Narrow web ink and varnish manufacturer, Pulse Roll Label Products Ltd, launched its new high strength UV flexo ink series, PureTone at Labelexpo Europe 2015. The PureTone range includes a high strength, mono-pigmented mixing ink system, which comprises 9 base colours with the addition of a special Royal blue plus extender. The single pigment formulation of the nine mixing bases makes it much easier to colour match due to the reduced total number of pigments used in the mixed ink.

This enables optimised colour strength and cleaner colours to be achieved and also reduces the potential for metamerisation. The high strength formulation allows for lower film weights of ink resulting in reduced inventory and lower ink volume consumption for narrow web printers and provides greater flexibility for printing half-tones and full-tones using just one printing plate.

In conjunction with the new PureTone mixing bases, the use of an X-Rite Spectrophotometer and the latest Ink Formulation Software will achieve colour standardisation whereby special colours are created and matched much more quickly and accurately, eliminating colour variations that can occur when matching by eye.

The flexographic printing technology has made huge advancements over recent years in terms of new press technology, plates, anilox rollers, inks and curing systems. The new PureTone ink system was formulated by Pulse Roll Label Products’ technical and R&D experts at its laboratory in Bristol, in response to changing label industry demands, primarily driven by the needs of brand owners for greater colour control to protect the value and integrity of recognised brands and products.

A growing trend for more complex graphics, increased product variations, shorter runs and a greater focus on colour consistency in product packaging and branding has led to the use of more spot colours resulting in increased press set-up times and more ink mixing, all of which, without colour control, can result in greater downtime. Colour management is therefore essential in today’s marketplace, and will help label printers improve press efficiencies thereby reducing production costs.

Predictable and measureable colour, combined with pre-press proofing to replicate colour off-line, ensures consistent and repeatable colour therefore ultimately benefits the label producer though reduced downtime, greater press efficiencies and increased profitability.

Gary Seward, Managing Director, Pulse Roll Label Products, said “We are delighted to unveil our new high strength ink series, PureTone, at Labelexpo 2015. PureTone offers the global narrow web label industry an exciting concept in UV flexo ink technology which, supported by software and equipment from leading industry suppliers, provides a total colour management solution and colour standardisation, which label printers will benefit from through long-term cost savings.”

In addition to the mono-pigmented mixing bases, the new PureTone ink series also includes a comprehensive range of process inks to meet the needs of today’s label printer. A combination of the company’s PureTone UV flexo process inks can also allow label printers to achieve ISO compliance. A range of lightfast colours also complements the PureTone process inks and PureTone mono-pigmented mixing bases.