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G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M M A R C H 2 0 2 3 • G R A P H I C S P R O 3 5 "e future of roll-to-roll printing, of really any kind of printer, is always to go with faster printers and also better-qual- ity printers," Lopez says. "Sustainability and the types of inks you use play hand- in-hand with that." Roll-to-roll printing inks Using resin-based inks, which are water and not solvent-based, speeds up the printing process by allowing for immedi- ate lamination, while also improving over- all quality, Lopez says. For instance, using solvent inks on a vehicle wrap requires waiting three to six hours after printing on the vinyl and before the lamination step to allow for outgassing and the pre- vention of bubbles from forming, he says. "Water-based ink goes through the vinyl and the post-heater dries it, and it's ready to laminate," Lopez says. "It goes through a three-tier heating system, and the post heater finalizes the dry- ing, so you don't have to wait like you would have to for a solvent printer. The water just evapo- rates once it's done with the curing process." Resin inks allow for greater versatility than s o l v e nt i n k s , w h i c h require specialized materials that are coated specifically to act as a receptor for the solvent, so that printing on a canvas, for example, first requires a coating. With Epson's resin-based printers, an optimizer is used to act as a coating or glue with the ink placed on top. "en you can print to uncoated papers, canvasses, and textiles — literally what- ever you can fit through the printer," Lopez says. "If you can lay it flat, you can print to it." E c o -solvent i n k i s seeing improvements in reducing the outgassing before the lamination step — previously out- gassing took 24 hours, Simmering says. "A lot of it has to do with the type of carrier — the pigment of the ink is bound by the carrier," Simmering says. "By playing with what the carrier is and the pigment size, we can require less of an outgassing period, or reducing it. Essentially, we can play with the carrier that carries the color and get that to out- gas faster." Improving the printing process Another way to speed up the printing process is by using replaceable print heads that don't require a technician to install, Resin inks allow for greater versatility than solvent inks. SMART CHANGE STARTS HERE. SPOT GLOSS WITHOUT VARNISH: GET PREMIUM PRICES WITHOUT RAISING COSTS With the FLXfinish⁺, the Colorado printer series allows Print Service Providers to command a premium price, while not incurring additional costs. Print gloss AND matte on the same print without a varnish or additional consumables. The Colorado printer series, there is nothing like it! ONE CLICK TWO FINISHES ONE PRINT SCAN THE QR CODE TO GET FREE FLXFINISH⁺ WALLCOVERING SAMPLES © 2023 Canon Solutions America, Inc. All Rights Reserved.