Digital inks are utilized to print digital images on packaging materials, newspapers, textiles, and industrial products. In recent years, the application of these inks has increased significantly, as these inks take less time for on-demand printing, thereby, reducing the cost of printing. Moreover, digital printing does not need replacement of printing plates, unlike traditional methods like lithography, gravure, letterpress, and flexography. Owing to these advantages, the adoption of these inks has surged in sectors like packaging, publication, textiles, and industrial.
All these sectors deploy high volume of electrography inks, owing to their increased application in photocopy machines and laser printers. These inks offer high graphic, image, and text quality, and orienting speed (4 ppm–1,000 ppm). However, adoption of inkjet digital inks will augment in future, due to their low cost and rising use in printouts and labels. These inks contain an extremely fluid medium that forms minute drops possessing an electric charge. Due to this, the inks can be deflected to fall in accurate place to create a character or image on paper.
In recent years, application of ultraviolet (UV)-cured inks has increased significantly, as they offer advantages such as enhanced durability, optimum-print quality, and high-curing speed. These inks coupled with flexible ink films have minimum volatile organic compound (VOC) levels and offer enhanced resistance to scratches and wear and tear. Owing to these benefits, UV-cured inks are being adopted in sectors like food and pharmaceutical packaging and printing and publication. Moreover, these inks consume less energy, have high durability, and lead to zero ozone generation that will add to their popularity in future.
On account of the spurring demand for advanced digital inks, companies operating in the digital inks market are heavily investing on research and development (R&D) of these inks. For instance, organizations, such as Nitro Quimica and Siegwerk Budingen, invested heavily on R&D activities to enhance their products and services in the packaging printing niche. Additionally, players such as Imaging Inc., Nazdar Ink Technologies, Wikoff Color Corporation, and Siegwerk Druckfarben AG & Co. KGaA are also focusing on the production of technologically improved digital inks to expand their presence.
Geographically, North America consumes the highest volume of digital inks, due to surging demand from the office and commercial printing industry and the expanding electronics sector. Moreover, the region is expected to increase the consumption of eco-friendly digital inks in coming years, on account of stringent regulations imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the utilization of inks containing VOCs in large quantities. Whereas, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is projected to utilize high quantities of digital inks, owing to the rapid expansion of the commercial and office printing industry.
Thus, the benefits offered by digital printing over traditional printing will boost the adoption of digital inks in foreseeable future.
