Offset Paper and Digital Machines

[overtwo]

Overtwo,

Too bad you don't have access to a load turner with aerating system such as the Albo. Press Solutions® - Albo System Pile Turners - Aerating Equipment I have no idea what the cost is. It doesn't look cheap.

Matt Louis

Awesome, thank you for the link!!! I'll forward it to the President and see what he says...I'm sure the answer will be something along the lines of "well, due to the economy..." =/

 

[Vee]

In my past life, I ran about 90% 'offset' stock through my iGen3 with no problems. Do you really think they are making that 'digital paper' much different, in the manufacturing process?

You need to visit a mill if so. As for 'brands', I've visited mills and seen with my own eyes, sheets coming off the same roll and being packaged up and sold as two different brands. It's that same damn paper.... with a different wrapper & price tag. Seriously.

 

[overtwo]

In my past life, I ran about 90% 'offset' stock through my iGen3 with no problems. Do you really think they are making that 'digital paper' much different, in the manufacturing process?

You need to visit a mill if so. As for 'brands', I've visited mills and seen with my own eyes, sheets coming off the same roll and being packaged up and sold as two different brands. It's that same damn paper.... with a different wrapper & price tag. Seriously.

Again, this isn't a concern for non-printed offset sheets. My situation is running PRE-PRINTED offset sheets through our xerox 700.

 

[mglouis]

Vee,

I think spray powder and paper dust and offset paper and offset printing have been used interchangeably on this thread. Powder is residual from offset printing and tends to live within the print margins and paper dust is on the perimeter of the sheet. Offset printing produces spray powder and offset paper, or any paper [opaque, bond, kromecoat, matte,gloss, etc.] may have dust due to the sheeting process. I agree with you 100%. Digital papers are sheeted down versions from the same rolls that make 28x40 or whatever. Offset printers hate paper dust as much if not more than digital printers and is cause for a mill claim if proven to be excessive and cause for proof quality printing and/or downtime.

Matt Louis

 

[easiprint]

Having discussed this with my Xerox engineer, my take on the offset v digital paper thing is that it is not so important these days as it was a few years ago.

We currently run a DC12 (with fuser oil), and a DC250 (no fuser oil). The DC12 was always having problems with offset paper, with the engineer saying the paper was drying out a roller. Since running the DC250 as well tho, we have had no problems with running offset papers through this, with the engineer telling us that offset paper is fine as there is no fuser oil in this machine.

So I think it depends on your machine as to whether you can get away with offset stock.

 

[natty]

As far as i know the only difference between 'digital' paper and 'offset' paper is the moisture content of the paper...

Digital stocks usually have a much lower moisture content... This is because all digital presses use heat to fuse and this causes offset stock to shrink more which causes more issues with front to back registration...

The other difference to note is that the good digital stocks are probably cut much squarer... most offset stock is trimmed down from A1 sheets by the paper merchant by operators who don't really care on guillotines that could be better...

This also has the effect of causing bad front-to-back registration...

I do not think that offset stocks cause any real mechanical issues with the machine...