SEPIAX aquares water based resin inks offer customers a unique range of features and benefits.

1] Print “direct to anything” with one type of ink

SEPIAX inks are designed to print onto a wider range of substrates and media than any other inkjet ink on the market, of any ink type – solvent, UV-curable, aqueous, latex or oil-based. 

 

This means that our printer customers can print onto materials that their competitors cannot.  The unique capabilities of SEPIAX inks create new business opportunities for our customers and new ways to satisfy the needs of print buyers and consumers. This fact ultimately leads to better profits and to happier customers.

 

2] No need for pre-treatment or coating

SEPIAX inks do not require special inkjet coatings or pre-treatment. Our customers save money by using uncoated substrates instead of expensive inket coated media.

 

3] No odour

Because of SEPIAX’s unique water based resin technology, our inks have no odour – and the prints also have no residual odour.  It is not possible to achieve these benefits with solvent, ecosolvent, mild solvent or UV-curable inkjet inks.

 

This means a more pleasant and healthier environment in the print shop.  It also means reduced costs for venting solvent vapours or the ozone generated by the lamps of most UV-cure printers.  It also means that printers can be installed in a wider range of environments, without any complaints of ink smell from staff members.  And stored rolls of prints do not lead to build up of unpleasant smells in storage rooms or smell in the end consumer’s places.

 

4] Significant reduction in print costs

When compared to using OEM inks, our customers save money, for two main reasons:

 

• SEPIAX equipped printers can use UNCOATED media, and this almost always costs much less per roll or per m² than special pre-coated inkjet media.  It is possible even to use cheap uncoated film media used in the packaging industry, as a graphics substrate!  Typically, depending upon the media type, costs may be reduced by 20 – 80%.

 

• The second reason relates to the high colour density of our ink, and the fact that our ink mostly stays on the surface of the substrate or media.  Actually, you need to print less ink! This reduction in ink consumption is set by adjusting the ink limitation factor, which is done immediately before generating a profile.  By this method, ink consumption costs can be reduced by a further 15-70%, again depending upon the substrate or media that is printed, when compared to consumption of the OEM ink.

 

5] Good durability

Prints with SEPIAX inks have good UV-stability, are resistant to water, and show abrasion resistance similar to ecosolvent inks.  In respect of UV-stability, testing at the FOGRA Institute has led to certification of SEPIAX inks at +7 on the “bluewool scale”. This rating corresponds to about two years outdoor stability without protective coating or laminate, which again is similar to solvent or ecosolvent inks.

 

6] Non-flammable

Since all SEPIAX inks are water based inks they are non-flammable for transport and storage.  Our inks are actually classified as non-flammable and non-combustible according to the German Regulation on Inflammable Liquids (Verordnung für brennbare Flüssigkeiten - VbF). So SEPIAX aquares inks correspond to the strict B1 and M1 fire prevention regulations for indoor signage materials in Germany and France.

 

Tests also show that after printing onto a variety of substrates, SEPIAX inks do not burn. Even if SEPIAX inks are printed onto a flameproof material such as flame-retardant polyester (e.g. “Trevira” TM) the flame-retardant properties of the substrate are maintained in the finished printed product.

 

7] High colour density and print resolution

Due to their high pigmentation levels, SEPIAX aquares inks have exceptionally high colour density, greater even than that some of OEM ecosolvent inkjet inks.  This feature can be used to reduce ink consumption and save money (as explained above under pt. 4) but it can also be used in another way:

The exceptionally high colour density can be used on backlit media, transparent media or metallised reflective media to produce more intense colours, and brighter displays.

 

Since SEPIAX inks mostly stay on the surface of the media, it is possible to print with high resolution and definition even onto highly absorbent substrates, such as tissue paper, paper towelling or porous wallpaper.  In general, OEM solvent or aqueous inks cannot achieve these results.

 

8] Ecologically friendly

As SEPIAX inks are water based, our customers can immediately benefit from greener production.  By using SEPIAX aquares inks our customers can reduce solvent emissions immediately, or eliminate the need for UV-curable inks to print onto difficult or non-absorbent substrates. 

 

But that is not the only benefit to the environment. The enabled use of uncoated substrates and media does not just save money – it means that we can reduce the need to apply a special inkjet pre-coat onto a non-receptive substrate.  And almost without fail, such coating processes have some environmental costs in terms of energy consumption, conversion wastage and pollutant emissions into the environment.

 

9] Cost-effective low temperature drying

SEPIAX aquares  inks need max. 55 - 58°C to dry immediately after the printing process on non-absorbent surfaces. The curing process starts automatically at this temperature and needs no additional post-heating at all. Depending on the substrate the curing process lasts 24 hours. Then the printout reaches its full water resistance and scratch resistance.

Other ink systems require very high drying (pre-heating) and curing (post-heating) temperatures, sometimes more than 100°C which results in enormous energy costs.

 

10] Reduced production lead times

SEPIAX prints dry immediately after printing. Hence, the substrate can be rolled-up or even laminated immediately after printing without the need of additional drying or evaporation conditioning time.  This is not possible with solvent based inks of any type.

 

The 24hours curing time starts automatically with the required low temperature during the print process. This curing process is not influenced, interrupted or troubled by the lamination.

Hence the lead time from processing the order to shipment to the customer can be reduced.

 

11] Reduced media distortion

Some sensitive substrates change their dimensions during the printing and drying process.  Posterised or panel prints, when applied and butt-registered, can often be found to be slightly out of register.  Sometimes, media flatness is also compromised.

 

Using SEPIAX aquares inks, with their lower ink deposit and medium temperature drying conditions (no substrate requires heating above 60°C, and many can be printed at lower temperatures still) minimises these problems. 

 

12] Media properties preserved

SEPIAX aquares  inks dry to a smooth, elastic film. Hence the handling properties of the media are preserved, and no stress whitening occurs on folding or cutting.

 

Additionally, when using solvent based inks on self-adhesive media such as pressure-sensitive vinyls or label stock, often residual solvent vapour migrates from the ink and media layer into the adhesive layer, causing undesirable changes in the adhesive properties.  For example, in some cases, low-tack adhesives after printing become high-grab.