Primera Impressa 2, User Manual

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As the ribbon and print media pass simultaneously beneath the Printhead,
thousands of thermal elements within the Printhead melt the colored inks, thus
transferring thousands of tiny colored dots from the ribbon onto the print media. If
using a paneled ribbon, the print media automatically makes a separate pass for
each colored panel on the ribbon. By combining different colored dots from each
ribbon panel in different combinations (this process is called ÒditheringÓ), your
digital press is able to print up to 16.7 million colors.
Dye-Sublimation
Dye-sublimation is similar to thermal transfer in that it still involves a paneled,
multi-pass process beneath the same thermal Printhead. The difference, however,
lies within the special dye-sublimation ribbon and print media and in the transfer
process itself.
Unlike a thermal transfer ribbon, each colored panel on a dye-sublimation ribbon is
composed of a colored dye rather than a colored ink. When the dyes on the ribbon
are heated beneath the thermal Printhead, they vaporize and diffuse into the
surface of the special dye-receptive print media. By varying the heat intensity of
each thermal element within the Printhead, the digital press is able to change the
value and hue of each transferred dot of color. This results in the blending of one
colored dot into the next, producing continuous-tone, photo-realistic, color-accurate
images with no dithering.
B. SPECIAL FEATURES
With its dual function thermal transfer/dye-sublimation color printing capability,
the digital press offers you incredible printing versatility. Its wax/resin thermal
transfer mode delivers fast, inexpensive color output on paper stock, while its resin
thermal transfer mode prints outdoor-durable labels, signs, and decals on long-
lasting vinyl or polyester media. And with its dye-sublimation mode, you get
continuous-tone, photo-quality output no other color printing technology can
match.
Switching back and forth between these printing methods is easy. All you do is
load either the thermal transfer ribbon with the appropriate print media or the dye-
sublimation ribbon and print media, and select the appropriate printing choice
from within the software driver. The entire change-over process only takes about 15
to 20 seconds.
And, best of all, operation is simple and straight forward. The digital press will
print from any IBM-PC
¨ or compatible running Windowsª 95/98. This means that
you can use virtually any software application running under Windows to create
your custom labels or decals. Then, just import your design into the PressPrint
printing software to duplicate, print, and cut as many labels as needed.
2 Section 1: Introduction
Digital Label and Decal Press 2 UserÕs Manual
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