Inkcups Now is proud to introduce the R 160 Screen Printer! The R 160 is a 6 station rotary indexing screen printer with dual curing stations. The R 160 was created to meet the challenges of printing image sizes that fall between the traditional application ranges of screen printing and pad printing.

This high speed automated screen printer is ideal for screen printing shops who always wanted to begin pad printing, yet didn’t want to learn a whole new method of printing. This machine easily allows for tag label printing which was popularized by pad printing machines.

Pad printers will also feel right at home with the R 160 because of its ease of use. The R 160 is a self-contained unit that not only prints automatically, but cures the ink as well. The only thing the operator has to do is remove and attach new parts. The R 160 is a great new addition to the ICN team and is the perfect machine for those looking to enhance their print shop.

Printer used in this project:
Type: Automatic Screen Printer
Brand: ICN
Model: R160
Standard applications: Garment tag printing, promotional products, etc….
More info: T-Shirt Screen Printing Machine – R160 page

The Inkcups.com site has an amazing new upgrade!!!!! Live Chat! Featured on each of our web pages, the live chat button sits on the right hand side of the screen. It is available Monday through Friday 9am – 5pm EST. Visitors have the option to talk to a live expert and get advice instantly! When you see those ICN colors just click to start your chat! Inkcups Now believes in continued innovation for their products and the same can be said about the way in which the company operates. Anything that can be done to bridge the gap between company and customer relationships is a win-win for everybody.

Question about our pad printing equipment or about a particular ink series? We will have a solution for you. The live chat function serves as an excellent medium for communication between Inkcups Now and visitors to the website. We are very excited to have this chat technology be apart of our webpage! We are continually striving to provide the industry’s best customer service from technical experts. Our chat service is not outsourced, you will be chatting with REAL Inkcups Now employees from our headquarters location.

Try out the Chat today! Just visit: Inkcups.com and click on the green and blue chat icon.

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?

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.

Here is a new video of the ICN-2200-PSx high speed pad printer with a heavy duty pad slide. In this video we show off this pad printers 2 color printing capability. As you can see, the pad slide simplifies positioning of your garment. The slide allows your part to remain stationary therefore assuring a flawless second color print. The ICN-2200-PSx is the fastest 2 color garment tag printer on the market! The increased speed is attributed to an independent cup drive system and a shorter plate length. It can print up to 1800 impressions per hour for 2 colors and 2600 impressions per hour for 1 color. The speed can be completely controlled and adjusted to the speed of your liking. This machine saves time and money by increasing production speed and lowering operating costs.

Contact Inkcups Now for more information about the ICN-2200-PSx Pad Printer. Printer used in this project: Type: Semi-Automatic Pad Printer Brand: ICN 2200-PSx Model: 2 Color High Speed Pad Slide Standard applications: garment tag printing, pens, stress balls, other metal and plastic parts… Unconventional applications: cookies, contact lenses More info: ICN 2200-PSx Pad Printer page

Here at Inkcups Now we have many customers that make their own photopolymer plates for apparel tag printing. While there are many variations of exposure and baking times, we have tested many methods of photopolymer plate making with our water wash orange plates in order to determine the best method.

PLEASE NOTE: We are using our BPL1220 exposure unit. Exposure times may vary depending upon the power of your exposure unit.

Step 1 – 1 minute exposure with film positive (customer image)
Step 2 – 20 second exposure with 200 line screen
Step 3 – Washout with water for 1 minute
Step 4 – Blot dry with lint free towel
Step 5 – Bake plate in the oven at 170F for 10 minutes
Step 6 – Post cure in BPL 1220 for 20 minutes

This combination produced a deep plate that works well for apparel tag printing. The plate was hard, doctored well, and the cup rode smoothly across with no bowing. Water wash orange plates are the best photopolymer plates to use for apparel tag printing because the plate is harder than other photopolymer plates when fully cured. This reduces the risk of problems that may arise due to soft plates.

Contact Inkcups Now for additional information!

Plates used in this project:
Type: Water Wash Orange Photopolymer
Brand: Inkcups Now
More info: Photopolymer Plates page

Technorati tags: Photopolymer Plate Making, Pad Printing, Pad and screen printing ink, Apparel Tag Label

Tag label printing is not just for t-shirts anymore! Here at Inkcups Now, we printed on intimate apparel, bras and panties to be exact. The labels came out great on the intimate apparel!

Tag label printing offers numerous benefits to the intimate apparel industry. Intimate apparel is often tight and form fitting. A tight space is not the best place to put a tag, the person wearing the garment will constantly feel the tag. Printed tag labels are pad printed on to the garment, the ink is absorbed into the material, thus no raised surface of the tag and no feeling of the tag whatsoever. Also, intimate apparel is typically made of a light material. A tag tucked away under the material would show through and become visible. Tag printed labels will not show through the material.

