PRINTING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR KOEHLER 2 recommendations

PRINTING RECOMMENDATIONS

Today, we encounter thermal paper If you observe the following recommenda- constantly and in almost all areas of daily tions and guidelines for printing with the life – as check-out receipts in supermarkets, most common printing methods for thermal as bank statements or admission tickets. But paper, flexo and , you will be printing is what gives these paper products able to achieve the best possible printing that extra something, creating individuality results on Koehler Thermal Paper. – whether as a platform for advertising messages, image promotion or as a source In general, the key factor in printing on of information. thermal paper is to ensure that the function of the paper in thermal printers is not impaired. Printing recommendations 3

WATER FLEXO PRINTING

Not all water flexo inks are suitable for The printing of the thermal side with use with Koehler Thermal Paper. unsuitable inks may lead to deposits on Please refer to our ink recommendations the printing head of thermal printers table on the last page. when thermal printing is also required on pre-printed areas. Apply only as much ink as is absolutely necessary. The recommended ink volumes are approx. 6 cm3/m2 wet weight. 4 Printing recommendations

OFFSET PRINTING

The thermal side of most Koehler Thermal Only the minimum ink volume necessary Paper types is not designed for printing using should be applied when printing the the wet offset process. Nevertheless, when reverse side as well. Thick ink layers on the the right ink is selected and the correct reverse side may lead to insufficient drying machine settings are in place, this method and, in turn, to a deactivation of the can achieve good results. The reverse side of thermal side caused by direct contact all thermal paper types can generally be used between the reverse side and the thermal for wet offset printing. side when the printed paper is rolled.

We recommend only using UV-curable The printing pressure should be kept to a inks. Our ink recommendations on the last minimum -> ‘Kiss Printing’. page can be used as a starting point for

selecting the right ink. It is advisable to make your own tests to determine the most suitable rubber blankets. Inks with low tack are preferable, and Experience shows that ‘quick release’ rubber adding anti-tack paste may also be neces- blankets produce the best results. sary.

Apply only as much ink as is absolutely The fountain solution should not contain necessary. more than 10% by volume of alcohol additives. Printing recommendations 5

UV drying is recommended after each The ink–water balance and ink tack in par- active pass of the printing process. ticular are important considerations.

In the case of slow feed rates, the heat Each printed product must be individually from the UV bulbs may cause discoloration configured in terms of the amount of water of the thermal layer. Higher feed rates used. For example, one product may need minimise the effects of direct heat a maximum quantity, while another may radiation on the paper and ensure that need a minimum quantity. The water only the UV radiation is responsible for quantity can vary based on the individual drying. printed product, from very little to a huge amount. Don’t be afraid to carry out your Check the machine settings and ink selec- own tests! tion if problems occur, such as picking or thermal deposits on the rubber blankets. 6 Printing recommendations

UV FLEXO PRINTING

All Koehler Thermal Paper may be printed Any undesirable discoloration of the thermal using the UV flexo process without any pro- paper can be best observed in the case of blems. However, it must be noted that apply- light colors, such as yellow. A solution may ing too much ink can impair print intensity in then be to use another ink: Low-migration cases where thermal printing is also required inks will result in the least amount of discolo- on pre-printed areas. ration of light colors. Our ink recommendati- ons list includes low-migration inks. The maximum amounts of ink applied should be sufficient to ensure complete drying of the ink in the UV flash drying process. Printing recommendations 7

INK RECOMMENDATIONS TABLE POS Label

Process Manufacturer Product Notes KT FA KT PF KT LFA KT LFB Jänecke+Schneemann Supra UV Zeller & Gmelin Uvalux U40 SunChemical Suncure Lazer UV offset Siegwerk Deo 456 Stehlin & Hostag CureInk UV/UB 4000 Stehlin & Hostag CureInk UV/UB 4500 Siegwerk Sicura Typo 32-8 Letterpress Siegwerk Sicura Typo 41-2 Jänecke+Schneemann UV Supraflex

Jänecke+Schneemann UV Supraflex LMI (low migration) Intercolor Optiflex UV flexo Siegwerk Sicura Flex 39-8

Siegwerk Z 32-3 (low migration)

Zeller & Gmelin Uvaflex Y71 (low migration) Zeller & Gmelin Uvaflex YT Flint Flexocure Force –– Rodatz Flexo WT Concbase AQ / FL-Pantone Jänecke+Schneemann* Gr. 5/B oder V2 13/C modular system Siegwerk Unilabel T 53-21

Siegwerk Aqualabel HK + 3 % Masterblend 53.41 Unibase colors with Unicor Postprint T blend (40/60) Water flexo Siegwerk modular system 4% Uniadd Wax Additive (18 +/-2 s) Kingfisher Apollo Flint Thermokett TC Intercolor Hydrotek

Zeller & Gmelin Hydrotek

Hillbrook WB + 3 % catalyst + 3 % catalyst SunChemical Piranha

= Suitable = Limited suitability – = not suitable

* Please observe a viscosity of 20-23 s for the water flexo printing ink “Jänecke+Schneemann”

The table shown above shows only a limited of inks for printing on thermal paper, we selection of printing inks that are, according always recommend checking whether the to our current knowledge, suitable for printing combination of thermal paper, ink, and on Koehler Thermal Paper. However, as the thermal you are considering is market offers a considerably greater selection suitable. Hauptstraße 2 ·77704 Oberkirch,Germany·Phone +49780281-0· 780281-4330·www.koehlerpaper.com Papierfabrik August KoehlerSE

09.19 / GB 0.02 / Digitally printed on Koehler ICEWHITE®IQ160 gsm with HP Indigo 7900