HP Tested UV Varnish Range Launched by Flint Group

Flint Group Narrow Web launched a UV varnish range for HP digital printed media.
 
“We know from discussions with our converter base that UV varnishes to enhance digital printed substrates are significantly important to them,” said Guillaume Clement, VP global narrow web for Flint Group. “The great news is that we have developed three varnishes which give very good adhesion to un-corona treated digital print, as well as on corona treated digital print, which is of course the recommendation by HP.”
 
“The DigiCoat HP range is far from ‘just another UV varnish range’,” added Par Olsson, product manager Narrow Web EMEA. “After extensive testing and simulations in our own laboratories, we submitted three types of varnishes into the HP Indigo Labels & Packaging Overprint Varnish Performance Program at Rochester Institute of Technology.
 
“The varnishes underwent a full baseline test, which is the most rigorous testing in the program. They performed very well achieving very good adhesion, excellent scuff, scratch, and abrasion resistance. The test printers we have used in the BETA process are extremely pleased with the fact that the varnishes give excellent protection to the digital printed image, both with and without the use of corona treatment on the digital print itself. “
 
“The challenge to develop a gloss thermal transfer over-pintable varnish, achieving excellent over-printability with VIP (variable information print), while at the same time, give very good adhesion and abrasion resistance properties on the digital print, was especially challenging,” Keith Redmond, DigiCoat project manager at Flint Group, noted. “However, this was what was requested by many digital printers and we are very happy to have developed a product that has performed exceptionally well in the testing.
 
“The matt high scuff varnish is also a product which we has been asked for many times by wine label converters because of the sometimes challenging paper substrates used in that sector,” Redmond reported.
 
Products are available from Flint Group under the following references:
• UXH00026 – High Resistant Gloss Varnish
• UXH00080 – TTR Gloss Varnish
• UXH00090 – Matt Varnish
 
Products are approved to be used on a global scale and compliant with chemical regulations such as TSCA, REACH, etc.