With the advancement of technology, inks are continuously being introduced as important materials for printing, not only satisfying the traditional printing needs, but also opening up new printing fields such as special printing, anti-counterfeit printing, etc. The printing quality is not only improved, but also conforms to environmental protection, Anti-counterfeit and other special needs.
Electronic ink
Practice has proved that the durability of paper prints is much longer than imagined. Since the advent of the Internet, some people have worried that the static printing world will soon become a thing of the past. However, this is not the case. Due to people's traditional habits and the advantages of traditional printing, as well as online publishing, electronic publishing, etc. Where people like it, etc., most people still prefer to read books instead of using PDAs. Readers like to read paper books. This is a more intimate book than e-books and other paperless recording devices, but it has a smaller information capacity. Is there a book that is printed on a gracious, light-weight, portable material that can be updated? Can it integrate the advantages of traditional publishing with emerging digital tools? A new high-tech product - Electronic ink may change people's visual communication.
With the continuous networking and digitization of printing technology, digital offset printing has begun to expand and expand at home and abroad. Between these, electronic ink, a new type of ink suitable for digital offset printing presses, is constantly being recognized and used by people. Electronic inks contain charged liquid ink particles that make it possible to electronically control the position of printed particles in digital printing. Electronic inks can reach very small particles. Such small particles allow printing to achieve higher resolution and smoothness, sharpening the edges of the image, and forming a very thin image layer. Electronic inks have now taken effect in the following areas.
(1) Standard basic color CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black);
(2) Wide color gamut six-color setting increases orange red and purple, so that the color reproduction capability is much higher than the color reproduction ability on the basis of the original four colors;
(3) Indigo spot color system compatible with Pantone;
(4) Opaque white coating of colorless printing materials;
(5) Fluorescent ink.
Indigo's color digital offset presses provide a unique combination of features based on its color digital offset press technology and operation. Indigo presses use Indigo's unique liquid inks. This kind of digital offset technology, with its advantages such as electronic ink, has achieved many advantages as follows.
(1) Edge sharpness and sharpness
From the high-magnification results, it can be clearly seen that the image formed by the electronic ink has a sharper degree of sharpness than the image formed by the electrostatic copying dry powder, and this advantage is more obvious when the continuous tone image is printed. The sharpness of the electronic ink image is sharper at the edges of the continuous tone image of the intermediate color or the finely printed text image. In addition, the clean, non-polluting background of the electronic ink image is also a great advantage. The advantage comes from the tiny particles of the electronic ink and the way the electronic ink particles are transferred during printing.
(2) Dot gain and color consistency
Dot enlargement refers to the tendency of printed continuous blended line images to spread under embossing. Use Indigo digital color offset printers to control dot gain. The Indigo press has a calibration function that allows printed dots to be in the required size range. In addition, Indigo's printing opportunities automatically adjust the optimal density and dot size to maintain the same look for each print.
(3) Image smoothness
Many people think that the key to the quality of offset printing is image smoothness, which is not the case. As experts know, the key to the quality of offset printing lies in the uniformity of the image. Indigo presses, unlike electrostatic dry powder printers or copiers, can only output images with the same smoothness regardless of the material of the paper. This results in varying smoothness and highlighted areas in the dark areas, electronic ink images and substrates. The smoothness matches, like the traditional offset press, can produce from rough to dark to high brightness.
According to different figures and the smoothness characteristics of the offset press, the actual operation shows that the ideal smoothness of the electronic ink can basically meet the requirements of various papers other than super-glossy paper. For moderately smooth papers, electronic inks are more advantageous than lithographic inks, but lithographic inks are superior to ultra-smooth papers.
(4) Color difference
Electronic inks can be printed according to international color standards. All these standards are based on the four-color standard basic color CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black). Lithography uses different ink formulations according to different standards, while electronic ink uses only one set of colors for different standards. Electronic inks adjust the ink concentration electronically to suit different needs. The special properties of the electronic ink and the charging characteristics of the ink determine its unique function on a four-color basis. In addition to printing the four-color basic color, the electronic ink of the spot color system expands the color gamut to a color gamut that cannot be achieved by the four-color basic color. The spot color ink system is capable of six-color printing, and imaging uses a primary transfer technology.
(5) Instant drying
Because the electronic ink cures when it is transported onto the substrate, the finished product will dry out of the Indigo press. Electronic inks can be cured without emissions without further drying. At the same time, the electronic ink only needs a temperature of 100°C when drying, and the relatively low temperature makes the substrate not be heated, damaged or curled.
(6) Do not fade under light
The pigment particles encapsulated in the electronic ink plastic resin will prevent the chemical components of the pigment from being oxidized or affected by moisture, especially under intense sunlight ultraviolet radiation. Electronic inks have advantages over traditional offset inks in this regard.
Electronic inks generally have the following advantages: (1) High brightness, high definition and durability. This is easy to understand. Manufacturers use the same components as traditional inks to make electronic inks. Therefore, electronic inks are similar to traditional inks printed on paper, but the brightness and contrast are high when they are matched with paper, and they can have 180 degrees. Perspective.
(2) Low energy consumption. This is a major advantage of electronic ink over digital readers. Once the white paint particle is driven to a state where an image has appeared, the image may disappear. Some experts once said vividly that if you turn off your laptop's power, you will see a black color. However, these are completely absent for electronic inks.
(3) Strong printability. Electronic ink can be applied to almost all materials. Electronic ink can be printed on textiles, paper, plastics and many other materials. We know that the LCD is displayed on the glass, but it is heavy and fragile. The electronic ink can be displayed on the plastic surface, which makes it ultra-thin, flexible and not brittle. Electronic ink is an ink. If someone accidentally gets splashed with electronic ink when he walks into the laboratory, the person becomes a walking display. Electronic ink printing is very easy. For example, it can be used for web printing and in the near future can be used for glossy advertising papers and other large format labels. All of these features allow it to be displayed flexibly, just like on paper, and will no longer be the respective advantages of the aforementioned e-book or paper media.
In addition, electronic ink has begun to cooperate with other electronic devices. For example, E-Ink recently announced that it will work with IBM to jointly develop a world-class SVGA electronic ink display. It is estimated that electronic ink type displays may be put into the market within the last year or two. It is said that electronic ink will also cooperate with emerging changes in the entire publishing industry in the field of printed electronics.
Here, E-Ink and Lucent Technologies have produced the world's first fully printed display. Their ultimate goal is to print on one side of the paper with ink and the other side with electronic ink.
Source: HC360 Coatings Industry Channel