In troubled economic times, gold and silver quickly become the currency of the land…and it seems the same goes for digital printing.
In July, Kodak proclaimed a “gold rush” when it finally released its long-teased gold ink for NexPress digital printers. Now HP has unveiled a new silver ink for its Indigo WS6600, a digital press specializing in labels and packaging.
Up till now, the silver metallic effects in more than 2 billion square meters of labels has mostly been printed the traditional way, according to the company. Now, HP Indigo ElectroInk Silver enables silver ink printing on digital print runs.
“We already sold labels printed with it to customers who readily accepted the results and were unable to detect any differences from conventionally printed silver ink,” crowed Cees Schouten, technical director of Dutch label and packaging supplier Geostick B.V.
Pitched for the packaging of paint, household chemicals, as well as soft drinks and beer, the ink should be available early next year.
