Printing at 200 lpi and beyond
Usually, commercial printers use document digitalized at 300 to 400 dpi. With that resolution, you can make plates at a resolution of 2400 dpi for a 150 lpi screen. What does LPI means? LPI is short for Lines Per Inch, which is the number of dots per linear inch. It is basically the screen used to get the ink from the plate to the blanket and to the paper. The more fine the screen is, the more sharp your print will be, the less you will see the pattern. Generally, the higher the LPI, the better the photo (unless it is higher than the printer can allow).
Here at Alter-Ego, we don’t use that screening technique. We use stochastique screening. A sophisticated screening technology producing a continuous tone that ensures a better, more reliable production for high impact images. Very few printers in canada have the expertise and the technology to print with stochastic screening. At Alter-Ego we print in stochastic 99% of the time. We mostly use a stochastic screen of 20 micron, that is basically equivalent to 500 lpi… way higher than most of the competition.
For the lenticular printing, we tried a lot of combination of resolution and screening, and we settle for 800 lpi. Yep! the highest resolution possible now. No printer ever print at that resolution anywhere. On paper it is almost impossible to print a 800 lpi screen that stay sharp and stable, but on a lenticular plastic lens we can do it.
Alter-Ego is using the Alteraction unique process to get the best quality from the computer to the plastic lens.
Ask for free samples, you won’t believe you eyes.