Printers Rage

3D Printing... it will change the World!

3D printing is going to change the world. How? There is more than one answer to this question...

3D printing is also known as "additive manufacturing" and is the process of creating objects by laying down successive layers of materials according to a digital blueprint. The materials than can be used vary wildly, and modern 3D printers can also lay down layers with different materials in virtually any shape, making it a wildly attractive technique for a huge variety of industries.

Another benefit of this new method is the ability of companies and individuals to economically produce small runs of a concept or prototype – as opposed to traditional subtractive manufacturing which is only economically viable when dealing with huge numbers of products. This reduction in costs means that even solo designers can create a prototype cost-effectively – opening up the doors to innovation in the manufacturing space.

While at first the concept of 3D printing may not seem to be revolutionary, below are listed a few of the applications of the technique that are really making waves:
· Medicine - Doctors are now able to print out exact replicas of a patient’s body in order to practice or run over complicated surgery routines in advance. Beyond that, scientists are working on being able to actually print out new body parts and organs, opening up a whole new world of rejuvenating therapies.
· Art - In addition to being able to produce one-off runs of a design, 3D printing has enabled artists to create objects that would have been virtually impossible in the past – such as these mind-bending sculptures from Bathsheba Grossman
· Hearing Aids - With 3D printers and scanning technology, a scan of the hearing canal is taken and can be used to print out personalized hearing aids that conform perfectly to the individual, increasing comfort and clarity.
· Prototyping - The low-cost associated with producing a one-off prototype of a design means that more risks can be taken, flaws corrected and adjustments made without running out of time or money. The gains in productivity and innovation are just beginning to be seen around the world.
· Component Manufacturing - Picture this – a manufacturer realises that they’re missing a small part necessary for the completion of a project. In the past, they had one option – send in an order and wait for the part to be sent by physical post. Now, with 3D printing, a scan of the part can be sent electronically, and the necessary part printed out immediately.
· Spare Parts - These days, if say, your printer at home breaks down due to a broken part, you’re likely to either throw it away and buy a new one or have to wait several weeks while you wait for a new part to be sent out. With 3D printing, it won’t be long before you’ll be able to print out the part at home using a personal 3D printer, saving time and money.

These are just some of the possibilities that have been opened up by advancements in 3d printing, and over the next few years we will start to see it make its way into our daily lives.

But if you are still using an inkjet printer or laser toner printer, visit our e-store for the printer supplies you need!

Source: How 3D Printing Will Change the World

Curious: Yellow Toner Linked to Counterfeit Money

Croatian scientists have discovered that counterfeit banknotes can be easily identified by testing for yellow toner by the Raman spectrum.

Spectroscopy Now has reported on the recent findings of Croatian scientists that links counterfeit banknotes with yellow toner, and potentially leading to a forensic spectral library of yellow toners in a bid to crack down on counterfeit banknotes.

Analysing 44 commercial cyan, magenta and yellow toners using 36 printers from 10 manufacturers, the tests were conducted using micro-Raman spectroscopy and an excitation wavelength of 514.5 nm, as reported in Forensic Science International.

The results revealed that, when subtracting the spectrum of the paper, the spectra of cyan toners were identical and magenta toners showed slight differences. However yellow toner often resulted in substantial differences, even in toners from the same manufacturer, between different cartridges and those intended to work in different printer models.

To determine whether the test would produce results on paper currency, two counterfeit Croatian banknotes that were suspected of originating from the same source were tested, and the Reman spectra of the magenta and yellow colors were stated as identical, pointing to a common origin. The results were backed up by conventional counterfeit protection code patterns.

The researchers state that this disparity between results allows tests to be conducted to determine the origins of suspected counterfeit toners, and only the yellow toners need to be examined. The study still requires further validation across a wider selection of toners, but researchers speculate that this could lead to a forensic spectral library of yellow toners.

And when you run out of printer supplies for your everyday printing needs, visit our web store.

Source: Yellow toner linked to counterfeit banknotes

Digitize the office with the HP New Printing Innovations

Couple a days ago HP announced new HP Officejet Pro and HP LaserJet printers and content management solutions designed to redefine business and government printing by enabling customers to reduce costs, increase efficiency and digitize the office.

The new offerings represent the largest upgrade to HP’s commercial printers in almost a decade, signifying the integration of intellectual property and innovation from across the organization.

“Our customers need innovative technology tailored to their workflow that is simple and effective, and helps them conduct business,” said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, HP Printing and Personal Systems. “HP is offering new ways to print that have not previously been possible—with superb speed and performance to drive a new level of office efficiency.”

HP Officejet Pro: Outstanding speed, quality, reliability and cost efficiency for SMBs
HP Officejet Pro X Series desktop printers and multifunction printers (MFP) deliver up to twice the speed at up to half the printing cost compared with color laser printers in their class. This new class of devices is powered by HP PageWide Technology, the next-generation inkjet platform that sets a new standard for small work team printing. It offers small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), remote offices and branch offices high-quality documents at up to 70 pages per minute.

HP LaserJet and cloud-based solutions digitize the office, simplify data access
The creation of vast amounts of business and government data means customers need a way to streamline how information is managed and accessed. The HP LaserJet Enterprise flow MFP M525c and HP LaserJet Enterprise color flow MFP M575c offer higher-performance document processing and sharing. This provides an ideal on-ramp to the digitized world with premium scanning and data entry that speed the transition from a paper to digital office.

The HP flow MFPs can be integrated with content management solutions based on software from Autonomy, an HP Company, either on-site or via the cloud. By pairing HP printing technology with Autonomy solutions, customers can access, organize and leverage information in documents, audio, video, email and web pages.

The HP Flow CM Professional brings enterprise-class content management to growing businesses, with security features that also support leading banks, legal firms and stock exchanges. The cloud-based offering increases collaboration and productivity by easily capturing, indexing, storing, searching and retrieving documents through a unique user-friendly interface designed with the customer in mind.

The HP Flow CM Enterprise is composed of a set of enterprise content management (ECM) offerings for large organizations that give instant access to vital information and help to integrate, simplify and automate processes to help reduce operating costs, improve employee productivity and assist with compliance efforts.

Office printing to increase productivity
Organizations of all sizes can address the need to increase productivity while reducing the complexity of their printing environment.

For SMBs looking to increase office efficiencies with fast, powerful prints, HP is offering two additional series of HP LaserJet Pro printers. HP also is introducing new and enhanced document workflow solutions along with HP LaserJet Enterprise series printers that simplify productivity in enterprise organizations. For workers on the go, HP now offers greater access to print from cloud-based applications, incorporating Google Apps mailbox support through its HP ePrint Enterprise.

For improving workflow through targeted customer communications across print and electronic channels, HP is offering HP Exstream LiveSite Connector and HP Claims Correspondence 2.0. HP Exstream LiveSite Connector combines solutions from Autonomy and HP Exstream to offer consistent, analytics-based, targeted customer communications. HP Claims Correspondence 2.0 reduces claims-settlement cycle time, provides faster correspondence processing and improves online awareness of claims status by uniting document content with people and processes.

For HP inkjet cartridges and HP toner cartridges visit Priceless Ink & Toner

Source: HP Unveils New Printing Innovations that Digitize the Office, Help Reduce Costs