FUJIFILM Corporation exhibited reference models of a pigment ink for water-based inkjet, to be used in flexible packaging, at drupa2016, the world’s largest trade show for printing equipment, held in Germany.

Fujifilm is commercialising various inkjet related products under the “FUJIFILM Inkjet Technology” brand, a brand concentrating various Fujifilm technologies, and has introduced the B2 size digital press, the Jet Press 720S, originally made for commercial printing in the graphic arts industry. Additionally, the trend for short-runs, high-mix and quick turnarounds is ever-increasing in the packaging sector, and traditional analogue printing, the mainstream in the flexible package field, faces difficulties regarding turnaround, cost and environmental performance. This has led Fujifilm to further develop the technology used in the Jet Press 720S to create an ink technology for water-based inkjet capable of inkjet printing on flexible packaging film.

The bleeding of inkjet ink is an issue in the non-absorbent film substrates used in the flexible packaging, but the application of “Rapic Technology” created during the development of the Jet Press 720S enables an ink droplet to retain its stability where it has landed, and clear image reproduction is made possible by combining with proprietary undercoating technology. The combination of these technologies with Fujifilm’s high-definition Samba printheads has allowed productivity of more than 30 metres per minute to be achieved while printing at 1200dpi high-definition, in full colour, enabling compatibility for digitalisation for the reverse printing of flexible packaging.

A print sample of water-based ink will be exhibited at drupa in the “FUJIFILM Inkjet Technology” zone. An inkjet print sample of a shiny metallic ink currently under development will be exhibited as well. The development of metallic ink meets the increasing demand for indoor signs, packages and label printing with metallic textures to give a luxurious look. Other exhibits will include latest technologies in “inkjet printheads”, “inks”, “image optimisation” and various samples showcasing the possibilities for expansion in the digital print market, including commercial printing, wide-format, package printing and numerous other fields in the industry.