UV Technology Continues to Push Boundaries

Opening Up New Possibilities

UV — specifically UV presses with LED drying capabilities — fills a wide range of needs. LED curing, also known as “cold curing,” doesn’t use heat, which means delicate or thin substrates that warp and deform easily can now be used at speed on the press. For printers running the technology, it opens the door to saying “yes” to a variety of odd, unusual or flat-out weird requests that walk through the door.

“Since LED curing produces very little heat, working with heat-sensitive media without deformation or shrinkage is something you can offer your customers,” explains Kaz Kudo, associate marketing manager, Fujifilm North America Corporation, Graphic Systems Division.

That ability has led to jobs that were traditionally printed on gravure or offset presses — and done in very large runs — to start shifting to the digital realm. Wallpaper is one of those applications, with retail locations and brands looking for unique wallcoverings that can be changed as often as needed to keep the space looking and feeling fresh and in sync with the current season or promotional materials.

“We’re seeing a lot of customers doing wall décor,” says John Kaufman, senior specialist, marketing, Large Format Solutions, Canon Solutions America. “It’s a very popular application right now, and customers are looking for something outside of what they’ve traditionally gotten from latex. UV is more durable than latex, and because it’s cold-cured the material won’t distort.”

But it’s not just thinner, heat-sensitive media that is helping to set UV printing apart from other technologies. As printers are getting more comfortable with experimentation, they are starting to push not just the inks, but the varnish and other options on a UV press to greater and greater heights.

“I think what I’ve seen is more unique things done with the white and varnish that are UV as well,” notes Mark Rugen, director of product marketing and education at Mutoh America. For example, he said there are some “wine bottle labels that have a texture to them. I’ve also seen a lot of artwork being done now building up the varnish and white ink, so it almost looks like it’s painted by hand.”

Printers can create unique pieces that stand out using layered printing, which is something many of the modern UV presses are capable of in a single pass. Previously, these effects often took multiple passes and a great deal of time to create. The ability to create these designs at production speeds can be a game-changer for shops willing to push UV presses to the limits.

“With the capability of layered printing, each printer can deliver dynamic backlit graphics, or graphics that are transformed with different light sources, which are certain to command high margins,” says Scott Champeau, general manager at Mimaki USA. “UV-curable inks also offer greater opacity with less ink consumption than other ink formulations. [A] high-opacity white ink combined with five-layered printing enables specialized applications, such as ‘push/pull’ door signs.”