Eight ink products you should know about - The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column
Today, we see a diverse range of inks from manufacturers in India. With the packaging boom, you need to select the right one.
In this Sunday Column, we look at seven printing ink companies and find out why they are so popular
26 May 2018 | By Noel D'Cunha
Eight ink products you should know about - The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column
Kumar Deshpande, joint founder of Dolphin on its water-based inks
What does it do?
Dolphin started making water-based inks with the aim of being in a segment where what we manufacture must be eco-friendly. The inks are mostly used in flexo and gravure machines. These are liquid inks and since they are printed mostly on porous substrates, they dry by absorption instantly. Very rarely, in case of coated substrates, we need to adjust the drying time. However, for non-porous substrates a drying chamber and online corona treatment is a must for using water-based inks. The inks have excellent rub resistance and rub resistance can be increased if the demand is such.
How does it score on the main merits like intense colours, high gloss, sharp dot retention, tack?
We manufacture inks that are of international standards. We can match most of the shades. However, there are certain limitations with specific shades as certain pigments are not compatible with water-based systems and hence cannot be used to formulate water-based Inks. Since most of the inks are used in corrugated segment, there is a limitation with metallic and fluorescent shades. Metallic works out to be quite expensive and fluorescents are poor in light fastness properties and cannot be used for outer packaging.
Explain its compatibility with UV varnish, aqueous coating, foil or lamination?
It’s absolutely compatible.
Any certifications like ISO 2846-1: 2006 and ISO 12647 on-press compliance?
Both the specifications pertain to offset. Our Inks comply to IS 15495.2004, RoHS, EN 71/3 etc.
When was it launched and what market is it aimed at?
We commercially started manufacturing water-based inks, way back in 1987. We were the first to do so in India. However, at that point of time, there were a very few machines available, that too modified, to run water-based inks. We started working with various machine manufacturers urging them to modify their machines so that it can run on water-based inks. The earliest to identify this potential were Dilip Shah of Super Cut Industries and Trilok Singh of Micro Mechanical. The two launched their machines which run on only water-based inks and not on conventional paste inks. However, when Ballarpur Industries set up their extensible paper sack unit and imported the first Windmoller and Holscher machine, the volumes picked up.
How good is it for spot colours?
In the corrugated segment, there are very few four-colour machines in India and they can be counted on the fingers of on one hand or at the most two. Most of the machines are either one colour or two colour and they all use spot colours. We can match any shade based on the client’s requirement, except the limitations mentioned above.
How does it differ from previous products?
Corrugators earlier were using either oil-based or solvent-based inks. The consumption of oil-based inks was extremely high and the print quality too was abysmal. Solvent-based inks have their own problems. They are dangerous to store, are extreme fire hazard and fumes they generate in environment are big health hazards for the users.
What’s the USP?
Completely bio-degradable, non-hazardous and eco-friendly. Best price-mileage ratio or the per print cost. And above all, consistent quality.
How easy is it to use?
Extremely easy. The inks are ready to use. Just pour it and start using. No setting up wastage.
In what form is it supplied? 2.5kg vacuum tins, 2kg cartridges or 200kg drums?
Packing is generally 20 kg HMHDPE drums or buckets.
What technical support is on offer?
We offer complete print solutions. Most of the inks we manufacture are tailor-made. We maintain a detailed database of the customer and when the ink is manufactured. It takes into account the speed of machine, Anilox set the client has, and the paper they are going to use among other factors. For CMYK jobs, we do the finger-printing to decide on the compatibility of plates, machine speed and the anilox with ink specifications. This is one of the reasons why Dolphin brand is considered number one in corrugated segment.
What’s the price?
Ranges from Rs 150 – 400 per kg.
INK SPECIFICATIONS
Colours available All Pantone shades except Metallic and fluorescent shades
Suitable papers Any kind of Paper, even coated ones.
Lightfastness Depends on colour. Most of the pigments are on a scale of 5-8 so fairly good light fastness.
Fountain solutions Not required.
Price Rs 150 – 400 per kg
Karan Mahajan, CEO at Hi-Tech Inks on Jikelele
What does it do?
The Jikelele ink system is a 100% compliant (as per Swiss ordinance) non-toluene, non-ketone ink system used for rotogravure printing and lamination - both adhesive and extrusion. It offers excellent printability, low solvent retention and odour and offers extremely high bond strength results making it suitable for high end laminate structures.
