Do you think history of printing starts with invention of the laser printer? Wrong. The printing press? Wrong again. The history of printing takes off well before our era.

The first known example of printing — the so-called Phaistos Disc — was found on the Greek Island of Crete. Most scientists believe that it was used as one of the earliest forms of a printing “press” dated 1800-1400 BC. This is 3800 years ago.

If you are interested in how was the printing technology developing up to the 21th century, you will learn that from an article title “The History Of Print: From Phaistos To 3D.” The story will take you from ancient Phaistos Disc to tomorrow’s (actually they exist today, but not widely spread) three-dimensional printers. Illustrations and videos are supplied.

This is a recommended reading to the history of laser printers.

We rarely write about software, but today we do. The subject is not some ordinary program but ZEdit Pro, special software developed by Z Corporation for its 3-d printers.

The pecularity of this new software lies is that automatically prepares 3D data files for easy full-colour 3D printing. ZEdit Pro lets users of 3D mechanical CAD software verify and ensure that geometric data is 3D printable; apply colours, texture maps and labels to their models; and easily print very large prototypes in component pieces.

Another great thins about ZEdit Pro is that it transforms files that were never originally intended for 3D printing, including those produced by 3D digital content creation software used in animation and architecture. ZEdit Pro makes these files 3D printing-ready, often with a single click.

With these capabilities, Z Edit Pro helps create better models faster, and enables including architects, conceptual designers, and game designers to reap the same benefits of easy 3D printing as mechanical engineers.

Naturally, ZEdit Pro suits best Z Corporation 3D printers, and focuses on three functional areas that improve the quality of 3D printed models:

• geometry optimisation to automatically make 3D data ready for 3D printing;
• painting and texture mapping for colouring and applying images to models; and
• print preparation for cutting or hollowing parts before printing.

Unlike mechanical 3D CAD software, digital content creation tools used for visualization and rendering in architecture, animation and avatar creation often do not typically produce 3D printing-ready data. ZEdit Pro automatically “3D Print enables” data from either kind of 3D software, as well as medical scans, by incorporating printable geometric data, closing gaps, repairing meshes, and adding depth that is only suggested by shading in some software.

ZEdit Pro also gives anyone the easy ability to print CAD models that are too big for the printing envelope. The software automatically segments oversized models, creating pins and holes for reassembly of the sections after printing. ZEdit Pro also hollows out solids that would otherwise waste resources, and helps users create bases and pedestals for models.

ZEdit Pro is priced at $2,500, but for a while it will be included with purchases of Z Corporation 3D printers at no cost. Feel like saving $2,500? Buy a $20,000 3D printer and get this software for free!

Ricoh Americas Corporation, last week introduced the Ricoh Aficio MP 2550B/MP 2550 and Ricoh Aficio MP 3350B/MP 3350 Digital Imaging Systems. Ideal for small and mid-sized businesses, the MP 2550 and MP 3350 models have color scanning capabilities that produce clear images, store documents securely and boost productivity and efficiency.

The MP 2550/MP 3350 models are replacing the MP 2510 and the MP 3010. The Aficio MP 2550 and MP 3350 come standard with monochrome printing, copying and color and black-and-white scanning capabilities out of the box in two pre- configured models — the SP and SPF (the SPF includes faxing capabilities). The Aficio MP 2550B and MP 3350B come with copying capabilities and have a flexible upgrade path which includes monochrome printing, scanning and faxing that allows features to be added as users’ document management needs evolve over time.

The Aficio MP 2550B/MP 2550 and MP 3350B/MP 3350 improve overall productivity with a print speed of 25 pages per minute (ppm) and 33 ppm, respectively. Designed to make professional business documents easier to produce, the MP 2550 and MP 3350 models offer a 1,000-sheet booklet finisher and optional hole-punching — a Ricoh first for Segment 2 Black & White. These models also include special design features that provide ease of use, such as a Full-Color VGA Control Touch Panel, easy-access paper tray handles and animated menu guidance.

