The effect of applying various temperatures on the sheetfed press on the resulting print quality

Although various laboratory experiments have shown significant changes in the ink rheological properties when the temperature varied, few studies have been carried out to check the quality of print at different temperatures. EFPG and GATE carried out a joint research project to observe this. Tests were conducted on a sheetfed press equipped with a temperature control system in order to print at different temperatures. The print quality was evaluated in terms of densitometry (solid ink density, tone value increase, print contrast,...) and colorimetry (spectral reflectance curves, CIELAB, gray balance,...). Moreover, the rheological properties of the inks used were studied. The following study presents the effects of temperature on the print quality and establishes that a temperature range exists which allows the best compromise between print quality and runnability.