Offsetting problems using Chromolux
This question was answered by Vince Marini. Vince is Director of Operations at Graphography, a print production management company located in New York City. Vince also consults on production and workflow issues and their solutions. You can reach him at vmarini@graphography.com or at 212-213-0900.
Question:
I recently printed a job on Zander's Chromolux (a cast coated paper) using offset printing. The print job was an invitation that was printed using a solid red (PMS 1795c) - printing on the coated side of the sheet. The problem was that the cards stuck to the other cards on top during printing, so the ink transferred from the top of the sheet to the underside of the ones laying on top. I ended up pulling the job from the printer and having it screen printed using PVC inks and it turned out fine.
Why did this problem happen? Should this have happened?
Answer:
It could have been a number of factors:
- There was too much humidity in the print shop, resulting in a long dry time and a tackier ink.
- The ink was not formulated properly, causing a more tacky ink.
- When printing, the sheets at the delivery end were allowed to stack too high, causing too much weight, which resulted in the "offsetting".
You should have no problem printing a solid color on a Chromolux sheet. My guess it that the printer was not equipped for this project.