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Why Should You Add UV Coating to Your Print Finish Operations?
In his blog post, “Considerations for Applying UV Coatings,” John Owed lists five great reasons why any print finisher should consider a UV coating machine.
We were most interested, however, in the environmental benefits. Specifically, Owed says that when formulated as one hundred percent solids, no solvents are present in UV coating material.
Since solvents are major pollutants, this means that regular inks are more harmful to the environment. Conversely, UV coatings hurt the environment a lot less than other coating types that contain these chemicals, such as laminates and varnishes. Indeed, UV coatings decrease pollution in several other areas as well. These include allowing a green printer to reduce the number of VOCs, HAPs, and NVPs they produce.
Given that print finishers and their customers are both under pressure to be more environmentally friendly these days, the value of being able to offer a green printing option is huge.
As more and more customers are looking for green printers, having a UV printing capability can set you apart from the non-green competition. And benefits to the environment are just the tip of the iceberg as far as reasons to offer UV coatings are concerned.
In addition to containing fewer pollutants, Mike Kelly says that UV coatings are more environmentally friendly than other coatings because they require less energy to cure. Less energy used usually translates to less fossil fuels burned, hence an already green print finishing process becomes even greener.
It also translates to lower energy bills and lower operating costs for your firm. Armed with a UV coating machine, your print finishing will benefit the environment and save you money at the same time.
Put differently, in the case of UV coating machines, green is the color of money.
Tec Lighting XtraCoat 18″ Auto Feed UV Coating System (with 17.5″ x 20″ Vacuum Feeder)
With the ability to apply Hi-Gloss, Satin or Matte coating almost on any printed sheet with ease, the Tec Lighting XtraCoat 18″ Offline Auto Feed UV Coating system was designed with your needs as a priority. This UV Coater has the ideal combination of performance and affordability that will allow you to increase your capability and profit, all in one package.
How is it Used?
The Tec Lighting XtraCoat 18″ features a three roll coating system capable of UV and aqueous coating and runs smoothly with a 1/2 HP DC drive motor, with variable speeds that reach up to 100 feet per minute. It will practically run itself with the automated deep pile feeder with double sheet detector. Plus, your sheets will come out clean and waste no materials with the AGFA (SS) doctor blade continuously cleaning the impression roll while the stainless steel drip pan and pump recirculate your coating.
Lamp change is a breeze with a quick lamp change housing assembly for the built-in 3 lamp curing system. And, you’ll be pleased with the safety features on this auto feed model. The 18″ Tec Lighting XtraCoat Auto Feed is built on a sturdy welded steel frame on caster wheels, has an exterior e-stop for operator safety, fully guarded roller mechanism with safety inter-lock, and plexy glass splash and hand guards.
And How Much Does it Cost?
The Tec Lighting XtraCoat 18″ Offline Auto Feed UV Coating System costs $23,900 at Lloyd’s and comes with a 1-year warranty on all parts and labor except UV arc lamp, which carries a separate 1,000 hour warranty & 500 hour warranty on manufacturer’s defects for roller assembly only.
Tec Lighting XtraCoat 25″ Auto Feed UV Coating System (with 25″ x 15″ Vacuum Feeder)
If you’re looking to apply Hi-Gloss, Satin or Matte coating to almost on any printed sheet with ease, the Tec Lighting XtraCoat 25″ Offline Auto Feed UV Coating System is the machine for you. This UV Coater has the ideal combination of performance and affordability that will allow you to increase your capability and profit, all in one package.
How is it Used?
The Tec Lighting XtraCoat 25″ features a three roll coating system capable of UV and aqueous coating and runs smoothly with a 1/2 HP DC drive motor, with variable speeds that reach up to 100 feet per minute. It will practically run itself with the automated deep pile feeder with double sheet detector. Plus, your sheets will come out clean and waste no materials with the AGFA (SS) doctor blade continuously cleaning the impression roll while the stainless steel drip pan and pump recirculate your coating.
