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TECHNOLOGY, INKS AND PAPER FOR
inkjet printing
M-real Digital imaging
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Definition INKJET PRINTING IS A NON-IMPACT DOT MATRIX PRINTING TECHNOLOGY IN WHICH SMALL Contents DROPLETS OR PARTICLES OF INK ARE JETTED FROM A SMALL APERTURE (IN RAPID SUCCESSION Inkjet Technology: an overview 3 AND UNDER COMPUTER CONTROL) DIRECTLY TO A SPECIFIED POSITION Heads, Modes and Nozzles 5 ON THE SURFACE OF A SUBSTRATE, Putting the INK into INKjet 8 IN ORDER TO CREATE AN IMAGE. Designs on Inkjet Paper 11 The question is?... 12 Inkjet’s different images 14 Cut to Size 14 The Larger Ch
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Inkjet Technology Overview WHEN INKJET PRINTING FIRST CAME ON THE SCENE PRINT QUALITY WAS GENERALLY UNSATISFACTORY. HOWEVER, DUE TO DEVELOPMENTS IN HARDWARE (PRINTERS), SOFTWARE, INKS AND SUBSTRATES, VERY GOOD PRINTED RESULTS . (IMPROVED PRINT QUALITY IS NOT ONLY DOWN TO BETTER CANNOW BE ACHIEVED , BUT A VARIETY OF CHANGES IN THE WHOLE ARENA) PAPER In the early days of inkjet print technology development, poor colour image quality due to ink spreading and inter-colour bleeding (that is where the
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Continuous inkjet Continuous inkjet – perhaps most widely used in the Meanwhile, another continuous inkjet concept - the Hertz industrial coding, marking and labelling markets - can concept (named after Professor Hertz of the Lund be designed using a binary or multiple deflection Institute of Technology in Sweden) - can be given system. separate classification because of its unique way of obtaining gray scale through a burst of small drops. By Put simply, with a binary deflection system some of
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Heads, Modes and Nozzles A THERMAL INKJET PRINT HEAD IS EQUIPPED WITH A RESISTOR, WHICH HEATS THE INK USING ELECTRICITY. THE VAPOUR INSIDE THE PRINT HEAD’S FIRING CHAMBER EXPANDS AND PUSHES THE INK OUT OF THE NOZZLE, WHILE THE REMAINING VAPOUR BUBBLE COLLAPSES AFTER COOLING AND SUCKS NEW INK INTO THE FIRING CHAMBER. THROUGH CHANGING THE HEAT ENERGY, THE INK- DROP SIZE CAN BE TUNED ACCORDING TO THE APPLICATION REQUIRED. The main drawback with thermal inkjet print heads is that they have a shorte
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Print head configurations Inkjet technology is used in many different architectures In a typical bend-mode design, the piezoceramic plates and with different operating principles, depending on the are bonded to the diaphragm forming an array of configuration of its print heads. With thermal inkjet bilaminar electromechanical transducers used to eject technology, for example, the print head can be a roof the ink droplets. shooter, with an orifice located on top of the heater, or a side-shooter,
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All of these designs and their drop performances Because smaller ink drop volume is required to achieve ultimately determine the quality and throughput of a higher resolution printing, the nozzle diameter of print printed image. The trend in the industry is in jetting heads has become increasingly small. With the trends smaller droplets for image quality, generating faster towards smaller diameters and lower cost, the laser drop frequency through a higher number of nozzles for ablation method ha
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Putting the Ink into Inkjet ARGUABLY ONE OF THE MOST CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF INKJET PRINTING IS THE INK USED. INK CHEMISTRY AND FORMULATIONS CAN NOT ONLY DICTATE (IN ) THE FINAL QUALITY OF THE PRINTED IMAGE - E.G. THE PART AT LEAST , THE IMAGE’S LIGHTFASTNESS, ETC - BUT AN INK’S BRILLIANCE OF COLOUR VISCOSITY AND OTHER PROPERTIES CAN ALSO HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE DROP EJECTION CHARACTERISTICS AND THEREFORE THE RELIABILITY OF THE . PRINTING SYSTEM USED For this reason, many different types of inks ha
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Pigmented/Dye-based Inks Another major recent development in the inkjet printing industry is the successful implementation and commercialisation of pigmented inks in colour printing applications. Many companies including recognised colour quality leaders like 3M, Dupont and Kodak already have pigmented inkjet ink products on the market. Dye based inks are made by completely dissolving dyes in a carrier that enables the dye to be easily applied. Dyes are much stronger and produce more colour of
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Solvent/Oil-based Inks Wax/Polymer-based Inks Solvent-based inks are commonly used in industrial Solid (hot-melt) ink, as referred to in the Inkjet marking or coating applications where the printing is Technology Overview, is usually solvent-based and is effectively solid at room temperature. This ink is jetted done on a nonporous substrate such as plastic, metal, out from the print head as a molten liquid and, upon or glass. Because no absorption or penetration hitting a recording surface, the
