UV Curing

UV Curing Technologies Panel Added to Print Embellishment Conference Schedule

March 18, 2024

The 2024 Print Embellishment Conference, sponsored by the Foil & Specialty Effects Association (FSEA), PostPress Magazine and Amplify Print, will be held April 9-11 at the Delta Hotels Dallas Southlake in Dallas, Texas. To address the growing area of UV curing technologies for coatings, printing and other embellishments, three industry experts will be on hand for a panel discussion.

Panel members Rod Franson, Carlson Print; Tim Cain, Breit Technologies; and Chris Hogge, Harris & Bruno, will share their experiences with UV and UV LED curing technologies for print and print embellishment applications.

The discussion will include applications in which UV curing technologies are utilized; the advantages and disadvantages for print embellishment; and its growth in offset, flexo and digital print, as well as with special embellishment technologies, such as cold foil transfer, Cast & Cure, specialty UV coatings, and digital inkjet foils and coatings.

Other programming scheduled during the event addresses key topics and market segments of the print embellishment industry, from packaging (cartons and labels) and trading cards to greeting cards, direct mail and more. It also includes expert presentations on digital embellishment trends, sustainable print design and data from a new recyclability study targeting metallic decorating processes.

Over 20 suppliers in the print embellishment/finishing industry will exhibit at the Supplier Trade Fair and Opening Reception on the first evening of the Print Embellishment Conference and during an extended lunch the following day. Virtually all of the leading print embellishment suppliers of foils, engravings, machinery and coatings will be exhibiting, with the full list of exhibitors found on the website.

For more information – including detailed session descriptions, speaker biographies, travel information and easy registration – visit www.fsea.com/print-embellishment-conference or call 785.271.5816.

Baldwin’s AMS Spectral UV to Spotlight Finishing Effects Achievable with LED-UV at Inaugural Amplify

June 12, 2022

AMS Spectral UV, a Baldwin Technology company and North America’s largest manufacturer of UV and LED-UV curing solutions, will spotlight the various effects its LED-UV technology can achieve in booth #714 at the first-ever Amplify finishing, packaging and design event, taking place June 14-16 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During this exhibition, the company will showcase its XP and XV Series for fast, economical sheetfed offset retrofits, as well as its all-new Quatro Series for high-speed web offset and packaging applications.

At the event, the company also will have its look book on hand to further show the range of results its systems can achieve, with effects like neon ink, spot gloss, strike-through reticulation and metallic accents printed on a unique array of substrates, from uncoated papers to clear plastics. Many of the effects are difficult or impossible to achieve without the use of LED-UV curing. In addition, the look book features an array of LED-UV cured pantone and neon ink effects used in tandem with the traditional four-color process to layer visual interest. Learn more at www.baldwintech.com.

UV Enhances Print Project

September 9, 2021

By Lara Copeland, writer, PostPress

Performing print finishing services, Feiereisen, Inc., is a family-owned business with headquarters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In business since 1933, the nationwide provider recently created a custom-designed, diecut pocket folder with a series of single, two-sided inserts, titled Finish With Style, to promote itself as a graphic arts finisher. Touching on some of the more traditional finishing techniques, like diecutting and laminating, this piece also “stresses one of Feiereisen’s newest available services, which is an extremely high-end digital enhancement press that prints inline digital spot UV and digital foils,” Feiereisen’s President Greg Ortmann commented.

The Konica Minolta MGI JETvarnish 3DS with iFoil was used to create the a unique product. This digital decorative solution is the only print enrichment process to utilize three inline methods of curing: IR is for low-level, flat 2D spot coats and rounded, domed smooth effects; the LED is for freezing and pinning high-build 3D textures and sculpted image effects; and the full-powered UV is for final curing of all clear ink (varnish polymer) treatments. Additionally, the UV lamp system provides the final curing method for embossed foil applications where a hyper-sensitive foil roller is calibrated with pixel-to-micron inkjet management. Knowing what the JETvarnish can do, Ortmann said Feiereisen decided to use this equipment to showcase the company’s capabilities.

“With this product, we simply wanted to show off what the press is capable of doing,” Ortmann said. “The incredible high-end finishing of UV and foil now is available in a streamlined digital process that not only is fast but delivers incredible flexibility for custom-designed finishes without the cost of traditional dies, plates, screens and foil stamp setup.” The machine also opens the opportunity to do limited runs of any size, large or small, all while keeping the costs affordable and much lower than traditional processes.