Lamp change is a breeze with a quick lamp change housing assembly for the built-in 3 lamp curing system. And, you’ll be pleased with the safety features on this auto feed model. The 25″ Tec Lighting XtraCoat Auto Feed is built on a sturdy welded steel frame on caster wheels, has an exterior e-stop for operator safety, fully guarded roller mechanism with safety inter-lock, and plexy glass splash and hand guards.
And How Much Does it Cost?
The Tec Lighting XtraCoat 25″ Offline Auto Feed UV Coating System costs $25,750 at Lloyd’s and comes with a 1-year warranty on all parts and labor except UV arc lamp, which carries a separate 1,000 hour warranty & 500 hour warranty on manufacturer’s defects for roller assembly only.
Why Should I Put UV Coating on My Trade Show Posters?
Should I laminate my trade show poster or just have it reprinted for each of the trade shows my firm is visiting? Such was the devil’s alternative that many business owners who needed a poster for an impending trade show used to face.
Neither of these choices is very good.
In “Printing and Design Tips,” Steve Waxman notes that laminating processes employ a type of plastic, and this plastic is made from petroleum. Printing processes that use petroleum release toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere, thus damaging the environment. The chemicals used to clean the inks are similarly harmful.
Thus, lamination is not the way to go, even though it does make for a durable, high-quality trade show poster.
Reprinting a poster that is thrown away at the end of every trade show is another option. Reprinting avoids the petroleum-related environmental problems that come with lamination, however, reprinting has a few such problems of its own.
First, reprinting posters wastes paper. Wasting paper contributes to deforestation and increased use of fossil fuels in logging. Both of these things damage the environment. Yes, there’s recyclable paper available, but the energy and effort that it takes to print a new poster would be better spent elsewhere.
This means reprinting is no better an option than lamination. So what’s a socially responsible, would-be green business owner who still needs their trade show posters to do?
The answer is simple: get a poster printed using a UV coating print finishing process.
The durability of a UV coating means that one trade show poster can be reused many times, just as if it was laminated. This saves the paper that reprinting would waste.
UV coatings are scratch-resistant, add thickness to the paper, and make the colors pop much more dramatically, so it’s a much better option, graphic design-wise too.
Finally, since UV print finishing techniques take substantially less energy to produce than many other such processes, they help the environment in still a third way. The next time your firm needs trade show posters, do the earth (and yourself) a favor and get it UV coated!
Tec Lighting XtraCoat 25″ Hand-Fed UV Coating System
Like the 18″ model, the Tec Lighting XtraCoat 25″ Offline Hand-Fed UV Coating system was designed with your needs as a priority. It has the ability to apply Hi-Gloss, Satin or Matte coating almost on any printed sheet with ease. This UV Coater has the ideal combination of performance and affordability that will allow you to increase your capability and profit in one package.
How is it Used?
The Tec Lighting XtraCoat 25″ features a three roll coating system capable of UV and aqueous coating and runs smoothly with a 1/2 HP DC drive motor. You’ll get those jobs done fast with variable speeds that reach up to 100 feet per minute. Plus, your sheets will come out clean and waste no materials with the AGFA (SS) doctor blade continuously cleaning the impression roll while the stainless steel drip pan and pump recirculate your coating. The Teflon coated fiberglass mesh conveyor belt will stay clean and can also be set to variable speeds.
Lamp change is a breeze with a quick lamp change housing assembly for the built-in 3 lamp curing system. Plus, you’ll be pleased with the safety features on this hand-fed model. The Tec Lighting XtraCoat is built on a sturdy welded steel frame on caster wheels, has an exterior e-stop for operator safety, emergency lamp shut off inter-locks, and a fully guarded roller mechanism with safety inter-lock.
And How Much Does it Cost?
The Tec Lighting XtraCoat 25″ Offline Hand-Fed UV Coating System costs $16,750 at Lloyd’s and comes with a 1-year warranty on all parts and labor except UV arc lamp, which carries a separate 1,000 hour warranty & 500 hour warranty on manufacturer’s defects for roller assembly only.