Solvent, Aqueous or Latex inks?
Solvent, Aqueous or Latex inks?
Here at Creative Solutions we are able to offer our customers a choice of inks for their wide format printing. A wide format printer is used for producing large graphics up to 5 metres wide by any required length.
The inks used for wide format printing are either solvent, aqueous or latex. You may be wondering what the differences between these inks are and would it really make much difference, well yes it does, as the inks affect the quality and longevity of your banner or poster. Solvent inks and aqueous and latex inks have completely different formulations and therefore one ink might produce a better quality image on one type of material than the other would.
In solvent ink the main liquid is made up of oil or alcohol, which means it works well with plastic based materials such as vinyl whilst the main liquid in aqueous ink is water and thus works best on paper.
Latex ink can be used for printing on a wide range of materials including vinyl, fabrics, paper, film and low-cost uncoated options. Latex ink is a water based ink that combines the best characteristics of both eco-solvent ink and water-based ink. The advantages of using latex ink is that its outdoor durability and versatility can be obtained at low-cost; it also works very well on uncoated papers, which is usually associated only with using eco-solvent ink, it also produces odourless prints and the ink drys immediately making production much quicker.
If you are conscious about the environment then aqueous ink or latex ink are the ones for you; because they are water based they pose no threat to the environment and of course water is a renewable resource. Solvent ink on the other hand is not so environmentally friendly as it is petroleum based; which is a non-renewable resource. Solvent ink gives off toxic fumes, so can only be used in well ventilated buildings.
Even though aqueous ink in the past seemed to be the most environmentally friendly option some people still preferred to use solvent ink because the image lasted longer especially when used outdoors.
However, this is no longer the case as latex ink has both the qualities of being environmentally friendly and creates long-lasting outdoor signage with better durability than eco-solvent ink; producing very sharp, vivid images on both indoor and outdoor materials.
The choice is yours to make. If you wish to view our products then please visit our website at https://www.creative-solutions-direct.co.uk/catalogue/printing-services
Posted on February 6th 2013
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