If you have not tried tag printed labels on your garments, your missing out!

Want more information? Click here to send us a message.

---

What’s your opinion of Tag Printed Labels?

Post your answers below!

---

Printer used in this project:
Type: Semi-Automatic Pad Printer
Brand: ICN-B100
Model: One Color Benchtop
Standard applications: apparel tag printing, pens, stress balls, other metal and plastic parts…
Unconventional applications: cookies, contact lenses
More info: ICN-B100 Benchtop Pad Printer page

Technorati tags: Apparel Tag Printing, Pad Printing, Intimate Apparel

Inkcups Now is proud to introduce the ICN-B150 benchtop pad printer for large images. Inkcups Now is always striving to improve our products, continuous innovation is our goal. We took the popular ICN-150 pad printer and turned it into a benchtop model, maintaining the same features of the ICN-150 in a new smaller size.

Key benefits of the ICN-B150 include:

• Benchtop design: Consumes a smaller area, can easily be incorporated into work cells and small work spaces.
• Incorporates 150mm ink cups: Can print large images up to 140mm (5.5″) in size.
• Powerful compression capability of 779lbs: Allows for easy handling of large, hard print pads.
• Programmable rear and forward stroke delay: gives the operator complete control over the printing cycle and print opacity.

A popular use of the ICN-B150 is for apparel tag printing. Printing care labels directly onto clothing that may be too large of an image for a standard ink cup and pad to support. Apparel tag printing is now the industry standard on all forms of apparel.

Contact Inkcups Now for more information.

Printer used in this project:
Type: Semi-Automatic Pad Printer
Brand: ICN-B150
Model: One Color Benchtop
Standard applications: apparel tag printing, pens, stress balls, other metal and plastic parts…
Unconventional applications: cookies, contact lenses
More info: ICN-B150 Benchtop Pad Printer page

Technorati tags: Apparel Tag Printing, Pad Printing, Benchtop Pad Printer

Printing on dark garments with a white ink can be difficult. Sometimes the tagless label is simply not bright enough and the darkness of the garment shows through. Here at Inkcups Now, we understand your frustration and have provided some great tips for you to get that white bright!

To get a brighter white:

try reducing your thinner mixture by 5%.
The mixture commonly use is:

50 grams White
7.5 grams SBM thinner (15%)
2.5 grams 1000HNX hardener (5%)

Add a 1 second delay before pickup and 1 second before print. Adjust front and back delay to see if you get improved results.

Make sure you increase the pad compression on the garment so the pad “over-compresses” or nearly stalls during the printing cycle

Make sure your pads are not worn

Make sure you used enough ink in the cup – it is a common problem to put too little ink into the cup with white because its pigments are so heavy. 50 gram of white ink is a minimum mixture

If you have artwork flexibility, go to all capital letters for size and country of origin

It is common to have to add thinner more frequently to white ink because it has more pigment than all the other colors. The thinner helps keep the pigment in solution.

Try using inks other than standard white ink – Inkcups Now has developed a new product called SuperWhite Ink with pigments especially designed for garment printing.

If you have any questions or are interested in tagless printing or SuperWhite ink, please click here.

Ink used in this project:
Type: SuperWhite Ink
Brand: SB Series Ink
More info: SB Series SuperWhite Ink page

Technorati tags: Tagless Printing, Bright Ink, Pad and screen printing ink” target=”_blank”>Pad Shuttle, Apparel Labels

Inkcups Now strives to provide consumers all over with the highest quality inks available. We take pride in our lineup of pad and screen printing inks. Maintaining that standard, Inkcups Now introduces our new line of silicone inks.

Silicone is typically a difficult material for conventional inks to adhere to. The only way to print on silicone is with a silicone based ink. The SI Series silicone ink ensures excellent adhesion to all silicone products. Whether it is a remote control or a wristband, the silicone ink will adhere. The SI Series ink can be applied by either screen printing or pad printing.

The addition of the silicone ink is just another example of Inkcups Now’s ability to meet and exceed customer needs.

Inkcups Now’s Si Series silicone ink comes in a wide variety of colors and can be color matched to any pantone color.

Contact Inkcups Now for additional information!

Ink used in this project:
Type: SI Series
Brand: Sapphire Pad & Screen Printing Ink
More info: SI Series Silicone Ink page

Technorati tags: Silicone Inks, Print on Silicone, Pad and screen printing ink” target=”_blank”>Pad Shuttle, Apparel Labels