Printing on Synthetics Add Value

Label printers and commercial printers are looking to synthetic substrates to improve brand image, and to increase margins on their highest-quality jobs.

Synthetic materials work well for a myriad of print projects, including prime labels, commercial print projects, photos, gift cards, tagging, and in-mold labeling, noted Mellissa Campbell, Marketing Manager, MGX Masterpiece Graphix, a synthetic substrate supplier or the digital market. They are ideal for applications in which durability and resistance to water and chemicals are important.

The applications for synthetic products are both numerous and vast, added Joe Schember, Mohawk, specialty digital product manager.

“When the end-use requires tear, water, and chemical resistance, a synthetic sheet can provide the best answer for digital printing,” he said.

The variety of uses include menus, wobbler signage, direct mail, manuals, POP signage, roll-up banners, backlit displays, ID cards, book Covers, maps, and even unique applications like clocks. Applications currently being laminated are the simplest candidates to switch to a synthetic.

Applications can be used for something as simple as a window decal to something as complex as a label that needs to withstand autoclaving. A hang tag could be used on a riding lawnmower to an application device used with the latest ointment for a pharmaceutical company that has invested years getting FDA approval. Window decals for a nationwide promotion with locations across the United States have to be visible in northern store windows as well as southern stores whose windows have a tint applied to reduce the damage caused by UV exposure.

One market that is especially suited for synthetic materials is plant and horticultural tags. Plant tags need to be tear and weather-resistant with a bright white print surface. One MGX client produced a series of unique plant tags, complete with tear-off outdoor planting calendars for a large national green house. A synthetic paper was the right choice for this project for its durability, bright white finish, and its ability to be micro-perforated for easy tear-off.

“With advancements in output devices, print service providers can look to plastics as the future of print,” said Greg Kestler, director of technical products, GPA.

“From polycarbonate for membrane switches to biaxially-oriented polypropylene for in-mold labels, the opportunities are almost endless. The more outside the box you are, the greater value you will bring to your clients.”

Adhesive-backed materials have been available to screen printers for decades, such as vinyl for bumper stickers (when cars actually had bumpers). Today there is a wide variety of synthetic face stocks beyond vinyl: polypropylene, polyesters, polyethylene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, and even water resistant synthetics made from rocks, explained Kestler. Non-adhesive synthetics have just as wide of a line-up and are produced with thicker gauges for more rigid applications.

Unlike synthetics of the past, the new crop of materials is more resistant to heat, and, depending on the substrate, can look, fold, feel, and behave a lot like high-quality paper. They’re engineered to run smoothly and efficiently through digital presses.

The biggest advantage of synthetics is their toughness, as they are water-, tearing-, and puncture-resistant.

While offset printing is still the most cost-effective method to produce longer runs using synthetics, advancements in digital technology for narrow format, wide format, and grand format has created opportunities for low-cost production of one-off pieces. “This technology has also made versioning possible, giving brands the ability to have a local feel, and producing short runs with a quick turn-around time,” said Kestler. A great example of this is March Madness promotions: floor graphics, wall graphics, and other printed items can be produced digitally following Selection Sunday in time for the regional games on Thursday.

For the many print providers that are invested in digital, synthetics provide another revenue stream and way to leverage their equipment investment, said Schember.

“There are some products designed specifically for digital, like Mohawk Premium Polyester, that have features enabling static reduction and alcohol resistance that are not available in offset synthetics,” he said. “Printing synthetics digitally also gives the provider the flexibility to leverage variable data (think menu versioning) and finish the job faster than offset. There’s no such thing as waiting for toner to dry, so the product would support the just-in-time, on-demand nature of digital printing. This maximizes the print provider’s uptime and enables them to get the jobs out of the door quickly.”

For print service providers, navigating the world of synthetic substrates can be a difficult venture, said Kestler. With print service providers trying to master the expanding world of coated and uncoated papers in text and cover weights, boards, and packaging paper materials, having to learn all about plastics and their applications can be daunting.

For example, test yourself and see if you understand these common abbreviations for how a particular substrate can be referred to: PVC, PP, PS, PE, PET, APET, PETG, HPDE, LDPE, PC and POF (hint: none of these are nylon or polyurethane).

“Also, depending on the printing project, your customer might require substrate attributes that seem to contradict one another,” Campbell said. “For instance, a customer may require a material that has the look and feel of paper, but is also tear and water-resistant.”

Not all synthetics are created equally, Schember explained. While all synthetics are comprised of a base sheet, primer and top coating, many of the products you’ll find on market today have very different compositions. The top coating of a synthetic is uniquely formulated based on the type of print technology it will be used with. Offset, laser, Indigo, and inkjet print processes all require a synthetic with very unique properties. This is because the top coat is the primary determinant for performance, printability and durability. Base sheets, meanwhile, come in a variety of polymers and thicknesses.

