All The Different Kinds Of Material - Digital

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updated MAY 2002 All the different kinds of Material HP 5000ps with pigmented inks printing onto textile material, FLAAR evaluation center at BGSU, Ohio. photo paper, fabric, silk, canvas, vinyl, backlit material, watercolor and artist’s paper, even metal that you can easily print onto using a wide format inkjet If you need additional information, please feel free to send us all your questions at info@flaar.org FLAAR REPORTS 1 Comprehensive Media Table of Contents Saving Money with FLAAR Tips Introduction List of Substrates Standard printing material Film Vinyl Canvas Special media Textiles Vellum and other material for CAD-GIS inkjet printers Banner media Specialty Media Transfer media Discussion of each category of inkjet media Waterproof Inkjet Paper General Observations Recommended Sources of Reliable Media More FLAAR Reports on Inkjet Media Advisory Abstract Some of the better large format inkjet printers will print on almost any material though most inkjet printers can print only on “media.” “Media” is any paper or synthetic or fabric material that has been treated with a thin layer of receptor powder to handle the inks used in standard inkjet printers. If you chose good media you can get museumquality prints of impressive quality. Part of FLAAR’s staff holding print from our ColorSpan Displaymaker XII. This print is now on permanent exhibit at our university. If you select the wrong media you can cause head-strikes which will destroy your piezo printheads (they cost $530 per head to replace; requires a service call to do it). Thermal printheads, in distinction, are less prone to self-destruct. If you select the inappropriate media the image will look like junk. You will have wasted ink, media, your time, and lose your clients. The biggest surprise of all, is that each different media will bring out different colors in your image. That means that if you use the identical printer, identical inks, identical image…but five different kinds of media, your images will have five different color gamuts (now you know why you need color management and ICC color profiles…and tips from FLAAR Reports). FLAAR REPORTS 2 Comprehensive Media Some media fades very quickly. We just printed two images: one on a matte, one on a glossy. The image on the matte faded in two months; the one on glossy was exhibit-quality still after six months. In both cases it was the identical dye ink from HP. Yet we have other images, with a different dye ink from a different company (Encad), that has lasted five years. Fortunately the newer HP inks are improved. The fading image was from a printer model of two years ago; the cause of the fading was the poor coating on the media more than the ink. If we had used certified media from HP the image quality and permanence would have been better. Six months is the usual estimate for HP dye inks on HP media. If you use HP UV inks you get many years of permanence presuming you are clever enough to select the appropriate media. But don’t worry, that’s why FLAAR’s staff is hard at work at two universities to prepare reports to help you learn how to handle the world of wide format inkjet printing. Actually using inkjet printers is easy: we just had two students, who had ZERO experience, print an entire museum exhibit full of beautiful images. Each student got one hour of training on the printer…. So surely you can produce museum-quality prints as well, and definitely signs, posters, and banners that will make a profit. Keep in mind, however, that a few of the more popular cheaper large format printers are unable to print on several kinds of media. These printers can function only with very expensive media. Thus when you are deciding what printer to purchase, be careful. A low-cost printer with excessive saturation of high price ink and expensive media will cost more in the first year than a mid-range printer with media that is economical. FLAAR does not sell ink, or media or printers either. That is why we can provide independent tips on how to save money. Saving Money with FLAAR Tips You will pay more money for inks and media than the purchase cost of the entire printer. Ink is sold by the milliliter. But prices are compared on cost-per-liter. So take the cost of your ink and multiple it by 9 or 10 to get the cost for an entire liter. You will be shocked to note your ink actually costs about $500 to $700 per liter (which is about a quart). So per gallon ink is several thousand dollars. Therefore, if your printer costs X-thousand, that is not the way to decide which printer to buy. Because what if that cheap printer uses ink which is super expensive. Plus, what about total cost of