The Next big thing – buy a UV printer

It seems that those of us in the personalization business are always looking for the “next BIG thing” in our industry. Years ago, lasers were the “next BIG thing,” then inkjet sublimation made a huge impact on the industry. So what’s next? What magical innovation will come along that, once again, will revolutionize the personalization industry? Could it be UV printers? Truth is, it just might be, and here’s why.
Many years ago, computerized rotary engraving machines revolutionized the industry, then lasers did the same thing, and then some major technological advancements in sublimation came along cementing this process as one of the “next BIG things.” Along the way, several other likely candidates cropped up, but they never quite made it to the “next BIG” level. I remember getting pretty excited about the AcryliPrint process of inexpensively printing full-color images on acrylic. It is still a great process but it never quite caught on for in-house production. Then there was the system that printed inkjet images on glass. Again, a pretty nice product but it never really took off. Finally, there was the Enduring Images system of printing on ceramic using a laser printer and a kiln. I am still holding out for this one to take off, but so far, only a few passionate souls are sticking with me.
UV printing, however, seems to be taking on a life of its own. For several years now, it has all but dominated the trade shows with some really big names taking a marked interest in showing their printers, even though they knew they were out of the price range for 95 percent of the people walking the floor. I see these printers exhibited at big shows and small: Sign shows, personalization shows, awards shows and print shows are all hosting several manufacturers of UV printers that are displaying what seems to be an increasing number of models.
What exactly is a UV printer? Well, let’s start with the UV part, as in ultraviolet light. UV light is an invisible (to the eye) form of light found in many light sources, including the sun. UV light has some useful characteristics, in particular, the ability to cure many photosensitive materials. In the case of UV printing, a UV light source is used to cure (harden and solidify) the inks laid down by the printer.