How does it score on the main merits like intense colours, high gloss, sharp dot retention, tack?
This ink system is used for rotogravure printing and, therefore, the above-mentioned factors are not applicable or relevant to this type of ink.
Any certifications like ISO 2846-1: 2006 and ISO 12647 on-press compliance?
As a company we are ISO 9001:2008 certified company and currently going through the audit process of upgrading to the 9001:2015 certification.
When was it launched and what market is it aimed at?
This product was in development stages for over eight months before being finally launched in September 2016. Jikelele is aimed at flexible packaging laminates which need to be compliant with the international norms of food packaging and food safety.
How good is it for spot colours?
The ink system is good for both spot as well as process colours.
How does it differ from previous products?
The main difference is that this is the first fully compliant lamination ink we have launched in the market. It has been designed by keeping all the compliances relating to food safety and migration values in mind.
What’s the USP?
The biggest USP of the product is that even though this is one of the most expensive ink systems there is to offer, we have been extremely proactive in ensuring that the end cost to our customers comes out similar or only slightly higher than the previous non-compliant products that are being used in the market. This has been possible only due to the efforts put in by the technical team in the lab and more importantly by the customer who has given us a free hand to ensure that we can tweak parameters to get the final results as per their satisfaction.
How easy is it to use?
This is a trouble-free ink and runs at the maximum rated speed of a rotogravure printing machine. In order to make it easy-to-use, we offer technical guidance and training to the operators at the customers’ site.
In what form is it supplied? 2.5kg vacuum tins, 2kg cartridges or 200kg drums?
It is supplied in 20 kg pails, 200 kg barrels, and 1000 kg totes.
What technical support is on offer?
Like every other product offered by Hi-Tech Inks, we offer a 24x7 technical assistance to all our customers as and when needed to help streamline the products on their machines and their environment.
Has there been much take-up?
The product has been extremely successful in both, the domestic and international markets. We have successfully transitioned customers from the conventional toluene-based inks to Jikelele without causing a major dent in the costing of their final product.
INK SPECIFICATIONS
Colours available All colours
Suitable papers This is meant for printing on films like: All types of PET Film, BOPP Film, BOPA Film.
Lightfastness The lightfastness of the inks depend on the pigment we use. We offer the entire range of lightfastness based on the customer requirements. We have inks available with light fastness levels of 7-8 as well.
Fountain solutions Not applicable
Manufacturing compliance – We at Hi-Tech comply by all health and safety norms set forth by the Industrial Governance body in GIDC. We are also frequently audited by the GPCB and GEB
Print standard Not applicable
Containers Available in pack sizes of 20kgs, 200kgs, 1000kgs
Chetan Naik, vice-president (sales & marketing) and Prasanta Sarkar, general manager (technical) at Hubergroup on Packaging Plus
What does it do?
Packaging Plus series dries by both absorption and chemical oxidation process. It has excellent rub resistance properties. The Packaging Plus inks are overnight stay-open type inks.
How does it score on the main merits like intense colours, high gloss, sharp dot retention, tack?
These inks are colour intensive and have excellent gloss and dot sharpness. They are available in two different rheological versions. The low tack version is suitable for poor pick resistant papers and very high-speed printing machines (17,000 – 19,000 iph). The high rheological version is particularly for tropical climatic condition where press room temperature control is not adequate.
Explain its compatibility with UV varnish, aqueous coating, foil or lamination?
This product is designed for high-end packaging applications where post-print operations include water-based coating, UV varnish or film lamination is almost mandatory. These inks are best suited for any of these post print operations.
Any certifications like ISO 2846-1: 2006 and ISO 12647 on-press compliance?
Packaging Plus inks meet the requirement of both ISO 2846/1 in laboratory condition and ISO 12647/2 in actual press-room graphic reproduction process.
When was it launched and what market is it aimed at?
This series was introduced by Hubergroup in November 2016 along with new global packaging basket.
How good is it for spot colours?
We have similar spot colour series based on the same formulation approach that can be formulated through our Ink ATM.
How does it differ from previous products?
This series offers many class leading features. It is fast-setting, mineral oil free and cobalt drier free inks series for packing printers.
The process black has all the resistance properties as positive (alkali, alcohol and solvent mixture resistant).
The overall odour level inside the pressroom and after printing is significantly low as compared to any vegetable oil-based ink system.
