71 November / December 2023 - Issue 345 ink can streamline their operations. “Most printers see the value of investing in high-quality presses,” Seward says, continuing: “However, many still skimp on their choice of ink. This can be compared to using cheap tyres on a new car; put simply, they are wasting the potential returns of their state-of-the-art equipment and missing out on significant time and cost savings.” Seward goes on to say that lower-quality inks are often weaker or less well-balanced, meaning that when used for spot colours, they require multiple anilox changeovers to achieve the desired colour target. He says their strength is simply insufficient to achieve right-first-time colour performance, which in turn leads to downtime, waste, and potential variability. “Companies miss out on the opportunity to eliminate the need for anilox changeovers and enable the printing of half and full tones using just one plate, attracting significant cost benefits to the operation,” he says. Quality inks, Seward outlines, are those that unlock new efficiencies on existing equipment and maximise productivity by reducing press downtime, minimising ink spend, and increasing consistency. “The solution lies in choosing an ink range with high strength, single pigment formulation, that offers low film weights and higher definition printing,” Seward says, adding: “Such inks let printers generate the entire colour gamut with just a single anilox and adopt a straightforward approach to colour reproduction, maximising throughput.” As to how Pulse Roll Label Products like this could give print companies an advantage in the market – both in terms of output quality and environmental impact. “Original HP inks are designed together with HP Latex printers to produce consistent results,” HP says, adding: “With reliable performance, you can minimise waste and downtime. While non-HP inks may cost less per litre, they can cause frequent printhead replacement, unsellable prints, and increased printer downtime and maintenance. “Printers can sharpen the quality of any rigid substrate with the strong, vibrant colour gamut of HP Latex inks, and a thin ink layer preserving the media’s gloss feel. Use original HP Latex inks to maximise the life of HP printheads and ensure HP warranty protection. “In addition to delivering outstanding image quality, consistency, and durability, our latest generation of HP Latex inks offer an attractive environmental profile to both print service providers and customers.” These environmental benefits include being able to reach sensitive indoor spaces such as healthcare. The waterbased HP Latex ink prints are odourless and low-emitting, meeting UL Greenguard Gold certification. HP says these inks also make safe operations easier as they do not require hazard warning labels, while they meet stringent health and environmental criteria. Add in that they can be printed onto a wide range of eco-conscious media choices, and deliver prints that are recyclable, returnable, or non-hazardous and safe for disposal, and HP says this will open new doors for users. “Not only do HP Latex printers deliver outstanding results on a wide range of media, but the original water-based HP Latex inks can add value to differentiate your business and help your customers meet their sustainability goals,” HP says. From speaking to suppliers and manufacturers here, it is pretty clear that there are plenty of good options across both OEM and third-party inks. The key message is to ensure the inks you are working with are reliable and compatible with your machines in order to get the best results and keep the customer happy. www.printmonthly.co.uk can help, Seward picks out a number of solutions that are proving popular with its customers. These include PureTone, which has been designed to be both strong and balanced enough to support the Monolox Fixed Anilox Printing system – the combination of PureTone inks, the Pulse mixing database, and a single anilox. “Due to their high strength, single-pigment formulation, PureTone inks enable the production of Pantone shades across all presses using a single anilox,” he says, adding: “Using this system, printers benefit from reduced variables and errors, and improved uptime, as well as being able to print solid, text, and tone from a single plate. The latest innovations for label and packaging printers come in the form of a dual-cure UV LED ink addition, PureTone DC. Designed to support converters in transitioning from UV to UV LED curing at a pace that suits them, Seward says PureTone DC helps printers avoid costly ink management complexity during conversion while matching the strength of the existing PureTone range. The Green Choice Switching over to the OEM side of the market and HP offers a wide range of its own inks for use on HP printers. Focusing on one ink type in particular, one range that has seen a lot of interest in recent years is the HP Latex collection of inks. These water-based inks offer users a more environmentally friendly option than other inks as they produce less volatile organic compounds (VOCs) when compared to solvent, eco-solvent, and UV ink products. In a world where customers are demanding a more sustainable service from their printing partners, HP says the use of inks BACK TO BASICS / INK TECHNOLOGY ▲ Gary Seward, managing director at Pulse Roll Label Products ▼ HP Latex inks are available in a white option Nazdar introduced its first commercial screen printing ink in 1922 1922
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