The Situation on Ink

For the second year in a row, the majority of printers cited lack of experience and ink price as the main reasons why they don't employ hybrids. And of the 87 percent of printers who have yet to implement hybrids, only 4 percent of them plan to do so in the next six months.

A host of benefits come with hybrids, including more substrate choices, augmented scratch resistance, and increased speeds. More so, said Don Duncan, director of research at Wikoff Color Corp., "UV hybrid inks have three major advantages: 1) they will UV-coat in-line without gloss reduction (glossback); 2) they will run on conventional rubber rollers and blankets; and 3) they will cure with one, or only a few, UV lamps rather than full interstation curing that 'conventional' UV inks need," he said. "If a printer is coming from oil-based sheetfed printing, No. 1 and 2 are especially important. If a printer is currently using conventional UV, No. 3 is more important (saving money in lamps)."