Images_Digital_Edition_November_2019

PF PRINTING INKS www.images-magazine.com 76 images NOVEMBER 2019 Catch up with all the latest developments in screen and digital printing inks from the top brands Think ink Adelco: Kornit Eco Rapid Inks “Kornit ink has been designed and refined over the years, resulting in an environmental, cost-effective and higher quality option for apparel and textile printing needs, and is the first step in leaving the toxic trail behind forever,” says Adelco. The new range of Kornit Eco Rapid inks is said to offer even brighter colours, no odour, a wider colour gamut and a softer feel, making it suitable for retail requirements. Adelco says Kornit inks also benefit from the Kornit integrated pre-treatment as this “eliminates the need for any external pre-treatment process, saving both time and money”. It adds: “The results are truly incredible. The prints are solid, photorealistic, intricate fine details and vivid colours.” In ISO STD tests, Kornit ink scored four out of five on washfastness, and 4.5 out of five in crockfastness. Kornit HD ink is also available from Adelco, which it says is even more cost effective: “It reduces by half the print cost per unit compared to earlier Kornit systems, and so offers much more savings when compared to systems from other manufacturers. “The cost per print depends on the size and resolution of the prints. When printing on light garments with only colour ink, an image 20x20cm has a cost per print of 8-10 pence. When printing on dark garments, with a white layer and colours, the same size image has a total printing cost of 32- 40 pence per print,” adds Adelco. www.adelco.co.uk Xpres: Digital Printing Inks For the digital printing industry, Xpres offers inks to suit a variety of printers and applications. For dye-sublimation, Xpres offers Epson’s four-colour CMYK ink set, which has an optional HDK for textiles and NK (standard black) that is tailored to ChromaLuxe and other hard substrates. Also available are Mimaki’s eight-colour set-ups, which are said to offer a wider colour gamut, including the choice of optional fluorescent colours, as well as a four-colour ink set from Sawgrass for its desktop printers and an eight-colour option for the VJ-628. Xpres also supplies certain Mimaki systems that print pigment ink, which allows for direct printing onto natural textiles, such as cotton and linen. “These inks are perfect for creating interior décor, apparel, fashion accessories and homeware,” says Xpres. Unlike other natural textile printing processes, pigment inks are said to require less water as the textile only needs to be heat cured. A huge variety of solvent and eco- solvent inks from Roland, Mimaki and Mutoh are also available from the company, in either four- or eight-colour set ups, depending on the required colour gamut. These inks promise to “deliver rich, vibrant results every time, whether creating signage or garment heat transfers”. Xpres supplies UV printers in both flatbed and roll-to-roll format. “This ink type enables printing onto virtually any substrate, allowing an array of items from giftware to industrial components to be customised,” adds the company. “Most signage media is also UV compatible, which eliminates drying time when compared to solvent printers.” www.xpres.co.uk A variety of solvent and eco-solvent inks from Roland are available from Xpres Kornit inks benefit from an integrated pretreatment