDF)
Harlequi
n
Unscreene
d job
raster
ScreenPro
Screened
job raster
Electronics
& heads

9. 9
When would you choose each?
 Screen in Harlequin if:
• Screening is the only post-processing you need
• You want maximum throughput speed
 Screen in ScreenPro if:
• Your workflow starts with a raster file, e.g. a TIFF, in the output device colorspace
• i.e. you don’t need a RIP at all, even for color management
• You’re using a RIP from another vendor (e.g. Esko) but need to replace their
screening with something faster/higher quality
• You want to RIP off-line and screen on-line
• RIPing speed is not deterministic; screening is
• You cannot ever 100% guarantee RIPing at engine speed on all jobs
• You want to use functionality in ScreenPro that is not available in Harlequin
• e.g. PrintFlat to correct for banding or non-uniformity

10. Corrects for non-uniformity
Copyright © Global Graphics Software Limited 2018

11. 1
1
No good deed goes unpunished
 Improved screening takes
away noise that masks
other effects
• So now we have to fix those!
Both uncorrected
Original
Blurred to make the density variation more obviou
Copyright © Global Graphics Software Limited 2018

12. 1
2
What causes non-uniformity?
 Variation within a head
• Commonly a ‘smile’ shape
• Caused by pressure or voltage changes
 Variation between heads
• Especially as heads become field replaceable
 Head wear Density
ONE HEAD
Copyright © Global Graphics Software Limited 2018

13. 1
3
We’re told: “I can fix that by tuning voltages! …”
 Not all heads have sufficient adjustment points to
correct the smile
 Often time-consuming work for an expert
• Increases time and cost of installation or head replacement
 Not readily automated for closed-loop correction
 Difficult in head overlap/stitching regions
 Reduces jetting stability and (anecdotally) head lifetime
• Especially risky to tweak heads beyond warranty limits
 Causes ink pressure and timing/drop speed variation
• Which increase ink coalescence on the substrate …
• Which causes texture artifacts …
That sounds
familiar!
That’s why
we created
AIS!
Copyright © Global Graphics Software Limited 2018

14. 1
4
Much better to do this in software
 Very fine granularity
• Can address every nozzle separately
• On any head/electronics
 Almost instant once output is measured
• Can be automated for closed-loop correction
 Doesn’t affect
• Jetting stability or head lifetime
• Warranty compliance
• Ink pressure and timing/drop speed variation
• Ink coalescence on the substrate
• Halftoning
Corrected in software
Original
Blurred
Original
Blurred
Uncorrected
Copyright © Global Graphics Software Limited 2018

15. Copyright © Global Graphics Software Limited 2018
For more information visit
www.globalgraphics.com