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Printing inks are complex mixtures of pigments, resins, and solvents. Printing requires inks with good flowability, strong adhesion (resistant to fading), rapid drying, and no defects. Whether you are printing on paper, plastic film, or foil, and whether you are using gravure or digital inkjet printing, choosing the right ink additives can greatly improve production efficiency and the added value of the final ink product.

How to Improve Ink Print Quality

Static electricity is an unavoidable problem in high-speed printing production. Antistatic agents (such as iSuoChem AA35) can effectively prevent ink splatter and blurred edges.

If the ink is too thin, thickeners can adjust the ink consistency, ensuring that the ink can be correctly transferred from the anilox roller to the printing plate and ultimately onto the substrate. Polyethylene oxide (PEO) can sometimes also be used as an ink thickener.

Defoamers are important, especially in water-based flexographic and gravure printing inks. Air trapping during high-speed printing can cause voids; a good defoamer ensures a strong ink layer.

Leveling agents ensure a smooth ink film after coating, eliminating streaks or orange peel texture and forming a strong, uniform coating.

Surface Treatment and Abrasion Resistance

For packaging requiring scratch resistance, we recommend using micronized waxes (including PE wax, PA wax, FT wax, OPE wax, PTFE wax, etc. Polyethylene wax is one of the most commonly used additives in varnishes and inks. It rises to the surface during drying, providing abrasion resistance and slipperiness, allowing printed boxes to slide against each other without scratching).

Also included are slip agents and PMMA beads (PMMA microbeads can be used in specialty screen printing inks to create textured or matte effects).

If you are printing on luxury goods, soft-touch PU powder can give the ink a soft, silky feel.

To ensure inks adhere firmly to the substrate, use our adhesion promoters (ideal for printing on difficult-to-print surfaces such as polypropylene or treated polyethylene), wetting agents (which reduce the surface tension of the ink, allowing it to spread evenly on the substrate and preventing ink bleeding or fisheyes), and surfactants (which improve the wettability of pigments to the substrate).

Matting agents are used to reduce gloss. If customers require a non-reflective, low-key printing effect (e.g., for high-end packaging), this matting additive can achieve the desired matte finish.

For labels and packaging susceptible to sunlight, UV stabilizers and UV absorbers prevent fading.

How to Get Richly Colored Inks

Pigment particles must be fully dispersed to ensure rich and vibrant colors.

Dispersants and pH adjusters help ensure even pigment diffusion. The dispersant stabilizes the pigments in the ink carrier, prevents sedimentation, and ensures consistent color intensity across batches of ink.