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Designs on Inkjet Paper IF WHAT INK IS USED FOR INKJET PRINTING IS IMPORTANT, SO IS THE CHOICE OF STOCK. THE IDEAL WISH-LIST WHEN LOOKING AT DESIRED PROPERTIES OF PAPER USED IN INKJET PRINTING, WOULD INCLUDE: Optimum print colour density (good fixation); • Fast drying time without paper curl or cockle (fast • absorption); High brightness; • Lightfast and waterfast qualities; • Wet rub and scuff resistance (no ink smearing); • Lateral ink spread to enhance text resolution and • colour-to-co
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The questions is ? . . . After a while the image looks like it has a metallic The image looks very grainy and pixelated, curves sheen in dark areas have a stepped appearance ‘Bronzing’ occurs when dye-to-dye interactions compete Many images from the web or free CD’s can be of low with the dye to substrate interactions. The dyes in the resolution. In general a full-page bitmap file will be ink aggregate or crystallise on the paper surface, which several megabytes in size, although the stored ver
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Factors Influencing Image Quality Properties Key factors to achieving: The shadow areas look grainy but the rest of Sharpness Uniform and circular dots, exact placement, the print it OK controlled dot gain The effect, often referred to as ‘coalescence’, refers to the way in which the ink is absorbed into the media. Contrast Minimal ink penetration into substrate, Several things can be done to counter it, the most controlled dot gain important is to choose the correct print mode in the printer
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Inkjet’s different images ASTOUCHED ON THROUGHOUT THIS DOCUMENT, INKJET PRINTING TECHNOLOGIES ARE USED IN A WIDE RANGE OF APPLICATIONS INCLUDING HOME, OFFICE, LARGE FORMAT, INDUSTRIAL, THREE-DIMENSIONAL, MEDICAL, PACKAGING, TEXTILE AND OTHER SPECIALTY PRINTING SECTORS AND EVEN COMMERCIAL WEB-FED PRINT WORK. In newly emerging areas like medical Cut to Size imaging and 3-D printing, significant improvement still needs to be made to In the office network colour printer the print head design and in
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SOHO Paper Demands Cut size stock for SOHO printing environments can be split into four main types: - Glossy coated paper is ideal for photo- realistic imaging, but often considerably more expensive due to the PE coating, the binding systems, the different pigments, namely special pigments which allow high transparence and high absorption and/or the fixation agent. - Matt coated paper typically has a silica- based coating, but still holds good colour graphics quality. - Lightly coated multi-func
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The Larger Chunk ANOTHER MARKET SECTOR WHERE INKJET PRINTING HAS MADE HUGE INROADS IN RECENT YEARS IS LARGE FORMAT PRINTING. The introduction of wider print heads and multiple arrays coupled with the availability of increasingly high performance inks - UV curing, water-resistant, pigmented inks (see Putting the Ink into Inkjet, pages 8-10) - have brought about a revolution in the large format application capabilities of inkjet. And, as a considerably faster printing technology with a wider col
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Colour in Profile BEFORE EVEN GETTING INTO PRINTED BEHAVIOURAL QUIRKS CAUSED BY THE USE OF DIFFERENT INKS ON DIFFERENT PAPERS, OR HOW THE SAME INKJET DEVICE MAKE AND MODEL CAN PERFORM DIFFERENTLY UNDER CHANGING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, LIKE DIFFERING HUMIDITY LEVELS OR TEMPERATURES, IT IS WORTH NOTING TOO THAT COLOURS LOOK DIFFERENT UNDER VARYING VIEWING CONDITIONS. This variable is known as metemerism and essentially ICC profiles permit tremendous flexibility points to the fact that an optimu
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Jetting Trends ‘INFORMATION IS KING. THE SUNDAY EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES ON AVERAGE CONTAINS MORE INFORMATION THAN WAS PRINTED IN THE WHOLE OF THE 15TH CENTURY.’ MARTHA BECK, O MAGAZINE, APRIL 2002) In spite of multiple advances in inkjet printing technology As a backdrop to all this, inkjet printer manufacturers over the last decade, all the indications are that the are continually looking at new ways of creating a technology is set to grow even more over the coming competitive edge. With
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2 Produced for M-real Digital imaging by The Bespoke Agency 2002. Printed on silver digital matt 200/150 g/m on an hp indigo press 3000 M-real Digital imaging AN DER GOHRSMÜHLE M-real Digital imaging would 51465 BERGISCH GLADBACH like to thank all the companies DEUTSCHLAND/GERMANY that contributed to the TEL.: +49(0)2202 - 152052 FAX: +49(0)2202 - 152805 production of this brochure.
