Does apple work with sustainable/"green" printers?

You decide: Apple Photo Services: Product line details for books, cards, and calendars. As far as printers I asked Apple about book quality and printers back in 2008 and got this reply:

"Thank you for contacting the Apple Print Products Customer Service.

I understand that you would like to know the printing process that is used and the color mode the files should be in, so you can better advise users in the iPhoto forum.

iPhoto version 4 or later, allows you to import and print files through the Apple Print Product service as RGB, grayscale, or CMYK color space. JPEG files with RGB color space are recommended for best results.

While iPhoto 2 can import files of various formats, including RGB color, grayscale, and CMYK, this version requires JPEG files with RGB color space when printing photos and books.

For more information regarding iPhoto 2, please visit the following article:

iPhoto: Color, Black and White Prints Appear Garbled or Distorted

For more information regarding iPhoto 5, please visit the following article:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=165501

Here are some of the technical specifications for the books, cards, and calendars. I hope this gives you an idea about their quality and form.

BOOKS

All iPhoto books are printed using acid-free paper for long-lasting image quality. The photos are printed at a high resolution (300DPI if you use iPhoto 6). There is no external modification--such as sharpening or contrast adjustment--of the photos; what you see in the application is what is printed in the book.

Hardcovers Books

The cover is hard-bound and covered in linen. You select the linen color during the book-ordering process. The hardcover books have a solid, stiff binding that is glued and crimped. The internal pages, measuring 8.5 x 11 inches, are printed on McCoy 100# Text Gloss paper stock.

Softcover Books

The softcover books come in three sizes:

- Large 8.5 x 11 inches

- Medium 6 x 8 inches

- Small 2.6 x 3.5 inches

All of the softcover books have internal pages that are printed on McCoy 100# Text Gloss paper stock. The large softcover book has a white cover (Kromekoteplus Folding Cover, 16 point) with a cutout on the front that reveals the cover-page photo in the book. The covers for the medium and small softcover books have the cover image and title printed directly on the cover. All of the softcover books have a glued binding and feature a thick cover of McCoy 100# Cover Gloss paper stock.

CARDS

All cards are printed on McCoy 120# Silk Cover paper stock. The postcards measure 4 x 6 inches, and the greeting cards measure 5 x 7inches.

CALENDARS

All calendars measure 8 x 10 inches and are printed on McCoy 100# Silk Cover paper stock.

To ensure the best print quality, we have chosen to use Kodak NexPress technology. The press uses a dry toner, which is fused to the surface of the paper. Please see NexPress' site for more information:

KODAK NEXPRESS 2500 Digital Production Color Press

I hope you find this information helpful in answering questions on the iPhoto forum."

You can compare the paper used with that in the Apple document I linked to to see if it's changed in 4 years. As for the printer, it's hard to say.

User Phil Brown2 got this reply from Apple (from an archived topic):

Here is what Apple print services told me via e-mail, after much prodding:

Apple (or whoever does the work) uses Kodak Nexpress digital printers, which employ something Kodak calls "DryInk"(tm) in a dry electrophotography process. Apple described it as a "dry ink toner system." Here is some online data on Nexpress:

http://graphics.kodak.com/us/product/printerspresses/production_color/kodak_nexpress_2100_plus_digital_production_colorpress/default.htm

http://www.nexpress.com/dyn/help/he030221.jsp

The only Nexpress info I could find at Kodak was on the 2100 model, and this is the imaging technology it uses:

Dry electrophotography, 600 dpi, multi-bit

Paper weight:

60 g/m2 up to 350 g/m2 (16# bond up to 130# cover) uncoated

80 g/m2 up to 350 g/m2 (20# bond up to 130# cover) coated

Those are the printer specs, not necessarily an indication of what Apple is doing.

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrophotography

In other words, this is fancy photocopying, not offset printing. Does this mean it is inherently worse than offset? Probably not, according to articles I've read. Maybe Apple or its partner just had some trouble ramping it up right.

OT

if the printers apple uses to produce books, calendars etc are "green". Wondering if they are Forest Stewardship Council certified? Use soy based inks? Recycled paper?

If you ever get a list of printers that meet the above, please post it here.

So I can avoid them.

K