News

Large-scale production of personalised newspapers and magazines has moved closer thanks to a Cambridge-based inkjet technology firm.

Inkski, backed by Xaar and a group of Cambridge-based investors, has developed a method it claims combines the digital process with the  throughput and quality of offset printing.

It is seeking manufacturers of digital and conventional presses as partners to take the technique to market.

The light-initiated liquid offset (LILO) process is made possible through the development of a new printhead.

Daniel Hall, founder of Inkski, explained: “Drops of ink are created continuously in an array on the outer surface of a rapidly spinning cylinder. Individual drops are activated by a laser and selectively fired from the surface of the jetting cylinder onto paper to form the image.”

Inkski said the machine was capable of firing drops at  400,000 drops per second from each channel – around 20 times the speed of a conventional inkjet printhead.

The system is much faster because unlike standard inkjet printing, it does not require ink to flow back into the chambers behind each nozzle before firing.

Hall believes the system may usher in a new era of personalisation for the newspaper and magazine industry.

He added: “From a consumer point of view, they could request special editions of newspapers that cover their own interests. There will also be more of an incentive to have a relationship with the consumer.

“A page of eBay adverts  within a Sunday newspaper specific to a location and a person’s interests could be possible. I see it as an extension of the internet.”