printing, in other words, what if that printer lays down excess ink. Yes, some printers (actually most printers) lay down more ink then is needed. FLAAR REPORTS 3 Comprehensive Media What if your printer’s printheads require using ink to flush out the gunk that the printheads can’t handle. Yes, you are using liquid money to flush their heads. Yikes! At $2,000 a gallon of ink, that’s expensive. Plus, that is only one color: your printer has multiple ink lines, each one sucking up and jetting out $2,000-a-gallon ink. Now you can see why a RIP which has controls to limit ink usage is a wise investment. Actually we need to conserve our own ink usage just as you do. Introduction “Paper” may or may not be coated. We have fed ordinary brown Kraft paper into our Hewlett-Packard DesignJet 1055 and the resulting image looked great. You can also feed that HP printer economical newsprint. For a normal inkjet printer (HP, Encad, Epson, etc) , however, your best color gamut and detail will only result from utilizing coated media. Uncoated media will tend to get over-saturated with too much ink. The better the media, the better the image. Some media, even coated media, is close to junk, so beware. FLAAR has several reports, one specifically on “Media for Signs, Posters, Banners” and another on “Media for Photo-Realistic and Fine Art Giclee Printing.” XES Xerox Colorgrafx X2 presented at DPI Media for printers which uses oil-based inks is more expensive because only two or three companies sell oil-based ink printers (Seiko and XES). The Seiko printer is not a big seller, so media companies have no incentive to produce low-cost media for oil-based inks. “Substrate” tends to be the word for what you feed a printer for outdoor signage, specifically for a printer which uses solvent-based ink. Vinyl substrate, since it is not coated, is less expensive than media for water-based inks. List of Substrates The following list is generic, as a guide for the first-time user of wide format printers or for experienced users who wish to expand the markets they can print for (and earn a profit from). At the end of the list are a few comments and some sources for actually obtaining reliable inkjet media. FLAAR REPORTS 4 Comprehensive Media Standard printing material • bond paper (in many varieties including colored); often looks kind of cheap • photo, glossy (really looks good in some circumstances, but very shiny and reflective) • photo satin (need a glossary to keep track) • photo, semi-glossy (my personal favorite) • photo, matte (for people who just don't like any glossy surface) • repositionable (peel it off and move it somewhere else; then peel it off again...) • backed Film (entirely synthetic material, hence the manufacturers can add all kinds of special properties) • backlit • front lit • dual-lit • clear (transparent, translucent) • clear cling film (Rexam) • white (opaque) • perforated window graphic film for bus, train, business windows (3M) • polycarbonate film, matte (Rexam) • Cast vinyl, matte (Rexam) • Calendared vinyl (Rexam) • Clear cling film (Rexam) • Photo base, low glare (Rexam) • Photo base, high gloss (Rexam) • Melinex from DuPont Teijin Films (available under many brand names) FLAAR editors getting ready to inspect Rexam media at their booth at ISA trade show, Las Vegas We happen to list Rexam but countless other variations are available as well as similar and in some cases identical materials under different brand names. Vinyl • • • • • adhesive backed banner scrim repositionable (static cling) Calon (part of Arlon) offers many kinds of vinyl for solvent ink grand format printers, and some media for regular printers such as HP Canvas • Artist’s canvas • Canvas comes in matte, glossy, and various tones • Industrial canvas (not usually for fine art) Canvas comes in a variety of surfaces. Be sure you want the canvas effect before you buy a full roll. Canvas can be shiny or matte. Some canvas is very rough so you don't need to use high dpi. FLAAR REPORTS 5 Comprehensive Media Textiles • Polyester (3P) • Polygloss (another form of polyester) (3P) • Net polyester (3P) • Polyvoile (3P) • SpeedTex II (3P) • Flame retardant “SimplyTex” (cotton) (3P) • MeshTex for outdoors (3P) • Semi-gloss cotton (3P) • Matt-ribbed cotton (3P) • Twill, another matt-ribbed cotton (3P) • Soft matte cotton (and many other flavors) (3P) • 50% cotton-50% vicose (rayon) (3P) • satin gloss cotton (3P) • pure silk, matte (3P) • pure silk, satin-gloss (3P) There are as many varieties of textiles to print on as all the other media put together. You can get info from the FLAAR report on “Inkjet Printers for Fabrics and Textiles.” That report also lists other vendors in addition to 3P. Vellum and other material for CAD-GIS inkjet printers