Finish With Style features a tactile design, “begging the viewer to pick up the pieces one-by-one and touch them, feeling the difference in variable depth foils and UV,” Ortmann said. The piece also highlights the way light affects the finishes. “Watch it electrify the foils,” he continued, “making them pop off the page, and see how the light truly enhances the 3D qualities of the depth of the UV in key areas.”

The secondary focus of this design was to convey the overall power, speed, style and the limitless capabilities of the press, “not to mention the finishes that could be added to virtually any printed piece.” Feiereisen’s customer base is wide, and Ortmann said the design team planned to make the pocket folder project relatable to them all on a personal level, which was key in the process. “This subtly shows what could be done for their particular industry or market segments.”

When it came time to create this intricate piece with five inserts, the team was challenged to find the best process for the multiple layers and effects. “We tested various processes to figure out how to make each image come to life,” Ortmann said. “How do we make chrome pop, or paint colors look like they are shimmering in the sunlight?” Feiereisen worked to add depth and dimension to each image, making the viewer want to touch the piece, “as if it were the real thing,” he said, “not simply a photo.” Ultimately, the team labored to figure out how many layers could be built on top of one another. Ortmann said this “really pushed the limits of the digital press – using multiple layers of foil and variable depth layers of spot UV.”

Cedar Graphics, Hiawatha, Iowa, printed the folders and inserts, and both were produced on 14pt Carolina C2S. Each piece was laminated with a matte finish on a GBC Genesis. They then were moved to the new digital foil and UV press, where each insert had its multiple layers of foil from Crown Roll Leaf and UV applied.

The project earned a Gold Leaf award for Best Use of Digital Inkjet-Coating from the Foil and Specialty Effects Association (FSEA).

Shining a Light on UV-Cured Decoration Capabilities

September 2, 2020

By Lara Copeland, contributing writer, PostPress

Gold Leaf Print & Packaging is a premier cannabis printing company located in Pelham, Alabama, that specializes in creating custom collateral, packaging and branding. With the ability to embellish packaging with digital foil and varnish (eliminating the need for custom dies), Gold Leaf can save its customers money and time in creating pieces that stand out – especially for short- to medium-sized applications. Recently, the company created a guide to showcase the range of technological and decorative capabilities that it brings to its clients.

“The brochure is a visual representation of some of the embellishments we can accomplish in-house, as well as a sampling of products and services that we offer,” Stephanie Salvago, digital marketing manager for Gold Leaf Print & Packaging, explained. “The booklet also showcases the Gold Leaf brand and allows potential customers to really feel the difference that specialty embellishments can make on a product.”

The graphics were created in-house by Gold Leaf’s award-winning graphic designers. Assembled with wire binding, the 11-page brochure features a front cover with dark-green trees scattered across it. The trees have been digitally printed and then highlighted with a raised spot UV coating. The company name and symbol on the cover also are embellished with a raised gold foil. Using 120# Opus Dull Cover, the piece was printed on a Konica C1100 with a soft-touch laminate added to the front and back cover pages. The soft-touch aqueous coating also was applied to the majority of the inside pages before being finished with raised spot coatings and foil accents using the MGI JETvarnish 3DS.

The JETvarnish 3DS utilizes UV LED curing as a solution to the type of environment in which these smaller units often are used. In comparison to their bigger brothers that need higher speeds and outputs due to larger formats and segment profiles, the JETvarnish has advantages in lower electrical consumption and a lack of generated ozone, making it ideal for printers who produce mostly on digital presses.

Gold Leaf Print & Packaging appreciates that the machine offers its clients a total solution for raised spot varnish and foil. Its website explains: “Most people have seen packaging or stationery with some form of foil embellishments. Usually, it’s gold or silver and has been debossed using a method of hot foil stamping. This method requires the purchase of a die and creates indentions on the reverse side of the page… Working hand-in-hand with our raised foil is raised varnish. Raised varnish is similar to spot UV in that it accents elements of a printed piece to give it a bit of shine. However, one of the key ways it differs is our raised varnish is raised. This allows us to create textures and truly unique cannabis packaging options.”

The guide created by Gold Leaf provides specific details on how these embellishments can be used on eye-catching examples, using spot varnish, foil, 4-color overprinting and a final run of spot varnish to provide detail and texture on one example – all in perfect registration. In addition to the spot varnish and foil samples, the guide also provides information on the different types of standard boxes available, including straight tuck, snap-lock bottom and auto-lock bottom. It also showcases samples of how labels can be produced with digital coatings and foils and provides information on how to order.

