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Recently Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth was at Sign Africa 2009. He could obtain a sample printed with the HP latex ink in this trade show (courtesy of MidComp, the main HP dealer). Here is the image from the HP Designjet L65500, at 6 pass mode. Frankly the quality is very nice for 6 passes Nicholas is holding the sample in the garden of Mayan ethnobotanical plants at the FLAAR headquarters in Guatemala. The image is from the nearby museum of archaeology and glass in the Hotel Casa Santo Domingo, Antigua Guatemala, and shows a ceramic statue of a 4th century Eagle Warrior from the Escuintla area of Guatemala that was impacted by Teotihuacan merchants and warriors from Mexico in that century. |
HP latex ink, a new concept of water-based inks, a breakthrough against VOCs and solvent odor
HP latex ink samples are all over my desk. Latex ink documentation is atop them. It's late at night and lots of news of HP's new latex ink that will replace solvent, and frankly may replace eco-solvent, mild-solvent, and lite-solvent inks too.
So far, anyone who has been brave enough to ask questions has asked to what degree latex ink can be classified as water-based. To me this is sort of a rhetorical question. I would rather know how it functions, how clients like the results, and how printshop owners and managers like the latex ink system. The ink formula is, to me, not the immediate problem. The fact that it does not smell badly like full solvent ink and has less VOCs is a positive beginning.
But when you speak with industry analysts, off the record, the first comment they make is whether or not it is acceptable to classify the ink in the world of water-based inks. However I would prefer to inspect the results in a beta-test site and not get bogged down in chemical nit picking. Besides, the printshop owners are the ones who decide which wide-format printer to select. But it is tough to decide about a latex ink printer when the information is incomplete.
The good intentions for HP latex ink are nice, but there is a lot of industry politics at play. HP entered the mild-solvent lite-solvent ink market by rebranding Seiko ColorPainter 64s printers. But the popularity of those early models of Seiko solvent printers had already peaked under Seiko. So, unfortunately, sales of the HP Designjet 9000s and 10000s did not go as well as expected. So finally, by January 2009, HP and Seiko both phased out the relationship.
Ironic, as a result, sales of Mimaki, Mutoh, Roland, and now Seiko's newer solvent printers increased significantly specifically in January 2009 after HP announced it was pulling out of solvent ink.
Don't forget that HP was the water-based inkjet king for many years, after trouncing Encad (who had been market leader before). FLAAR evaluated HP Designjet printers for six years, especially the HP 5000 and 5500. But this epoch-making water-based evaluation program was phased out by 2006 and then FLAAR switched to evaluating UV-cured printers. HP had none (until they bought NUR and ColorSpan). The former ColorSpan has been a slow market though NUR sales increased under the HP Scitex mantle. But sign makers still want solvent printers (especially in a recession).
So now, HP is putting considerable energy into innovating with latex ink. But the first model was not yet entry-level version: it's $120,000 and media is a bit pricey too. Plus at the same time Mutoh, Mimaki, and Roland all came out with really low cost eco-solvent printers to protect their market share from cheap Chinese solvent printers.
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HP wide-scan thermal printheads are the ones made for HP latex ink. |
HP wide-scan thermal printheads
But there are good features to the HP latex ink system besides the ink chemistry. The first moment I had time to appreciate the details of the HP wide scan thermal printheads was at the pre-DRUPA 2008 event in Israel, March 10th. Since the wide scan thermal printheads are associated with delivering the new latex ink, I will be updating this page as soon as there is time. So much is going on because both DRUPA and FESPA Digital are being held this same year.
HP latex ink is totally different than any current ink, though I did find an after-market latex ink already last year (2008). Now in 2009 I have found two more companies that are starting to make a third-party latex ink due to the obvious interest in this kind of ink at SGIA 2009. FLAAR obviously does not make ink ourselves, but we do hear from most of the ink companies around the world as to what they are working on (sure are benefits of FLAAR being not owned by any one company). But for the moment, we do not intend to focus on after-market latex ink. First we will see what is going on with the initial latex ink, namely that from HP.
The composition of the HP latex ink has been likened to jetting liquid cement, which is probably one reason the printheads are at 12 picoliter and not less. However the quality comes out nicely. The print samples I have, of my own 22-megapixel photographs, are gorgeous (even at only 6-pass mode; if at 8-pass or 10-pass they would be rated better, but I am content with the 6-pass quality since it is full photo-realistic quality).
