Special Inks Make Cents

Specialty inks are just that—special. They can perform a multitude of functions for a package or its contents—from protection to jazzing it up, providing enhanced value in form, function, or both.

In discussing this topic with Bob Lorenz, vice president of business development for Sun Chemical, what comes across loud and clear is the excitement that this category can generate, even when looking at the specialty inks that are more functional in nature. Sun Chemical offers a full gamut of specialty inks that can meet virtually any need. One can just imagine a brand manager sitting across from Lorenz as he runs down the range of what these inks can offer in terms of marketability, brand protection, security, and function. It seems as though the sky is the limit, although in reality (a place where brand managers that are responsible for the bottom line have to reside), cost implications probably come into play well before someone gets their head stuck in the clouds.

The one downside to this category of inks is cost. They are definitely more costly than traditional inks, partly because of the materials and technologies that make them special, and partly because they are—to varying degrees—custom formulations. So, although a brand manager’s heart and head might be in the clouds, his or her feet must be firmly planted on the ground.

That doesn’t mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that specialty inks aren’t a practical tool for use in brand packaging. When a product offers distinctiveness, graphic appeal, consumer safety, or brand protection and security, there’s a lot that can be justified.

Many options

Lorenz breaks the specialty inks category down into four areas: functional, safety, security, and novelty. The use of these inks clearly overlap in some of these areas, such as thermochromic inks, which can provide process functionality or product and/or consumer safety.

Thermochromic inks, which change color based on being exposed to a specific temperature, can be reversible or irreversible. Lorenz mentions some examples of reversible thermochromic inks like having a color change or a message appear on a label to indicate if coffee is too hot, or likewise, having a color change on a bottle of baby shampoo if the bath water is too hot. Irreversible thermochromic inks could be used to indicate that a sterilization temperature has been reached, or even if a low or high temperature has been exceeded in product transit or storage. Currently, Lorenz says that the majority of uses for thermochromic inks are for reversible applications.

Stan White, director of sales and marketing for Rad-Cure Corporation, reports strong interest in bichromatic (color shift) inks, glitter inks (flexo and rotary screen), pearlescent inks (in a variety of colors supplied as overprintable and hot stampable primer, or a topcoat), and matte textures and doming/tactile products.

Rad-Cure offers UV and aqueous bichromatic inks for flexo application on paper and most plastic substrates. When viewed at different angles, these inks will change from a hazy white to a color. They are also available with two or three color-shift effects. Bichromatic inks can be used to simply enhance visual appeal or can provide visual security without the need for a secondary reader. As another security measure, Lorenz adds that the color-shifting features cannot be reproduced by a color copier or digital scanner.

A close cousin to this color-shift effect can be obtained by metameric inks, notes Lorenz. With these inks, colors that appear the same under one set of lighting conditions can look much different when viewed under different lighting. He says that this can be used as a relatively inexpensive security feature.

Glitter inks can provide enhanced visual appeal to labels, cartons, POP displays, and stickers. Rad-Cure’s RAD-KROME pearlescent and glitter UV and aqueous products for flexo and screen applications are available in irridescent, gold, and silver, with additional colors formulated on request.

To enhance visual effects with different inks, UVitec offers a rotary screen glitter UV coating. It can be used on in-line, combination printing applications to provide a printing surface that can complement most ink systems, including offset, letterpress, and flexo.

Lorenz points out a variety of fluorescent inks that can be used to provide security features, or simply enhance graphic appeal. Colored fluorescent inks are visible in normal light, but provide a fluorescent glow under UV light. Invisible fluorescent inks are virtually invisible in normal light, but radiate fluorescent shades with exposure to UV light.

UV/IR responsive inks combine effects from both UV and IR sources, says Lorenz. The ink will fluoresce a bright green when exposed to IR light at 980 nm, or can be formulated to fluoresce as a chosen color when exposed to UV light.

Lorenz mentions an array of potential uses, such as glow-in-the-dark applications for novelty items, running shoes, or wallpaper (maybe to help guide people down a darkened hallway). As with many specialty inks, there are process considerations when applying fluorescent inks, such as potentially having to reduce the run speed of the press. In addition, he says, the best method for application may be screen due to the need for thick ink laydown.

Siegwerk Ink Packaging’s line of phosphorescent inks provides a yellow-green after glow effect that is visible after a light has been turned off. These inks are finding use on labels and toys and can be applied with screen or rotogravure processes.

UVitec’s fluorescent inks are available in a wide array of colors including yellow, orange, red, magenta, green, and cyan. It also has a fluorescent pink that can be used as a fifth color in process printing to enhance skin tones and extend the range of magenta hues on images. These inks can be supplied for flexo, rotary screen, offset, and letterpress applications.

The Starlight Fluorescent system from Alden & Ott Printing Inks is designed to give printers more flexibility with press speeds and color strength. The inks are thermal transfer printable and are available in Pantone® colors, as well as custom color matches.

Metallic inks are being used to brighten up many packages on store shelves. Water Ink Technologies’ Water Bright Metallic inks are formulated to provide an enhanced metallic sheen and excellent printability. These flexo inks are also available in trappable formulations to enhance production flexibility.

Alden & Ott’s Meterorite metallic ink system for narrow web flexo printing uses very small metallic particle sizes that support high-quality overprinting. The Meterorite series has been designed to provide excellent coverage on higher line anilox rolls with doctor blade metering systems.

Metallic inks can also be used as a cost-effective alternative to foil applications. Lorenz says that in packaging applications requiring less than 25 percent coverage, vacuum metallized inks can be more cost effective than foil.

Environmental Inks and Coatings offers several options for metallic inks. Its Aqua Gloss Metallics are designed for maximum rub resistance; Aqua Sparkle provide a brilliant finish and super stable metallic; and the Eckart Ultra Star Metalure metallics provide a foil-like appearance on smooth surfaces. Environmental Inks can supply additional specialized products.

Another metallic ink option is provided by Sun Chemical through a licensing agreement with UK-based MetalFX® Technology Ltd. Lorenz says that the use of the MetalFX® system can be a cost-effective solution to provide metallic effects on packaging.

According to MetalFX literature, the system is based on the transparency of CMYK inks. When CMYK inks are printed on top of the specially modified MFX® silver ink, it will create a virtually unlimited range of metallic colors. The silver base ink is formulated with increased trapping qualities to allow the CMYK inks to adhere to its surface. According to the company, when the silver base is printed first, followed by standard CMYK inks over top, a CMYK job can be run at the same time as up to 615 metallic colors on the same substrate.

For a holographic effect, the Flint Group has developed an ink system, called the HolographINK Process, that is designed to eliminate the need for printing on holographic materials. It can be used to deliver attractive, eye-catching graphics or in anti-counterfeiting applications. The technology uses flexo printing in combination with photopolymer plates to transfer the image to a wide variety of substrates, with a final UV curing ink.

Making sense, scents, and cents

Specialty inks appeal to the senses, primarily the sense of sight. Although hearing and taste may be getting short changed, smell and touch are getting a fair share of attention (though they will always be distant seconds compared to what the eyeballs are bombarded with). Textured and tactile enhanced packaging is getting more popular, and we are all aware of the clever nasal teasers that are called scratch-and-sniff.

Always, however, specialty inks—even with their cost implications—are tailored toward making a product appeal to any of the five senses. Why? ... Whatever makes cents. n