“The biggest challenges in printing this project were the multiple steps and runs on multiple machines that had to happen to create the embellishments for this print,” Salvago emphasized. “We had to make sure that the tolerance of all of the machines was perfect in order to ensure that the prints would be correctly lined up.” Through many trial runs and the expertise of Gold Leaf’s master printers, the print and finishing runs were successful and “an amazing product was created,” she said.

Gold Leaf Print & Packaging entered its brochure into the FSEA Gold Leaf Awards and received a bronze for Best Foil/UV Coating Selection Guide. Customers also responded favorably to the project. “They enjoyed being able to see and feel the different types of embellishments, and we received many compliments on it, with many commenting on the high quality of the print,” Salvago stated. “We bring this level of quality to all our products and pride ourselves on being a one-stop shop for our clients.”

Elevating Magazine Covers with Embellishments

September 12, 2019

by Katy Ibsen, managing editor
PostPress

First impressions mean a lot, especially for print magazines and catalogs. A cover image carries significant responsibility, capturing enough of a reader’s attention to be picked up. Iconic artwork isn’t going away, but many publications now are incorporating texture and specialty effects on covers for added impact.

“Neurological studies show that humans gather their information through all senses, and people remember things longer and more clearly if they address more than just the eyes,” said novum Editor-in-Chief Christine Moosmann. “Consumers quite happily spend more money on packaging that is well designed and uses a paper with interesting haptics or elaborate printing.”

novum is known for eye-catching covers that feature a variety of applications, but the magazine isn’t alone. Overwhelmingly, consumer, business to business (B2B) and catalog publishers are seeing embellishments as a critical value-add to differentiate themselves from competitors or to elevate their brand.

PostPress explores this trend by visiting with a few magazine publishers that have found print embellishments beneficial to their brand awareness.

Worth magazine

Worth is a global media brand connecting to an audience that embraces worth beyond wealth. “Worth informs and inspires a community of affluent, influential and aspirational individuals to be their best selves,” said Amy Petriello, art director.

The quarterly print magazine regularly uses spot gloss for its masthead/logo and dull UV on the balance of the cover to create a matte effect.

“We almost always feature an original illustration on the cover and have [art] submitted to us as vectors, so that the illustration can have spot UV applied on portions we’d like to highlight,” she added.

Worth’s “Power 100” edition, recently released, features a 4-color silver metallic ink with gloss UV coating.

“This is our 10th Annual Power 100 issue, about the most powerful people in the world of global finance, so it is a special issue that we wanted to celebrate,” she said.

According to Petriello, postpress applications have helped to emphasize Worth’s covers, which showcase beautiful lasting artwork, intended to be kept, displayed on coffee tables and collected.

novum – world of graphic design

novum, a cult design magazine, was founded in 1924 under the name of Gebrauchsgraphik. Published in German, English, French and Spanish, novum is read by designers all over the world.

“Now in its 95th year, novum has certainly written design history and still has a very high standing in the design community,” said Christine Moosmann, editor-in-chief.

As one would expect, a design magazine strives to set itself apart and novum doesn’t disappoint readers with its captivating covers, featuring many variations of specialty applications. In 2000, the brand began experimenting with fine papers and various print finishing techniques on the cover.

“In the beginning, we just did it for fun, but we got a strong response from our readers. They loved the papers, the finishings and the inspiration they got this way,” said Moosmann “Eventually, paper manufacturers and printers realized that our covers were a great marketing tool for their products and services. So, whenever a new paper or a new printing technique came up, we got the chance to try it out on our cover – designer’s heaven!”

While Moosmann believes specialty effects are an important element of communication today, they can be overused.

“It is important to use papers and finishings intelligently,” she said. “A lot of ‘bling bling’ foils do not necessarily make a successful product. Sometimes, a rough paper combined with an unusual printing technique will do the trick. It is important to design with care; readers and consumers can sense that.”

A sampling of novum covers include foil on the entire cover, diecut stacking dolls and even a cover which featured a playground for stickers found inside the magazine. The cover of the August 2019 edition showcased a highly pigmented silver on deep black cardboard for a visual and textured effect.

mg

Serving the cannabis industry is mg magazine, a B2B publication covering retail, business and branding. According to its publisher, Darren B. Roberts, the magazine’s mission was to create a reflection of who is really behind the industry, not just on a manufacturing level, but on a legal level.

“We strive to put out an image that represents the level of professionalism, skill and education [in cannabis],” he said. That mission allowed the magazine to be more creative.

