What trends are you seeing in digital equipment?

Most of the advancements in toner-based equipment in the last few years center on higher speed and improved print quality, rather than a radical change in technology. The recent area of focus in digital printing is inkjet as the print quality closes in on toner. Generally, the inkjet equipment is roll-fed.  However, manufacturers are working on smaller, less expensive sheet-fed models. To date, the uncoated paper stocks usually must be specially formulated to perform on inkjet.

What constitutes a digital substrate, the size or the finish?

It depends upon which paper mill you ask! A sheet does not need to be in a digital size to perform on digital equipment. Many printers prefer to cut down parent sheets to the exact size they need which gives them more choices and flexibility in paper stocks. The finish is an important factor in printability on digital equipment. Typically, the smoother the surface, the better the print. However, we have seen some amazing results on textured stocks as well, such as Wausau Paper’s Royal Resource® Bark Finish. This sheet features a hard surface without much fine detail in the pattern; therefore toner lays down quite well.

What is the advantage of uncoated paper vs. coated paper for digital applications?

Uncoated papers come in a vast array of colors, sizes, and textures.

With the green movement becoming mainstream, the softer and natural look of uncoated papers has increased in popularity. In addition to white, there are many earth-toned uncoated papers available on the market, including muted browns and greens like bamboo, weathered oak and thyme.  If you’re looking for a sheet with a soft tactile finish (vs. the colder, harder surface of a coated sheet), textures such as bark, crepe or felt are the answer.  With the expansion of coating options in digital technology, coating on digital press output is becoming more common, thereby eliminating concerns about durability of the printed piece.

As technology has advanced, we all know that the stocks for digital print jobs are not limited to smooth white paper anymore. This is a good thing, right? More choices equal more ways to assert your creativity and develop a project that’s truly unique. But with so many options, it can be overwhelming to find the perfect match-up of paper and print equipment.

In recent years, Wausau Paper has fielded many questions regarding the compatibility of our papers on certain types of digital equipment. We decided to create a digital reference guide to help answer these questions. A team convened to develop this guide and it quickly became apparent to us that this was much more complicated than we thought it would be.  Sort of like the dating scene…   

It was not enough to simply list which papers in our line-up were laser, inkjet and copier guaranteed. (Our guarantee covers how the paper will run through the equipment.) What about the quality of the printed image? A few years ago, a customer called to ask why we laser-guaranteed our Astroparche – a very toothy sheet with an old world appearance. Her project, for which she was printing photographs, did not look as good as she expected it to when printed on a color copier. We then realized our guarantee was not specific enough.

This brought us to the concept of print fidelity. How complex is the artwork – a 1-color flyer with line drawings, a 2-color brochure, or a full coverage collateral piece with high-quality images? So, we developed 4 levels of print fidelity to rate the papers. 

We weren’t done though. To simply say a paper is laser guaranteed and acceptable for level 3 print fidelity coverage isn’t enough. What works beautifully on a Kodak Nexpress may not perform as well on an office copier or inkjet printer. We needed to determine the print fidelity rating for various types of equipment.

And as long as we were doing this guide, wouldn’t it be nice to list the finish, weights and colors available for each grade, along with its environmental aspects and equipment certifications? A one-stop reference chart.

Phew! After months of debating the parameters for the chart, extensive print testing on stocks in every grade line on a number of pieces of equipment, large to small, and determining the rating for each, we had it. The Wausau Paper Digital Compatibility Chart.  

Alas, no rest for the weary. As grade lines expand (or contract), new papers are introduced, our certifications change, or new digital technology comes on the market, we are committed to continuously updating the chart. All to help our customers in the pursuit of true compatibility!