CAD, architectural drawings, engineering drawings, GIS. Low cost plotter paper is generally suitable for line drawings but not for photo-realistic images. Since the main CAD plotters are by HP, Encad, and older plotters by CalComp, this kind of media tends to work with thermal printhead systems. Few people would use a piezo-electric system for drawings (Epson piezo systems are too slow). Banner media • • • • • • • Scrim vinyl (Rexam) Polyethylene (Rexam) Wet-strength paper (Rexam) Vinyl matte (Rexam) Tyvek (available everywhere) Polyester cloth Two-sided composite (Rexam) Repositionable, restickable inkjet posters: Self-stick posters that you can move and reuse. No tape…no tacks… Pressure sensitive (you stick on once and it stays fixed to the window or wall) Clear cling film (Rexam) 3P/Staedtler Inkjet Textile Media’s Booth at Photokina Trade Show. Special media Tyvek enough different varieties to fill the entire web site with samples and descriptions, but more on that later. FLAAR REPORTS 6 Comprehensive Media Specialty Media Electroluminescent, this is a combination of media (usually backlit) and a thin panel light source. So it’s really the panel that is electroluminescent, not so much the media. Electroluminescent films, can be used for backlit signs without bulky back-lighting fixtures. Rexam is a source for the film and the power supply. Inkjet printable magnetic material, 24” rolls, thicknesses from above 7 mil to 20 mil, so you will have to check which will fit through an HP and which will fit through a ColorSpan or Epson which can take wider media. Sheets available for desktop printers down to 6 mil thin. Epson 7500 printer shown at Graphic of the Americas. Photo-realistic paper for semi-gloss with pigmented inks. You normally can’t use glossy photo paper with pigmented inks. But Rexam has developed a semi-gloss for pigmented inks on Epson 9000, Mutoh, as well as HP DesignJet printers. The media is DMPS EDEN. Futhermore this media costs less than photo paper. ICC color profiles are available, at no cost. Transfer media You print on this paper with dye sublimation ink. You then take the printed paper through a heat press process. The heat turns the ink into a gas which impregnates the fibers or surface of the material onto which you wish your image to appear. There is another kind of transfer media for helping to keep your letters, logo, and other parts of giant truck graphics aligned while you move the image from your printer up the ladder to the side of the truck. This transfer media holds all the parts of the graphic together in proper alignment while you stick it all onto the side of the truck or bus. They you pull off the transfer sticky and throw it away. A good source of dye sublimation transfer media is available in the various reports from FLAAR. These reports are available at no cost from FLAAR. Discussion of each category of inkjet media All FLAAR Reports are being updated every several months. Media is what we are focusing on this year. Thus you can obtain additional information on media with each new update to this report. FLAAR REPORTS 7 Comprehensive Media Waterproof Inkjet Paper You can get more information on other kinds of water resistant inkjet media in rolls from the FLAAR report on “Media and Inks for Signs, Posters, and Banners.” You can even find out about a water-resistant media that can be printed on both sides. General Observations If your printer uses an Epson piezo printhead (which means Roland, Mutoh, Mimaki, some Kodak and some Agfa printers plus the many house brands that are Mutoh Falcon under the hood) then dust can clog your heads and cause banding defects and/or dropped colors (colors turn out improperly balanced and look so bad you have to throw the print away). If you buy cheap media on the Internet, who is going to pay the money it takes to replace your Roland print head because it crashed on the upcurled edge of the media or self-destructed on the dust on the vinyl (both of these are based on actual reports by end-users who have e-mailed us of their problems with print head demise). Falcon Mutoh printer exhibited at CEBIT 2001, Hannover. Is it worthwhile to buy cheap media in order to save money? One person said the “cheap and tacky” media, which claimed to be waterproof, wasn’t. His client was very upset. I can’t remember whether he lost the client completely or had to reprint the entire job on another media. Thus in the long run its best to stick with either a local sales rep that you can lean on to replace faulty media, or rely in a nation-wide company that stands behind everything that they sell. Some cheap media gets so saturated with excess ink that ripples form in the paper. This happened with the Epson media that Epson sends with your