THINKING INK...

Are you using ink made specifically for your location?

A recent survey conducted by IT Strategies and released by PRIMIR* discusses the challenges and "steep learning curve" involved in coming up with the right UV-ink, blanket, roller, plates and substrates balance. The report also mentions that once the right combination is found, UV shops gain a "competitive advantage"

Many of our customers had been expressing  their own challenges with UV "balance",  even before the very timely receipt of the PRIMIR report. Accordingly, WebPress asked them to participate in a survey of consumable supplies, settings, and ink orders being used on their UV lines.  WebPress feels the sharing of this information will benefit existing users and greatly lessen the "learning curve" for new users, accomplishing a positive ROI.

An example of the results: several customers reported that their ink suppliers (US Ink, Joules Angstrom, & Zeller Gmelin) had "tweaked" the formulation of the UV ink specifically for their location.  Some inks became "lower tack".  Another user reported decreased pilling once his ink was perfected for his press.

CLICK HERE to read the results in our User Group.

Has your ink supplier given you a specific formulation for coldset use on your Web Leader, Atlas, or Quad-Stack units? 

Please let us know about this in the User Group  so other members can benefit from this information

*This report is available exclusively to PRIMIR members.  If interested, please see their website.

Makes sense when you think about it...

Oil based and water based inks have different properties that affect the de-inking process used during paper recycling. As the soap bubbles rise up through the pulp water, the oil based inks cling to the bubbles, and the ink can then be easily separated from the pulp.  As water based inks don't attach to the bubbles, the pulp requires additional wash cycles to clean away all the ink.

Ink Use - Best Practices 

PNEAC (Printers' National Environmental Assistance Center) has provided useful information regarding best management practices and available non-VOC inks.  To access this info, click HERE  

Newspaper Ink...Safe or Toxic?

Any newsprint, whether printed in black and white or color, is safe to use as mulch on a garden bed or as an ingredient in compost, even for vegetables. It won't harm plants, earthworms, bugs or people. In fact, shredded Tribunes are used as bedding for dairy cattle on Wisconsin farms.

Erroneous warnings about toxic heavy metals in ink, especially color ink, date from decades ago, back when lead type was used in printing. Since then, the technology of printing newspapers has completely changed. The EPA has imposed regulations on waste, and all newspaper ink manufacturers have altered their formulas to exclude heavy metals, says Brad Evans, an ink specialist with the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation in Pittsburgh.          Source: Chicago Tribune 

The Economical Jeeves Heat-set System

English nobility and others who are not short of a penny or two solve the problem of cold-set ink rub-off by  having the butler iron the newspaper beforehand!

Source: BBC News 

Increase your vocabulary:  Chromaticity

The intensity or saturation level of a particular hue, defined as the distance of departure of a chromatic color from the neutral (gray) color with the same value.

For all you could EVER want to know about ink and color, click HERE.