“Most B2B publications are not spending money and exploring what can be done in print – some industries don’t require it,” he said. “I think that for B2B, service companies or products, whether they be printed products, panels or whatever it is they are putting out there, it’s important that they reflect the personality and the people of the industry. And in this particular industry, you have a mix of professionalism and creativity.”

mg has achieved respect within the cannabis marketplace, elevating itself as a creative, yet trustworthy resource for industry leaders. In part, it has reached that designation as a result of its attractive covers.

An edition that covered the vape sector featured a multi-layer emboss with both high and dull varnishes. The “50 Best Companies to Work for in Cannabis” featured a matte varnish, gold foil and trapped emboss. Roberts explained that mg wanted to represent all the various sectors of the industry on the cover, which was designed by The Hybrid Creative.

“Applications really do have an impact. And it does matter,” said Roberts. “Just the coating that you use on the cover will keep somebody reading the publication longer … and it’s all on a subconscious level. It’s very fascinating.”

Sustainability with Ecofoil^®

Crystal Ecofoil — Crystal’s Ecofoil process allows foil to be added to the inside pages of magazines or brochures at a feasible cost.

Mark Kempster, Managing Director of Crystal Press Ltd, has seen brands and publishers wanting more and more foil embellishments, with multiple colors and more complex foil designs. To achieve this, many have used a metallized polyester (MetPol) material and printed over the top. However, sustainability has become an serious issue for MetPol users due to it being a PET laminated stock which cannot be recycled. As a solution to this issue Crystal recently launched its range of Ecofoil boards that apply the foil without the need for the lamination process. The Ecofoil board range contains no PET or any other plastic product so it is 100% recyclable and can be branded as such.

“In my opinion the use of MetPol is one of the single biggest issues facing the packaging industry and it seems likely that it is only a matter of time before there is a huge backlash against packaging materials that contain MetPol. However with the introduction of Ecofoil there will still be a cost-effective and practical way to produce foil-based packaging in all run lengths,” stated Kempster.

The Ecofoil process also provides an economical way to add a metallic foil to other pages within a catalog or magazine beyond just the cover. Crystal has one customer who has used hot foil stamping on its covers for several years; however, switching to its Ecofoil process has allowed them to add foil within the inside pages of their high-end brochure at a feasible cost.

“Ecofoil has created a massive change in our business,” concluded Kempster. “I believe it will become the biggest part of our business within the next 12 – 18 months.”

From the Printer With Love

Printers are equally in tune with the emerging trend of distinguishing covers. Chris Haag, director of sales at Royle Printing, spoke to the printer’s role in helping deploy embellishments to create unique catalog covers – which must stand out among other printed matter.

“We have actually seen an uptick in interest in applying creative covers in particular to printed materials, whether that’d be in catalog form or magazine form,” he said. “Both of those segments are exploring it, and there has been a recognition that print provides a much more tactile delivery of information than electronic means.”

Royle’s capabilities include gloss and matte UV in line on the web press; gloss, dull or satin varnish on sheet-fed press; soft touch, UV or aqueous coatings in line; strike through (such as spot gloss UV) with a dull varnish; and reticulated strike through UV.

According to Haag, cost of applications is a factor for many publishers, suggesting that embellishments often are used for annual, anniversary or special issues.

“You’re going to see those [applications] in a higher value catalog that is displaying products that are higher dollar volume, and in particular those catalogs are meant to have a one-year shelf life. So, we see them a lot in those applications,” he said.

Examples of catalogs printed by Royle include Direct Supply and Diesel Forward.

In general, Haag has seen an increase in applications over what was used 10 years ago. As for the next 10? Hopefully, more of the same.

“People are recognizing that print is really mission critical to a multichannel approach. And so, even brands that might live and start online are coming into print. And then, once they get into print, they’re looking for ways to stand out in the mailbox and raise response rates, too.”

Understanding UV LED Curing

December 28, 2018

by Paul Mills, contributing writer

One of the growing areas in UV coatings and printing is the growth of UV LED curing – a technology that offers great advantages. PostPress reached out to a long time consultant and expert in the field, Paul Mills, senior editor of the UV LED Curing Community website, to answer a few questions on the technology.

Q. What are some of the main benefits LED curing offers over more conventional UV curing?

Some of the advantages of LEDs (light emitting diodes) come from the “D” part, or diode aspects of emitting light. Semiconductors have replaced older technologies in so many areas. Old radios with vacuum tubes that burned out were replaced by transistor radios. TV sets with cathode ray tubes that were bulky, needed time to warm up and often had shrinking images as they deteriorated have been replaced by high-def LED screens. Even the incandescent light bulb, with its fragile filaments, has been replaced by robust LED lights.

