The Mixing Ratio between Printing Ink and Drying Accelerator for PVC Sticker Printing

Abstract

Offset printing on glossy white PVC stickers often suffers from slow drying due to the substrate’s inability to absorb ink. This study investigates the effect of adding drying accelerators to offset ink on drying time and print quality. Test charts were printed using a four-color offset press, comparing conventional ink without drying accelerators, ink mixed with 3%, 5%, and 15% drying accelerators, and a commercially available quick-dry ink. Print quality was evaluated in terms of drying time, gloss, fine line sharpness, small text legibility, 40% halftone dot reproduction, rub resistance, and adhesion (tape test). Results revealed that offset ink with 3% drying accelerator dried 57.65% faster than conventional ink while maintaining comparable print quality. However, excessive use of drying accelerators negatively affected adhesion and overall print performance. It is therefore recommended that drying accelerators be used at no more than 3% when printing on PVC stickers.