CAPABILITIES: UV PRINTING

UV printing is different from conventional printing in many ways. It is still ink on paper but the ink dries through a completely different process. Instead of having solvents in the ink that evaporate into the air and absorb into the paper, UV inks dry through a photomechanical process. When the inks are exposed to ultraviolet lights they turn from a liquid, or paste, to a solid. There is significantly less evaporation of solvents and much less absorption of the ink into the stock. One of the biggest advantages of UV printing is that there are fewer emissions of volatile organic compounds into the environment since there is no evaporation of the solvents like with conventional inks. Since UV inks dry when exposed to UV light the inks do not have the time to soak into the paper. The ink dot is left sitting on top of the uncoated sheet, where it presents a cleaner less contaminated dot, ultimately giving more vibrant color. UV Printing is an excellent way to produce printed material on unusual substrates and on uncoated stocks, and it is available in multiple ColorGraphics locations along the West Coast.