What Is UV Transfer Printing Technology

Using UV curing adhesive can easily transfer digital images and texts printed by inkjet printers to metal surfaces such as crystal, glass, stone, wood, acrylic, ceramic tiles, and stainless steel aluminum. During the transfer process, there is no pixel loss, which means that UV transfer can obtain whatever result the inkjet printer can print.
Using UV curing adhesive can easily transfer digital images and texts printed by inkjet printers to metal surfaces such as crystal, glass, stone, wood, acrylic, ceramic tiles, and stainless steel aluminum. During the transfer process, there is no pixel loss, which means that UV transfer can obtain whatever result the inkjet printer can print. Due to the continuous ink supply system presented in the past two years, the cost of colorful printing on printers has been reduced by more than 90%. Therefore, UV cold transfer printing has shown a rapid development trend in both characteristic and mass production of products, such as screen printing, metal coating, decorative advertising, circuit board printing, process picture frames, handicraft toys, and the labeling of various products and boards, The breadth of the scope touched can be imagined.
Below is a brief introduction to the usage of several cold transfer printing skills: 1 Crystal image manufacturing, also known as crystal photos, is a popular characteristic makeup and decoration handicraft. The fundamental process flow is:
1. Choose the desired crystal white embryo. Currently, there are manufacturers specializing in the production and sale of various types of processed crystal white embryos in China, which are usually concentrated in the Pujiang area of Yiwu, Zhejiang. The price ranges from a few yuan to several tens of yuan per set.
2. Choose the film that can be transferred for printing. This type of film is usually composed of a thin layer of absorbent film coated on PET (polyester) film, which is a double-layer structure. The printed pattern can only be printed on the surface of its absorbent film. A good film has a bright and smooth coating that does not accumulate ink on average and is easy to peel off. The current film specification is usually A4.
3. Choose the UV shadowless adhesive for transfer printing, which is UV curing adhesive. A high-quality shadowless adhesive has a low melting rate for water-based ink on the pattern, but it can still maintain a considerable bonding strength. On the other hand, it must also have a considerable bonding strength for crystals (or glass), otherwise water will enter the polishing process in the subsequent process or the product will be produced for a period of time, presenting scenes such as spots, cracks, and snowflakes.
4. Choose the appropriate inkjet printer and its printing ink to save printing costs. Currently, the most commonly used printer is the Epson (such as 830U) printer, as there are the most continuous ink supply systems in the market that are compatible with Epson printers. The current market price of the 830U continuous ink supply system is about 200 yuan/set. General water-based ink is also suitable for UV cold transfer printing, but the printing cost is high.
5. The selection of light source and light curing method: Normal ultraviolet lamps, popular mercury lamps (mercury lamps), and sunlight can meet the bonding requirements of crystal photos. However, if efficiency is to be considered, the stronger the ultraviolet light source, the faster the curing speed. (The higher the temperature on the surface of the adhesive, the faster the curing speed.) The closer the light interval, the faster the curing speed. But it should also be noted that when the curing rate is too fast, it can cause cracks and spots in the adhesive layer. Therefore, before mass application, relevant experiments should be conducted based on the local natural conditions and prerequisites, as well as the proficiency level of construction personnel, in order to determine the optimal operating sequence.
6. Explanation of Transfer Operation
1) For larger crystal photos, glue is usually applied in a "meter" shape on the crystal (or glass) sheet that is ready to be printed. The film with the printed image and text is laid on it, and the glue is pushed away from the surrounding area using a printing roller or rubber scraper. After the glue is filled with the image and text and the bubbles are completely removed, it is placed under a 250-400W mercury lamp and illuminated for 1-2 minutes. After removing it, the transparent film (PET film) is carefully removed and placed aside for use, Transfer completed. This process can be completed under outdoor natural light sources.
2) Apply glue again to the crystal (glass) that has previously transferred the image pattern, cover another piece of crystal (glass) with this glue, remove any bubbles, and then place it under a mercury lamp for 1 to 3 minutes to cure. After being removed and left for a few minutes, it can be polished on the machine.
3) If only one piece of crystal white embryo is used to create a crystal image, the above process 2) "Cover another piece of crystal (glass) on this adhesive" should be changed to using process 1) Cover the removed PET film on the adhesive, use a rubber scraper to scrape the adhesive under the film evenly and expose it, and then remove the lost PET film. But the UV shadowless adhesive applied in this process should have high hardness, water resistance, solvent resistance, and scratch resistance after curing, and cannot be used as the shadowless adhesive in process 1).
The normal operation sequence is: towards crystal (glass) Apply glue on the white embryo - Lay the film that has already been printed with an inkjet printer on the glue solution - Use a rubber scraper to disperse the glue under the film to evenly cover the image and text, and remove all bubbles - Place it under a 250 watt ordinary mercury lamp for 1-2 minutes of light curing and then remove it - Use a hinge to cut the film off the edge of the crystal embryo - Carefully remove the PET film from the just cut area by hand - Repair the flash with a blade - Apply glue to the crystal pattern --- Cover another piece of glass (crystal) - let it shine for 1-4 minutes - let it cool for a few minutes - polish and polish it. Transfer digital images and texts on materials such as mirrors, tiles, wood, stainless steel, aluminum sheets, acrylic, etc. Unless acrylic requires special UV glue for transfer, other operations are the same as the above crystal digital image and text transfer.
1. This product is a solvent free and environmentally friendly one component transparent and shadowless adhesive that can quickly solidify into a film under the illumination of an ultraviolet light source.
2. This product has good waterproof and solvent resistance.
3. This product has good wear resistance, high hardness, and excellent scratch resistance.
4. This product has extremely low requirements for light sources and can be cured under ordinary outdoor natural light