Solvent's Place in an Evolving Wide-Format Market

New ink technologies have offered a plethora of opportunities for PSPs to explore more options in the wide-format industry. The introduction of aqueous inks—e.g., latex and resin—have caused long time operators of solvent and eco-solvent printers to question the future of their businesses regarding production and profitability.

The long and the short of it is that the choice between solvents and aqueous ink printers has a great deal to do with the needs of the PSPs and their clients including durability of the product, requirements for color, and overall cost. Each of these things should be carefully considered before making any decisions on upgrading or purchasing new equipment or investing in large amounts of inventory. Experts say that the smartest way to make this decision is to do your homework.

The Technology

"Eco-solvent printers and the eco-solvent ink types are a proven technology and proven chemistry," says David Conrad, marketing manager at Mutoh America Inc. "They have been around for a long time and they are reliable and work extremely well. Support for the new latex and resin inks are still being developed with respect to media manufacturers and printable substrates that can be used to produce quality output with consistent and reliable results. The printing capability of eco-solvent are much greater with respect to available profiles, usable media and various substrates that have been proven to provide quality and repeatable results time and again."

PSPs tend to be a cautious bunch when it comes to investing in equipment and tend to wait it out while bugs in new technology are worked out.

Patty Juric, PR supervisor at Roland DGA, addresses the issue from a public relations point of view. "The typical demographic within the market in general when taking on new technology is that they'd rather watch and wait. They're not going to invest in something that's not going to take them forward into the future."

Juric adds that while people are trying new technologies, there is still a place for eco-solvent printers in the industry.

"Eco-solvent sales are not falling off. They're still extremely popular and very viable within the market."

"The world of ink is dynamic. As ink technology advances, eco-solvent ink may one day be obsolete. But not yet," says Geoff Stone, national sales manager of the Paradigm Imaging Group. "Today, many eco-solvent inks have the durability of true solvents, putting true solvents near extinction. Many of today's eco-solvents have little or no VOC's making them much more manageable."

Stone adds, "One developing trend in the outdoor printer market is that manufacturers are introducing a class of 126-inch eco-solvent and solvent printers that offer much higher printing speeds at much lower price points than ever before. This trend will broaden the market for eco-solvent based printers."

While eco solvents still maintain a presence in the marketplace, PSPs have begun a shift from true solvents, which have been tried and true in the industry for decades.

Larry D'Amico, vice president of digital imaging at Agfa Graphics, North America says,

"The demand in the US is quite low—these are for full solvent not eco-solvent. That aspect of it—environmentally, has people shying away from that. There are still applications, especially in the area of vehicle wraps. I think solvent still has a place there and has some functionality that is desirable for that type of work. But frankly the demand we have for solvent devices is mainly in areas outside the United States."

However, it should be clear that just because a product is not a true solvent, it does not mean that it is aqueous.

"The HP is really the only one you can call an aqueous ink. The rest are some form of solvent," says D'Amico.

Brass Tacks

At the end of the day, the things PSPs are going to look at are the things that best serve their business models. The issues at hand tend to be productivity, durability and price point. According to Larry D'Amico, every type of technology has its drawbacks.

D'Amico says, "There's always a trade off. That's the thing in the end. You've got to give up something to get something new in most cases. I don't know too many technologies that allow you to not have some level of compromise."

Stone concurs: "Water-based outdoor durable inks—latex, resin, and nano polymers, have many advantages, but also have some drawbacks. For instance, they need to be heated. Many of the printers using latex inks require a tremendous amount of energy to heat the ink (100+ C) ...hardly a "green" concept. Some 'cutting edge' types are using solvent printers to run resin inks because they already have heaters built in, while others are modifying aqueous printers with heaters."

Conrad agrees. "Although print speeds have improved somewhat through modified drying techniques, the production speeds on eco solvent printers are still faster—which means higher productivity for the PSP and sign shops using eco solvent ink printer technology. Plus operating costs are still lower on eco-solvent inks as they consume much less power than the new latex printers do mostly due to the high wattage required to power up the heaters on these machines."

In addition to being dedicated to the tried and true, many PSPs have remained devoted to eco-solvents because of durability. "As far as longevity, in normal conditions eco-solvent inks will provide up to three years or longer outdoor durability without lamination, which in most cases is two and a half years or more longer than most outdoor signs stay up without message, design or venue change," says Conrad. "Anything longer or in harsher conditions you will want to laminate anyway regardless of the ink type used to print the image."

Another big issue is the print quality of eco-solvents versus aqueous inks when it comes to creating and presenting a large format campaign.

Conrad says, "Colors are still not as vibrant on the new ink sets. Although improvements have been made, they are typically limited to a small subset of profiles on certain media types or substrates that work best with these ink types versus eco-solvent ink that provides consistent bright, vibrant color pop on a much wider variety of media choices. "

Naturally, cost is a major factor in making a decision regarding any type of equipment. PSPs should be aware that the cost per square foot on any job is not determined simply by the expensive involved in purchasing the materials, but it also involves the cost of production, overhead and maintenance. All of these factors added together will show that solvent printers are still cheaper in the long run.

"The expected head life on these new printers is much shorter which means you have to replace them more often which means you're spending more overall on your cost per square foot printing than what you would on an eco-solvent printer," says Conrad. "Service calls and the learning curve will also take a little time to catch up on these new printer technologies as well which will not only account for additional costs but can also lead to added frustration as these issues are worked through."

PSPs interested in enhancing their shops should consider all of these factors when choosing between eco solvents and aqueous printers. However, it does not have to be one or the other. Many PSPs use both technologies for various purposes. One simply has to know what works and how to use it.