Water transfer printing materials and process control

Water transfer material

The water transfer material refers to a printed film that can be processed on the surface of the substrate and can transfer the graphic as a whole. The substrate can be a plastic film or a water transfer paper. This kind of printing film is used as a graphic carrier, and its appearance should be a major advancement in printing technology because many products are difficult to print directly. With this carrier, people can print images with mature printing technology. On the easy-to-print carrier, the graphic is transferred to the substrate. For example, a relatively high-heavy, cumbersome, grotesque article or a small area can be used in the transfer process. With regard to the water transfer printing process alone, its adaptability is very wide, and there are almost no products that can not be transferred. The transfer materials used for water transfer are water transfer film and water transfer paper.

(1) Water drape transfer film

Similar to the production process of the thermal transfer film, the water drape transfer film is printed on the surface of a water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol film using a gravure printing machine using a conventional printing process. The substrate of the water drape transfer film is very high in stretchability, and it is easily adhered tightly to the surface of the object, which is why it is suitable for transfer on the entire surface of the object. However, it is also obvious that the large stretchability of the film is that the image on the surface of the film is easily deformed during the printing and transfer process. Secondly, if the transfer process is not handled properly, the film may be broken. In order to avoid this shortcoming, we often design the graphic on the water transfer transfer film to have no specific shape, and it does not affect the ornamental repeat pattern after deformation. The water transfer film can be printed on the gravure printing machine to obtain high elongation, the printing cost can be greatly reduced, and the gravure printing machine has an accurate automatic tension control system. It can print 4 to 8 colors at a time, and the overprint accuracy is better. high. The gravure water drape transfer film uses water transfer printing ink. Compared with the traditional ink, the water transfer ink has good water resistance and the drying method is volatile drying.

(2) Water mark transfer paper

The substrate of the water transfer paper is special paper, which is easily soluble in water. From the structural point of view, there is not much difference with the water transfer film, but the production process is very different. The water mark transfer paper is made by screen printing or offset printing on the substrate surface, as shown in Figure 1.

Water mark transfer paper structure

Screen printing water transfer ink is a special water-resistant ink, and offset water transfer printing ink can be replaced by ordinary offset printing ink. It is better to use specialized water transfer offset printing ink. Water-transfer printing paper is produced by screen printing, and the color registration is difficult, but the ink layer is very thick; the offset printing water-transfer printing paper can achieve higher resolution.

The use of inkjet printers for the printing of water-based transfer paper is the most popular method of production. The use of printers and computers makes it easier to produce personalized graphics according to their own preferences. It is therefore very popular. The production process of the water drape transfer film and the water standard transfer paper is shown in FIG. 2 .

Water transfer film and paper production diagram
Source: Coinprint