Other innovative inks, including non-solvent signage inks that require heating.
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HP latex ink samples from HP Designjet L65500 latex ink printer |
What I am curious about is to what degree it will be possible to learn the full pros and cons of this ink, and to compare HP latex ink with other unusual water-based inks, namely Lumocolor from Staedtler and “ Magic Ink” from Eastech (Japan, Taiwan, Thailand).
The Lumocolor ink requires heating for some materials but the Magic Ink from Eastech does not. FLAAR has been taking notes on Magic Ink at the Thai factory of Eastech last summer. But Sepiax, Lumocolor, and Magic Ink are different than HP latex ink: HP latex ink is primarily for traditional signage. Magic ink is primarily for interior decoration.
The only other water-based ink that required IR heating was the unique DuPont ink used by the Encad VinylJet. Several hundred of these Encad VinylJet printers were sold, but they had so many issues that Kodak had to absorb millions of dollars in losses and jettison this line of printers quickly and with as little fanfare as possible. To my knowledge, no one has picked up this DuPont heatable ink to see if they can create a better version (though several ink chemists (not from DuPont and not from HP) suggested that DuPont has had latex-like ink long ago).
Part of my upcoming research will be to learn all the features of the new HP latex ink that distinguish it from all these other inks. Since I was a professor of inkjet printing in earlier years, I have an intrinsic and deeply rooted interest in learning all this, and then helping our readers (printshop owners, printshop managers, printer operators and students) learn so they can make an educated decision of which ink chemistry, which printhead technology, and which printer platform to purchase this year and next year.
Another ink that is raising interest is the even newer water-based ink from Sepiax Ink Technology. The Sepiax ink prints on a wide range of materials and seems to have several advantages over Lumocolor ink from Staedtler, such as brighter colors. In the last several months I have found two other new inks that I am studying further.
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HP latex ink printing samples. |
HP Optical Media Advance Sensor
This sensor is something not available for any Roland or Mimaki printer. Mutoh has Intelligent Interweaving but nothing like this optical recognition system of the media advance sensor. I will try to obtain some graphics to help explain the optical media advance sensor in future updates. But the result is less banding.
Roland has now copied the Mutoh interweaving, and now Seiko is adding their version of interweaving to their new 104-inch solvent printer, the Seiko ColorPainter H104S.
Irrespective of whether HP latex ink is the direction you are thinking of moving into, it is impressive how much effort and technology they devote to their products. I have had several helpful discussions with HP's Dr Ross Allen, both in Israel and elsewhere that I have seen him, including briefly in South Africa ( 2008) and then a second time in Barcelona in July 2009.
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| Dr Ross Allen, senior HP scientist, shows the HP wide-scan thermal printheads that are used with the latex ink. These photos are from the three-day HP launch event at HP Scitex in Israel, attended by Professor Nicholas Hellmuth and a other industry analysts and over a hundred trade magazine editors from around the world. |
I cover the HP Designjet L65500 latex ink printer and the L25500 on separate pages. This is presently the only printer in the world that is built from the ground up with special features to optimize features in latex ink. I did find, however, another kind of latex ink in summer 2008, when I was inspecting several wide-format inkjet printers in a large screen printing company. One of these printers turned out to be a beta test machine for a third-party after-market latex-like ink.
What counts, though, is what new printer technologies and what new inks will be introduced at SGIA in October 2009. Since there was no follow-up from HP on their latex inks (I was told there would be a beta test site in the US to visit, but that was never actually arranged), and since I am very interested in learning about new inks so I can provide information to the over 340,000 people who read this web site, I have begun to work with other companies who have innovative inks which are completely different than HP latex inks with fewer of the downsides (massive heaters are required for latex ink printers with resulting electricity costs).
The other question is which substrates can handle the extreme heat needed to handle the latex in chemistry. This is a question (raised by others), not a complaint by me. The only way I will know is by visiting a beta test site for a site-visit case study. I do not trust “Success Stories” since they are often a sham review or a pseudo review.
