Reading color

(READING BETWEEN THE HUES)
The proportion of metal inks used in packaging printing is greater than other types of specialty inks, and most of them are self-provisioned according to customer requirements.

Two years ago, PackagingPrinting conducted an annual survey of the use of specialty inks in industries such as labels, flexible packaging, and cartons. The results found that the most popular metal ink - 83% of respondents said that in 1998 used metal ink.

By 2001, PP's survey results showed that this situation has not changed much, and metal inks are still the most popular varieties. However, due to the continuous emergence of special ink types, people's demand for special inks presents a more diversified feature, and the demand for fluorescent inks is increasing. Seen from the varieties that have been popular in recent years, the color inks that are modulated according to customer requirements are the top ones.

The figures show that all 65% of respondents said they use metallic ink. This is not overstated, because metal inks are easy to operate, users also like this type of product, the packaging of beautiful gold or silver, gives a symbol of identity.

In contrast, photochromic inks have the lowest support rate, only 2%. Analysts believe that the era of “photosensitive discoloration” has not yet arrived, and people’s experience in using photosensitive inks has not yet been accumulated, so users are very cautious when trying out. Most ink suppliers have not sold this type of ink in the United States and believe that no market has been formed in the United States. If necessary, they are only imported from Europe.

48% of the respondents believe that color matching is the biggest challenge for special ink applications. The color matching of special inks is the main force driving the development of flexible printing. Analysts believe that the screen printing can be chosen to make the special inks appear vivid colors. At present, 70% of respondents stated that they use this ink on screen printing equipment. According to reports, the use of such inks for digital printing is most difficult because most inks for specialty inks are too large for digital presses, and the current colors of inks are too small. Most printers agree with this view. Relatively speaking, the application of specialty inks in the field of digital printing has indeed lagged behind other applications.

The benefits of using special inks are numerous, but the majority of respondents reflect only a few aspects. 56% of people like its vibrant color and saturation, 37% like its larger color range, and 11% think it can replace other more expensive materials or processes.

The use of special inks must have technical support: 46% of the interviewees think they need to provide moderate technical support, while 30% think that they need to provide a higher degree of technical support. In general, with the recognition and understanding of special inks such as metallic inks or fluorescent inks, the degree of technical support has been reduced, but new technologies in ink development will trigger new demands for technical support. For example, some ink companies are trying to provide technical services for conductive and loss-resistant inks.

Inking ink?
80% of respondents indicated that they used their own set of color inks. Among them, another 70% said they prepared ink. This trend is especially noticeable in the flexible printing industry, and since offset inks need to be ground, it is not common for offset printing to dispense inks on their own.

For flexographic printing, 3/4 printers use the Pantone ink system to formulate inks. And this method will be more and more extensive, because the cost of homemade ink is getting cheaper and cheaper. And more and more deployment systems are available on the market, which in turn makes the production cost of the unit ink even lower, and the equipment for modulating the ink is becoming increasingly cheaper.

Users realize that the ease of operation of their dispensing system is one of the reasons for their widespread dissemination. As long as the printing company casually calls a person to the equipment, it will operate the machine after two or three days. Previously, it took a few weeks to learn.

Another advantage of self-configured inks is that they save time. Color separation and photocopying, which used to take 7 days to complete, is now shortened to 3 days, and it also eliminates additional costs such as transportation, production stoppages and overtime. For printers who require low production costs, they can make their own profits. It is obvious.

Do not deploy yourself?
PP's survey results show that 43% of people are still choosing other methods to formulate inks. There may be several reasons. Some people think that self-formulation may lead to higher costs, and the cost of this depends on who will complete the preparation. For example, sometimes, suppliers bring their own people to make preparations, users do not need to increase manpower and salary. However, if the supplier is required to pay for such work, the production cost can be increased at once.

Some printing companies hire specialized formulators and arrange many jobs for them. However, if there is a special arrangement for a person, there may be times when nothing can be done.

The future of specialty inks - electronic ink?
Electronic ink is an ink consisting of thousands of microcapsules suspended in a black pigment. Each microcapsule contains light particles. When an electric field is applied, these particles will collect at one end of the microcapsules, presenting a white spot. When the opposite electric field is applied, these particles will move to the other end of the microcapsules, white will not be visible, and the ink will appear black. This ink can be printed on various media and can be remotely operated.

80% of packaging printers said that if this technology is widely used, they are willing to try. Some people are also skeptical about the feasibility of the new technology before it truly reflects its value, but also need to understand some other necessary conditions, such as the requirements of the printing press, additional costs or other ancillary equipment and so on.

Only 9% of the surveyed online ink purchasers indicated that they were willing to order special inks online. 67% said they were reluctant to take this risk, and the remaining 1/4 were unclear. They only indicated that they might try. The results of this survey are quite representative. Some large ink companies currently only have 5% of their orders through the Internet.

Although some e-commerce sites receive many orders online, it is difficult to reach a real transaction.

One of the benefits of online trading is that the delivery site can retain many of the customer's special requirements. Someone is going to build a website like this -----INKformation. It is hoped that the website will be built as a truly interactive website, offering a variety of ink technologies, management-related information, and documentation of important customer data. In INKformation, users can also create information on web pages for ordering, printing and inventory records.

Maybe in the future, we will really realize the purchase of ink through the Internet.