UV and non UV ink sets

[donatelo]

I was wondering if any one had experience with trying to match UV and non UV printing or with bringing two presses in line with different TVI.
We are moving toward being G7 compliant and run UV and non UV inks on different presses. We would like to have both presses print the same colour. I believe UV has a wider gamut than non UV, so it would mean restricting the UV presses colour space some what. Any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

 

[schenkadere]

I was wondering if any one had experience with trying to match UV and non UV printing or with bringing two presses in line with different TVI.
We are moving toward being G7 compliant and run UV and non UV inks on different presses. We would like to have both presses print the same colour. I believe UV has a wider gamut than non UV, so it would mean restricting the UV presses colour space some what. Any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

I would imagine that simply going thought the process of implementing G7 would bring your presses in line regardless of ink type. There aren't any UV/non UV specifications that I'm aware of. It's all based on gray balance and L*a*b*.

We have 3 UV presses and one conventional and we sometimes flip jobs when needed without any difficulty. As far as gamut, I find conventional inks more vibrant...the UV lights tend to dull color in my experience.

 

[evegtca]

re. UV and non UV ink sets

re. UV and non UV ink sets

I was wondering if any one had experience with trying to match UV and non UV printing or with bringing two presses in line with different TVI.
We are moving toward being G7 compliant and run UV and non UV inks on different presses. We would like to have both presses print the same colour. I believe UV has a wider gamut than non UV, so it would mean restricting the UV presses colour space some what. Any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

It would be a travesty to try to limit the gamut of any press to the detriment of the customer as well as you the printer IMHO regardless of the ink-set or printing method.

To qualify presses via G7 methodology running UV inks beside others running conventional inks for the same printing co. has not been a problem. Yes, the colourants were slightly different, but because of the "near-neutral" curve and common mid-tone weights between the printing results, the visual results were very close indeed.

Best regards,
Coast Imaging Arts
Ernst Vegt

 

[schenkadere]

It would be a travesty to try to limit the gamut of any press to the detriment of the customer as well as you the printer IMHO regardless of the ink-set or printing method.

To qualify presses via G7 methodology running UV inks beside others running conventional inks for the same printing co. has not been a problem. Yes, the colourants were slightly different, but because of the "near-neutral" curve and common mid-tone weights between the printing results, the visual results were very close indeed.

Best regards,
Coast Imaging Arts
Ernst Vegt

Well...running under a G7 methodology essentially limits your gamut. To comply to whichever target set you chose, you need to hit defined target with very small tolerance.

 

[Correct Color]

Well...running under a G7 methodology essentially limits your gamut. To comply to whichever target set you chose, you need to hit defined target with very small tolerance.

Indeed.


Mike Adams
Correct Color

 

[evegtca]

re. UV and non UV ink sets

re. UV and non UV ink sets

Well...running under a G7 methodology essentially limits your gamut. To comply to whichever target set you chose, you need to hit defined target with very small tolerance.

I would disagree with your first comment but agree with your second. G7 methodology can be used with offset to gravure, flexo to screen printing, all printing to various substrates with various inks, etc. Do we limit how punchy a warm red or deep a blue we can achieve on a poly bag? Not on your life! However, we can use G7 methodology to keep a "near-neutral" gray-balance throughout and keep mid-tones where they should be for weight in relation to the white of our substrate.

As per your second statement, if we want to print to GRACoL (or SWOP3 or SWOP5) conditions, then that may limit ones gamut. Even then we've seen printers use inks with greater pigmentation, use stochastic screening and achieve a wider gamut and still use G7 methodology.

Best regards,
Coast Imaging Arts,
Ernst vegt

 

[glenncolorguy]

UV-non UV

UV-non UV

GRACoL specifies specific L*a*b* values for solid inks....G7 does not. G7 is flexible and adaptable to any colorant set, so there is no need to restrict gamut, however it is unlikely you would need to do this in any case. Conventional inks generally have a wider gamut than UV inks, an despite their beliefs, non_G7 compliant printers usually print to a gamut smaller than GRACoL, which sets the bar quite high.

Because UV inks dry-trap, 2 color overprints will tend to be visibly different than conventional inks.