In the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, large format printing is an everyday task. Blueprints, technical drawings, and renderings need to be reproduced accurately and reliably using the right type of printing.
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The most common printer in the AEC office is the aqueous inkjet printer: A larger, commercial version of the home desktop printer. Aqueous ink refers to any ink that uses water as a carrier fluid, which evaporates as the ink dries. Only a small amount of nontoxic passive components are added to the ink, so this allows for safe, nontoxic, and environmentally friendly printing in the office. Aqueous inkjet printing can be further differentiated by the ink types used: aqueous dye ink and aqueous pigment ink. Which to use simply depends on what you will be printing.
The golden rule is to never waste any time. The faster the print job, more time can be spent on core activities. Two areas to look out for, whatever architectural printer you choose, are:
Speed is often listed in terms of images per minute (IPM) and pages per minute (PPM). For large format printers, PPM is typically given in terms of A1 sheets, as opposed to A4/letter sheets in standard printers.
Low cost. Dye ink is less costly to formulate than pigment ink, and dye ink printers typically utilise a CMYK four-colour ink cartridge system that can produce a wide range of colours at high saturation.
Fast printing speed. Most printers built for plotting use dye inks and offer fast output to meet the demands of a busy office or job site.
Vibrant colours. Dye ink, with its soluble nature, can produce rich colours across a wide gamut. Modern, well-formulated dye inks should also be able to produce good results even on plain paper, given that nearly 90% of the large format printing done in AEC offices uses plain paper.2
One example of an aqueous dye-based printer is the HP DesignJet T830 Multifunction Printer, which is able to print bold, sharp lines and letters down to 0.02 mm line width to ensure that your floor plans and scale drawings are as accurate as can be.
Colour precision. Pigment ink printers typically use multiple colour cartridges, including grey and black ink, to support a wider colour gamut. This makes it ideal for printing GIS maps with a large amount of information, as well as architectural renderings photorealistic prints, backlit panels, and wall murals to show off your work at trade events.
Extreme longevity. Pigment ink molecules have excellent UV stability and fade resistance, even against indoor lighting conditions. This is why they are often chosen for professional photographic prints that are displayed at exhibitions or galleries. For instance, HP Vivid Photo Ink can produce prints that last for up to 200 years in museum conditions.1
Water resistance. Once dry, prints will not smudge or wash out when they come in contact with water.
Because they need to be carefully formulated for stability and quality, pigment ink cartridges tend to be more expensive than dye ink cartridges. In addition, prints made using pigment ink may have a matte appearance as the pigment particles sit on the surface of the paper.
The HP DesignJet Z9⁺ Printer is one example of a large format pigment ink printer. With a nine-colour ink set that includes separate grey and black ink cartridges, it can produce prints with high colour precision and bring every idea to life during presentations.
It’s common to find both aqueous-dye and aqueous-pigment inkjet printers in the AEC office, as they each have their unique and complementary applications.
The dye-based plotter printer is an essential piece of equipment for AECs, which rely on plans and drawings with highly accurate detail. On the other hand, a pigment-based printer can be invaluable if you need larger format and higher-resolution outputs, from GIS maps to gallery-quality renderings.
If you have the budget and the space, invest in both to help grow your business. By getting a reliable dye-based plotter printer with strong print management capabilities on site, teams can work more efficiently and reduce ambiguity while delivering projects. Additionally, by using a pigment-based printer to present maps and renderings to clients, you can further enhance your brand’s reputation for quality.
Anyone in the digital wide format printing industry will know that there is more to wide format printing than meets the eye. There are many different types of wide format printing, including different inks and printing processes which are each suited to different applications. The following is what we hope is a helpful guide as to the key differences, pros and cons of the 5 main types of inks used in wide format printing.
Dye Inks
These are water-based (or ‘aqueous’) inks with the colorant dissolved like sugar in water.
The advantage of dye inks is that they offer high saturation, because the liquid ink is absorbed into the paper’s fibres. However, these inks have low UV and Ozone stability, which means the ink will fade more easily if the printed item is exposed to sunlight. Also dye inks are not water-resistant.
