News Center

30

2018

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10

What kind of ink can withstand the prolonged open‑top operation of large‑format printers?


In recent years, driven by the rapid advancement of digital printing technology and the diversification of business needs in the information age, digital printing has steadily gained prominence within the printing industry. Large-format printers, as output devices for digital printing applications, have helped overcome key bottlenecks in its development, finding widespread use in high‑quality graphic and text output across diverse fields such as quick‑turn print services, advertising, engineering drawings, GIS mapping, and more. For example, consider the HP PageWide XL 8000—the fastest large‑format color printer ever produced. Thanks to its unique performance advantages, it is well suited to handle urgent, time‑critical print jobs.

In recent years, driven by the rapid advancement of digital printing technologies and the diversification of business needs in the information age, digital printing has steadily gained prominence within the printing industry. Large-format printers, as output devices for digital printing applications, have helped overcome key bottlenecks in its development, finding widespread use in high‑quality graphic and text output across diverse sectors, including quick‑turn print services, advertising and promotion, engineering drawings, GIS mapping, and more.

 
For example, consider the HP PageWide XL 8000—the fastest large-format color printer in history. Thanks to its unique performance advantages, it can handle urgent, high‑volume printing jobs and deliver mixed‑media outputs in half the time. To ensure a steady supply of consumables and consistent print quality over the long term, the HP PageWide XL 8000 is equipped with six paper cassettes and two high‑capacity ink cartridges, significantly reducing the time wasted switching between media during operation while also producing color prints that are sharper and more vibrant.
 
The HP PageWide XL8000, with its remarkable print speed, intelligent processing software, and high‑quality pigment inks, helps users cut total costs by 50%. In the two years since the HP PageWide XL large‑format printing lineup entered the Chinese market, cumulative output has reached 100 million square meters of printed drawings. Moreover, the HP PageWide XL8000 has spearheaded the shift in China from black‑and‑white and blueprint documents to full‑color prints.
 
Compared with printers that feature print heads mounted on a scanning carriage, large-format printers face more severe performance challenges when using pigment inks. Prolonged open‑top operation has become a driving force behind innovation in large‑format printing systems and their ink formulations.
 
So here’s the question:
 
We need to design an ink that can remain open for extended periods.
 
Strictly controlling the physical properties of ink within specified limits is critical for reliable droplet ejection. When the print head is exposed, moisture evaporates from the nozzles; therefore, all inkjet printing systems that use water-based inks cover the print head when not in use to prevent excessive drying of the nozzles.