Consumables

Throughout the years, Triangle Digital Ink was associated with producing innovative new ink products. Consolidated under the INX Digital International banner in 2009, the TRIANGLE brand continues to thrive today. The newest product to reach the alternative marketplace is PDQ, a multipurpose, high performance mild solvent pigmented ink that is considered ideal for super wide-format colour printing systems.

The PDQ inks offer tremendous colour gamut and great adhesion to multiple vinyl and banner stocks, including PVC-based substrates such as self adhesive vinyl (SAV) and banner prints. Designed for use in high resolution printers that have 32 to 42 picoliter (pl) print heads with a drop volume between 9-25 pls, these 4-colour CMYK inks provide stronger cyans, richer magentas, a jetter black and a true process yellow. Keeping with INX Digital's 10 year tradition of producing kinder products for the environment, PDQ inks are cycloxehanone free. While the company continues with the same quality control regiment that all of its inks are subject to, INX Digital has found more cost competitive pigments which are aligned with shorter ad campaigns and still boast up to one year of outdoor durability.

"This is a very good time to introduce PDQ, especially in the Latin American market," said Alex Garcia, Director of Latin America Business Development for INX Digital International. "These new inks show how our TRIANGLE brand continues to react and adapt to competitive market conditions, yet continues to offer the highest quality in the market. This gives end users one more tool to compete in today's extremely competitive markets. In Latin America, we are just around the corner from a large number of elections which require shorter advertising cycles and very competitive prices."

"PDQ will give printers many different options with TRIANGLE's huge portfolio of products. The pigment particle size is sub micron and the colour is computer controlled to guarantee batch-to-batch consistency," said Karla Witte, vice president of product development for INX Digital International. "These high performance inks work on Spectra, Xaar, and Ricoh print heads, and perform extremely well on PVC type substrates. We have kept the printer in mind and they will appreciate knowing PDQ is cyclohexanone free and with a reduction in odour."

 

New patent-pending Avery® MPI 6121 Street Graphics Film brings graphics applied to roads, pavements, and other rough surfaces in exposed outdoor environments to a higher level.  With a paint-like finish for graphics printed with digital UV inks, Avery MPI 6121 Street Graphics film delivers a genuine technology advance.

Its on-the-street performance is not limited to pedestrian pavement applications:  on the road itself, it can withstand the constant pressure of vehicle traffic for up to three months.   Avery MPI 6121 Street Graphics film is a next-generation product for all kinds of outdoor promotions – sporting and retailing events, trade shows, etc – where heavy traffic may be expected.

Advanced technical features
The non-PVC Avery MPI 6121facefilm delivers an innovative engineered approach to floor graphics.   It features the ability to ‘micro-fracture’ in order to conform effectively to very rough surfaces.   It also permits moisture to be channeled through the substrate, minimising slip hazards;  and, at just 40 micron thick, it virtually eliminates the likelihood of edge lift.

Eyecatching graphics
A non-glare, matt finish means that  Avery MPI 6121 Street Graphics film offers eyecatching,  high-quality graphics using digital UV-curable inks – graphics that will last for up three months exposed to road vehicle traffic, and up to six months exposed to pedestrian traffic.   The film requires no overlamination, and meets international slip resistance testing standards.   At the end of its working life, it can simply be removed with a standard high-pressure washer.

Avery MPI 6121 Street Graphics film is available from Avery Dennison Graphics and Reflective Products distributors across Europe, and full details are available via the website,  www.europe.averygraphics.com.

Ultraflex has introduced UltraMesh Paramount, a US-made, bright white 9 ounce PVC coated polyester mesh with superior printability across most ink types; printable on two sides with UV and Solvent inks. This mesh has a 30 percent airflow through; it is constructed with slit-like holes for an enhanced image compared to traditional meshes.

Paramount is best suited for large images on building, stadium and fence wraps, murals, signs, banners, protective barriers for scaffolding as well as theatrical and TV backdrops. It has superior FR performance (NFPA 701, CA Title 19 and CSFM certificates) and is available in seamless wide-widths ranging from 126 to 196 inches.

