Question UV ink vs eco-solvent ink

[Jonathan Tyrell]

Hi,

We do decals and backlit signs.

We have a Roland VG2-540, it prints great on 3M IJ180 vinyl.

But the inks scratch easily and we have to wait 24 hours before cutting into bleed.

I'm thinking of getting a UV roll to roll printer (probably Mimaki UCJV) to overcome these problems.


But

1) Will the UV prints have the same quality as eco-solvent prints?

2) Is UV good for colour matching to brand colours? Do UV inks have good color gamut?

3) Is UV good for backlit applications vs eco-solvent?

4) We do a lot of intricate decals (lettering etc). Is UV ink suitable to cut, weed and apply? I've heard that it makes the material brittle.


Thank you for your help.

I hope this is a good topic to discuss, as I couldn't find any posts on this elsewhere.

Many thanks,
Jonathan

 

[Superior_Adam]

We use a EFI printers to print all of our acrylic and backlit applications. Color white Color when you print and it comes out amazing. Much easier than eco solvent inks. I would suggest having the manufacturer print test files for you then you can get them back and cut them as well.

 

[Andy D]

1) Will the UV prints have the same quality as eco-solvent prints? Yes, but unless things have changed, UV inks have a shorter outdoor life than solvent.

2) Is UV good for colour matching to brand colours? Do UV inks have good color gamut? Yes

3) Is UV good for backlit applications vs eco-solvent? Yes, especially if you can print white, it's really the only way to print backlit correctly.

4) We do a lot of intricate decals (lettering etc). Is UV ink suitable to cut, weed and apply? I've heard that it makes the material brittle. It's the Type of ink you use, some are very brittle some are very flexible, I believe Mimaki's inks are flexible.
Personally though, if I were putting out money for UV, I would get a flat bed

 

[Andy D]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong... I have run several brands/models of UV flatbed printers, but no UV roll to roll.
I see no reason for anyone to consider UV roll to roll, Solvent and Latex printers have UV RTR printers beat across the board.
The only reason I would consider a UV is to print directly to substrates and being able to print white. From what I understand
the price point between RTR & FB UV printers tend not to be much

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

R2R UV is blisteringly quick (on our Arizona) for white printing onto clear or coloured vinyl.
For everything else, I'd still rather use our Epson at 80% of the speed and far superior output in both resolution and colour.

 

[Jonathan Tyrell]

Thanks for the replies so from what I understand, the advantages of UV vs solvent are

a) printing direct onto substrate (we don't do this at the moment)
b) printing with white ink (we don't require white ink at the moment)

To print photos, or colour-critical graphics such as brand logos, is solvent still the best option?

We get good results from our Roland at the moment so not sure if it's worth investing in a roll-to-roll UV printer.

Thanks
Jonathan

 

[Andy D]

To print photos, or colour-critical graphics such as brand logos, is solvent still the best option

You will get different answers, there are pros and cons for both, but both will print beautifully.
Latex can be laminated right away.
But my experience with latex is you can't pause the prints or use drop pieces, but I'm not sure if that's true for all latex printers.

 

[Andy D]

One more draw back on UV Printers is the ink sits on top of vinyl like paint, so it has more depth, which mean lamination tends to "silver" around the edge of prints.
Also, depending on the ink and how well it's cured, many laminations will lift from UV inks with full bleeds. Were I you, and if solvent is fitting your needs, I would probably stick with solvent.