In today’s business environment, security plays a crucial role and with the MP 2550B/MP 2550 and MP 3350B/MP 3350, administrators can restrict access to the system to only authorized users. The Locked Print feature is another security function that protects confidential documents from being seen or accidentally picked up in the output tray. For the sake of highest security requirements, customers can also use the DataOverwriteSecurity System (DOSS) to prevent the possibility of reconstructing data from “latent images” on the internal hard drive.

To enhance organizational efficiency, the MP 2550 and MP 3350 models can store up to 3,000 frequently used documents in its Document Server, where they can be instantly accessed for reprinting, re-faxing or re-scanning. Furthermore, users can prioritize job lists by automatically moving the most critical jobs to the head of the print queue to ensure they are finished first.

The MP 2550 and the MP 3350 also include auto e-mail notification that sends a report to a designated e-mail address when the machine is not operating at optimum performance levels, maximizing uptime. In addition, the @Remote Intelligent Management System saves administrators time as it automatically places a detailed request for service when needed, eliminating the need for users to initiate service calls, which reduces the total cost of ownership.

The Aficio MP 2550B/SP/SPF models are available at the suggested retail prices of $5,085/$7,035/$8,130 and the Aficio MP 3350B/SP/SPF at $6,435/$8,385 & $9,480, respectively.

The chances are, you, just like me, have an inkjet printer at home. The chances are you use the printer occasionally to print several pages of text or a bunch of photos. The chances are next time you going to use the printer, it won’t work for the printhead are clogged.

Of course, the best way to get rid of clogged jets is to prevent them. Some say you should print regularly (daily/weekly or else), some would advise you to get a laser printer instead. But when you’ve already got this problem, how to troubleshoot the cloged printer?

There is a way to bring your inkjet printer back to life.

The essence of problem with clogged printhead is that ink dries inside the printhead jets, letting no liquid ink from cartridge tank to go out. Given that, the essence of unclogging a printhead lies in dissolving that dried ink.

There are arguments about what is the best solvent to clean inkjet heads. People naming this or that solvent are both right and wrong. The thing is there no best solvent, there is one that dissolves the particular type of ink.

Understanding printer ink

Before we start, there is something to know about printer inks. In one of previous posts I cited one good article titled “Debunking the Myths of Digital Inks” by Tony Martin. If somehow you have not read the article yet, I will brief you on it.

In general, in any printer using water based inks, whether they are dye, pigment or hybrid colorants, they tend to have similar formulations.

They use mainly water, a colorant or mixture of colorants, dye, or pigment or both, a wetting agent like glycerin that allows the liquid to flow and allow the ink to enter the paper surface, a product to slow down drying on the heads like glycol, and often an alcohol to speed drying on the paper surface. Some inks with pigments require an adhesive to attach the particles to the paper surface, so they use a resin, usually acrylic.

This all gives us the idea of what reagents to use for dissolution (at least I strongly hope it does.)

Selecting a solvent

How would one know what exact solvent is suitable for his or her case? That’s pretty easy to figure out.

Usually there’s decent amounts of ink spilled everywhere in these situations. Instead of risking your potentially expensive heads, try your various solvents on dried ink outside of printing head. If you don’t already have spills to clean up, then intentionally make one. Let it dry and then clean it up… with “whatever” you’re contemplating running through the printer.

If it doesn’t work outside the printer, neither will it unclog the head from inside. If it dissolves the ink, then you have a much better chance of success.

A troubleshooting advice

To help you dissolve dried ink in printhead, here is a receipt that should work on the majority of water based inkjet printer inks.

The mixture uses either ammoniated window cleaner (which uses glycol, alcohol, water and ammonia) with extra isopropyl alcohol, or in places where ammoniated window cleaner isn’t available, use ammonia mixed to about 1% concentration, and adding the isopropyl.

However, there are some inks that use different technologies and may not work with these solvents.