Drives such as technology innovations and environment friendly inks are helping the growth of printing ink market globally. New growth segments include UV, ink jet inks, radiation curing inks and energy-curable ink technology. Another development is that leading manufacturers of printers now focus on affordability of the printers and increased range of products targeting various users.

Some of the key developments in printing ink market are discussed below:

• Reduced use of ink: One of the latest trends include reduction of the amount of ink used for wide format printing. Leading printer manufacturers such as HP, Epson and Ricoh are trying to reduce the usage of ink by improving their devices. For example LX100 (Epson) printer ink has approximately 38-39% aqueous vehicle, HP uses approximately 50% which means the former is more efficient as far as ink quantity is concerned. It is predicted that the near future will see further improvements in this area.
• New types of inks: Introduction of new types of inks is expected to reduce the cost and increase efficiency of printing. An example is pigment ink, a new type of printing ink by HP. This type of pigment ink is designed to use color pigments instead of dyes. This will offer a better black and color saturation and hence leads to lower the consumption of ink for printing. Overall this will help to reduce the overall cost of printing.
• UV-Curable ink technology: UV-Curable inks offer high ink efficiency and production volumes. Eventually the market for UV-curable inkjet wide format printers is expected to experience better growth. More manufacturers are expected enter this field which will result in better prices and quality.
• Sustainable inks: Printing ink manufacturers have been focusing on developing sustainable inks. Examples include water-based and UV-curing systems that have already started to replace solvent-based inks. This will result in reduction of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) released during the printing process. Drivers for this development are an increasing environmental awareness and a growing demand for inks with a small ecological foot print. Resource scarcity and a higher legislative burden are indirect drivers
• Materials derived from renewable resources: Materials derived from renewable resources, are more frequently used to replace petrochemical ink ingredients, such as polymeric binders, solvents and different additives. One of the reasons for such a change is that these inks allow for reduced drying times and lower equipment cost. However it may take some time for these types of inks to replace the petrochemical feed stocks.
• Increased demand for flexographic printing: Flexography is a print technology that utilizes flexible relief plates and semi-liquid inks commonly obtained in the form of water-based, solvent-based, or UV-cured solutions. Various developments related to technology and processes have helped flexographic printing to improve over the years. Some of the key improvements include the advancements in plate technology and exposure methods, print unit and press design, anilox rollers, inks and curing/drying systems. Flexographic printing inks are used to print images on products such as papers, metal cans, labels, cartons, flexible packaging, milk cartons etc. There is an increased demand for flexographic printing methods from all these applications which will drive the growth of flexographic printing inks in the near future.