The development of new technologies and inks in printing is key to getting better results in efficiency and sustainability. Just recently Canon has announced the launch of a new kind of ink and its new print head technology for roll-to-roll printers. The use of both is said to reduce printing costs by up to 40 percent.
In September Canon presented the new UV Gel ink for the first time. It will offer large format print providers, and an unprecedented combination of productivity, image quality, application range, automation and low-cost operation. The ink instantly gels when it comes into contact with the media it is printed on. The result is a precice dot placement, and area control for consistent high-quality images at high speed. Therefore pictures can be printed repeatedly at the maximum of efficiency and quality. Additionally, the ink leaves almost no discernible physical profile thanks to ultra-thin ink dispersion. Compared to eco-solvent or latex printing this helps to save almost half of the ink of conventional printing technologies.
“In addition, the unique ink formulation provides the wide colour gamut of solvent inks, together with the environmental advantages and safety profile of latex and UV inks – it’s a fantastic combination,“ says Adrian Morris, Canon Australia’s Manager of Display Graphics. He also talked about the benefits for print providers: “The potential is extremely exciting with technological advances encompassing both ink and print head developments. It provides an entirely new way for print businesses to produce cost-effective, high-quality printing with non-toxic, durable, and colour-fast results on virtually any flexible media.”
Along with the new UV gel ink Canon introduced new hardware elements, which will might have a great effect on printing. They include advanced ‘next generation’ piezoelectric print heads, and a unique LED UV curing sub-system, completely independent of the printing system, which ensures identical jetting to curing time for every ink droplet – a feature Morris says provides unprecedented uniformity across the printed image.
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