But if more access is available to latex ink beta test sites, or actual end-users, I will consider returning to expand FLAAR coverage of latex ink. After all, the FLAAR page appears as high in Google when you search for HP latex ink. So naturally we would like to update this, but in the meantime, our primary update is that after-market third-party latex ink already exists since last year. And there are now three significant inks in Europe that have most of the benefits of HP latex ink, plus, plus they can print on thick rigid materials, both signage materials and also materials for interior decoration. You can't print on thick or flat material with the HP latex ink.
The sad part of HP latex ink is that there is no independent outside discussion of this latex ink. 99% of what is on the Internet is either a direct publicity release, or a secondary PR blitz started by HP. Thus it is essential that printshops (end-users) have access to a true outside evaluation or review. For this reason we look forward to updating this page as more information becomes available on HP latex ink.
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Sample printed with the HP latex ink at Sign Africa trade show 2009. |
The primary benefits of HP latex ink are that you do not have to wait 24 hours before it is fully dry. With solvent inks, they may be dry to the touch but are not completely dry until 24 hours. If you roll-up a solvent print for shipping, it will outgas and stink with a wretched odor once you install it even weeks later (since the pent-up smell of the solvents do not dissipate if the material is rolled up tight).
HP latex ink are stated to be fully dry once they leave the printer. In theory you could laminate the prints immediately.
Next benefit is the HP latex inks do not cause your printer operator and co-workers to suffer from the chemicals that are in solvent ink.
Third, the HP latex inks can be “packaged” as green inks. If you have clients that request, or require, a green solution, the HP latex inks are better than hard solvent, mild- or lite-solvent or potentially better than eco-solvent.
Bio-solvent is not yet enthusiastically accepted by enough end-users to impress most printshop owners. The first three formulations of bio-solvent ink were not successful and so most printshop owners did not add bio-solvent to their short list of what to look at. Bio-solvent ink is okay if you only print on a few materials, but a hybrid pinch-roller / grit-roller system may skew or stutter or otherwise have banding issues on some thick, heavy, or smooth-surfaced materials. Notice that not one single solitary other additional company has gone with bio-solvent ink (and not even VUTEk stayed with bio-solvent ink (which makes the ink via their InkWare).
If you look at the printshop owners who write FLAAR a personal e-mail asking which inks to use, more ask about HP latex inks than ask about bio-solvent ink. What is interesting are the countries and world areas that they write from. I would have expected that the most interest in HP latex inks would be Western Europe and North America. But we also get e-mails from Mexico, Brazil, India and elsewhere around the world (the FLAAR web site is read by over 400,000 people a year and so hundreds of printshop owners land on the FLAAR comments about latex ink).
FLAAR has patiently waited to learn more about latex ink. So in the beginning there was no specific evaluation possible on HP latex ink (until we did at least initial tests and inspection of a print shop that actually used it). But we do have evaluations coming out on Sepiax ink, comments on Sensient inks, and other innovative inks. The future of wide-format inkjet printing is a lot more than just UV-cured inks. And by DRUPA 2012 there will not be much enthusiasm any more for solvent inks: the Seiko ColorPainter H-104s, H-74s, and V-64s are the only (mild) solvent ink printers that really raise interest today, since they have new innovative printheads that are fast. Plus the Seiko ink has advantages of producing an attractive and desirable glossy black ink.
SInce DRUPA 2012 is a long way off, it will be interesting to see the role, range, and position of HP latex inks in the world marketplace by ISA 2010 and FESPA 2010. I predict that there will be alternative inks (totally other ink chemistries) and that hopefully Roland, Mimaki, and Mutoh have something more inspiring than bio-solvent and silver-effects metallic ink to inspire the thousands and thousands of printshop owners that read the FLAAR Reports. Although the FLAAR Reports are best known for reviews of hardware, our current interest is in inks and materials, since these impact applications.
Most recently updated October 15, 2009, with more updates coming in the future.
First posted March 10, 2008. Updated March 18, 2008, Jan. 29, 2009, Feb. 2, 2009, February 20, 2009.
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Most of our updates for 2008-2009 onward are in FLAAR Reports in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. It is more efficient for us to make new information available in PDF format. So if the web page itself is not updated, check out www.wide-format-printers.NET to see if the printer, RIP, or other subject is covered in an update in a PDF download. And if you prefer to speak with Nicholas Hellmuth in person, you can bring him to your company anywhere in the world as a consultant.
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