For UV curing, LEDs are now replacing quartz tubes that rely on small drops of mercury to generate UV light. Mercury technology requires high voltages, generates large amounts of heat and the mercury emissions can be dangerous to worker health and safety if not properly handled. Mercury lamps, particularly the popular arc lamp variety, degrade every time the lamp is turned on and off. It takes a good deal of engineering to manufacture an arc lamp with very uniform output, and they require routine maintenance.

By contrast, LEDs are highly reliable, producing consistent output over extremely long time periods. They use less energy, produce less heat and the longer wavelength LEDs are relatively benign light sources. And, because they are solid-state light sources, they can be turned on and off nearly instantaneously with no degradation.

Q. There are a lot of decorative coatings out there today, such as raised profile UVs, textured UVs and glitter UV. Is LED the best choice for drying these types of specialty coatings?

It’s not so much the LED itself that makes it any more, or less, suitable for curing a specialty coating. From the coating’s point of view, the light source is a black box that emits photons, and molecules are pretty egalitarian when it comes to their photons. However, there are aspects of LED light sources that make it easier to control the photons. For instance, where mercury emits a broad spectrum, with multiple peaks of light spanning from 200 to over 400 nanometers, LEDs are like lasers in that they emit a strong peak of light at very specific wavelengths. This potentially allows chemists to perform some tricks when curing with LEDs. Also, since LEDs are tiny and an array can be put in spaces as small as those between inkjet heads, LEDs can “freeze” inks, keeping the ink dots from growing in size, or a process called “pinning”.

But it would be dishonest to say that every ink and press manufacturer is taking advantage of these capabilities. In fact, only a handful of leading suppliers are really tapped into the inherent advantages of LED. Many suppliers are just trying to substitute LEDs for arc lamps and treating the LED as a semiconductor version of a mercury light source. In that case, traditional light sources might even perform better, since the existing chemistry has been developed around mercury-based technology.

As competition for LED technology ramps up, firms that want to create more value with curing technology will embrace the unique aspects of LED to cure coatings with unique colors, textures and special effects.

Q. Is there a difference between installing a new LED system and converting a mercury-based system to LEDs?

If space aliens visited earth and had no prior knowledge of UV lamps, then adopting to LED would seem like a simple decision. But old habits die hard. An economist might call it switching cost, a physicist might call it inertia and a psychologist a habit. Changing paradigms is hard. For example, consider the tools and techniques used to measure UV lamp performance. With mercury lamps, broadband radiometers were the proper tool, since the mercury spectra are so broad. But a broadband radiometer can’t be used to measure a 395 nm LED and result in accurate measurements. That led to a lot of confusion about the claims of various manufacturers. Companies have now developed new devices tailored to measure these new light sources. So, for UV neophytes, the LED path may actually be easier than to those who have a long history with conventional UV curing who will have to make more adjustments.

Q. Is LED the answer to all curing/drying applications for coatings? When is more conventional UV curing still a better or, as good as, choice?

Someday most, if not all, applications will move toward LED curing technologies. But not yet.

Until now, there has been some rationale for sticking with arc lamps. LED sources were relatively expensive, particularly for larger curing footprints. Bu that gap has narrowed considerably, and in some cases LED can be less costly. LED capability has been correlated with output power, or irradiance. Years ago LED sources were 50 to 100 milliwatts. Today, 20 watt units are commonplace. These higher power units overcome many of the hurdles regarding cure speed, depth of cure and distance from the lamp to the substrate.

Finally, as alluded to above, advances in chemistry, which have been frustratingly slow, are beginning to emerge that will enable more LED applications. So, if arc lamps were to go away today, there would still be users with applications that would be stuck without an LED solution. In another five years there will likely be few curing applications that won’t be able to convert to LED, and the advantages of LED will make mercury lamps an obsolete technology down the road.

However, today the least desirable candidates for LED, and, thus, most well suited applications for conventional lamps, include: 1.) larger cure surfaces that are expensive to cure with LED arrays, 2.) coatings that require hard, scratch- and mar-resistant surfaces and 3.) surfaces with contours and profiles that present greater variability in distance from the part to the light source.

Q. What’s next in the future of LED curing?

The developments in the near future will be in two areas. First, LEDs are pushing the envelope to shorter and shorter wavelengths. These efforts are being driven more by germicidal/disinfection/food safety applications, but there will be clear spillover effects that will enable mixed-diode arrays to cure more coatings with harder surface properties than ever. One result of these developments will be the solid-state analog of the mercury arc lamp. This will mean losing some of the advantages of early LED sources, such as safer emission spectra. However, this is most likely inevitable.

