Choosing the right ink for your REINER printer

Technology has improved in virtually every area you can imagine including printing. The contemporary technology for printing has become faster and cheaper than it has ever been. You will no doubt be aware that when a new printer is purchased, an instruction manual comes attached that serves to indicate the type of ink that is acceptable for use by the machine, as an incorrect type of ink could result in the production of inferior printing results. This is why it is very important that you know and use the appropriate ink required by a REINER printer and for a particular printing type so as to avoid having losses that could run into a lot of money.

There are several factors involved in the determination of the right ink to use in specific situations, some of these include:

1. The kind of surface upon which the ink is to be applied.
2. The type of machine that is to be used
3. The number of impressions required as well as many other things.

One question that this section answer is: can I use any ink to print on any surface?

The answer to this would be no. This is because certain types of ink adhere more efficiently to certain surfaces than others would. The difference that may ensue between the ability of the inks to adhere is the porosity of the surface on which the printing is to be done. There are, however, two distinct types of surfaces you will find and they are porous surfaces and non-porous surfaces.

Technically, porous refers to materials that have tiny holes in them which enables liquid or air to pass through. The diameter of these holes may vary, resulting in about three different categories. They are:

• Microporous, which are surfaces with holes of 2nm or less
• Mesoporous, which are surfaces with diameters between 2nm and 50nm
• Macroporous, which are surfaces with diameters of 50nm and above

Materials that can be considered to be porous include paper, lumber or wood, cardboard, etc.

The diameter of the holes in these substrates will determine the type of REINER ink and the viscosity of the ink that would be required for your specific printing needs.

Inks suitable for porous surfaces are the P1-S Standard black ink cartridge, as well as the P3-S and P5-S3 Standard ink cartridge, which is filled with black dye-based ink used for printing on surfaces such as paper and untreated cardboard. Inks suitable for non-porous surfaces are the P1-MP3, P1-MP4 and P1-MP6 (yellow) ink cartridge.

These surfaces are made up of materials that have no “holes” through which air or liquid can move. There is no diameter by which to judge the porosity of these surfaces as they have no holes whatsoever. These types of materials include hard plastics, metals, and glass. Similar to porous surfaces, the substrate of these nonporous surfaces will be used to determine the type of ink required.

Once the porosity or lack thereof is determined, you will be able to make plans concerning the appearance of the already finished printed image on the substrate. A general rule of thumb in the application is that a surface that has a coarse texture will produce a low-resolution image, while a surface that has a smooth texture will produce a high-resolution image.

It is important to note that if the printed image is of the desired resolution, then, the process of distributing the materials, printing warning labels, and handling materials and much more would be done properly and correctly.

An example of inks that can be used to print on non-porous surfaces includes the yellow quick drying ink. This ink can be applied to make durable marks on non-porous surfaces such as glass, metal, plastic and other surfaces, as it dries quickly.

The different types of surfaces on which you will be printing also determines the type of ink you will use. You should keep in mind that the different types of materials also determine the type of ink to be used. The materials being referred to include paper, cardboard, metal, plastic, glass, rubber and much more. There are certain kinds of ink that can be used to print on materials such that they are dried immediately they are applied to the target surface. Once these inks are applied in the product packages, exposure to an ultraviolet light is immediately carried out. This light ensures that the ink is dried immediately and does not provide for smudge or errors. These inks are referred to as UV inks.

Printing on cartons, cardboards, and materials as such can be done quite easily and quickly via the use of a handheld inkjet printer. These materials are porous and as such absorbs ink which results in a permanent mark being made.

Corrugated cardboards have rough surfaces which do not allow labels to adhere well to them. Cartons are also usually dirty as they are being loaded from warehouses or directly from the production. This does not pose a problem for REINER inks. The use of special ink such as quick-drying ink helps you ensure that labels and prints on these cartons and cardboards adhere well.

Handheld inkjet printers are capable of printing on any plastic surface. This printer makes use of MP quick drying inks.

It is not easy to print on plastic surfaces as they are non-porous and cannot absorb ink. This means that ink that will dry fast is needed for printing on plastic surfaces. This process allows for efficient and accurate printing on plastics. These tools are perfect for printing on plastic bags, plastic wrappings or plastic bottles for industries such as food and beverage among others.

