Digital printing has become a revolutionary technique for the printing industry in recent years. The market has seen an increase in demand, and digital printing techniques are sometimes the only viable solution to meet this demand.
Ink waste has been a major problem in the industry. Not only does it increase production costs, it also impacts the environment.
Several printer companies have come up with solutions to minimize this wastage. With digital printing, it is easier than ever to improve processes for reduction in ink wastage.
Reducing ink wastage
This can only be done once we understand steps at which ink is usually wasted. Only then, can you take the right steps to minimize this wastage.
For instance, you can achieve this by starting at the level of designing. Consider decreasing the amount of layout to be covered by ink and use high quality sublimation paper for efficient printing.
Furthermore, you can also make a difference by reducing the amount of ink used by your printer for purposes other than printing.
When there is a gap between two usages, the ink might dry at the nozzles or trap air bubbles. This makes ink ejection unstable while printing, causing blurs and streaks over the final product. You will need to recover normal ink ejection by cleaning up. This too wastes ink to a certain extent.
Adopt newer printers that allow you to minimize the ink wasted when the printer is not in use. These printers also reduce waste through following techniques:
Minimizing intake during cleaning
The entrapped air is sucked out along with ink, reducing suction. Ink bubbling has to be avoided during this process; otherwise, air bubbles will rise and remain in the nozzle. Complete air discharge is necessary, while minimizing the ink wastage.
Reuse wasted ink
In most printers, ink is wasted at different steps but can’t be reused. For example, a negative pressure is maintained for stable ink ejection. This utilizes a certain amount of ink which is wasted because it can’t flow back to be reused.
Some manufacturers have introduced a pumping system to allow a backward flow of ink. This way, the ink isn’t discharged but reused.
Use up the cartridge fully
When changing cartridges, there is high negative pressure inside the suction pump that necessitates cleaning. To avoid this, cartridges are changed when there is still some ink left. The leftover ink, along with the cartridge goes to waste.
The backward flow can, however, relieve negative pressure, avoiding this huge wastage completely.
High quality printing requires top-notch sublimation ink. This is exactly what you get when you choose JD products. Check out our dye sublimation ink options for desktop printers and large formats.