Non-traditional lithographic offset printing inks, such as metal inks, water-free inks, fluorescent inks, and opaque inks, as a design element and have the ability to improve internal output, have been increasingly welcomed by users. When using non-traditional inks for printing, you must keep in mind the unique properties of each ink, so that you can adjust the printing settings according to the specific situation to obtain the best effect of the print. This article introduces some tips when using different special inks, and also introduces how to choose the correct fountain solution when using non-standard rubber-based, oil-based, and resin-based inks.
Metallic inks Metallic inks are made up of fine metal flakes (aluminum flakes for silver ink and copper flakes for gold ink). When the ink dries, these flakes form a layer of molded metal foil on the surface of the printed matter. When the metal pigment forms a thin layer on the surface of the printed product, it will produce a higher gloss of the gold or silver ink layer. If you change the metal foil composition of the ink or the additive of the tinted ink, the color range of the golden ink will change from reddish gold to golden yellow.
Metal gold or silver inks have a longer shelf life and will not lose gloss even if stored in a container for one year. However, the metal ink in the PANTONE Metal Color Manual is not very stable, and should be used as soon as possible after it is purchased or prepared. When formulating metal ink, softer particles are used. Therefore, the metal foil in the ink can form a thin metal foil, or spread as much as possible on the surface of a single printing material to obtain maximum gloss. Metallic ink has the characteristics of low viscosity, suitable for transfer between ink rollers, making the printing process cleaner.
Coated paper absorbs fixed ink better, so the gloss of the ink printed on it is most vivid. Smooth uncoated paper will also get better results, but the gloss is slightly reduced. The rough-surfaced paper prevents fine metal ink particles from forming metal foil on the paper surface, thus reducing the printing effect of metal ink.
Some substrates, especially polish-coated and clay-coated pond porcelain products, because they do not have sufficient adhesion to firmly hold the ink on the surface of the substrate, they often only absorb the ink adjustment ink in the ink and use metal pigments. Particles stay on the surface. This phenomenon, called "pulverization", causes metal colors to peel off the surface of the substrate. In order to prevent the occurrence of "pulverization", the amount of water should be set to the minimum. This is because inks with higher water saturation are more prone to "pulverization." When printing on highly coated paper or porcelain surfaces When printing with gold or silver ink, a conventional oil-based transparent white ink coated with glue is used to seal the surface of the substrate. If "pulverization" has occurred, Printing another layer of ink on the surface of the first layer will often make up for this mistake. Adding ink to adjust the ink can also overcome powdering, but this will often reduce the gloss of the metal.
Tip: For best results, it is recommended to use a metal plate instead of an electrostatic plate, which can avoid the fountain solution contains excessive glycerin or ethylene glycol, because these non-volatile liquid medium will slow down the drying speed.
The opacity of metallic ink will cause the operator to compensate for too much ink, making the ink unbalanced. This situation should be avoided as much as possible, because it will bring too much burden to the dampening system, which leads to paste (the ink particles are emulsified in the fountain solution) and dirty (the ink adheres to the non-graphic text section). Even experienced printers need to use too much ink to achieve the most perfect metal effect. The best way to prevent these failures is to add ink to a lighter-colored image so that it just covers the image. Then, increase the amount of ink, and adjust the water supply to make it slightly higher than the minimum value, so as to avoid non-graphic parts of the ink. During the drying process, a thin layer of metal will stand out, providing a brighter gloss.
Fluorescent ink When the dark environment, fluorescent ink will glow. The key to this effect is that this ink contains special color pigments that can absorb energy in the ultraviolet band and convert this energy into longer wavelengths of visible colors. The surface of the printed matter can emit a strong and relatively saturated color, thereby attracting attention. The constituent particles of fluorescent ink are usually softer than other oil-based or rubber-based ink particles. But this does not affect its performance, because they have a unique transfer method in the transfer process between the cylinder and the cylinder, the printing plate to the blanket, and the blanket to the substrate.