How easy is it to use?
It is very easy to achieve fast and stable ink-water balance under varying press room conditions.
In what form is it supplied? 2.5kg vacuum tins, 2kg cartridges or 200kg drums?
In India, we supply these inks in 1 kg vacuum packed containers. Special packing options are also available.
What technical support is on offer?
As such you don’t require technical support to run these inks on any press conditions. However, our strong technical support team is always available for any critical requirement at your press.
Has there been much take-up?
It’s has been very well accepted by top packaging houses.
INK SPECIFICATIONS
Colours available Process colours and any special colours
Suitable papers Coated and uncoated papers and boards
Lightfastness Yellow – 5; Magenta – 5; Cyan – 8; Black - 8
Fountain solutions With and without alcohol dampening system
Manufacturing compliance Quality standards - ISO 90001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, OSHAS 18001:2007, ISO 50001:2011
EU Ecolabel, Austrian Ecolabel, Nordic Swan and Blue Angel
Print standard Fogra
Containers One kg vacuum metal cans
Ashish Pradhan, CEO, Siegwerk India on PV 703 ink
What does it do?
PV 703 is a toluene-free compliant gravure printing ink for reverse printing and lamination application. Designed to print on multiple substrates including unprimed, coated and coronated PET film and treated BOPP film and for wide variety of press speeds.
How does it score on the main merits like intense colours, high gloss, sharp dot retention, tack?
High colour strength, excellent printability and dot transfer properties.
Explain its compatibility with UV varnish, aqueous coating, foil or lamination?
Suitable for lamination with all types of solvent-based, solvent-free adhesives as well as extrusion lamination.
When was it launched and what market is it aimed at?
Launched in 2016 and aimed at allowing converters to transition from toluene-based vinyl/PU based inks to toluene-free PU based ink platform.
How good is it for spot colours?
PV 703 is available in variety of colour index and produced via in-house intermediate base blending approach which allows quick formulation of new spot colours.
What’s the USP?
Toluene-free compliant ink system that has high press speed and technical performance for lamination applications.
How easy is it to use?
Can be easily run with minimal changes to existing setup at customers' end. Press-friendly ink and easy to run on conventional as well as high end presses
In what form is it supplied? 2.5kg vacuum tins, 2kg cartridges or 200kg drums?
Five kg, 20kg, 200kg.
What technical support is on offer?
Onsite consultation and print support to customers for smooth transition including fingerprinting trials and commercial run. Dedicated application team available to provide optimised solutions to enable customers to meet specific printing and packaging requirements of end users.
What’s the price?
This product has an excellent value proposition.
Has there been much take-up?
Converters have responded extremely well to this product and it has a good share of the toluene-free market.
INK SPECIFICATIONS
Colours available All process colours , base colours, metallic and special effect inks
Suitable papers Multiple substrates including unprimed, coated and coronated PET film, treated BOPP film and BOPA film
Lightfastness Inks with excellent lightfastness available
Manufacturing compliance ISO 9001:2008 and GMP certified ISO 14000, OSHAS
Containers Metal container with inner surface treated to prevent corrosion
R Sridharan, managing director and B Bhaskaran, technical director at Chennai-based Spico on its gravure ink
What does it do?
Our gravure ink on paper is water-based ink suitable for gravure printing.
How does it score on the main merits like intense colours, high gloss, sharp dot retention, tack?
It can achieve intense colours with sharp dots printed by gravure cylinders. Gloss levels are very low since inks are water-based and printed on absorbent paper. These are low tack inks.
Explain its compatibility with UV varnish, aqueous coating, foil or lamination?
It is not compatible with UV varnish and we do not recommend any aqueous coating on the printed product or lamination. This is suitable only for surface printing on paper.
When was it launched and what market is it aimed at?
This product was launched in June 2017 targeting exports of children’s drawing book. These inks are used to print coloured dots (in a specific pattern) on a notebook, so that when a child uses a watered brush on these sheets, specific colours appear “magically”. This ensures children do not have to handle actual water colours and still have the fun of painting with just water.
How good is it for spot colours?
Yes, we are offering very good CMYK spot colours as well as special colours.
How does it differ from previous products?
Normally, water-based gravure and flexographic inks are manufactured in such a way that the printed matter does not dissolve in water after printing. The speciality of our ink is that the printed matters are 100% soluble in water, due to which children will be able to colour on the printed notebook with a water-dipped brush without using any water colour. This makes the notebook user-friendly for the young children.