“However, not all polymers are compatible with all print technologies,” he said. “This is especially true in the case of digital electrophotography devices where heat is the determining factor. And even with the right top coat formulation, not all sheet thicknesses work with all digital presses. Higher levels of static lead to significantly higher incidents of jamming and print defects, resulting in waste and slowing down your operation. To ensure the highest level of performance, it’s not only critical to use a synthetic substrate specially formulated for your dry toner press, but it’s equally important to choose the right brand.”

To ensure the synthetic substrate selected will meet their customer’s requirements, PSPs need to fully investigate each situation with a battery of questions for their substrate supplier.

For example, imagine the riding lawnmower’s tag needs to be visible at all times and will be exposed to sunlight in Florida, posed Kestler. The print purchasing person selects double opaque styrene, feeling that this is the best option. Because UV rays can wreak havoc on that particular stock, it should be ordered with UV inhibitors built into the substrate for the best result. Without this knowledge, the hang tag product would fail, leaving the PSP in a poor position. Asking the litany of questions can be annoying, but it is a lot less costly to produce the product correctly the first time.

Some of the issues that print service providers have when producing synthetic projects is related to ink/media compatibility. Not only is it a struggle at times to get ink to dry in an offset environment, but to get it to stick is another issue. Working closely with your ink and coating provider is key; this should be done early in the process.

Fit is another issue for jobs with tighter registration, although ask any pressman which job doesn’t have tight registration.

Static raises its ugly head with plastics, especially when there is low humidity in the pressroom. Static elimination tools and technology should be used to get optimum results.

Contrary to popular belief, these issues aren’t eliminated when printing digitally. “In fact,” Kestler said, “they can be even more detrimental when running a synthetic job. Heat is more prevalent in digital printing so fit or distortion can be an issue, and static can create over spray issues in inkjet processes.”

A common saying in the printing industry is that there’s never enough time to print the job the first time, but always enough time to re-print it. When printing on synthetics, re-running a job can be costly, if not fatal. With the issues mentioned, PSPs should not shy away from adding synthetics to their arsenal. Work with these materials prior to running actual customers orders to understand what’ll you be in for, Kestler advised. A good place to start is producing your company’s self-promotional materials.

PSPs and their clients are finding synthetics offer great ROI and unique offerings. For Paul and Scott Cochran, co-owners of a PIP Printing location in Peoria, IL, the ability to offer customers the option of printing on substrates beyond paper, using the HP Indigo 5600 digital press, is a critical part of their business development. Clients can choose from synthetic paper, adhesives, styrene, and even multi-loft.

One customer in the healthcare industry was printing signs on card stock and then having the signs laminated. PIP Printing in Peoria showed the customer that by printing on synthetics, the need for lamination was eliminated, and the product itself looked looked cleaner and had better longevity.

Designer Anne Thomas from TOMA Objects was “looking for a strong and less fragile material than paper” for her new series of clocks. Her paper rep, Marie-Michele Lanoix from Spicers and her printer, Alain Metivier from Quadriscan, suggested Mohawk Synthetic PVC 10 mil. According to Lanoix, Thomas was looking for a way to make her series of paper clocks water- and time-resistant (pun intended, and had to be suitable for a small run.. Mohawk Synthetic PVC 10 mil was the perfect solution.

Printing on synthetics: A Primer from MGX Masterpiece Graphix

Printing on Polystyrene

• Advantages: Good impact resistance, machineable, low cost, FDA compliant for indirect food contact, bright white, multiple opacities, formable, good general purpose use, recyclable
• Disadvantages: Poor solvent resistance, can become brittle, can crack under environmental stress, poor thermal stability, does not score and fold well
• Common Uses: Signage, packaging, molded applications, point-of-purchase, cost effective general purpose use, backlit applications

Polypropylene (Synthetic Paper)

• Advantages: Good chemical resistance, flexibility, recyclable, soft hand feel, scores and folds very well, FDA approved for direct food contact
• Disadvantages: Difficult to bond, can suffer from UV degradation, high thermal expansion and shrinkage, less tear resistant than PVC or PET
• Common Uses: Tags, synthetic menus, signage, package, low cost high clarity applications

Rigid Vinyl (PVC)

• Advantages: Excellent durability, easy to use, most widely used print plastic, resistance to UV degradation, good rigidity, low flammability (resists ignition)
• Disadvantages: Not suitable for laser cutting, not considered environmentally friendly in most applications, lower thermal stability, does not score and fold well
• Common Uses: Signage, gift cards, credit cards, general purpose plastic, applications requiring good rigidity, point-of-purchase, shelf wobblers

PET (Polyester)

• Advantages: High impact resistance, high optical clarity, high toughness, good chemical resistance, higher heat stability
• Disadvantages: Lower impact strength than PETG, can be difficult to cut, expensive
• Common Uses: Button panel, nameplates, packaging, high heat applications (heat stabilized varieties)

Polycarbonate

• Advantages: High impact strength, high heat stability, high clarity, very durable, formable, unbeatable strength
• Disadvantages: Often over engineered for the application, prone to stress cracking, requires high processing temperatures, toxic chemicals used to produce, expensive
• Common Uses: Nameplates, overlays, button panels, harsh environment products, outdoor weather-able applications