2011 was another monumental year for Inkcups Now! We grew as a company, introduced new products and updates to the market, expanded our presence in the garment tag printing (aka Inkcup Print) market. We have compiled a list of what we accomplished in the past year:

1. WE TURNED 10!
Inkcups Now celebrated its 10th year as a company! Starting out selling ink cups out of his basement, Ben Adner (President and founder) quickly turned this small company into a market leader in 10 short years! Even receiving the honor of being named entrepreneur of the year!

2. INKCUPS NOW EXPANDS THEIR FACILITY
In early 2011 Inkcups Now decided that we needed more space! We were expanding our inventory and simply could not house it all in a single place. We moved our entire ink, thinner and auxiliary line to a state of the art facility. We now have a larger inventory and faster than ever turnaround!

3. INCREASED WORK FORCE
Throughout the year Inkcups Now has obtained new employees in all departments of the company. We expanded our production department, our corporate sector and our sales department. We also have more international sales representatives in Central and South America.

4. INTRODUCED THE ICN-2200PS
The ICN-2200PS revolutionized 2 color pad printing. The reason why this machine is so effective in printing 2 colors is the fact that the parts do not move, only the pads, ensuring flawless 2nd color registration. The ICN-2200PS is also much faster than typical 2 color pad printing machines. The 2200PS is the most advanced 2 color pad printer on the market.

5. INTRODUCED THE ICN-B150
The ICN-B150, also known as the big brother to the ICN-B100, was an excellent addition to the ICN line of pad printers. This pad printer is a bench top model that now allows users to place in smaller work cells, yet can accommodate images up to 150mm in diameter. A great addition to any print shop!

6. INTRODUCED THE ICN-2200PSx
The ICN-2200PS was a great achievement for Inkcups Now and the printing industry as a whole. However, we managed to increase the speed of the machine by giving it an independent cup drive. The 2200PSx managed to increase the overall speed of the machine by 40%. This is now the fastest pad printer on the market today.

7. CREATED A ROTARY MODULE FOR THE MIMAKI UJF-3042
We built the first and only proprietary head lift system and rotary module for the Mimaki UJF-3042. The head lift system raises the print head to allow it to print on items up to 5 inches in height instead of the standard 2 inches. The rotary module gives the machine the ability to print on cylindrical objects, 360 degrees around.

8. NEW PLATE MATERIALS
We introduced new plate materials to the market for pad printing. Our premium orange laser plates are perfect for garment tag printing. Our gold plate material is great for doctoring because it has such a smooth glossy finish.

9. NEW TOUGHCUP
We redeveloped our ToughCup coating for the VersaCup Inkcup to be as tough as ever! The new coating even resists ink. The ink can literally sit over 48hours and harden inside the cup, no matter what the ink can be removed with just a single paper towel. A lot of companies have tried to introduce “green” products this year, Inkcups Now, however was the only one to truly succeed because there is no need to use chemicals and there is nothing to throw away.

10. SILICONE INK
Inkcups Now had begun selling a silicone ink that will adhere to any silicone material. The ink is available for pad printing and screen printing. The silicone ink can withstand extreme temperatures and will not crack or peel when bent.

What’s to come????
We plan on having another stellar year! We are going to continue to grow as a company. We are going to introduce a whole line of new machines, modifications to old machines, and continue to provide the best customer service in the industry.

What do you most want to see from Inkcups Now in 2012?

The Cobalt1000 fiber laser is an excellent piece of machinery. It is capable of etching very fine detailed images on hard materials such as steel. This versatile laser etcher can easily accommodate custom machine fixtures, similar to the one shown in the video. In this video a custom name plate fixture is placed into the laser engraving machine. The text on each individual plate is fully customizable. A full fixture is capable of etching 20 name plates in only a minute and a half (that’s about 1000 an hour!)

Laser used in this project: Type: YAG Fiber Laser w/fixture Brand: Cobalt 1000 More info: Cobalt 1000 page

“Can I Etch Laser Plates with my CO2 Laser?” – This is a very common question we get from pad printing companies. Indeed, if a company already has a robust laser engraver, it may be able to enjoy the benefits of fully digitized pad printing plate-making – simply by purchasing the laser plate material and getting some instruction.

The short answer is as follows: you are likely to get the best results with laser plates if the wattage of your CO2 laser engraver is between 10Watt and 20Watt, and no more than 30Watt.

The longer answer is this:

1. If your laser has more than 30Watt, you may still get excellent results with the Acculaze plate material, which is designed to handle fine-line graphics only (does not work for bold fonts or open etch areas). To etch Acculaze with a 30+Watt laser engraver, use the lowest power setting and make 2 passes.
2. For the Imperial and Laser Orange plate material (both of which can handle any type of graphics) you do need the laser wattage to be no more than 30Watts; 10Watt – 20Watt is usually best. With a more powerful laser, the beam diameter (spot size) of the laser is too large to achieve fine etch and sharp prints.
3. The other major factor that comes into play is your CO2 laser’s software: it will determine how well you can manipulate your graphic files.
4. Test your laser! We offer laser plate samples and etching guides.
5. Consult with Inkcups Now specialist to determine if investing in one of our specialized laser engravers and plate-makers is the right solution for you.

