Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
University of the West of England, Bristol
Methods for Multi-Layer Color Printing and Decorative Inks for Ultra-Violet Fine Art Inkjet
This published article analyses the outcomes of a European regional development funded (ERDF) project (October 2012 – September 2011) in collaboration with Roland DG, an international print and sign making company specialising in decorative, solvent and wide format digital printing. The project’s aims were to develop accessible methods for creative design professionals to soft-preview the appearance of multi-layered inkjet colour printing on a range of non-standard surfaces using UV (ultra-violet) cure inks and to assess the optimal number of printing passes required to obtain accurate colours and finishes. The technology to inkjet UV cure inks is relatively new and the data generated and the methods for their use devised by the project contribute to the understanding of their capabilities and the novel opportunities offered for the design market.
The project tested a UV curing solvent inkjet printer and cutter on three different, non-standard substrates generating ICC colour profiles for multi-pass printing on each. By importing the resulting profiles to system software libraries, they could be used by designers to soft-preview their own artworks or specific colours before printing. These materials were empirically tested by further collaborative research, the Wallpaper Project, where four design artists (including the author) used the process to create a digitally printed wallpaper design. The results of this collaboration were compiled into a book which in itself is a unique artefact and is available on the CPFR website, which offers open source designs for use by others and can be modified by users in exchange for ideas and contributions. As a result of this work, Parraman has been invited to various symposia and to contribute an article, ‘Color in the Age of Digital Reproduction’, to Art in Print, vol. 3, no. 3, (Sept-Oct 2013) pp. 28 -38. The output was published in Journal of Imaging, Science and Technology (July 2013).
