Color Reproduction Study on the Corrugated Packaging Using UV Wide-format Inkjet Printer

Abstract

Packaging is one of the fastest growing segments in the print industry, specifically the digital packaging arena. Color digital printing for corrugated is essentially all inkjet and has existed for at least 20 years. High quality packaging prototyping allows for greater client choice and more short-run finished corrugated products. To exam the color reproduction capability on the corrugated packaging using UV wide-format inkjet printer, a Roland VersaUV LEJ-640 UV LED printer with Eco UV-curable inks was employed in this study. Four print settings were tested on the selected B-flute corrugated boards. The main purposes of this experimental study are to (1) identify the most important factors that influence color reproduction on the corrugated packaging using UV wide-format inkjet printing, (2) exam the process capability of tested print settings, and (3) establish optimum print setting so that the maximum yield of optical density and print contrast could be obtained. It was found that the use of white ink is the most important factor and has a significant effect on the optical density. The print setting of standard mode with white ink is suggested to achieve the maximum yield of optical density and print contrast.