In a nutshell, the main difference between traditional printing and UV printing lies in their drying methods. Moreover, there are substantial variations in the materials that can be printed on.
Drying Method
In traditional ink printing, a layer of powder is sprayed on the paper after printing. This creates a gap between the paper to prevent ink from sticking and accelerate ink drying. Since traditional ink doesn’t dry immediately after printing, without this powder layer, the papers are prone to sticking together due to ink or back printing, which means they can be damaged. If printed and powdered through the normal process, it will take some time to fully dry. Of course, the drying time depends on the paper material. In short, the freshly printed paper won’t dry immediately.
On the other hand, UV ink contains a reactant that interacts with ultraviolet light. During the printing process, a step of irradiating with ultraviolet light is added, enabling the ink to dry instantly. This shortens the work that would otherwise take several days in traditional printing methods to just a few hours. Once printed, other processing can be carried out immediately. Therefore, it can be printed on extremely smooth surfaces has stronger preservation, and is less likely to fade.
Printing Materials
The printed matter of traditional ink is paper and cannot be printed on plastic or other materials. Unlike UV ink, which has a wide variety of printable materials. UV ink can adhere well to almost all material surfaces, such as polyethylene, vinyl materials, styrene, polycarbonate compounds, glass, metal, and paper.
Another difference between UV ink and traditional ink is its coverage. If printing on colored paper or material, just applying white ink removes the worry that the printed color cannot cover the underlying color. As a result, this coloring method makes the printed effect of UV ink a bit darker than traditional ink. Since it can greatly accelerate the overall production process and processing can be carried out immediately without waiting for the ink to dry, more and more people are adopting this printing method.