 

HEXIS USA will be exhibiting at this year's ISA International Sign Expo in Las Vegas to launch its new Latex digital printing film and gloss laminate destined for vehicle wrapping applications. Both films are free of all materials with certain environmental issues such as PVC, solvents, plasticisers and heavy metals. The compound is flexible and conformable enough to be suitable for car wraps and in general applications that demand a conformable film.

The HXL300WG2 has a thickness of 3.9mil and boasts a printed and laminated vertical outdoor exposure of 3 years. It can be printed with all types of solvent and eco-solvent inks including Mutoh Bio inks and HP Latex ink.

Also on show will be new multi-layered HX30000 cast vinyls with exciting surface structures such carbon, alligator and super-matt.

Both the Latex and the cast vinyls are for dry application and they carry a structured PE-liner to make the film repositionable during application and ease egress of trapped air bubbles.

At ISA in Las Vegas HEXIS is on booth # 1709. Two vehicle wraps will be on demo daily throughout the show.

 

Epson® announces that its well-received range of fine art quality papers, previously only available in cut sheet sizes, are now also available in roll form.
 
The range of fine art papers - Hot Press Bright, Hot Press Natural, Cold Press Bright and Cold Press Natural – has become very popular within a very short space of time with leading artists, photographers, museums and galleries around the world. 
 
The range of papers - linen and acid-free, and made of 100% cotton – are available in warm white and bright white, with either a smooth or textured finishes. The textured versions have a distinctive patina that is reminiscent of traditionally-made watercolour paper with the advantage of consistency of finish and colour rendition. Optimised for use with Epson’s UltraChrome ink technology, and certified for use with the recently announced EPSON Digigraphie programme, they deliver outstanding results with richer blacks, smoother tonal transitions and an extended colour gamut. 
 
The papers are fully compatible with Epson’s recently-launched large format fine-art printers, the 24inch Epson Stylus Pro 7890 and 44inch Epson Stylus Pro 9890.
 
“Epson’s fine art papers are noted for their superb image quality, tactile characteristics and colour handling,” notes Martin Johns, market development manager, Pro-Graphics, Epson UK. “Offering the stock in rolls from 17 to 60 inches wide will allow artists and exhibitors greater freedom when producing very large or unusually-sized pieces, while faithfully reproducing all of the vibrancy and subtlety of the original work that the cut sheet sizes have become renowned for.”
 
Key Features

• Unique surfaces produce an original look and feel, with exceptional print quality
• Ph-Buffered 100% cotton substrate, free from linen and acid, ensures consistent and long-lasting results
• Specially-developed coating gives wide colour gamut and rich blacks (high DMax)
• Same quality and weight as existing cut-sheet media, thereby extending use to include large and/or unusual-sized prints.

Pricing, excluding VAT (50ft rolls)

• 17in £88.15
• 24in £117.78
• 44in £221.48
• 60in £258.52

X-Rite, Incorporated, the world leader in colour management, measurement and communication technologies, today announced the immediate availability of version 6 of its InkFormulation and ColorQuality software packages. Developed for ink manufacturers and printers who formulate their own ink, X-Rite's InkFormulation provides a fast, accurate and consistent ink formulation, formula creation, storage, approval and retrieval solution for offset, flexographic, gravure and screen-printing inks. InkFormulation 6 and ColorQuality 6 give ink suppliers and printers more flexibility over recipes and assortments, improve basic materials handling, automatically determines the right ink film thickness and helps to eliminate hazardous waste.  InkFormulation 6 and ColorQuality 6 are now also XRGA compliant.
 
Thanks to a sophisticated maths engine that provides better prediction of ink interactivity with substrates, InkFormulation 6 is able to rapidly calculate the optimal and most cost-effective recipe based on the printing process, ink, illumination, pigment pricing, and number of components and materials to be used. InkFormulation 6 helps printers and ink suppliers speed up the ink formulation workflow process (including liquid inks and special inks), with consistent, reproducible results on a broad variety of substrates and ink film thicknesses, including transparent films and metalised substrates.  It also increases colour accuracy, helping to meet colour specifications better than ever before.
 
