I read in the French magazine, "l'usine nouvelle", a posting about
this method to cut paper, named TRACTechnologie, developed by the CEA
("Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique").  This project is to be shown at
Photonic West conference at San Jose (USA), 24 January 2005 at 5.00 p.m.

I think it's usable to punch rolls, but it's slow: two meters per
minute.  See on the site :

   http://www.spie.org/Conferences/Programs/05/pw/lase/index.cfm?fuseaction=5711

>> SESSION 3
>> Room: Conv. Ctr. Room J1 Mon. 3:30 to 5:20 pm
>> High-Brightness Laser Devices ...
>> 5:00 pm: Desktop cutting of paper on an inkjet printer
>> using a single-emitter laser diode, O. Acher, H. Pagès,
>> H. Piombini, CEA Le Ripault (France) [5711-14]


Jean-Pierre Jouandet
Bordeaux, France

 [ An article entitled "La TRACTechnologie ouvre la voie à l'impression
 [ en 3D (TRACTechnologie opens the way to printing in 3D)", published
 [ in "CEA Technologies", No. 73, November 2004, is reproduced at
 [ http://www.cea-technologies.com/article/article.php?article=379
 [
 [ The critical element of the invention is an invisible ink that
 [ penetrates to the heart of the paper and that readily absorbs the
 [ energy emitted by an inexpensive 1-watt laser diode.  Project director
 [ Olivier Acher explains:  "The cutting lines are printed by the inkjet
 [ technology, at the same time as the text and pictures.  The actual
 [ carving is then assured by the passage of the laser beam."
 [
 [ -- Robbie