Thanks to XAAR's grayscale technology, multiple drops of ink can be jetted out of the same nozzle in rapid succession, instead of just producing a single drop of ink as in the two-state printing method. These multiple ink droplets fuse as needed to form variable-size pixels, thereby facilitating increased resolution. The XAAR Leopard printhead produces 8 levels of gray and prints clear images greater than 900 dpi. At the same time, because this type of print head can print higher resolution images with fewer pixels, it can also bring significant speed advantages over two-state printing. In addition, the variable droplet size also improves print quality and controls the amount of ink that is printed to suit the specific requirements of each substrate material.
XAAR is currently working with three major ink manufacturers, SunJet, Sericollmaging and Avecia, to develop a series of inks for the packaging and printing market. The latest advances in ink selection for UV-curable inks, the primary packaging application, have brought positive impact to the packaging market. UV-curing inks with flexible formulation ingredients are particularly suitable for non-contact inkjet printing. It has the characteristic of almost instant drying caused by the help of UV irradiation, which guarantees that the image will be dried immediately after printing on any material and will not fade after a long time. The final printing result is the same. The glossy paper printed magazines are of the same quality, will not fade or be scratched or damaged during handling.
3 Inkjet Printing Promotes New Opportunities for the Packaging Industry
A new trend in the secondary packaging market is formed by the cooperation of product manufacturers, marketing service providers and supermarket retailers. They realized that the advantage of digital printing technology is that it can print less variable variable information on demand. The product packaging must look good enough while providing retailers with the opportunity to display variable information such as promotional offers. Moreover, these merchants also require the ability to produce low-cost product samples, as well as a small amount of test products. Although traditional printing methods can also do this, the cost of printing is often unacceptably high because of the small amount of printing. Digital inkjet printing provides a simple solution for delivering products that are differentiated for the purpose of marketing in a global market and brand recognition. Also, drop-on-demand inkjet printing technology provides instant image conversion, which saves money by reducing inventory and immediate production.
Since printing accounts for about 15% of the total cost of the entire packaging process, it is extremely important to develop an efficient, simple and low-cost packaging and printing solution. By leveraging its leading technologies in digital printing solutions and innovative ways of developing new products, XAAR has become a driving force for obtaining inkjet printing technology achievements. It quickly recognized the benefits of the introduction of this technology into the packaging industry, and immediately invested in development, turning concepts into reality and expanding digital inkjet printing technology into the packaging and printing industry. According to estimates by the United States "Information Technology Strategy" consulting company, 90% of packaging printers and end users are currently using or are actively developing and using digital printing technology.
Digital inkjet printing offers solutions for short delivery times, short run times, and minimal preparation and downtime. Moreover, this solution can also be successfully integrated into the packaging line. The versatility and high margins offered by XAAR printing technology, including the recently launched Leopard print head grayscale printing, will ensure that on-demand inkjet digital printing technology will be further widely applied and in product packaging and promotion. Play an important role in meeting the future needs of today’s image-oriented social development.
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