Silver foil paper, Offset Printing

[sunilhegde]

Hi,
I need some advise on Printing four color on Silver Foil Paper, 150gsm on a Roland 5C.
Size of the foil is 70cm x 90cm.
1) Can it be done by Offset presses?
2) What type of Ink?
3) What is the drying time?
4) Printing on Both sides, i.e foil and paper side.
5) Any finishing required?
6) Any other percautions required?

Thanks

 

[Cold]

Hi Sunilhedge,

1. Yes, printing on foil can be done off-set.
2. Assuming you are running conventional, I recomend a hard dry ink(fully oxidizing). I also recommend having your ink company produce test drawdowns on the foil with the ink to be used just to ensure suitability.
3. Drying time is 12-72 hours. Depending on conditions and how you handle the piece.
4. Use a backside ink for the backside.
5. ?
6. http://printplanet.com/forums/ink-s...sion/22219-printing-synthetic-substrates-foil


Best Regards.


Cold

 

[turbotom1052]

Foil tips

Foil tips

I agree with cold on the oxidizing ink. This I feel is a MUST !!! You didn't mention if your press was equiped with a coated. If it is you need a coating formulated for non porous substrates. I'd recomend a spray powder of at least 30 microns. You will want to run small lifts and air out (wind) the job as soon as it's safe to do so without smearing the ink. If no coated the job becomes more difficult. also figure into the job a higher waste factor than you normally would. and last but not least I'd recomend that you give this job to your very best pressman that's printed on specialty stocks. Good luck because you will need it ! N

 

[ashley.risstrom]

Howdy,
I won a national print award a couple of years ago for a body of work. What I created was printed on stock laminated with silver foil by allkotes. The way I approached it was to first print a white tonal base under what was going to be my skin tones for the image, I trapped it back a few dots first so we didn't get any halos, this was printed with oxidizing inks, we then went back and printed the cmyk over the top, both hits took a long time to dry as the foil does not allow the stock to breath, lots of hassels with the stock on the trolley as well, it wants to slide off with the slightest change in inertia. Depending on the creative for the job will determine whether you need to print the base white, printing 4 color on silver is like printing on 40% K, the inks are not opaque so the result can look dead and be an expensive waste of time. Putting the white down first gave it similar luminosity to printing on white stock, but beware you need to really print clean and bright as the white point of the printed white is nowhere near that of most stocks. The other thing to bare in mind is silver is only bright if it is reflecting light at you, so for example if you look at it held straight in front of you you will see you and what's behind you, if you put it on a table in the middle of the room it may look good and bright if it's caching the overhead lights.

You will need to apply a laminate over the final printed piece as it scratches real easy.

Hope I didn't bore you, and you find this useful at least maybe to establish expectations with your client.

 

[amgd1972]

Hi Sunilhedge,

Have used Novaplast - Flint in the past.

Print inside first, no spray, keep stacks small.
Press chemistry has to be spot on.

Print on foil - use spray - Carton grade, again keep your stacks small.

Normally around the 12 hours drying time.

Have done UV also with flint product - PlasXTN (I think).
Very good adhesion and scratch resistant.

A.

 

[rich apollo]

Done lots of it (on Roland 5-colors), though never on the back. I'm thinking you're gonna' want to print the backside first. I think you'll risk scratches by printing the foil side first.

Gotta' do an opaque white pass first (if you have UV capability you can do it in one pass), and then run the 4-color on top of that. You'll need to allow the opaque white to dry for a day before printing on top of it. Run short lifts with hard-dry ink and coat it.

Drying will depend on your climate. We were in nasty humidity, so it always took a while. Our client had a 'drying room' - like a big oven, where they could set stubborn pieces to dry.

 

[sunilhegde]

Thanks for all the info. Worthwhile, but have decided to out source to a printer who has UV drying capability.

 

[turbotom1052]

smart move to farm it out. these kind of jobs are in my opinion too high risk to roll the dice on. these specialty substrates cost so much money that even if a portion of the job is spoiled and in need of reprinting it can get to where any profit margin is eaten up. a plant with uv capabilities is the place for this kinda work. there is not enough money in these kinda jobs to make them worth the risk