The second area of development is in more LED specific chemistry that takes advantage of the novel characteristics of LEDs, such as special effects coatings that can be produced by high-speed strobing of the light source, or coatings that take advantage of the narrow wavelength spectra of LED sources. For example, coatings with light stabilizers that combat the deleterious effects of sunlight can be cured with LED sources whose emissions are not absorbed by the light stabilizer itself.

Paul Mills is the senior editor of the UV LED Community website. The site is a free, educational resource for UV LED chemistry (inks, coatings and adhesives), light sources, LED printing presses, and other UV LED related supplies and applications. The UV LED Community is operated by RadTech North America. Learn more at www.uvledcommunity.org

Five Major Technology Advances in UV/EB Curing Print Market

June 12, 2018

Article courtesy of Smithers Pira

Figure E.1 Radiation curing print and packaging market, 2012-2022, by value ($billion, constant 2016 values)

According to “The Future of Radiation Curing Print Markets to 2022” forecast developed by Smithers Pira, print produced using radiation curing (UV and electron beam) inks and varnishes in 2017 totalled roughly 1.38 trillion A4 prints, a value of $63.4 billion. The market is growing at around two to three percent annually in tonnage terms.

With ink revenues growing faster than the overall graphics and packaging market, users are taking advantage of instant drying to improve their production efficiencies and exploit both decorative and functional properties of the inks and coatings. Radiation curing not only saves time by instant drying, but it also enables various efficiencies across a wider production process.

While print volumes in graphics generally is falling by three percent per year between 2012 and 2022, the radiation curing print segments of this, and the still booming packaging market, are poised to expand market share. Radiation curing volume will grow by 25 percent by volume and 33.6 percent in value terms across this period.

Smithers Pira identifies the key developments in ink and varnish formulation and curing technologies that are underpinning this expansion.

Low-energy UV curing

UV curing methods are changing. The majority of ultraviolet drying in 2017 is still carried out using mercury vapor quartz lamps, but these take time to warm up and there are potential health and environmental hazards at end-of-life.

These limitations are amplifying the benefits of low-energy curing. This curing system is designed to dry the print using much less energy than the traditional mercury vapor lamps, with a single mercury doped lamp. The system uses special inks that command a premium over the traditional UV curing inks and varnishes. These lamps do not emit the shorter UV wavelengths that generate ozone, removing the need for ozone extraction. They produce less waste heat, so require less cooling, which further reduces the power consumption.

The technology now is being taken up in North America and Europe. Low-energy curing can be used on perfecting presses with two lamps to dry each side, and Komori has commercial web presses using H-UV technology instead of a hot air oven, thus reducing the press footprint – which is important in its home market of Japan, where the very high cost of real estate makes space saving potentially a significant cost advantage.

UV LED curing

UV LED curing uses light-emitting diodes that emit a narrow band of UV, delivering a peak of UV energy, which provide a broad distribution of output across the spectrum, including visible and infrared.

LED curing offers even less energy than the low-energy mercury bulb UV systems, and there is an instant on-off, which can reduce further the downtime required in waiting for the lamps to come to full power, as well as providing significant energy savings through synchronization of cure with ink laydown. The drawback is limited availability of suitable inks, and the high cost premium currently associated with them.

The range of UV LEDs commercially available is growing, shadowing LEDs wider use in general lighting installations. Printers that are already using UV LED are reporting energy consumption as much as 70 percent lower than conventional UV systems. Another attraction of UV LED systems is their color brilliance, stemming from higher pigment content.

UV LED is moving beyond niche applications into higher-volume segments in some European countries, such as sheet-fed printing, where the technology has the advantage of being able to provide high color strength.

Electron beam curing

Electron beam curing uses a high-powered electron beam to initiate the free radical polymerization reaction. A curtain of accelerated electrons is emitted toward the printed surface in an evacuated chamber. The energetic electrons pass through a titanium window foil toward the wet ink, the energy is absorbed by the ink layer and the curing process takes place.

The benefit of the technology is the penetration of electrons into the body of the inkfilm, rather than just at the surface, ensuring good through-curing. It is widely used in the Americas on wide web presses but less so in Europe.

There are developments to broaden its use through lower-cost and smaller EB curing units, including for the first sheet-fed processes, and ink technology to broaden the use on flexo and gravure presses. The proportion of electron beam in radiation curing remains low, at just four to five percent in 2017, with most in North America and lower elsewhere.

Low migration inks and coating

As radiation curing is widely used in food, pharmaceutical and tobacco packaging, it is important that no components can migrate from the print into the product and cause any organoleptic effects. This is particularly important in tobacco packaging, where the criteria for odor-free and migration-proof packaging are driven by the fact that tobacco is hygroscopic.