Epson 7500 printer. Your printhead then may hit the crests of these waves. The same thing happens if the humidity gets too high in your work space. If you use Epson printheads (Roland, Mimaki, Mutoh) a head crash on a ripple in your cheap media can destroy your printhead, necessitating a $530 replacement experience. Thermal printheads can survive most head crashes other than being knocked out of alignment (as often happened with our Encad printheads). So far we have been unable to destroy the printheads on our HP 2800CP despite several tests which occasioned repeated head crashes. After every crash the HP system was able to recuperate full use of the heads (because it has extra nozzles, so when we knock out a dozen nozzles the HP sensors just replace those nozzles with backups; you can’t do that on an Epson-Roland-Miamki-Mutoh piezo system). Thus no matter how tempting it is to use cheap newsprint or Kraft paper, the only printer that handles that well (that we know of from experience) is the HP DesignJet 1050 and 1055. If you have an appropriate RIP you can proof on newsprint as well. Check out the various FLAAR reports on RIPs. FLAAR REPORTS 8 Comprehensive Media One way to avoid unpleasant surprises with new or unusual media is to get the ICC profiles. These profiles will tell your printer how much ink to lay down, and in general, how to handle the media. But unless you were clever enough to have purchased your printer from a source with technicians who can help you understand the ICC profiles, you will be lost. If you buy low-bid on the Internet then no one will assist you. However most advanced users report that canned ICC profiles are, at best, only a good start. This means you will eventually wish to do your own ICC color profiles. The FLAAR Reports on color management list the needed software, reference books, and consultants who can train you. All the FLAAR reports on media and inks list recommended resellers of reliable ink and paper. Recommended Sources of Reliable Media If you have a Mutoh, Roland, or Mimaki piezo printer or Iris or Ixia fine art giclee printer, we recommend Improved Technologies for inks and media. E-mail [email protected]. If you have an Epson printer of any size or shape, and especially for fine art giclee and museum quality photography, we recommend Parrot Digigraphic. E-mail [email protected]. If you need basic architectural media, vellum, heavy coated paper and related media for GIS, CAD, especially for HP DesignJet and Encad NovaJet printers we recommend ColorDNA. E-mail [email protected]. If you need media for banners, signs, POP, etc, we recommend LexJet Direct. E-mail [email protected]. They also sell 3P inkjet textiles. If you need water resistant media (water resistant without any need for laminating) we recommend IJ Technologies, e-mail [email protected]. More FLAAR Reports on Inkjet Media For media for signs, banners, posters, write FLAAR for the report on “Media and Inks for Signs, Posters, and Banners.” This report lists where to find the media that best suits your needs. FLAAR REPORTS 9 Comprehensive Media For media for fine art giclee prints, photo-realistic exhibit prints, ask for the FLAAR report on “Media and Inks for Photo Prints on Canvas, Fine Art Prints on Watercolor Paper and other Art Papers.” This report also has recommendations on where to find a good source for photo and fine art media as well as help on color management and ICC color profiles. For textiles and fabrics to print on, ask for the FLAAR report on “Inkjet Printers for Fabrics and Textiles.” Suggests recommended sources for additional information on silk, cotton, canvas, polyester, etc. Advisory We are quite content with the specific printers and media we have in the two FLAAR facilities at the two universities. We would obviously never ask for a printer or media that we knew in advance would not be good. But we can't guarantee or certify any make or model of printer or class of media because we don't know the conditions under which a printer might be utilized in someone else's facility. We have no way to know whether your inks are fresh, past their date, or whether dust, heat and humidity are causing adverse affects on your printheads. The age of your equipment; the experience level of your workers (whether they are new or have prior years experience): these are all factors that will differ in your place of business as compared with our two universities. Actually you may have people with even more experience than we do, since we deliberately use students to approximate newbies. FLAAR is devoted to assisting newcomers learn about digital imaging hardware and software. This is why Nicholas Hellmuth is considered the “Johnny Appleseed” of wide format inkjet printers. Just