Earlier in the year, on Inkjet Insight we talked about packaging drawing material away from printing papers, now even makers of packaging substrates are struggling with the supply chain. Whether you are in production print, packaging or developing solutions for those markets, you need flexibility in working with the papers that you can get. Substrates formulated specifically for inkjet are increasingly hard to get.
Automated Metering Technology is a precise method for applying coating on digital substrates. Coating can turn offset grades into inkjet compatible grades with proper application and testing. Why does precision matter? First, because coating or priming fluid is an additional cost and placing the minimum effective amount optimizes the inkjet economics. Second, because carefully controlling the coating helps with color management and print performance expectations without further calibrations after initial set up for a particular substrate.
Contiweb's patented Automated Metering System
Coatings also come into play when protecting or adding texture to the printed page. Here again, the way the fluid is applied makes a difference in precision, efficiency and quality. One of the most common methods is flexography but it is not the only, or even the first choice, in all cases. Download the whitepaper “Automated Metering Technology: Method for variably and precisely applying coating on paper in digital printing” to learn of the advantages of Contiweb’s patented coating technology over flexo systems.
Many of the latest generation of inkjet presses have some form of flood or spot coating solution built-in, but most previous generations of presses do not, or the systems are optional. If you are considering a coating system, currently have a flexo coating system, or if you are just curious about how these systems work, download this free whitepaper from Contiweb below.
