Inkcups Now is excited to announce our newest member to our team Irving Pichardo! Irving is taking charge of sales for the northern Mexico region as well as bordering towns in Texas. Irving is a great asset to Inkcups Now because he has over 10 years of printing experience in the industry, 8 of which were focused solely on garment tag printing. With this experience, Irving is able to help any business (large or small) to completely convert their current operation to tag free printing.

Irving has a degree in international business and is bi-lingual in English and Spanish. He has worked with some of the largest printing companies in the world, and now he is ready to work with you! Inkcups Now is very happy to have a salesman as knowledgeable as Irving for our Latin America sales division. Give Irving a call today for garment tag printing solutions.

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.

Inkcups Now takes pride in offering the best technical support in the industry. If you own a pad printing machine, weather you use it for printing on promotional products or garment tag printing, proper loading of the plates and cups into the machine is key to getting a great print. The following is a 5 step procedure that will ensure proper plate and cup installation.

1. Thoroughly clean the magnetic sub-plate and back of print plate.

2. Make sure the plate is laying flat on top of the sub-plate. While applying pressure to the center on the plate, finger tighten the hold-down knobs on one end, then repeat on the other end. DO NOT OVER-TIGHTEN or you may distort the plate and cause doctoring problems

3. Putting the cup and plate together:

• Clean the ring edge before putting on plate (every time.)
• Always place the ink cup gently on the plate at the end opposite to the image area.
• OPEN THE VENT PLUG BY TURNING COUNTER-CLOCKWISE – let it sit for a minute, then re-tighten. This lets air out of the ink cup and enables the ring to set properly on the plate.

4. Putting the locking pin into the ink cup

• Slide the locking pin up and down several times and move the cup manually (rotate the cup, do not push) to make sure there is no interference between cup and pin.
• Make sure the pin is not seated directly on the bottom of the hole.

5. After the machine sits idle

• Before turning on the machine, manually break free the cup from its location on the plate. This is done in case the ring has settled into the plate material which would result in damaged plates when the machine cycle is initiated

Contact Inkcups Now for additional information!

Printer used in this project:
Type: Pad Printer
Brand: ICN
Model: B100, B150, 2200(PS, PSx)
Standard applications: Bottles, Garment Tag Labels, Cups, Mugs…
More info: ICN’s Pad Printer page

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