First we consider the impact of ICT and digitization on the evolution of the prepress industry. The fourth industrial revolution is underway right now. Its major elements, IoT, Big Data, robots, and artificial intelligence, have caused a great wave of technological innovation. At the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, this breakthrough is credited with moving industries “from mass production and uniform service to customized production and service tailored to individual needs.” This is exactly the sort of situation that raises questions about printing industry's structure and strategy. In this paper, we outline the evolution of prepress procedures and show how the correlation between progress and elemental technology has changed printing. To discuss the past ten years of trends and future prospects, we also conducted a roundtable discussion on three key fields: desktop publishing and typesetting, color management, and workflow; the results are summarized below.

The context in which domestic Japanese paper media are produced has changed significantly during the past decade. In response to changing market needs, environment-friendly trends, and advances in printing and analysis technology, paper media have made great progress. However, they are facing a significant turning point, due to the shrinking market for paper media and the transition to digital media. Chapter 2 describes the changes in paper media over the past decade from various points of view, including marketing, technology, and current trends. This chapter includes a history of the paper industry and R&D trends of the past ten years, as well as the latest developments in paper media, various printing technologies, and new analytical technologies. It aims to promote a proper understanding of paper media, while exploring the current market, new possibilities, and future predictions.

Between 2008 and 2018, the development of technology for offset printing systems has progressed in three areas: cost reduction, productivity improvement (small lots and short delivery times), and environmental response. Technologies and introductions using IoT and AI will advance in all of these areas in future, along with further labor-saving developments.

In flexible package printing, a wider and deeper response is needed to achieve SDGs, although various environmental protection laws and regulations have received some responses. Labor-saving devices and automatization have advanced, compensating for the shortage of workers and the regulation of long working hours. Offset printing companies have threatened the gravure market by introducing flexographic press machines. In the field of book publishing, the gravure printing market has significantly shrunk during the past decade; a combination of gravure and digital printing is needed to provide very small lot sizes, quick delivery, and variable design. This chapter describes the progress made in various technologies and application fields related to gravure printing. In relation to prepress production, it discusses the photogravure process, engraving technology, and platemaking automation. In the field of flexible packaging, it focuses on press and laminating machines and labor-saving efforts. It also covers printing materials, particularly advancements in ink and adhesive and flexible packaging films. This chapter explains quality management, CMS, flexible package printing, decorative paper printing, and the visualization of phenomena that occur in various processes. Environment-related issues include responses to the air pollution control law, VOC emission control, environment-friendly materials, the use of gravure printing for packaging SDGs, and composite paper containers.

Today, flexo printing in Japan has a market share of less than 10%, a figure that has not changed for the past ten years. One factor impeding diffusion is the fact that many flexo printing machines and their associated equipment are overseas products. In Japan, flexo printing is associated with low quality; it tends to be used only for cardboard printing. Over the last decade, however, flexo printing presses and the system for making flexographic plates have been significantly upgraded, due to hardware and software innovations. As a result, the quality and productivity of flexo printing have improved. In some cases, flexo printing has been used for high-quality printing on flexible packaging. When it comes to printing flexible packaging, solvent flexo printing is a mainstream process in Europe and the United States, while solvent gravure printing is a dominant process in Asia and Japan. The combination of strengthened environmental regulations around the world, growing interest in food safety, and Japan's declining population have increased interest in solventfree aqueous flexo printing in recent years.

Screen printing technology has improved during this decade, achieving both high resolution and high accuracy. This chapter reviews methods of plate making, newly developed screen mesh, squeegees, photosensitive emulsions, ink and screen printing machines. One computer-to-screen (CTS) technology, the thermal digital plate making system, has been developed as a technology that offers new possibilities. This chapter covers screen offset printing technology, suitable for printed electronics; and high quality screen ink system which enable the simultaneous printing of fine lines and space, gradations of dots, and solid printing. It also notes the importance of standardizing screen printing technology.

This chapter describes the development of non-impact printing technology over the past decade. Initially, nonimpact printing technology was used in the office and consumer fields. In recent years, electrophotography technology has advanced, leading to the production of advanced laser printers that offer comparable quality to plate printing technology. Inkjet technology has developed and continued to grow; it can be adapted to variable printing, small lots, and short delivery times. In the future, non-impact printing technology is expected to be applied to digital fabrication, such as printed electronics or 3D printers. This chapter provides an overview of advances in non-impact printing technology, followed by descriptions of electrophotography, ink jet technology, and market trends.

The word “printing” is widely recognized to refer to information processing technologies. Printing ink consists of pigment, resins, and some mixture of chemicals; from this viewpoint, we can see the word for materials conversion, defined as “technology for the simultaneous formation and patterning of films.” This chapter reflects social conditions during the past ten years; it reviews industry expectations for PE, touch panels, solar batteries, sensors, and wearable devices. It also covers e-books and e-publishing, medical/healthcare topics, and the progress of and prospects for nano-imprint technology.

This chapter describes the trend toward technical standardization in the graphics industry. “ISO/TC130: Graphic technology” and “IEC/TC119: Printed Electronics” are reviewed in relation to international standardization. “Japan Color 2011” and “NSAC 2017” are described in the context of national standardization. In addition, three categories: “color management,” “viewing condition,” and the “safety of machinery” are summarized.

It is urgent to solve global environmental problems. Since the United Nations Summit in 2015 adopted a sustainable development plan, many treaties and systems have been created to address global climate change. Printing and related industries (printing machines, printing inks, prepress, and paper) have made efforts to reduce their environmental load. The “Green Printing System,” an eco-friendly printing factory certification system, has been promoted. Work-related accidents associated with handling chemical substances have accelerated improvements to the working environment in printing and related industries. The printing machine industry has established criteria for calculating greenhouse gas emissions from printing machinery, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The printing ink industry introduced an “ink green mark system” as an eco-friendly mark in 2015 to reduce the environmental load associated with printing inks. The prepress industry has promoted the spread of a CTP (computer-to-plate) system that includes a simplified development system and development-free plates to improve productivity and reduce energy consumption. The paper industry has formulated a new “environmental action plan” to pursue harmony between environmental and economic activities.

Security printing has been published in the 90th Anniversary Special Issue of journal of printing science and technology for the first time. Security technologies must continually advance to confront improved methods of counterfeiting. For example, once everyone could make copies using copy machines, new security printing technologies, such as holograms, were developed to discourage illegal duplication. There is a rising need for security technologies to prevent the imitation of products exported overseas. This chapter introduces various security technologies involving paper, ink, printing, plating, and holograms. Security paper is particularly effective at deterring forgery, as it can only be produced in large-scale factories with specialized paper-making machinery. Invisible inks are also valued for security printing. Security through printing methods depends on the unique advantages of each printing method. Holograms have been adopted as high security elements in banknotes and credit cards. Both the volume and shallow types of hologram are explained in detail. New security printing technologies will continue to evolve in future years, due to the development of nanotechnology.

The rubbers of printing press blankets and transfer rolls deteriorate over time as the result of swelling, contamination, the interaction of solvents and inks, and even because of pre-installation storage methods. Our previous study clarified the degradational phenomenon with some analytical techniques. It also established ways to predict compatibility between rubbers and solvent/ink types before printing. In this study, we selected and assessed four types of blankets. Following printing tests on a real machine, we evaluated printing qualities and the integrity of the used blankets, and compared the results with the assessments performed before printing.