Product Reviews

What are the details of this system?

The process of manufacturing of Lenticular Products is very interesting and the end product is very attractive to almost anyone seeing it. The products may be divided into many categories � 3 Dimensional Images, Morphing, Animation and Flip. 3D Images appear in xyz axis where the 3rd axis or dimension is in different levels. In today's technology of 3D Cinema, 3D TV, this 3D Printing is much in demand, and it requires no 3D glasses to view.

How did you commercialise this technology?

We are planning to utilise this technology commercially to have large volume jobs with direct printing capability. We are planning to invest in a machine which can print directly on the lens. But we have produced the current products by offset printing and laminating to PET Lenses.

What is the procedure followed for manufacturing this solution?

First, you have to select the images which are suitable for rendering the 3D, Flip, or Animation effect. Then by using special software, the image is interlaced to the same LPI of the Lens to be used. Earlier, this was done manually with Photoshop and was time consuming, but now the Software does this easily and fast. High levels of accuracy is required to maintain the same interlacing LPI as lens, otherwise you will get a distorted image. The flattening into individual, different frame files and then digitally combining into a single final file is a process called interlacing.

What are the precautions to be taken during manufacturing?

The decision on which lpi to go depends on the viewing distance. The lesser the lpi, the more the viewing distance. If it's a 40 lpi lens you can view from the distance of 4 to 5 meters and if it's 75 lpi, you can have a distance of 30 cm which is a reading distance.

Which printing method is followed?

We have to do this with FM screening technology on offset press. We have found out that AM screening can do the job but it can not give the good effect. FM can solve the issue, as it tends to be more close to continuous tone. You can print on paper and laminate or print directly on the lens.

What are the difficulties experienced?

We have tried with 10 and 16 micron FM screening but it's very difficult as you can get colour build up on the press. We could succeeded with 24 micron FM screening. FM printing is not very easy, you have to tune your press for this and there can be ink built-up on the blanket. The colours can quickly go out of control and one has to maintain ink-water balance.

What is this applications for?

This can be used for advertisements, calendars, posters and the most beautiful rendering we have seen is for backlighting applications. With backlighting, we can see all the levels/depth of the image and it gives beautiful effect. Also there can be applications like a complete wall with a 3D effect images. This we can cater to hotels and interior designing companies. Large size 3D posters with lower LPI for longer distance viewing are very popular in the USA.

What is the costing of this solution?

The costing becomes quite high when we are doing large sized posters and laminating manually. This cannot be produced in quantity. When you go for direct printing on the PET lens, the cost comes down considerably.

Which is your best job using this application? We did 12 posters for a Government department in the UAE for the 40th National Day Celebration. It was 2m x 1m poster. We had 3 to 4 levels in 10mm thick, 40 LPI PET lens and the 3D effect was excellent.

What are the feedback from clients?

Clients were happy about this and really liked the quality. We expect to do more 3D jobs in the future.

What about the inkjet printing for lenticular?

One can not achieve the resolution of offset using the inkjet printing. The depth achieved on offset printed image is very high.

Conclusion
User's verdict
Speed 4/5
Quality 5/5
Reliability 5/5
Value for money 5/5
Supplier's Response

"You can tailor the Speedmaster SM 102 to your exact requirements. An ideal commercial sheetfed offset for newcomers to industrial commercial printing, the Speedmaster SM 102 comes with the tried-and-tested Preset Feeder, Preset Delivery and Prinect Press Centre Compact and has useful features such as washup devices that can can be added to the press as required by customers. Additional devices such as the CutStar sheeter make the Speedmaster SM 102 even more cost-effective."

Contact
Heidelberg ME +971 4 347 7720 www.heidelberg.com