December 9, 2008 - Since 1864 the German manufacturer Miller-Johannisberg had been building printing presses in Geisenheim (in the Rhineland region of Germany). In the nineties the company was taken over by Manroland, however, Miller offset presses are still widely used at many printers around the world.

One of these Miller-Johannisberg presses is the production workhorse at Druck Hofer in the Austrian wine town of Retz. Gunther Hofer, head of this successful family enterprise, has been quite satisfied with his Miller TP 104 (41” x 28”/104 x 72 cm printing format); the only thing missing was a digital connection between his Harlequin-based prepress workflow and the Miller's Unimatic control center.

Fortunately, this disconnect is a typical case for the widely-used InkZone solution. Using the included DI-Plot software, the internal bitmap data from the Harlequin Rip is interpreted as the percent coverage for each ink color and each unit. Then, InkZone converts these industry-standard JDF files into an array of ink-key settings and an ink-ductor setting for each unit of the press, and communicates this electronically to the Miller control console. This conversion from percentage values into ink key openings is handled by InkZone’s elegant calibration function.

In daily use, printing jobs are transmitted over InkZone’s user-friendly interface using a touch screen. The control electronics – especially developed for Miller’s Unimatic control center – transmit all the digital preset data directly to the console. At the console, the job is available within the familiar interface of Miller-Johannisberg, making the resulting solution simple for press operators to use.

Behind the scenes, the advantages of this solution are considerable. Operators see reduced makeready times because preliminary ink settings for each job are made automatically. In addition, significant material savings can be seen as early press pulls will have properly adjusted ink levels, yielding saleable copies within just a few impressions. These benefits mean an extended lifetime for both new and legacy printing presses, like the Miller-Johannisberg. No wonder Gunther Hofer has such a big smile.

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