Dye inks tend to be used for more basic applications such as printing CAD drawings or indoor posters.
Here are some of the wide format media from our range that is suitable for dye inks:
Aqueous-Based Pigmented Inks
For more information, please visit large format printer ink.
These are also water-based inks, but the colorant is made of tiny, encapsulated particles (pigments) which are suspended in the liquid like chalk. When applied to paper, the tiny particles of colour sit on top of the paper instead of being absorbed into the paper’s fibres like dye inks.
Aqueous-based pigmented inks have high lightfastness and ozone resistance, and are generally water-resistant. However, they offer slightly lower saturation compared to dye inks.
Printers using aqueous-based pigmented inks often use more colours and graduations (up to twelve ink cartridges) in order to compensate for the lower brilliance and to improve overall print quality.
These inks are great for indoor posters and graphics, canvas prints and other fine art applications. They can also be used for short-term outdoor applications, or for long-term outdoor items if additional protection (e.g. lamination) is applied.
Here are some of our top-selling wide format media products for aqueous-based pigment inks:
Solvent Inks
These are also pigmented inks, but unlike the above, the liquid is chemical-based – i.e. solvent.
Solvent inks are more durable and than water-based inks, are waterfast, and can be applied to other materials such as uncoated vinyl and PVC, as well as paper, canvas and other synthetic films.
The disadvantage of solvent inks is the fact that they can be harmful to your health and the environment, due to the various gases released by the chemical-based liquid.
Solvent inks can be used for a wide range of both indoor and outdoor graphic and display applications, including outdoor posters, signs, banners and vehicle wraps. Due to the odour created by these chemical-based inks, they are unsuitable for some indoor applications such as food retailers.
Some of our most popular media for solvent inks include the following:
Latex Inks
Latex inks are like aqueous-based pigmented inks, however the difference is they also contain small particles of latex, which is a form of plastic. Once applied to paper, heat is used to evaporate away the water, leaving just the pigment and latex particles on the paper surface. At the same time, the heat activates, or ‘melts’, the latex particles and this encapsulates and binds the pigments to the surface.
Like solvent inks, latex ink is waterproof, waterfast and can be applied to a range of media such as uncoated vinyl and PVC. However, the benefit of latex ink over against solvent is that it doesn’t produce any harmful gases or odours that are harmful to the environment. Therefore, latex is often viewed as an ‘environmentally friendly’ version of solvent.
The main disadvantages of using latex inks is that, due to the heat involved in the process, there is currently a limited range of media on the market that is suitable for latex printing. Also, because the process involves heat it uses more energy, which of course ultimately has a cost implication.
At Clyde we have a big range of wide format media suitable for latex inks, including some of our aqueous poster paper products and most of our solvent range. Here are a few of the most popular ones:
UV-Curable (UVC) Inks
The liquid in UVC inks is aqueous-based, and the colorants are usually pigment-based but can also be dye-based. After printing, the ink is ‘cured’ or dried by exposure to strong ultraviolet (UV) light – hence they are called UV-curable inks.
The key advantage of UVC inks is that they can be applied to pretty much any material you can put through the press – including rigid media such as plastics and foamboard. This is because there is no absorption of ink into the media, and neither is there need for liquid solvents to be left to evaporate. Instead, the ink dries on the surface as soon as it is cured, meaning it can be applied to non-porous substrates as well as paper. UVC inks are also waterproof, meaning they are great for outdoor applications.
The main disadvantages of UVC inks is that they are expensive, the curing module required for the printer is also expensive, and the print quality is not as good as conventional water-based and solvent inks. Also, because of there is a high volume of ink on the surface, UVC inks are sometimes susceptible to cracking if applied to a flexible substrate.
UVC inks are often used in flatbed printers whichprint directly onto rigid substrates, and are becoming increasingly used in “hybrid” printers to print onto flexible media such as paper and vinyl, as well as rigid substrates. Typical applications of UVC inks are for stiff media, outdoor graphics and general display and signage.
Most of our Solvent and Latex media range can be used with UV or SUV (combination of solvent ink and UV hardening ink), the following are some examples:
Want more information on textile pigment ink? Feel free to contact us.