Photopolymer Plates in Exposure Unit While garment tag printing, most users prefer making their own plates. Typically the most inexpensive way to etch your own plates is by using photopolymer plates with an exposure unit. Etching an image into photopolymer plates requires more attention than laser etching the plates, exposure times will vary depending upon the image size, even if the same plate material is used for both large and small images. Inkcups Now has done extensive testing with our water wash orange plate material, our most popular for garment tag printing. Larger images need more time to develop during the washout process to provide the depth necessary for garment tag printing.
	B100 (small image)	150 (Large image)
Film Exposure	1:00	0:55
200 Line Screen Exposure	0:20	0:10
Washout	1:00	1:30
Bake Time @ 170°F	20:00	20:00
Post Cure	20:00	20:00
New to photopolymer plate-making? Click here to check out a complete photopolymer plate-making training video. Plates used in this project: Type: Photopolymer Plates Brand: ICN Model: Water Wash Orange Standard applications: Promotional products, Garment Tag Printing Photopolymer plate alternative: Laser Plate Making.

Inkcups Now’s Cobalt 1000 laser etching machine is a serious piece of machinery. It is important to understand what this machine can do and if you are ready to own one before you make a purchase. Follow these three easy steps to better understand if you will benefit from a Cobalt 1000.

The first step is to evaluate your business. Is volume increasing? Are orders becoming overwhelming? The Cobalt 1000 etches faster than any other laser we offer because of its powerful ND YAG laser technology. Co2 lasers are weaker than YAG and require more passes over the plate or part, taking up to 10 times as long to make an etch.

Do you require a higher quality image? The spot size for the Cobalt 1000 laser etcher is significantly smaller than Co2 lasers, by about 10% or more! The smaller dot size results in a finer etch, ideal for small text or a high quality print.

The second step is to evaluate how this machine will grow your business. There is no question that the Cobalt 1000 will give you higher quality etches, however it is up to you to determine how you will use it to your advantage. If you are currently using a laser engraver, photopolymer plates, or want to start etching, the Cobalt 1000 will increase production speed and quality.

The third step is to contact an expert. Do not act out of instinct or by internet research, talk to an expert that can provide you will all the information you will need to know. Talk to the Inkcups Now laser experts who build and install these machines!

Have you ever wondered what it looks like to etch a design onto an object with a laser? Well now you can! Here is a video of the Cobalt 300 in action! A high speed Co2 Laser engraving and plate making machine. The video demonstrates the power of the Co2 laser and the speed of the fast servo driven motor. Great for anyone in the pad printing industry. You can now etch your plates in house instead of going through a third party (which costs time and money.) Making plates in house can give your company the edge it needs, allowing you to change the images you imprint almost instantly! It only takes 1-2 minutes to etch an image onto a plate opposed to polymer plate making which takes at least 15 minutes.

Easily programmable to do multiple jobs! Start etching your own plates today! Laser etcher used in this project: Type: Co2 Laser Brand: Cobalt Model: 300 Standard applications: Plate-making, pen engraving, knife engraving, tool engraving… Unconventional applications: Up to you, just use caution… More info: Cobalt 300 Laser Etcher Page - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - - Technorati tags: Co2 Laser Etcher, Plate Making, Laser Engraving,Cobalt 300

Check out these great uniforms! Know what the best part is? That’s right! they’re tagless!

Tagless printing on uniforms are essential for professionals to look professional. There is no tag sticking out of the uniform or poking through the back. Look at the pictures of the scrubs, employees are often wearing just these uniforms for long periods of time. It is important that the people wearing these feel comfort. Thanks to tagless printing, there are no more annoying tags that stick into the back of the neck and provide discomfort!

Click here to submit any questions on tagless printing on uniforms! The consultation is free of charge, no strings attached!

Printer used in this project:
Type: Semi-Automatic Pad Printer
Brand: ICN-150
Model: Two Color

Standard applications: neck tagless labels, pens, stress balls, other metal and plastic parts…
Unconventional applications: cookies, contact lenses
More info: ICN-150 Tagless Pad Printer Page

Technorati tags: Uniforms, tagless, Tagless printing

Today we etched some laser engraved pens for a customer’s specific design! The process was made easy by using the Cobalt 1000 YAG laser etcher.

The customer sent us specific artwork for the etching on the pen. We started by using a vector image, with that image we then set the YAG laser etcher on high power using 9 wats. To clean up the image we did a second pass over the pens using only 4 watts.

Laser engraved pens are a great way for any business to promote themselves. Pens are more exciting than a plain business card with your company information on it, not to mention you get more use out of a pen. Distribute the laser engraved pens to any potential customer and watch as your sales increase!

Laser etcher used in this project:
Type: YAG Fiber Laser
Brand: Cobalt
Model: 1000
Standard applications: Plate-making, pen engraving, knife engraving, tool engraving…
Unconventional applications: Up to you, just use caution…

More info: Cobalt 1000 Laser Etcher Page
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Technorati tags: YAG Laser Etcher, Laser Engraved Pens, Pen Engraving,Cobalt 1000

School is starting and so has the annual “madscramble” against the clock to get all the last minute school supplies! If you are a seller of school supplies and want your items to be unique and attractive, have the artwork printed by the PromoJet Solvent Inkjet Printer from Inkcups Now.

The PromoJet is a highly versatile inkjet printer which can print on many different sized shapes and substrates. By pre-treating the object or using different lay downs of ink it is possible to modify the outcome of the artwork depending on what material you print on.

In this case, all these items were pre-treated using only a heatgun. The ink that was used is a newly developed ink specially made for printing on plastic parts with the PromoJet.
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The Cobalt 1000 is an extremely powerful and versatile laser engraver and this is why we used it to etch this stainless steel serial tag.

The customer wanted the etched text to be as dark as possible. To do so we used the following settings on the laser: 100 speed, 10 power, .01 hatch and 3 Loops with a frequency of 35 KHz.

After focusing the laser to the plate we manually lowered the laser head in order to get that extra dark marking.
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