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Is it a new dog doing old tricks? While the concept of on-the-spot output of photographs is not new, a newly formed company, Zink Imaging LLC, Waltham, Mass., has re-thought and re-developed this idea into something that works for photos captured by digital cameras and camera cell phones. Introduced at the DEMO '07 show, Palm Desert, Calif., Jan. 31-Feb. 2, the Zink inkless photo printing system has generated buzz in the media, and high hopes among its creators. The system includes Zink "inkless paper" and a thermal printer.
"The paper has the look-and-feel of regular photo paper," said Scott Wicker, chief marketing officer. "It's different, in that what we have invented is a way of embedding our patented color crystals directly in the paper itself, so you don't need any ink cartridges or ribbons to print the full-color image."
What is required is a "Zink-enabled" printer. "The crystals in the paper are activated through a heat process, so the printer is thermally based, very similar to other thermal printers on the market today," Mr. Wicker noted.
The printer can be used with any brand of digital camera or cell phone equipped with a digital camera. It's about the size of an iPod, and comes with a rechargeable battery and a Bluetooth chip for wireless connectivity. It can also be used to print photos from a computer using either the Bluetooth or a USB cable.
"What it really enables is on-the-go printing. If you have an image on your camera phone, you can Bluetooth it over to the printer, or if you have an image on your digital camera and you want to print it, you can connect it via PictBridge and create a print," Mr. Wicker explained. "And the prints all have a sticker back on them, so you can peel off the liner and stick your prints anywhere you want."
The prints measure 2x3", and Mr. Wicker stated that they are crisp and high-quality. "It's a continuous-tone printing process, and the print head is 300 dpi. What that translates into is that any one of our individual dots or pixels can be any one of millions and millions of colors, so you don't need a halftone dot to print a color. That means more than 3,000 dpi in inkjet terms. They're very, very high sharpness, and low grain prints. With a print size of 2x3", you only need about one megapixel of data to get a good print."
This idea may sound a bit like a twenty-first century upgrade of Polaroid technology, and there are connections. The Zink process was developed by researchers at Polaroid Imaging, and although Zink Imaging is a separate, independent company, it currently occupies space at Polaroid's corporate headquarters building.
"The role of Zink Imaging is that of technology inventor, and we are also the manufacturers of the paper," Mr. Wicker said. "We are working with partners who will go to market with the hardware devices and the paper. The first market we and our partners are targeting is the on-the-go printing market to really enable printing where it's never before been possible—in the pocket of every camera or camera phone user.
"Camera phone statistics say over 200 billion images will be captured with camera phones next year. It's an incredible phenomenon, and we wanted to enable printing from that," he said.
Mr. Wicker was unable to say exactly who Zink's marketing and distribution partners are yet, although he noted that a public announcement will be made soon. Very possibly, the Zink system will be packaged with digital cameras and camera phones by the manufacturers, or offered as an optional accessory.
"Our partners will be setting the pricing, since they will be the ones going to market with the product, but we estimate that the camera phone printer will be somewhere around $99 or so, with the paper being less than 20 cents per print, and the digital camera being somewhere around $199 with the same per-print price," Mr. Wicker said.
The Zink inkless printing paper also is the foundation for additional products, perhaps using other, larger printers in less mobile environments, like photo studios or prepress and imaging service providers.
"We're working in the lab on products with more features for many more markets," Mr. Wicker said. "It's exciting technology, because when you watch when people use it, it's a magical experience to see a piece of white paper turning into a full-color photograph. You begin to imagine all the applications for it beyond where we're starting."
Don't be surprised if you begin to see these wallet-size photos posted like sticky notes around computer workstations or bulletin boards in the near future. On-the-go photo printing may be something entirely new to those who have never known a world without the Internet, and who's first, and maybe only, phone is cellular.
Jeanette Clinkunbroomer, a freelance writer, can be reached at Jclink@aol.com.
author: By Jeanette Clinkunbroomer