remember that every printer and even media has quirks, even the ones we like. However it may be that the specific kind of printing you need to do may never occasion that shortcoming. Or, it may be that your media was manufactured on a Monday and has defects that are atypical, show up more in the kind of media you use which we may not use as often during our evaluations. FLAAR REPORTS 10 Comprehensive Media Equally possibly a media that was a disaster for someone else may work flawlessly for you and be a real money maker for your company. Thus be sure to test a media under your own specific work conditions before you buy. If you have an important rush job due Friday, don’t presume that a previously untried media will necessarily work. Test print quality, drying time, color shift during and after drying, water resistance, lightfastness yourself first. Check with other people in your area, or in the same kind of print business that you do. Don’t rely on references from the reseller or manufacturer (you will get their pet locations which may be unrealistically gushy): find someone on your own. Although we have found several kinds of inkjet media with specific makes and models to work very well in our facilities, how well they work in your facilities may also depend on your local dealer. Some dealers are excellent; others just sell you a box and can’t provide much service after the sale. If you pay low-bid price, you can’t realistically expect special maintenance services later on. Indeed some low-bid internet sales sources may have no technical backup whatsoever. And don’t forget color management. If you take one single image, and print it on ten different kinds of media, you will get ten different color gamuts. So you might wish to invest in the FLAAR Reports on color management, on Software for Digital Imaging, and on RIP software (the software that controls everything on your wide format inkjet printer). These information resources are available as part of FLAAR courses on digital photography. Editor’s note: While Dr Nicholas Hellmuth is a professor at two universities, the statements in this report do not reflect the official or unofficial opinion of either university. To get your reports, just write info@flaar.org Reports are distributed by the Francisco Marroquin University. FLAAR Digital Imaging Technology Center. Left: Entrance to FLAAR facilities in the Francisco Marroquin University, Guatemala. In the middle: FLAAR evaluation center in Bowling Green State University, Ohio. Right: Flaar staff answering inquiries from around the world. © FLAAR Network 2002, January 2001, updated June 2001, July 2001, updated October 2001, last updated May 2002 “I must say I am impressed about the work You are doing at FLAAR; so much reviews, testing and writing. I am very grateful to You as I can get some very valuable information for free - keep up the work, FLAAR is the best!” Regards, October 3, Tadej B. from Slovenia “Thank you for your efforts in sending me this info. It gives me the information I was looking for. You’re providing a valuable service and I wanted you to know it is appreciated”. Thanks again, October 5, Edwin K. “ When I sent my first inquiry form to You, I didn’t believe, that Your help will come so quickly (everytime). So I feel, that it is my obligatory to answer Your questions. First, I would like to thank You for all useful tips and information, which has helped me to make the decision (and I think, it was the right one:-)”. October 5, Michal K. from Slovakia “Thank you very much for the great reports. They are very informative. It’s wonderful to have your organization around.” October 2, Quincy T. “Thank you for sending me all this great information. I had no problems receiving and printing all your files. I need some time to study them and I am looking forward to contact you as soon as possible. If you ever planning to come to Crete you’re very welcome to come to my house and be my guests. Yours sincerely” September 1, Vasilis A. from Greece “Thank you for the reports, which I have already downloaded and printed out. I‚m impressed by the prodigious efforts which have gone into producing them, and even with a cursory glance so far, I know they‚ll be very useful in pointing me to solutions.” September 4, Nyna P. “Estamos muy agradecidos con tu pronta respuesta, que no la esperabamos tan rápida. Voy a checar los documentos que me enviaste y me volveré a comunicar. Los felicito por la calidad en la información que manejan, he estado aprendiendo mucho. Thanks a lot!!!! “ September 5, Carmen R. O. from Mexico LIST OF ALL FLAAR REPORTS ON LARGE FORMAT PRINTERS (click here to see detailed information on each title) 1. Printers • List of all wide format printers that ever existed • Wide