How to polish a glossy sample

What happens when you think about glazing? It is almost certain that the first is a smooth finish. This is also our answer. This naturally leads to a question: What is gloss? On the emotional level, we connect this term with positive emotions. Gloss represents pure, pure, elegant - in short, special things. More scientifically, gloss is a physical property and it is defined as the ability of a material to reflect incident light substantially in the direction of mirror reflection. Therefore, gloss is an optical characteristic that can be derived from the roughness or smoothness of a surface.

In the printing process, every kind of finishing technique may be used to achieve a bright impact and create a high light. The preceding sample illustrates some of the most numerous possibilities of the illustrated method. We hope that these samples have already caused your interest. Maybe you have found some new ways to impress your customers. In fact, this is what makes us happiest!

To help you make decisions and help you determine the technology, material combinations, and anilox rollers that are best for your job, we use the most common substrates, inks, and coatings to print and polish a series of sample. Our goal is not to achieve the highest possible gloss level, but to produce reliable, process-stable and reproducible coating samples.

The choice of anilox roll is crucial for the glazing result. In order to obtain the desired gloss, the image and amount of engraving must be compatible with the type of substrate used for the selected coating. The gloss intensity will be measured using a so-called gloss meter (reflectometer) with a defined angle of incidence and reflection of light. ISO 2813 (DIN 67530) specifies a high gloss surface of 20°/20°, a standard surface of 60°/60°, and a matt surface of 85°/85°. For years, the printing and packaging industry has been admiring the use of 45°/45° and sometimes 60°/60° inspections of glazing prints. Therefore, in order to obtain a true contrast of gloss levels, it is often necessary to specify an applicable measurement angle.

However, since there must be a certain loss of gloss (loss of light) after printing, measurements made on printed sheets that have just been printed and polished will not yield true measurement results. Therefore, in order to determine the gloss level more accurately, KBA has developed a special gloss test plate. When used correctly, it can provide a value that determines the degree of loss of light and provides an actual gloss level for actual production. Would you like to know more?

If you are interested in more detailed information on various aspects of the topic, we suggest that you further read our technical brochure - the fourth edition of KBA Process, "Online Coating."

Printer configuration:

Rapida 106-4+ polishing machine, extended two-sheet delivery device

Printing Set 1-4: Universal Ink Roller for Conventional, Composite, and UV Production

KBA VariDry Dryer Technology:

- 2 drying units between UV units, each equipped with a 200 W/cm lamp

- Connector fittings for inter-unit dryers in each printing unit

- Extended delivery device equipped with infrared and hot air dryers

- 3 UV drying devices placed at the end of each 200 W/cm

Coating Machine: Cavity scraper equipped with anilox roller, alternately used for UV/waterborne coating