Inkjet's Age, a print supplement to Quick Printing, is a business and technology brand dedicated to corporate and senior management and focusing on issues surrounding inkjet printing technology in all its forms. Inkjet's Age covers the industry news,
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18 DECEMBER 2014 • INKJET'S AGE www.MyPRINTResource.com It is important that printers entering the high-speed web inkjet technology have a clear understanding of what types of applications they intend to print, before they make an investment, maintained Ann Whalen, senior vice president - Market- ing & Customer Services of Appleton Coated. "The technology choice may dif- fer from one who intends to print mainly transactional communications. After they have chosen the inkjet technology, then it is best to work closely with the OEM and the paper supplier to ensure optimal performance." With regard to papers, print service providers (PSPs) should ensure they under- stand the quality needs and expectations of customers—is the printed piece low cover- age text or high coverage colored direct mail? Does it require coated glossy stock The Finch Paper Digital Applications team. From left to right, Sheldon Spicer, Peter Veverka, PhD, Phil Hart, Jennifer Sweenor, and Tom Ruch. Media Certification H ow can print providers ensure their inkjet job runs flawlessly every time? Paper compatibility with their production inkjet device is one key to the puzzle. By JOANN WHITCHER Assures Runnability or uncoated papers? And finally, which papers have been specifically designed to work with the particular equipment and ink type? The Paper Challenge Most of the high-speed inkjet web tech- nology platforms perform well with un- coated papers, although for high coverage colored images, an inkjet-treated uncoated may be the best option, said Whalen. For commercial printing, textbooks, and direct mail options, where coated papers are required, high-speed inkjet presents a few more challenges. This is because the design of coated papers, especially the high-gloss finish papers, makes it difficult to absorb the high water load associated with inkjet inks. When a printer is choosing to use coated papers, paper compatibility with the ink and the printing technology is critical. "The challenge for paper scientists is keeping the colorant on the surface while controlling the amount of dot spread and absorption," explained Beth A. Povie, marketing director, Finch Paper. "Inkjet inks contain upwards of 90 percent water, and since the colorant tends to follow the water, it is carried to the core of the sub- strate. This causes show-through issues for duplex applications, particularly on lighter basis weights." The water inherent in inkjet inks must be removed both through absorption into the paper and by drying the paper to en- sure that the ink colorants stay in place during this process, explained David Mur- phy, WW director, marketing & business development, Inkjet High-speed Produc- tion Solutions, HP. "We know that uncoated offset papers are absorptive, but without bonding agent or a special inkjet treatment of the paper, the colorants tend to sink into the fiber, resulting in a lower color gamut and colors bleeding into each other, he explained. "Offset coated papers have a closed sur- face, and the water sits on top of the paper, causing the ink to coalesce and impact the image quality of the print. In this case, you either need to prime the paper or use a pa- per with a coating designed specifically for high-speed inkjet printing." HP High-speed Inkjet Web Presses offer customers multiple media options, report- ed Murphy. These include: • Using HP Bonding Agent to provide compatibility with a wide range of uncoated offset papers and some offset coated papers. • Using HP Priming Agents, designed for offset coated papers, which allows cus- tomers to use a variety of offset coated papers. • Using uncoated and coated inkjet papers with HP-developed ColorPRO Technol- ogy, which are designed specifically for HP Inkjet Web Presses. Optimizing Media HP started working with key paper companies in advance of introducing its Inkjet Web Press to develop inkjet-opti-