09.06.2018
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Packaging of the product not only makes it attractive but also informative. It can be said as a calling card of any product as the prospective customer notices and examines a package prior purchasing any material in a shop.
It tells the purchaser about its price, size, condition, contents, and texture of the product. Thus, a well-designed package can increase the brand value of the company, but to cut the rest, it is essential to use supreme quality of liquid printing ink.
About Printing Ink
The printing ink is particularly, a thick liquid paste that contains pigments or dyes, which can be used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. It is used on enormous range, as any products we purchase have a detail on it which is printed with its help.
It comes in various types to suit its application, which means that its selection is made on the basis on usability and surface of the product. For instance, the printing ink used on newspaper will differ from what is used in books, the ink used in newsprint does not necessarily require permanency, but inks used in books do. Similarly, ink used to print on textiles differs that from printing on paper.
The selection of inks also depends on printing technology; the suitability of the ink for printing process is also considered prior its usage. The technologies such as Flexography, Gravure, Lithography, and Web Offset are used commonly in printing industry.

Reverse Printing Inks, Water Based Inks, Surface Printing Inks, and Solvent Based Inks are some of the widely used inks in economy.

Printing Ink: Printing Technology and Packaging Application

Flexography
Flexography or Flexo is a form of printing process which utilizes a flexible relief plate. The flexo printing inks possess low viscosity and dry primarily by evaporation of the vehicle. Flexographic presses uses water based inks which has high degree of printability, perform well on the press, and clean up easily. They are totally smudgeproof.

Application: Flexo printing inks can be used for printing on almost any type of substrate, including plastic, metallic films, cellophane, and newspaper. It is widely used for printing on airtight containers of food packaging. It is also applied on HDPE Woven Sack, Paper Foils, etc.

Gravure
Gravure printing is primarily a long-run, high-speed, high-quality printing method. The Gravure Printing inks comprise of a pigment, binder and a solvent. It can be used for CMYK printing where each color of ink is applied by its own cylinder and with its drying steps. Its usage produces fine and detailed images. This printing method mostly uses water based ink and solvent based ink to reduce its efforts in printing process.

Application: Gravure Printing Inks are applied for printing on food packets such as chocolate wrappers, bread wrappers, etc. Some of its commercial usage includes printing on Blister foils, BOPP Films, Medium & high performance laminates, pharmaceutical packaging, packaging labels, etc.

Lithography
Lithography is a method of printing based on the immiscibility of oil and water. A printing plate with a relief image is moistened with water and then layered with ink. The ink sticks to the parts of the plate which are not wet. This plate is fixed to a roller and the image is pasted onto paper fed under the roller. This method applies surface printing inks.

Application: It is used to print text or artwork onto paper or any smooth surface. It is applied for printing text or images on books, magazines, posters, paper gift wraps, etc.

Web Offset
Web offset printing can be used by two methods- heatset and coldset. In the heatset process, the ink is dried rapidly by forced-air heating. In the coldset process, the ink dries more slowly by ordinary evaporation and absorption. Surface printing inks are used in this type of printing system.
Application: Offset printing inks are used for printing on Coated/ uncoated paper.
Conclusion: The great designed packaging of products depend on using quality printing inks, as it can make it packet attractive which can easily entice the customers.
Flow Ink & Coatings Private Limited (FICPL) is one of the foremost manufacturers and exporters of liquid printing inks. We offer a wide array of liquid printing inks which includes Polyester Inks, Gravure Printing Inks, Flexo Printing Inks, Bopp Inks, Offset Inks, HDPE Woven Sacks Inks, Lacquers, and Water Based Flexo Inks. We are an ISO 9001-2008 certified company. We have an advanced infrastructure, fully capable technical team and an inquisitive R&D Department which works constantly on improving our product range as well as discovering new processing techniques. We conduct our business in an ethical manner and provide supreme grade products and unmatched customer services at competitive rates to our well-esteemed customers across the globe.