Printing apparatus and method for manufacturing printed matter

A method for manufacturing printed matter, comprising:

• a plasma irradiation step to release directly onto a moving printing medium a gaseous flow containing plasma-modified gas and/or plasma-quenched gas formed therefrom before printing of the printing medium;
• a printing step to perform printing by depositing, on a surface of a printing medium, a recording composition having a property to cure upon contacting a plasma-modified gas and/or plasma-quenched gas formed therefrom;
• and
• a drying step to bring a gaseous flow of plasma-modified gas and/or plasma-quenched gas in contact with the surface of the printing medium and thereby fix the recording composition present on the surface of the printing medium;
• wherein, in the drying step, in a plasma generation chamber which is connected via a plasma release port to a space through which the printing medium passes and which is separated from the space, a plasma material gas is introduced into the plasma generation chamber from an introduction port different from the plasma release port to form a gaseous flow traveling from the introduction port to the plasma release port, so that the gaseous flow is converted to a plasma in the plasma generation chamber and a plasma-modified gas is generated, after which the plasma-modified gas is released from the plasma release port into the space through which the printing medium passes in order to bring a gaseous flow containing the plasma-modified gas and/or a plasma-quenched gas formed therefrom in contact with the surface of the printing medium that has been printed in the printing step,
• wherein, in the drying step, the gaseous flow is released from the plasma release port through an opening part of the plasma release port, wherein the opening part is not oriented in a surface direction of the printing medium, and
• wherein, in the space through which the printing medium passes in the drying step, a member, which is connected to a ground or charged with electricity opposite to plasma particles contained in the gaseous flow from the plasma release port, is placed on an opposite side of the printing medium as viewed from the plasma release port in a manner electrically directing and attracting the plasma particles toward the member.