Tip: Fluorescent inks are best suited for metal plates. It is best not to use light or colored paper when selecting paper, because colored paper will be reduced, and even the brightness of the ink will be reduced to a minimum. White or light paper will enhance the fluorescent effect. Fluorescent ink is ideal for non-coated paper with higher brightness and better ink absorption. Coated white paper can also have a more beautiful effect. However, because printing with coated paper can only use a small amount of ink, it is necessary to print twice to get the best printing results. Opaque ink Almost all printing houses will encounter printing on the surface of black or colored objects. For these types of substrates, an opaque ink is needed to effectively cover the color of the substrate itself. In this way, it is possible to avoid the mixing of the color of the ink and the color of the substrate and generate an undesirable color.
It is usually impossible to accurately reproduce a bright color on a dark-colored substrate. But simply adding 50% of opaque white to a darker substrate will receive some very intended sermon effects. I suggest you: If you use more than 50% of opaque white, the color after printing will look "light"; if less than 50% of opaque white, the color will be somewhat transparent.
Tip: When using custom colors or PANTEDNE's mixed colors, the formula often requires transparent white instead of opaque white, which can minimize the loss of color intensity. In most cases, it is not necessary to replace all opaque white ink with transparent white ink.
Waterless inks The recent development of waterless printing inks has given it more of the characteristics of traditional offset inks. However, most water-free inks have higher viscosity and thicker texture. It is not easy to spread smoothly in the ink roller and will harden or dry on the surface of the ink roller. The best water-free inks are those with a wide temperature range. The ink-between 72 and 92?-And has the ability to stay dry for 6-8 hours.
Tips: If a certain water-free ink loses its viscosity due to too long running time, lowering the temperature will increase the viscosity of the ink itself; if the ink stays on the ink roller for a period of time and hardens, increasing the temperature will improve its fluidity .
Non-traditional inks and recycled paper Traditional quick-drying inks are very suitable for printing on the front side of paper (or non-recycled paper), but the same ink often has problems when printed on recycled paper, especially when the amount of ink is small (or small Range surface). This is because light ink causes the ink to stay on the ink roller longer than when printing thick ink or large surfaces. When the ink is waiting to be deposited on the paper, the ink on the ink roller has a tendency to lose solvent and increase viscosity. This high viscosity will pull out the weak fibers in the recycled paper and affect the normal printing.
Tip: Vegetable oil-based inks have a lower viscosity than high-solvent inks. They also have better roller stability than high-solvent inks, a feature that keeps the viscosity low throughout the printing process. This ink stability is reflected in the cost of slow printing, which means that it takes longer time in lithography. However, this is a reasonable transaction for achieving high-quality prints on recycled paper.
Choosing a suitable fountain solution non-standard base ink is often incompatible with some types of fountain solution. Low-VOC or vegetable oil-based inks are dried by oxidation. This means that equipment using this type of ink can be slower to set up and dry longer. The use of alcohol fountain solution can speed up the drying speed, but to avoid the use of non-volatile wetting agents, such as glycols. For petroleum-based inks, since oil is easily absorbed by paper, the machine can run faster and the drying time is shorter. This ink is suitable for the use of alcohol substitutes as fountain solution.
All fountain solutions containing 10% to 15% isopropyl alcohol can be used for metal inks, which are more suitable. It is recommended to use a fountain solution with a pH between 6.0 and 6.5, which will make the printing of metallic inks cleaner and brighter. Each gallon should be added to one-half ounce of fountain activator.
All fountain solutions are suitable for opaque inks. Add 15% of water-resistant ink-adjusting oil to the opaque ink with any kind of fountain solution to improve the fluidity and transferability and prevent the occurrence of "spots". In order to ensure the best results, the pH value of the fountain solution should be maintained at 4.5 to 5.0 during the printing process.
Fluorescent inks usually do not have a special fountain solution, but alcohol fountain solution works better for metal plates. The amount of ink required for fluorescent ink printing is large. In the fountain solution, 20% alcohol must always be added to obtain a better density value. Such a mixture can allow a large amount of water to evaporate, and the oil layer is thicker.
In the waterless printing process, the balance of ink and temperature replaces the balance of water and ink, so there is no need to add fountain solution.
Tip: Adding less than one ounce of ordinary pure ammonia to each gallon fountain solution (to ensure that it does not contain detergents) will increase the pH of the buffer.
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