R&D: Developing new opportunities for digital printing papers
(Canada, January 28, 2016) Research conducted at FPInnovations laboratories has led to the development of new, glossy coating formulations that will allow the use of lightweight coated papers on commercial web inkjet printing presses. A successful large-scale plant trial in collaboration with a member company has recently been conducted, which allowed evaluation of this new coated paper on a commercial web inkjet press.
Indeed, FPInnovations has been working extensively in the past three years to expand the use of lightweight coated paper beyond its traditional use in offset printing. Currently, the only segment of the commercial printing industry that is showing noticeable growth is the web inkjet printing industry. To assist our member companies in capturing a share of this market, research was conducted in our laboratories, which has led to the development of new, glossy coating formulations that will allow the use of lightweight coated papers on commercial web inkjet printing presses.
To fully assess the performance of these new coatings, large quantities of coated paper had to be produced for full-scale printing trials on commercial web inkjet presses. FPInnovations has worked closely with one of our member companies to scale up the process and plan pilot coating and full scale mill trials. The trial in the mill successfully produced glossy lightweight-coated paper that was evaluated on a commercial web inkjet press. The results of the printing trials showed good print quality, even at high ink coverage. Our member paper company is now engaged in commercialization efforts.
“To our knowledge,” says FPInnovations Research Leader Lyne Cormier, “this will be the first glossy lightweight-coated paper grade for inkjet printing to be offered on the market.” Potential applications could include production printing of personalized magazines and catalogues, a target market niche for those high-speed printing presses. (Source: press release)
