UV Curable Direct-to-Substrate Printing

Portland Color has chosen the HP Scitex FB6100 as its UV direct-to-substrate printer. We tested extensively before making this choice; our primary criteria being quality of final output. The HP has a broad, vivid color gamut and exhibits little or no “tractoring”, the surface artifact that makes UV printing look like it was done by a lawnmower. Capable of printing in 4 color, 6 color plus white, and 8 color modes.

UV curable direct-to-substrate printing is a digital relative of silkscreen printing. Using a digital workflow, ink is painted a line at a time onto a substrate, held in place by a vacuum bed. The substrate can be a flat board or rolled material, and the print bed is typically 5 feet by 10 feet in size. Traditional UV curable inks (free-radical inks) are sprayed onto the substrate and then immediately exposed to very bright, hot lamps to cure the inks instantly. The intense heat of the lamps limits the kinds of substrates that can be used, and may cause warping or other deformation of some substrates.

Environmental impacts
UV curable direct-to-substrate printing has the potential to be the greenest of all technologies for producing traditional signs. Because the image is printed directly to the substrate, no adhesive is used in the finishing process. It is the use of adhesive that makes most ink-jet and photo process signs non-recyclable. All direct print boards can potentially be recycled.

We are developing a group of recycled materials that can be printed using the HP Scitex FB6100; they include boards made from 100% post consumer waste chipboards, Earthboard, Structaboard, and eco-boards that are an alternative to Gatorfoam and Foamcor.

Maximum print size
60 inches x 120 inches

Media available
Gatorfoam, Foamcor, ferroX, magnet, Sintra, plexi, Earthboard, cardboard, carpet, vinyls, textiles, paper, DiBond, Alumalite and many, many more

Inks
8-color – Light Cyan, Cyan, Light Magenta, Magenta, Light Yellow, Yellow, Light Black and Black. Free radical UV inks designed for interior and exterior use.

Finishing
I-Cut to any imaginable shape.

Ideal uses
Point of sale and point of purchase signage, display graphics for exhibitions and tradeshows, window graphics, banners and mesh signs, vehicle graphics, flexible plastic-based outdoor signage, outdoor rigid signage, site signage, traffic signage, cardboard and display board graphics, double-sided printing, full-bleed printing, and backlit signage.

Archival quality
Three year outdoor durable life span; can be increased by lamination.