A creative new clear ink has been added to Mimaki’s LH-100 hard UV ink for the award winning UJF-3042, JFX and JFXplus series of UV LED curable inkjet printers.

The clear ink will be available in March 2011 and enables glossy and matte finish effects, adding creativity and value to the final product. These finishes provide an effect close to that achieved traditionally with a spot varnish which has been actively used in the printing industry for many years.

In addition to this, the Mimaki clear ink can be output in multiple layers so that prints not only look more enticing, but also, a strong desire to touch the image is created. National sales manager for Hybrid, John de la Roche considers the clear ink to be a valuable addition to the product range.

"Mimaki remains at the forefront of digital ink developments and the new clear LED UV ink gives new and existing customers great creative opportunity to fully exploit the high print quality and commercial potential of Mimaki’s latest generation flatbed UV printers.”

Applications such as high end point of sale, labels, textured finishes and even Braille are possible with the new clear ink, so for companies involved in packaging proofing it opens up new possibilities for rapidly creating an accurate simulation of a finished product. With the cured UV ink becoming touch dry immediately after it has been printed, the overprint process to create a textured effect is rapid and impressive in its outcome.

Mimaki’s clear UV ink can be retro fitted to their JFX and JFXplus range of flatbed machines and only requires a minor hardware upgrade when used with their UJF-3042 desktop A3 flatbed. Users should ensure they have the latest firmware and version of Mimaki’s RIP – both of which are downloads available via Hybrid’s website.