Odor and taint are potential issues for all converters. Ink manufacturers are formulating low-migration inks using selected components, which should ensure that migration from the resultant printing ink film will be within accepted migration limits.

Ink formulators may choose components from the known range of approved ingredients, or choose the new classes of materials becoming available that offer inherently lower potential contamination. This issue now is being approached via new legislation announced in 2017 in the EU and other markets like Japan.

Hybrid inks

Several ink manufacturers are exploring new methods of formulating inks to broaden the range of applications for UV and electron beam inks and to improve their performance on press. In flexible packaging on common impression flexo presses there is limited space for interdeck drying, and ink manufacturers are developing UV and EB curing inks with water or solvents. These act as diluents, and there is a degree of evaporation at the print stage that enables improved wet-on-wet trapping.

There are developments in water-based electron beam gravure printing, for example IdeOn at Amgraph Packaging in Connecticut uses water as a diluent for electron beam-curable gravure inks.

A significant advantage of these hybrid inks is that they are not classified as hazardous materials, which traditional 100 percent solid UV inks and coatings are. This means manufacturers do not have to apply a hazardous chemical label onto the pack, and they can be transported in bulk – whereas a UV ink categorized as hazardous cannot be transported in a container larger than 25 litres.

“The Future of Radiation Curing Print Markets to 2022” provides quantitative market sizes for the major technologies in radiation curing globally, forecasting the markets to 2022 by curing, method print process and end use application. For more information, download the brochure at https://www.smitherspira.com/industry-market-reports/printing/radiation-curing-for-print-markets-to-2022.

Article courtesy of Smithers Pira, originally published in January 2018. Smithers Pira is the worldwide authority on the packaging, paper and print industry supply chains. They provide world-leading expertise and market intelligence, and offer a range of testing services supported by comprehensive facilities in the United States and United Kingdom. For more information: www.smitherspira.com.

A Closer Look at Electron Beam Technology

December 14, 2015

by John E. Salkeld, PCT Engineered Systems, LLC

Question: I hear my printing colleagues discussing electron beam technology. What is it?

Illustration shows a cut-away diagram of the vacuum chamber of an electron beam system.

Answer: Electron beam technology – known as EB or ebeam – is a technology that uses electrons to alter the molecular state of a targeted material or surface. In the ebeam process, clouds of electrons are generated inside a vacuum chamber, which then are accelerated through a thin, metallic foil window and are directed onto a moving printed web surface. The inks, coatings or adhesives that react to ebeam are made up of molecular elements known as monomers and oligomers. These accelerated electrons connect these molecules into longer-length polymers, instantly changing their chemical composition from a wet state into a dry or solid state.

Question: How is it applicable to the printing industry?

Answer: Ebeam continues to be a growing topic among printers and package converters because it instantly dries – or more accurately, cures – ebeam-friendly inks, coatings and laminate adhesives on paper, film, paperboard or metal. It is a growing alternative to oven (thermal) drying and ultraviolet (UV) curing for a number of reasons discussed below.

Web offset printing presses have been equipped with ebeam units for many years. EB-curable ink technologies also exist for flexographic and gravure printing. As is the case in most of the printing industry, EB-curable inkjet is generating significant interest and is very likely to grow rapidly.

Plus, in recent years, printers and package converters have discovered that ebeam can be used not only to cure inks, coatings and adhesives, but also as a useful tool to give extra “eye appeal” to packaging.

Question: How can ebeam be used for package decoration?

Answer: As the printing, label making and converting industries grow and become more versatile, so does ebeam. Beyond curing and crosslinking, a recently developed 4-in-1 converting line allows package printers to utilize ebeam systems to create innovative package designs. Visual enhancements offered by an ebeam package decorating system include overprint coating, laminating, cold foil transfer and Cast & Cure™ holographic embossing.

Ebeam provides instant curing of coatings and adhesion of laminates to a packaging surface, providing a high gloss and inherent durability that is not possible with other curing technologies. Packagers take advantage of increased package brightness and strength capabilities to give products a new visual pop, while reducing package abrasion and breakage risks.

With cold foil transfer, an ebeam-curable adhesive is applied to a substrate in registration with printed graphics and then is ebeam-cured with an overlying metalized film. The metal transfers to the cured adhesive areas, producing a strong visual metallic effect. Nearly any type of hot or cold stamping foil may be used in an ebeam cold foil process.

