25 Sep The Latest & Greatest In Digital Ink Technology
The trend of car wraps is one of the hottest in 2019. More and more car owners customize their car by wrapping it in protective material. In addition to making their car look unique, they can also use a certain technique such as latex inks or UV-cure inks to protect their vehicles from scratches, bumps and even powerful sunlight. They can assess the car wrap cost and see if it’s a good option for them in 2019.
The benefits of car wrapping are many. You can easily update your car’s appearance without investing in the tedious process of painting it. Moreover, you can increase your car’s resale value and also add a natural layer of protection on it. The vinyl can act as a shield against hail, debris, or any other rough material that you might encounter while driving.
If you want to take advantage of car wrapping and leverage its benefits, it is important to understand the latest trends in digital ink technology. Below are some of the most common types of digital inks used for creating the gorgeous vehicle wraps you can see today all around you.
True Solvent Inks
This was the initial printing method used to wrap cars back in the 90s. The ink formula came with a unique combination of pigments, solvents and resins. However, the volatile organic compounds of this formula, such as 2-butoxethanol acetate or cyclohexanone, were considered extremely flammable and very dangerous. As better and safer technologies have become available at a wide scale, true solvents inks is a car wrapping method that is declining fast.
Eco Solvent Inks
Eco inks have revolutionized the car wrapping industry. Using less intense volatile organic compounds, this type of ink has completely eliminated the need for baking and venting, which was a must in the case of true solvent inks. Eco solvent inks require significantly less time to dry, up to 4 times less time than what was required for true solvent inks. Nevertheless, there are better methods, which we will explore below.
Latex Inks
These modern inks are relatively new on the market and are the result of advancements in technology. Thanks to HP, you can now benefit from the latex printing technology available to date and enjoy huge improvements over any other wrapping technique. The inks have no volatile organic compounds, require no baking or venting, and they dry instantaneously. Moreover, the entire process is quicker to allow for quick completion of orders and to satisfy more customers.
Even if HP is still the main manufacturer or ink printers, the competition is coming strong from behind and is looking to improve the technology used to make the whole process even quicker.
LED UV Curable Inks
This is another type of inks that leverages the power of technology. The tech behind this type of ink is quite complex. Thus, instead of the old solvent-based carrier that requires a certain amount of time to dry and comes with dangerous volatile organic compounds, LED UV Curable inks combines a wide range of oligomers, photo-initiators and monomers to create a solid polymer the moment it is exposed to UV light.
For this technology to work, the wrap company is required to have high-powered arc lamps powerful enough to create extreme heat and UV outputs. However, this tech led to thick ink that does not flatten, but piles up. To solve this issue, manufacturers have developed a new method that used low-heat UV tech. This reduces the temperature, improves image quality and allows the inks to smooth out across the surface of the car.
As a result, the LED UV Curable inks have become widespread in the commercial car wraps market. Along with latex inks, this car wrapping ink technology is considered the best. Both can dramatically reduce car wrap cost and allow you to get your favorite wrapping quicker and safer.
The Bottom Line
The future of printing technology and car wrapping is as exciting as it gets. Expect the technology to keep advancing and to reduce the car wrap cost, while speeding up the car wrap process.
To learn more about the top vehicle car wrappings and to understand the powerful benefits of Latex inks and LED UV curable inks, contact us at Full Sail Graphics.