Printing Inks

Printing inks are essential in offset, flexo and digital printing processes, directly influencing image quality, color fidelity and print stability. Depending on the printing substrate and the technology used, inks have different properties regarding drying, adhesion and rub resistance.

The Printman portfolio covers ten subcategories: offset process inks, Pantone / SPOT inks mixed to order, heatset and coldset inks, UV, H-UV and LED-UV inks, flexo UV and LED-UV inks (including IDFC-certified for food packaging), security inks and special inks (fluorescent, thermochromic, photochromic, metallic, anti-counterfeit reactive).

Main brands

• Flint Group — offset process, heatset, coldset, mixed inks (Novavit BCS, Novasens, Novaboard, H-UV, LED-UV)
• Sakata
• Fujifilm

Alternative brands

• SakataInx
• Huber Group
• Toyo ink
• Sun Chemical
• Siegwerk

How often do you run into these problems?

• The ink doesn't behave correctly on the press. It dries in the duct, poor transfer, creates misting, tones, a deficient ink-water balance, the dampening system gets dirty too quickly, glazed rollers and plates. These are problems that arise in daily production and cost time, material and quality, and that most often do not come from the ink alone, but from a combination of ink, dampening water and press settings.
• The color doesn't come out right. Colors are not stable throughout the run or differ from the sample. Coverage is poor, the pigment is not intense enough, or the color changes from one order to another. When using Pantone and SPOT colors, any color deviation means waste, and a supplier who mixes correctly makes the difference.
• The ink doesn't hold up after printing. Rub-resistance problems in finishing, set-off onto the back of sheets in the stack, signs that drying was not fully achieved or that the ink is not compatible with the finishing applied afterwards.
• The technology has changed and the current ink can no longer cope. Switching to UV, H-UV or LED-UV, to new substrates or to certification requirements (food packaging, security) requires a different ink, not an adjustment of the existing one.

Customers who come to us with ink-related needs frequently also face recurring technical problems identified in production, such as:

• Excessive emulsification — ink-water imbalance that affects stability and coverage in long runs.
• Impeded drying or instability during printing — ink unsuitable for the press speed or for the substrate used.
• Toning and dirtying of non-image areas — combined causes of ink + water + plate, not necessarily a product defect.
• Poor pigmentation — ink of too low quality or a formula unsuitable for the chosen substrate.