UV inks are of interest expecially for newspaper printers in South Asia, to add value for readers and advertisers in production. Printers who have not the option of heatset are looking for ways to increase the printable colour space and improve colour appearance.

This was the focus of the presentation of Nandini Choudhury, chief technical manager, DIC India, at WAN-IFRA India 2016 Conference in Kolkata on 21 and 22 September.

UV inks dry through a photomechanical process instead of evaporation and absorption. Choudhury said as UV inks dry on plastic and other non-porous substrates, the scope for value addition increases.

“Precautions of using UV printing inks are that you do not put UV printing inks in direct sunlight, do not mix conventional printing inks with UV and avoid mixing metallic colour (silver/gold) and normal printing inks as much possible,” Choudhury said.

According to Choudhury, UV printing inks handling and storage is critical. Inks should be stored in black polythene containers. The temperature has to be between 15 to 30°C. The storage area has to be ventilated. The person handling the inks must wear UV resistant neoprene gloves and aprons. “In case of accidental spillage on body, use neutral ph-6 liquid soap for cleaning.”

The future will be LED UV, which is superior to mercury lamps, she added. In LED UV there is no mercury, since it has instant ignition, and it requires less energy.

“UV printing will provide newspapers a great competitive advantage by enabling them to print on matte and gloss finish, coated, hi-brite, news and supercal stocks. The product variety is endless. UV curing systems also assure substantial savings in energy costs, as compared to conventional gas burning ovens,” she summarised.

Download her presentation slides below.