Inkjet Advances Get Attention at ‘The Power of Inkjet Materials Conference'
Inkjet inks and their interaction with substrates (paper, textiles and plastics) were the subject matter of the first European Coatings Conference held under the title "The Power of Inkjet Materials" on December 4-5, 2003.
Inkjet technology is currently experiencing a development boost, driven not only by printer advances, but also by the materials used. This affects both SOHO (small office, home office) and industrial inkjet printing applications. Current developments are mostly in digital photograph printing, which is concerned with generating pictures that can match traditional silver halide photographs in terms of permanence and appearance, and with wide and ultra-wide format printing, which is booming particularly in the Far East through, for example, advertising on areas such as building walls. Inkjet prints offer the advantage of low investment costs for small print runs, but the PVC substrates employed for them need to have adequate lightfastness and weatherability. Furthermore, industrial inkjet printers are getting faster all the time and will soon catch up with traditional offset printing techniques in some areas. This means that the inks have to meet tough specifications on viscosity and drying.