What’s the USP?
The highlight is that we are the first to develop this product in South India. At present we are supplying to only one customer. However, if any new enquiry comes, we will be able to do the needful.
How easy is it to use?
It is a user-friendly product approved by the buyers overseas.
In what form is it supplied?
In 20kgs/180kgs plastic carboys.
What technical support is on offer?
The product was developed specifically for one customer on the basis of his inputs. We in general offer excellent technical support to all our products.
What’s the price?
It depends on the required colours and terms of payment etc.
Has there been much take-up?
Yes, though we are in the initial stage of development, the product got its most important approval from the end-user. Few lots have already been taken by our customer.
INK SPECIFICATIONS
Colours available CMYK and any special colours as per Pantone shade card.
Suitable papers Absorbent and non-absorbent paper.
Lightfastness For colouring book it is not required, however, we can offer excellent lightfast product as per the customer demand.
Fountain solutions NA
Manufacturing compliance ISO 9001:2015 standard.
Print standard Standard rotogravure printing process using either chemical or electronic engraved cylinders.
Containers Plastic.
Price Depends on quantity, terms etc.
HKS Murthy, director at Toyo Ink on Kaleido ink
What does it do?
Kaleido is Toyo’s UV full RGB spectrum ink. It is duct fresh, has high rub resistance and also faster setting properties.
How does it score on the main merits like intense colours, high gloss, sharp dot retention, tack?
Kaleido inks expand on the CMYK gamut so as to achieve on-press colour that closely matches the Adobe RGB colour range. Dramatic colour fidelity, higher gloss levels and improved transparency that is close to six- or seven-colour printing can be achieved.
Explain its compatibility with UV varnish, aqueous coating, foil or lamination?
It is suitable for water-based, UV coating. Foil and lamination also can be done.
When was it launched and what market is it aimed at?
It was launched in India in 2013 and is aimed at premium dress material catalogue and booklets containing vibrant images.
What’s the USP?
Incorporating newly developed pigments, Kaleido ink expands the CMYK colour gamut to nearly the full RGB range, resulting in richer, deeper colour reproductions than those offered by conventional four-color process inks. Its salient features include high-speed compatibility, easy-to-manage wider spectrum for vibrant and true-to-life colour reproduction, contains zero VOCs and delivers good cure speeds.
How easy is it to use?
This method uses higher pigment load inks, or spectrally purer colourants (and, therefore, more expensive inks). Reproducing a picture which includes colours beyond the CMYK colour space requires special arrangements. Printing to an expanded gamut on your press requires several things. It needs a press that could print to higher densities and also software to convert RGB images to CMYK. This works with two components - Kaleido ICC profile (for converting RGB images into CMYK) and Kaleido process colour set (high pigmentation).
It takes a minimum of two to three days to set the dot gain, ink curve as well as establish ink density for the press and to accommodate different paper characteristics, screening, or solid ink density targets. As a result, making sure that the correct curve has been applied is an important part of Kaleido printing’s fast makereadies and reduced materials waste.
In what form is it supplied? 2.5kg vacuum tins, 2kg cartridges or 200kg drums?
One kg vacuum packaging.
What technical support is on offer?
Toyo Ink India team is well-equipped to support printers in setting ICC profile in their pre-press department and also on machine training to set the ink densities.
What’s the price?
Rs 6,000-6,500 per set for conventional ink and Rs 12,000-13,000 per set for UV Kaleido series.
INK SPECIFICATIONS
Colours available Yellow, Magenta , Cyan , Black
Suitable papers Coated and uncoated Paper
Lightfastness Both normal and lightfastness series available.
Fountain solutions Works with all the branded fountain solution suppliers like Technova, Bottcher, Dsc etc.
Prashant Atre, managing director at Toyo Inks Arets on Steraspeed
What does it do?
It is UV-curable inks for high-speed sheet-fed offset machines. It is especially designed at the central lab of Toyo Ink group and manufactured at Toyo-Arets plant in Belgium.
How does it score on the main merits like intense colours, high gloss, sharp dot retention, tack?
Main properties of this ink as the name suggests is speed. This series is designed to perform seamlessly at high-speed printing of 18,000 iph. Even at the speed of 18,000 iph, the ink water balance is quickest and thus it is termed as excellent ink on press.
