Buyers' Guide

Thanks to escalating consumables costs, printers are increasingly leaning towards water-based coatings on jobs where they would have previously used UV.

“A high-gloss finish from a water-based coating to match a UV finish is a common request and something that Flint Group looked into in the past,” says Claire Ashby, technical manager at Flint Group UK and Ireland.

The market price for UV varnishes is still quite low, which puts great demand on the coating manufacturer, and the trend for UV coatings is increasingly moving towards benzophenone-free products, particularly in the packaging sector.

Flint is developing water-based coats, which will give a UV gloss-varnish finish on its new ink range. It’s a conventional ink that can be UV varnished inline, with no gloss back and no need for a water-based primer.

Many printers are looking to low migration UV again, particularly in the packaging sector.

Seeking higher gloss
Requests for higher gloss levels and faster curing speeds are also quite common in this market. The drying speed of coatings varies depending on whether it’s matt, gloss, UV, high-gloss or protection – usually, the higher the gloss, the slower the drying time.

“With so many new and improved digital presses being shown at Drupa, we anticipate there will be even greater interest in primers and pre-coatings,” says Martyn Elmy, director of sales and marketing at Russell-Webb. “Our range of primers allow a litho printer or trade coater to prepare their normal ‘litho’ stock for use on their digital presses.”

When purchasing UV coatings, buyers should have a good knowledge of the printed product to ensure that the correct UV coating is specified. “The key points to consider are related to packaging and, therefore, benzophenone-free, foil-blocking, gluing and product resistance,” says Ashby. “The same would also apply to a water-based coating with respect to finishing and any further processing properties, such as blister pack.”

Emma Isichei, Sun Chemical marketing director for the UK and Ireland, adds: “A trend we have began to see over the past year is a positive response to our soft touch lacquer, Aquasol APC2515, which is increasingly being used by printers to give an extra dimension and appeal to printed surface coatings. This, in turn, encourages users and consumers to have greater engagement and interest with the final printed effect.”

---

WHAT'S NEW IN… COATINGS
• Flint Group is carrying out trials on a new ink range called Inuline. It’s a conventional ink that can be UV varnished inline with no gloss back. A water-based coating has been developed to use over these inks and both are due to be launched later this year
• Michelman, the overprinting kit manufacturer, will be showing its new ThermaGloss 460 varnish at this year’s Drupa in Düsseldorf. The varnish is water-based and heat resistant
• Dutch conglomerate Akzo Nobel completed its acquisition of ICI, resulting in all shares in the company being taken off the stock market in January. Shareholders received an interim dividend of 5p per share and the UK-based che­micals giant was bought for £8.1bn
• Best Cover UV made inroads to offer the “largest single plant capacity for UV varnishing in the UK” after setting up a southern operation and striking a strategic partnership with Essex-based Olro Print Finishers. It also invested £800,000 in a Heidelberg coating press