Format Printers for CAD, GIS, Maps, Aerial Photographs and 3D Computer Generated Drawings • Everything your Wide Format Inkjet Printer can Do, Sources of Profit (if you intend to use your inkjet printer commercially) Sources of Enjoyment (if you intend to use your printer for home, hobby or a second part-time business) • 24" Wide Format Printers Budget and Entry-Level Inkjet Printers For Photo-Realistic and Fine Art Giclee • Which Large Format Inkjet Printers are optimal for Photo Realistic Quality? Museum Quality Inkjet Printing on Canvas, Photo Glossy and on diverse other Inkjet Media • Which Wide Format Inkjet Printers are good for producing Fine Art Giclee Prints • Direct Digital Printing on Fabrics with Wide Format Inkjets Which Inkjet Printers Can accomplish Dye Sublimation for Heat Transfer to T-shirts, other textiles, ceramic tiles, and even metal. • All the various Kinds of Inks and Colorants used in Large Format Digital Printers plus Frequently Asked Questions about inkjet inks • Signs, Posters, Banners Which Large Format Printers can best do Indoor Signage, Trade Show Graphics, etc • Thermal Transfer as an alternative to inkjet printers for signs and other large format needs FLAAR REPORTS on Digital Imaging Hardware, Software, Media, and Inks • Answers to Frequently Asked Questions on the Hewlett-Packard DesignJet 5000 and 5000ps • Is it advisable to buy a used Large Format Printer? Or any earlier (obsolete) model even if it is still new? • How to protect yourself when you buy a Printer How to recognize hype, misleading claims? How to realize ink longevity claims may be misleading? Survival Guide when you are shopping for a Large Format Printer • Piezo vs Thermal Printhead Designs Pros and Cons, Fact vs Fiction Is Piezo inkjet best or can you expect more with Thermal Printheads? • Laminating Equipment For Large Format Inkjet Printing • Inkjet Printers as Proofers • Large Format Electrostatic Printers • Experience with the ColorSpan Esprit And with the ColorSpan DisplayMaker XII • Short-run Inkjet Printing on Thick and/or Rigid Materials (up to 3 inches thick) 2. Scanners and Digital Photography • Which Scanner is best to Digitize your Negatives and Transparencies when you need Photo-realistic Perfection and Fine Art Glicee Quality? plus, Part II How to Digitize Works of Art that are too large for a Flatbed Scanner? (scanner vs digital camera on a repro stand) • Scanners for Pre-press • Digital Photography and Digital Cameras, review of major kinds,1-shot, 3-shot, trilinear, CCD and CMOS. • Entry Level Digital Cameras, point and shoot 3 to 5 megapixel. 3. Media and RIP’s • All the different kinds of photo paper, fabric, silk, canvas, vinyl, backlit material, watercolor and artist1s paper, even metal that you can print onto using a large format inkjet printer. • Suggested Media and Inks for large format Signs, Posters, and Banners. • Media and Inks for Fine Art Giclee and PhotoRealistic Quality Large Format Printing on Canvas, Watercolor Paper, Photo Glossy, and Matte. • COLOR MANAGEMENT Where to find training, books, and help on color management. • RIPs for Large Format Printers: What in the world is a RIP? Why in the world would I need one? This report also includes general information for people new to large format inkjet printers. • List of the Main Brands of RIP (Raster Image Processor) RIP is Software including Adobe PostScript to provide additional options for operating your large format printer 4. Actual-Factual end user reports • Arizona, a Solvent-Ink Printer for Outdoor Signage A report kindly sent to FLAAR by an experienced End-User • Iris G print (the Iris 3047 used for Fine Art Giclee Printing): A report kindly sent to FLAAR by an experienced End-User 5. Trade Shows • Large Format Printers, Inks, Media, and RIPs presented at ISA Trade Show Las Vegas, Nevada (March 2001) • Large Format Inkjet Printers at Graphics of the Americas Trade Show (Feb. 2001, Miami) and PMA Trade Show (Feb. 2001, Orlando) FLAAR REPORTS on Digital Imaging Hardware, Software, Media, and Inks at Trade Shows • Large Format Printers, Inks, Media, and RIPs presented at CeBIT Trade Show Hannover, Germany (March 2001) • Large Format Printers at DPI Trade Show April 2001 including comments on printers seen at B.I.G. trade show, May 2001 • Large Format Printers, Inks, Media, and RIPs presented at SEYBOLD Trade Show San Francisco, California (August 2000). • Large Format Printers, Inks, Scanners and related subjets presented at PHOTOKINA Trade Show Cologne, Germany (September 2000). • Large Format Printers, Inks, Scanners and related subjets presented at DRUPA Trade Show Duesseldorf, Germany (September 2000). • Which Trade Shows are Worthwhile Visiting to learn about Scanners and Large Format Printers?