Unilustre® DI for Digital Print

By Jeff Peterson, editor-in-chief, PostPress

Unilustre^® DI from Unifoil, East Farfield, New Jersey, is an exciting new range of metallized materials that has been developed specifically for the global digital print market.

Produced using a proprietary manufacturing and optimization process, Unilustre DI combines premium quality with sustainability. Available for flexo, offset and digital print production, the product is plastic-free, solvent-free and certified 100% repulpable and recyclable.

Converter Benefits

Historically, digital printers wanting to print on metallic materials using opaque white ink could only use MetPET (plastic polyester film coated with a microscopic layer of vaporized aluminum) or metallized polyester. This type of substrate is difficult to print on because of the top layer of plastic film and has not been widely tested or qualified by the digital printing press OEMs. Additionally, it is not optimized for different inks (toner, inkjet, etc.) and can cause machines breakdowns and/or operator injury due to static build up/ESD (electrostatic discharge).

Unilustre DI is developed specifically to replace these materials and has been meticulously designed to negate the inherent issues with metallized paper/boards that contain a polyester film top layer.

The Unilustre DI range of products is:

Fully tested, qualified and/or certified by digital OEMs.
Easy to use with press settings developed for different digital presses.
Optimized for all ink types, including toner, inkjet and UV.
User and machine friendly with no risk of static build up and/or ESD (electrostatic discharge).
Designed to enable zero waste production.
100% repulpable and recyclable as it contains no plastic film.

With Unilustre DI, converters running a five- or six-color digital press can produce printed and foil embellished products in a single pass while offering many creative benefits for designers and brand owners. White opaque ink provides the ability to “mask” areas that are designed to not show the metallic substrate while an unlimited number of metallic colors can be created by overprinting CMYK. Software from Color-Logic provides the ability to proof metallic colors prior to printing.

Esteemed illustrator Greg Horn and his exclusive art collection won Gold for “Best Use of Transfer Metallized Substrate (Industry Supplier)” by Unifoil Corporation/Color-Logic at the recent FSEA Gold Leaf Awards. The winning collaboration entry utilized Unifoil’s Unilustre® DI metallized material.

Additionally, converters can produce metallic and/or holographic embellishments with added design complexity without having to compromise print quality or product sustainability.

Applications

Unilustre DI creates possibilities for all types of print and embellishment applications, including:

Short and medium run cartons and labels
Magazine or brochure covers
Short and medium run trading cards

“The feedback from our customers is overwhelmingly positive and many now are entering new markets through inline or added embellishments,” commented Mark Kempster, global director, Unilustre Digital for Unifoil Corporation. “The ability to print digitally on a plastic-free, metallic material provides endless production and sustainability benefits for our customers.”

For more details on Unilustre DI and other Unifoil products, visit www.unifoil.com.