Digital Dish: December 2018

Each month, Sylvamo's Digital Expert writes a Digital Dish newsletter to fuel your digital cravings. This edition provides three tips to chew on that explain the difference between a treated digital inkjet paper and a paper with primer or bonding agent added on press.

1. Inkjet Treatment Options

There are two types of treatment options when printing inkjet. You can use a treated paper or, in some instances, an on-press treatment is available. Treated paper simply means that a treated additive is included during the paper manufacturing process and is thus intertwined into the fiber matrix of the sheet. An example of treated paper includes Accent® Opaque with ImageLok® Technology. Conversely, Primers and Bonding Agents are treatments added on press, so it sits on top of the sheet.

2. Benefits of Treated Paper

Since the treatment is in the very fabric of the paper, it gives the sheet a great deal of latitude during the print process. When printing inkjet, remember that pigment ink contains a high water content (95%) so inks will spread with all the water present in the solution. The treatment in the paper helps to evenly absorb this excess water, leaving the pigment ink on the surface. Therefore, as the treated paper moves through the press, it dries evenly and is ready for post-conversion.

3. Ideal End-Use Applications

The rule of thumb is that it's better to use a treated substrate when printing jobs withe greater than 15% ink coverage. With a treated paper, colors are more vivid, blacks are bolder, and the clarity of the print allows you to use font as small as 4 pt. and still be legible. Bonding Agents and Primers are suitable for low ink coverage or when a treated substrate is unavailable. It performs well for spot colors and black and white prints.

See the Difference

Curious what kind of an impact a treated paper could make to your print project? Sylvamo's new digital inkjet swatchbook provides side-by-side comparisons of a treated digital paper and an on-press treatment like Primers and Bonding Agents, on both roll and sheet-fed inkjet presses. Reserve your copy today!

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If you have a topic you are hungry to learn more about, please send us an email at DYK@sylvamo.com.