Can gravure printing use water-based ink
Date: Sep 14 2023 From: Star Color
As an efficient and widely used printing technology on various materials, gravure printing has gradually shifted its ink selection towards a more environmentally friendly direction in recent years with the increasing awareness of environmental protection. Among them, water-based ink has gradually become one of the important ink choices for gravure printing machines due to its unique environmental characteristics and good printing effects.
The following are the advantages and disadvantages of water-based ink for gravure printing:
advantage
1. Significant environmental friendliness
The biggest advantage of water-based ink is its environmental friendliness. It does not contain volatile organic solvents (VOCs), which significantly reduces VOC emissions during the printing process, helps improve environmental quality, and reduces potential harm to the environment and human health. This characteristic has led to an increasing emphasis on the application of water-based ink in gravure printing, especially in fields that require high environmental protection, such as food packaging, pharmaceutical packaging, etc.
2. Excellent printing characteristics
Water based ink has stable ink properties, does not corrode the plate material, and is easy to operate. During the printing process, it can present full patterns and bright colors, meeting various high-quality printing needs. At the same time, water-based ink has strong adhesion and good water resistance, which can achieve good printing effects on various materials. In addition, with the advancement of technology, the drying speed of water-based ink has also been significantly improved, further enhancing printing efficiency.
3. High cost-effectiveness
Although the raw material price of water-based ink may be slightly higher than that of traditional solvent based ink, the cost difference is smaller due to its relatively lower oil consumption and larger printing area. Therefore, in practical applications, the cost-effectiveness of water-based ink is relatively high. In addition, the use of water-based ink can reduce losses and waste caused by solvent evaporation, further reducing production costs.
shortcoming
1. The drying speed is relatively slow
The boiling point of water in water-based ink is relatively high, and the heat of evaporation is large, resulting in a relatively slow drying speed of printed materials. This may require additional hot air drying equipment to improve drying speed, increasing energy consumption and costs. Meanwhile, slow drying speed may also affect printing speed and production efficiency, especially in high-speed printing processes.
2. Limited environmental adaptability
Printed materials with water-based ink may absorb moisture and become sticky in high humidity environments, which can affect the storage and use of printed materials. Therefore, when using water-based ink for gravure printing, special attention should be paid to controlling the environmental humidity to ensure stable quality of the printed material.
3. Printing effect is limited
Although water-based inks can exhibit good printing effects in most cases, their adhesion and abrasion resistance may not be as good as solvent based inks under certain specific material and process requirements. In addition, the glossiness of water-based ink may also be relatively poor, which requires optimization and adjustment in formula and process.
4. Increased operational complexity
Due to the special properties of water-based ink, such as drying speed and environmental adaptability, printing operators need to have higher skills and experience to deal with various possible problems. This increases the complexity and difficulty of the operation, requiring printing companies to strengthen employee training and technical support.
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