Printing or marking on metal parts is not easy. The surface of metal parts is unlike that of paper as it is not able to hold onto ink or allow liquid to be absorbed into it. This is why quick-drying ink is best for use on metal surfaces as it hardens on and adheres to the metal surface very fast rather than be absorbed.  Quick-drying ink is appropriate for making marks on metal so as to prevent smudging or runoff of the ink. The ink dries instantaneously, hence, bonding onto the surface of the metal which results in a clean and accurate printing on the metal.

The jetStamp 990 is a flexible inkjet printer that provides the solution to marking products for several industries who need to brand their products and print materials. These industries include but are not limited to warehouses, food packaging, beverage packaging and so on. This printer is able to perform several functions such as the production of real-time dates and times, automatic numbering and much more. It is used for printing batch codes, best before dates and time on products.

These printers are able to mark on both even and uneven surfaces and provided that the right type of ink is available and used (quick drying ink) they would be able to print on materials that lack holes (i.e. materials with non-porous surfaces such as metal, plastic, glass and much more).

The jetStamp 990 with standard ink is suitable for printing on porous surfaces such as paper, cardboard and so on.  However, with the correct MP ink it can be used to print on surfaces that are non-porous such as glass, metal, plastic and much more.

The REINER 940 is a handheld inkjet printer that can be used to mark production batches quickly and individually. In addition to time, text, number and dates, the REINER 940 can also be used to print barcodes and graphics. The printer is able to:

• Print number, time, date, text, graphics, barcodes, and make multi-line prints
• Make mobile or stationery marking
• Make automatic advancing dating and numbering barcode
• Print on both porous and non-porous surfaces
• Transmit the printed image via Bluetooth or USB.
• Make integrated capping for the print cartridge and much more.

REINER’s Speed-i-Jet 798 is a pocket-sized, lightweight printer that is easily transportable anywhere which means that you are always ready to mark your products. Some of the features of this printer are:

• The ability to make one-line imprints
• A character size of 1/8 inch
• The ability to imprint 40 characters
• Support of ambidextrous usage i.e. It can be used by both right-handed and left-handed operators

REINER’s Speed-i-Jet 798 mobile inkjet printer pen is, however, able to print on only porous substances such as paper and cardboard. The ink used by this printer is unable to adhere to non-porous substances such as plastic, glass, and metals.

The number of impressions to be made by the printer is also quite efficient in the determination of the right kind of ink to use. This is for making applications on materials and surfaces. The amount of runs that the printer makes determines the amount of ink that will be expended. A printer that makes two runs will save half as much ink as a printer that makes four runs. This principle is quite important in determining the proper ink to choose from.

Inks that make lesser runs are creations of recent technology as opposed to other inks. This renders them better able to create prints with more efficiency which results in images of a higher resolution than older technological versions would print, and this takes a larger number of runs.

The number of impressions that is required (among other things) will help determine how much time and cost is saved. This means that recent inks help save more time and cost due to their ability to make lesser runs. It takes a lesser amount of ink to complete the same number of runs as older inks would cost, which translates to a reduction in the amount of money to be spent on inks. This is because, as already mentioned, the volume of ink devoured by the printing process is comparatively little.

Different industries exist which are involved in the process of printing on product packages and on products. These industries make these markings based on the type of surface available which allows for a wider and easier efficiency and production.

For materials that have non-porous surfaces, the efficiency and rate of production will be dependent on the type of ink used in marking products. This makes it essential that companies that produce steel objects, plastic chairs, bottles, glassware, and other non-porous products utilise inks that will dry quickly so that there will be no smudge, run off of the ink and errors after printing. The avoidance of error on products means that work will be done faster and more efficiently which will ultimately reflect in the productivity rate. Inks with quick drying ability include quick-drying ink, special UV inks, or REINER P1-MP3 ink, P1-MP4, and P1-MP6 ink.

For products such as paper and cardboard, immediate drying of the ink is not required as the materials are able to absorb it, and this greatly simplifies and eases the process. These kinds of materials ensure efficiency and increased production with the use of any kind of ink.