Explain its compatibility with UV varnish, aqueous coating, foil or lamination?
These inks are especially designed for high productivity packaging; therefore, it is imperative to have compatibility with UV varnishes and aqueous coatings. We would go one step further to say that these inks perform best when they are varnished.
Any certifications like ISO 2846-1: 2006 and ISO 12647 on-press compliance?
Steraspeed is compliant with ISO12647.
When was it launched and what market is it aimed at?
It was launched in Drupa 2016, but in India it was launched in 2017. As more and more high-speed new machines start coming in, we are expecting that this new generation inks will be widely excepted by the market..
How good is it for spot colours?
The whole concept of packaging revolves around spot colours. Therefore, it is natural to have base colours of Steraspeed. The entire range of base colours are available to achieve any shades.
How does it differ from previous products?
This is a new generation ink. It is designed to maintain the stability with speed. These inks can perform at 18,000 iph with ease.
What’s the USP?
Suitable for high speed machines (18000 iph), better ink water balance hence reduction in wastage, good adhesion on various substrates, compliance with ISO12647, formulated without benzophenone and ITX, high gloss and high colour strength.
How easy is it to use?
It is as simple as ‘fill it – shut it – forget it’. Remember the most popular ad of 90’s? This can be applied to Steraspeed as well.
In what form is it supplied?
Three kg pack. This is our standard pack size for all UV sheetfed inks.
What technical support is on offer?
TThe strength of Toyo Ink Arets is our support to customers. We realise the importance of technical servicing to our customers for their benefits and our team constantly works with customer for overall improvement in process and printing.
INK SPECIFICATIONS
Colours available Proceed colour and base colours
Suitable papers MetPet, paper board etc
Lightfastness 5 to 8
Manufacturing compliance ISO 12647
Containers 3 Kgs
Sandeep Redkar of United Ink on Unicure UV 021 offset series
What does it do?
Unicure UV 021 Offset Series is a newly launched UV-curable sheetfed offset series containing UV inks YMCK, white, spot colours and coatings. It is a fast curing UV series with excellent water-balance, litho properties and press performance.
How does it score on the main merits like intense colours, high gloss, sharp dot retention, tack?
The inks scores highly with excellent water-balance,good cure and excellent adhesion to variety of substrates. All these properties are critical pain points for UV ink users.
Explain its compatibility with UV varnish, aqueous coating, foil or lamination?
The UV 021 Series is receptive to UV coating, aqueous coating, foiling or lamination.
Any certifications?
The inks are heavy metal free and conforms to EN 71 part 3.
When was it launched and what market is it aimed at?
It was launched only in March 2018 for packaging UV and commercial UV printing and is ideal for printing on MetPET.
How good is it for spot colours?
The entire range contains base colours and spot colours / matchings. The company is aggressively pursuing franchise matching centres for localised matching and faster service.
How does it differ from previous products?
The improvements are in the ink water-balance and curing and hence supports high-speed UV sheetfed printing with trouble-free press performance and excellent colour gamut.
What’s the USP?
The USP is that it offers most trouble-free press performance for UV curing resulting in high dot sharpness and excellent transfer.
How easy is it to use?
It is amongst the few inks that gives most trouble-free press performance for UV curing. So far at most approvals, our technician / commercial personnel were not required to attend trials.
In what form is it supplied? 2.5kg vacuum tins, 2kg cartridges or 200kg drums?
One kg black plastic cans in a 12 kg carton.
What technical support is on offer?
United Ink has hired techno-commercial team all over India with printing diploma or printing experience backgrounds and hence they can be available for trials as well as trouble-shooting at short notice in and around the following hubs-Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Bangalore, Indore, Hyderabad, Kochi.
What’s the price?
Extremely competitively priced based on volume and payment terms.
Has there been much take-up?
The company has already clocked orders in tonnes within couple of months of launch which is sizeable for the growing UV market. We have the good fortune of having approvals from eight out of the top 30 printers in the country.
INK SPECIFICATIONS
Colours available CMYK, opaque white, base colours, coatings, drip off
Suitable papers MetPet, board, PET, PP etc.
Lightfastness C and K = 7 to 8; Y and M = 4 to 5.
Fountain solutions – Standard fount recommended for UV wet offset inks
Manufacturing compliance – ISO 9001
Containers – One kg black plastic containers (in 12 kg Cartons)
See All