Unit 30: Task 7a D1

Task 7a: D1

Vinyl cutters:                                                                                                                                         Developments in vinyl cutters have allowed improvements in aspects such as cutting quality. So for sign making these improvements will have a significant effect. Reliability and precision has also been improved and now it’s easier than ever before to produce signs of a high quality. Vinyl cutters can now also produce much larger signs, this is very useful for companies who wish to advertise a product for example as they can have larger, more visible signs. The improvements of vinyl cutters has affected the creation of graphics as improved sign making results in better advertisement, the graphics that can be printed onto the vinyl cut outs will also be of a high quality, meaning the overall product will be better than it has ever been before.

Laser cutters/3D printers: 

There have been new developments in laser technology. For example there are new wavelength bands so they can be used at various wavelengths. And also the cost of these laser cutters decreases as more developments are made. A few years ago 3D printers were thought to be very far away in the future; however we now have them today. 3D printers also use lasers, and works by layers of materials being laid down in different shapes. We have only just started using 3D printers so developments will soon follow, in the near future the price of 3D printers will reduce drastically and they will be a common object in the majority of households. The development of 3d printers and laser cutters has affected the creation of graphics by providing a way to turn a graphic on the screen into a real 3D object or a printed image. We can now physically see the graphics we make on the computer thanks to this technology.

Wide format printing:                                                                                                      

Developments in printing have resulted in printers that can produce large display board size images. You can print directly onto substrates which are up to 50mm thick. A further improvement with these printers is that the ink they use can be weather proof, guaranteeing at least 20 years without weathering. It is the ink used by these wide format printers that is developing. The ink being used now produces much clearer signs etc. The new printers also have a much faster drying time, and banding is no longer a problem. These developments have affected the creation of graphics because now large scale graphics can be produced easily to a high quality. This means businesses etc. have an easy way to produce display boards. The development of the wide format printers has improved the quality of large scale graphics, as these graphics can now be produced without having that bitmap quality.

Inkjet:                                                                                                                                                         UV inkjet is the next big thing to develop from inkjet, this is where acrylic monomers are dropped onto the page and are then set by a UV light. Inkjet printers are the most commonly used printers, and as they develop further, their prices fall lower and lower so become cheaper and easier to buy. As these prices fall, ink prices rise, meaning that it costs a considerable amount to replace ink cartridges. These developments have affected the creation of graphics as people can do this in their own home. They now have in their household a good quality printer which will allow a high quality of graphics to be produced. The inkjet technology now means that graphics produced are much clearer, a huge difference when compared to the graphics produced from older printers.

Laser printers:                                                                                                                                           There are on-going developments in laser printing. Companies that produce the laser printers do the same as the companies that produce inkjet printers; they sell the printers cheaply and charge large amounts for ink and paper. The thickness of paper accepted by these printers has also changed. You can now print onto card etc to produce for example business cards. Companies are now managing to produce printers that can print 100 pages a minute; this kind of printer is very useful for the bigger businesses and firms such as banks who print thousands of letters a day. The machines now produce leaflets and flyers quickly but to a very high quality. Laser printers have affected the production of graphics as the laser produces high quality text and images. This allows everyone to produce high quality graphics in the comfort of their own home for a reasonable price.