The way a book, its cover and dust jackets are printed reveals a lot about its genre and the quality of its content. The book publishing industry differentiates in terms of substrate, size, cover, imaging quality, durability, finishing and other features.
Background
The way a book, its cover and dust jackets are printed reveals a lot about its genre and the quality of its content. The book publishing industry differentiates in terms of substrate, size, cover, imaging quality, durability, finishing and other features.
What is the value of digital printing?
Digital printing makes book and dust cover production profitable and flexible. Print-on-demand reduces to the smallest and still cost-effective run and therefore helps to eliminate the need for warehousing as well as cutting logistics and fulfillment costs. Increasing number of titles and electronic alternatives the need for short to medium runs with or without personalization does the rest.
Furthermore digital printing with Xeikon offers:
simplex offset quality for high coverage images
capable to print non-standard and high value formats (e.g. coffee table books)
suitable for a variety of high quality papers
excellent deinkability to support and ensure optimized recycling process
Which is the preferred digital press for dust jackets?
The Xeikon CX500 digital printing press. The flagship in digital dry toner printing, which produces at true 1200 dpi for formats up to B2+ stunning speeds while offering with its digital front-end full flexibility:
wide substrate range: coated and uncoated paper between 40 and 350 gsm (27 lb. text to 122 lb. cover)
B2 format or bigger: 520 x 730 mm (20.47" x 28.7") or 520 x 1000 mm (20.47" x 39,4")
variable data capabilities: perfectly suited to personalize book covers and dust jackets with barcodes, personalization elements such as recipient names, limited edition numbers etc.
high quality printing: 1200 dpi with wide color gamut and spot colors
top web speed: up to 30 m/min (98ft/min)
Which is the preferred digital production solution?
Below you can see an example of a full production set-up for dust jackets including a Xeikon CX500 digital press which can print in extra-long formats (perfect for coffee table books), a Web Varnishing Module which adds a high-quality UV or water-based coating for protection and a Jogger Table to accommodate for the long sheets. It is our complete digital printing solution, which comes with all the necessary components for seamless digital graphic arts printing.
Production details
Here you can see a dust jacket sample printed on a Xeikon CX500 digital press.
The Xeikon CX500 has been the digital press of choice since this dust jacket was a single sided application. Moreover due to the high grammages, the Xeikon 3500 is ideal for running high quality images on heavy stocks with minimal speed loss. Additionally it provides a perfect compatibility of QA-I toner with varnishing or lamination for durability and luxurious finishing.