Finally, Cast & Cure is a decorative coating process that integrates “casting” and “curing” to provide a consistent high-quality finish. It can generate ultra-high gloss, matte and holographic images onto a variety of substrates. This environmentally friendly process helps make packages more recyclable by eliminating the laminated, metalized films used in traditional holographic processes. Additionally, this casting film is reused multiple times, achieving substantial cost savings.

Ebeam package decorating systems are designed for use with web-printed packaging materials, including flexible packaging, folding cartons, labels and multi-wall bags. These systems work at high speeds, are compatible with wide web widths and generate low substrate heating, which is important when utilizing sensitive flexible packaging materials, such as thin films.

Question: Is ebeam technology a new trend in printing?

Ebeam technology instantly cures ebeam-friendly inks, coatings and laminate adhesives on paper, film, paperboard or metal.

Answer: People unfamiliar with ebeam technology are amazed by the concept of curing surfaces by altering molecular structures instead of thermally evaporating solvents or water. They even are more shocked when they learn that this “radical” technology is more than 40 years old! The reason ebeam continues to grow in popularity is twofold: first, the systems and ink/coating/adhesive formulations necessary to achieve ebeam curing continue to fall in price as the technology gains popularity and second, ebeam offers a number of key benefits over thermal drying and UV curing.

Question: What are the ebeam advantages over thermal drying and UV curing?

Answer: In general, ebeam benefits that printers and converters have documented include improved product performance, superior product consistency, higher process throughput and greater energy savings.

Specific to thermal drying, ebeam curing offers several significant benefits, including the following:

Ebeam systems take up much less space than ovens, which can, in some cases, be hundreds of cubic feet in size. Some converters that have replaced ovens with an ebeam system find enough floor space has been freed up to put in a new line.
Ebeam systems generate very little heat in the substrate being targeted, making it a solid choice for printers and converters over thermal and UV curing (and, it sometimes is the only option) for treating heat-sensitive materials like thin films (such as those found in shrink sleeve labels).
Ovens require an enormous amount of energy and are staggeringly expensive to operate and maintain. There have been studies that have shown that, in some cases, an ebeam system requires up to 95 percent less energy than the oven it replaces.
Finally, ebeam systems help contribute to workplace safety and comfort. With no need to remove solvents from inks and coatings, ebeam curing eliminates the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are associated with thermal drying.

Specific to UV curing, ebeam curing also offers several significant, but different, advantages. These include the following:

By definition, UV curing requires photoinitiators to complete the curing process. Photoinitiators are toxic and run a slight, but nonetheless real, risk of migrating into food. Ebeam curing does not need photoinitiators to work and thus poses no potential for migration. This makes ebeam extremely popular among food package printers and converters.
Ebeam curing has proven to work particularly well when curing thick, opaque and/or high-density ink and coating layers vs. more conventional UV curing methods.
Like thermal drying, UV curing produces a significant amount of heat. In certain cases, ebeam curing has been shown to require up to 80 percent less energy than UV curing.
Unlike UV bulbs, whose power declines over time, ebeam curing offers extremely precise processing, with a stable energy output that does not drift over time.

Question: Is ebeam technology always the best choice for curing?

Answer: No, not always. As has been mentioned, ebeam is the “go-to technology” if there is food packaging involved; sensitive substrates that might be damaged by heat; or thick and/or opaque inks, coatings or adhesives that need to be cured. But, not every printing process benefits by using ebeam curing. For instance, PostPress magazine – and most other commercial printing jobs – wouldn’t benefit by having its inks cured using ebeam technology.

Question: What is the takeaway?

During the EB-curing process, electrons are generated in a vacuum chamber and then propelled through a thick foil onto the target substrate to effect curing.

Answer: Ebeam systems have grown increasingly popular in the converting industry, both as an alternative to traditional curing methods and in their newest role of applying innovative package decoration. Package converting continues to put up powerful numbers in an economy that many still consider in recovery, and analysts predict that strong growth will continue for quite a while.

Printers and package converters who arm themselves with versatile technologies like ebeam to help differentiate their new products and evolve their production techniques promise to see some very exciting times in the print and converting industry in the years ahead.

John E. Salkeld is the marketing manager for PCT Engineered Systems, LLC (PCT), an American multinational engineering services provider, automation systems integrator and custom machine builder headquartered in Davenport, Iowa. PCT designs, builds and implements the most innovative and reliable industrial electron beam system available today – the BroadBeam™ ebeam system. PCT’s equipment is used globally on printing presses, coating and laminating lines, coil coating lines and a variety of specialty applications. For more information, visit www.teampct.com.