Full-Color Digital Marking Devices

By Blair Allen, President, Direct Color Systems®

The marking industry has long been dominated by processes that require marking onto many different substrates with a good deal of durability. With the advent of digital printing, there has been demand for the ability to create a mark with a similar degree of durability onto various substrates utilizing a digital full-color capability.

One of the most common processes used in different industries utilizes a label application. In this process, an image or mark is applied by an inkjet printer to a paper or film that contains a PSA, or pressure sensitive adhesive. This is subsequently applied to a product and/or substrate. If this process will work for your application, then the choices are many. However, in most typical applications in the marking industry, this process doesn't meet the durability and longevity requirements of the marketplace. If your application is such that a label application isn't sufficient but you still need a color graphic, then you need to consider a full-color digital marking device.

Full-Color Digital Marking Devices

Full-color digital marking devices, or FCDMDs, are more than just printers. These products are unique in their technology and allow owners to create new products or current products in ways never before thought achievable. These machines allow the operator to image directly to a substrate without the use of a label application and adhesive. The processes these devices typically replace are screenprinting and marking technologies and, more specifically, rotary engraving and laser engraving.

The advantages in using FCDMDs are varied. Some of the more prominent ones are:

  • Full color imaging without the requirement of a costly screen setup process, and no drying time
  • Enhanced processing and throughput speeds
  • Flexibility of products
  • Open architecture to accept many different graphics file types without the need of extensive editing
  • Durability equal to or sometimes in excess of screenprinting
  • Ability to personalize products while simultaneously applying the color graphic logo, sign, etc.

Three primary technologies used in FCDMDs are dye sublimation, dye diffusion printers, and solvent and UV cure direct inkjet printers. Below we will briefly highlight the advantages and drawbacks of each primary technology utilized in a FCDMD.

Dye Sublimation

Dye sublimation consists primarily of imaging with a printer onto a transfer medium with dyes coated on ribbons or suspended in ink, toner or wax. This image is subsequently "sublimated" through the use of a heat press onto the final product. While dye sublimation has always struggled because of its inherent "two-step" process, it has made some amazing progress in the area of image resolution in recent years. Some advantages of dye sublimation are low capital cost of equipment, versatility in imaging onto many different sizes and shapes of final products and reasonable image durability. Some drawbacks of dye sublimation are that all products must be coated to receive the dyes. Further to this point, it can't image onto standard thermo plastics (acrylic, PVC, ABS, vinyl, etc). It also faces challenges with inconsistency in color output in relation to color saturation. This is because of the difficulty in keeping the platen of the heat press at finite temperatures to allow for consistent color saturation in the final product. The price point of entry into this type of equipment makes it the most widely used process for FCDMD.

Dye Diffusion Printers

Dye diffusion printers are thermal printers that utilize dyes, resins and metallics coated directly onto a ribbon. Each minute pixel in a thermal head then transfers the dye or resin either directly onto the substrate or, through the use of a retransfer process, directly onto the substrate. Some advantages of dye diffusion printers are high resolution and consistent color reproduction, high output production speed and the option of using substrate selections that include many different standard thermo plastics. When using the full color ribbon application, this process also puts down a clear over-laminate as part of the printing process. This greatly enhances the durability of this product and offers some limited UV resistance as well. This process also allows for monochrome spot color printing resulting in cost benefits and speed. These include a variety of colors as well as the important white and metallic images. Some possible drawbacks of this technology are a higher capital cost of equipment, limited size of output capability, slightly higher printing costs (full color only) and substrate options that are limited to flat sheet stock only.

Solvent and UV Cure Direct Inkjet

Direct inkjet printers have recently come on the scene and are rapidly gaining in popularity and numbers. While most inkjet images created with standard dye based or pigmented inks don't have the water and wear resistance necessary for the marking industry, the solvent and UV cure processes in some instances do offer these features without over-laminating the finished product with a secondary film or coating. However, solvent and UV cure inkjets are currently very product-specific and usually require matching ink and coated substrate components in order to achieve the desired durablity. This, coupled with their price tags that can range from $100,000 to $500,000, limits their ability to be widely used by many businesses in the marking industry. But, with their very low cost of production, size and scale, they certainly deserve a mention here as they most likely will be the technologies of the future.

The three primary technologies described above have as their main engine some type of printing device. However, one shouldn't think of them as only printers. They are marking devices in the truest sense of the term; they just utilize new full-color technology. If your shop has a need to produce color graphics, you will want to take a closer look at one or more of these technologies.