With version 6's newly improved Basic Material Module, users can work with a variety of additives within one assortment, allowing them to change a single additive in a recipe without having to re-do the draw down or create a completely new assortment. The new enhancements of this module significantly simplify the handling of assortments and recipes, giving users more control over their ink database.
 
The new Film Thickness Calibration Module allows users to quickly and precisely determine the right ink thickness for flexo, gravure and screen-printing. Users no longer need to re-measure known recipes for different line screens or rollers and adjust the film thickness manually; they can simply enter the roller or screen volume as a parameter. The software will automatically calculate the required film thickness and apply it to the whole assortment.
 
InkFormulation 6 and ColorQuality 6 now both support the new X-Rite Graphic Arts Standard (XRGA).  Databases in both applications contain XRGA data, and data being imported from connected instruments will automatically be converted, if necessary.  Version 5 databases will be automatically converted as well when imported into version 6.
 
X-Rite's renowned Leftover Management feature, also included in InkFormulation 6 allows leftover inks to be reused in new recipes during the formulation process. InkFormulation provides recommendations on how to reduce the amount of leftover inks and allows for any surplus to be reworked into new formulations, reducing inventory and waste, lowering disposal costs and providing a rapid return on users' InkFormulation investment (typical ROI for spot colour printers, especially in flexo, gravure and screen printing is less than 6 months).
 
InkFormulation 6 offers unsurpassed flexibility of data exchange with networked databases and Internet communication features so ink suppliers and printers can efficiently share colour data with locations across the globe. The new version now also supports the latest generation of CxF (Color Exchange Format), the universal file format for colour communication, allowing them to accurately and unambiguously communicate all commercially significant aspects of their ink's formulation requirements. At each step of the process, colours are defined and stored as CxF files so that they can be seamlessly and faithfully exchangedbetween instruments and applications throughout the printing workflow.

Current users of X-Rite's Color Master software who choose to switch to InkFormulation 6 to take advantage of these new ground-breaking features will also be able to easily import their existing databases.
 
InkFormulation 6 also features a number of usability enhancements including: more flexible sorting criteria for recipes; direct and simplified substrate database access; a new Print Layout Editor to allow users to define and customise their print layouts (logos, images and labels can be inserted and printed to label ink cans and simplify inventory creation); a new 'undo' function to allow users to return to the preceding step within the formulation workflow rather than having to begin all over again; simplified user administration tools.
 
InkFormulation's advanced matching algorithms improve results, especially in highly opaque applications or when formulating for use on different substrates such as metallic foils and transparent films. Final colour correction is quick and easy, and can even be done on-press.
 
InkFormulation 6 now also features a digital library pack including the new PANTONE PLUS SERIES (C, U), PANTONE Goe System (C, U) libraries, the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM (M) libraries and the HKS (E, K, N, Z) libraries. The libraries provide data for No-filter, Pol-filter, D65-filter and UVcut-filter (PANTONE libraries only) measurements.
 
InkFormulation is available in four versions:
 
InkFormulation PrinterBasic

A cost-effective system designed for small to medium sized printers. Users can easily and quickly formulate custom inks, working with a database supplied by their preferred ink manufacturer. Configured with an X-Rite Color Handheld device, this solution is ideal for the printers who previously could not justify having in-house formulation capabilities.
 
InkFormulation PrinterPro

Formulate custom inks without creating and maintaining a colorant database. You can import and work with colorant databases supplied by your preferred ink manufacturer. Includes ColorQuality software to guarantee precise measurement, continuous control, and consistent documentation.
 
InkFormulation Manufacturer

A full version of InkFormulation designed for the Ink Manufacturer, providing the ability to create, store and modify a colorant database. This allows users to build and maintain a complete colorant database featuring all the inks they use.
 
InkFormulation Online

A web-client solution for ink manufacturers and suppliers that allows their customers to access a centralised, easily-updatable database of ink formulation via the Internet. Printers who do not wish to install local ink formulation capability can easily access high quality ink formulation databases they can rely on for mixing and matching inks.