There have been many questions raised in the past regarding digital print over silk screening. To date, digital printing has been seen as an inferior production method as opposed to screening. A few companies already exist offering this service and they have struggled to gain the confidence of the market due to the fact that silk screened reproductions already exist.
An important point to remember here is that the market only requires reproductions of what was original silk screened and so the adage " ability to produce to photographic quality" has no bearing... we only require the level of detail that traditional screening allows.
Yes, its easier.. yes, its cheaper and yes, its quicker. But is it better?
Digital inks do not allow the depth of colour that screened inks do and backlighting is and has always been somewhat difficult with digital printing. To overcome this, we, in the sign trade, double ink the colours.. this makes them darker than they should be when not illuminated but gives depth when they are. On a backglass, a compromise is made where the coloured ink is put down first.. then a layer of white translucent and then colour again. This is backed off with translucent once more to give the backglass the original look when out of the machine.. but still, the depth isn't quite the same.
For some reason, now CPR have adopted this process.. it becomes acceptable.. why?
It does come with compromises as listed above.. also, I only know of one flat bed printer that can deliver chrome look and it is made by Xerox and hideously expensive as is the ink.
We've been going down the same road ourselves with a reproduction SPIRIT glass.. for someone like myself who isn't a professional silk screen printer, its a viable option but in all honesty, I would prefer to have these screened.. that, in my mind is still the pinnacle of reproduction quality.
It will be interesting to see the results.. im sure the guy who has been doing the Stern Seawitch playfields will be watching closely also.. he has had his product picked apart for some years now by the members on Pinside.. now CPR are to emulate?
I have a feeling this move will create more questions than the solutions it offers
