Expanding knowledge in this area can expand possibilities for your business.
The gap between simply being able to print on something – for instance, a sheet of metal – and printing it in a way that meets its use expectations, such as exposure to the elements over a period of ten years, is indeed profound. Beyond durability, successful print quality, including color control, requires ink and substrate to work hand-in-hand. For certain substrates, what joins these hands, so to speak, is often a pretreatment or primer.
Defining the Challenge
According to Ray Weiss, vice president, of e-learning and certifications with PRINTING United Alliance, there are many reasons why primers and pretreatments would be needed for wide-format and other printing applications. The primary reason, he says, is that it addresses anything, be it dust, oils, and even surface energy, that can get between in and substrate, thus inhibiting expected adhesion. He says that with the rise of UV inkjet printing, the need for surface preparation or pre-treatment has become increasingly important because UV inks must sit on and adhere to the surface, whereas solvent inks would bite into the surface, enabling adhesion.
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