By Nani Paape
Last year, I had two annual reports on press at the same time. One book had heavy black coverage, but dried just fine. The other had heavy blue coverage and took two extra days to dry!
On another project, the blue ink appeared to be dry, so the printer proceeded to die cut and trim the sheets. The result? The ink offset or rubbed off from one page to another on the finished product. All of the pieces had to be reprinted – at the printer’s expense.
When I worked at Nordstrom, the primary brand color was a very dark blue. Over those two years, I spent a lot of time waiting for ink to dry!
The culprit in every case? Blue. Reflex blue.
It’s in the Ink Formula
So why do some blue inks dry so slowly? The answer lies in the ink formula. Every spot color is mixed from some of the 14 mixing colors: yellow, yellow 012, orange 021, warm red, red 032, rubine red, rhodamine red, purple, violet, blue 072, reflex blue, process blue, green and black.
These mixing colors consist of pigment mixed with binders such as vegetable oil. If you’re an artist, you may recognize several of the pigment names. Many of these pigments are minerals, which react in characteristic ways. Rubine red is known for shifting in hue as it dries; reflex blue is infamous for impeding drying.
Take a look at the mixing colors located on the first few pages of a Pantone Color Formula Guide. Then look at the formulas shown at the bottom of every blue chip in the guide. Blues that contain the largest percentage of reflex blue, such as Pantone 288 (12 parts reflex blue + 4 parts process blue + 1 part black) will be the slowest to dry.
Disaster Avoidance Tips
What to do about reflex blue? These tricks have worked for me, and some do not cost extra:
- Specify synthetic reflex blue in the ink mix. It may be charged as a special mix, adding $35 to $50.
- Ask the printer whether reconfiguring the ink mix is advisable. Drying agents can be added to speed drying, but other considerations, such as holding detail in fine tints, should be weighed. You may be charged for some press downtime and an ink unit wash-up.
- Have the printer print small lifts. These shorter stacks of paper allow more air to circulate and gasses to escape, to facilitate drying. This adds to run time on press, but I’ve never been charged extra for it.
- Print on Friday and allow the sheets to dry over the weekend before printing side B or starting binding processes. (Here’s another case for adequate turn times!)
- Print with UV inks. The UV drier units dry the inks immediately. UV-ink- printed jobs can cost up to 20 percent more than conventional inks, but the quality is fabulous.
- Select a PMS blue that has less reflex blue in its formula. Designers won’t like this idea very much, but when the deadline will not budge, it’s an option worthy of consideration – and it’s free.
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About Nani Paape
Nani Paape is a Seattle-based project consultant who provides print production management, marketing writing and project planning to design firms and creative companies. Her blog, Printing Disasters—and How to Avoid Them, includes Cautionary Tales and Disaster Avoidance Tips designed to steer designers—and those who love them—safely through the world of printing. Find it at NaniPrints.com.
©2010 Nani Paape. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be reproduced by any means for any purpose without consent of the copyright holder. The article is reprinted here with permission.
One of the best alternatives is to run an inline aqueous coating. The cost is minimal and the project could be processed post press within hours off press. Some printers may not have aqueous coating capablilities so an overprint varnish would also speed drying and protect the pms blue, but I wouldn’t recommend post press processing until at least 24 hours later.
If you decide to go the UV ink route and use a “true” reflex blue made from alkali blue pigment, be aware that there is a risk of color burnout if the job is coated. It does not always happen, and some printers decide to take that calculated risk, but when it does happen, it can be pretty catastrophic.
This also applies to conventional lithographic inks, or really any ink made with alkali blue pigment.
As stated above, you can use an “imitation” reflex blue instead, made with more colorfast pigments, usually at higher cost.
Another option is to order a “hard-dry” ink formula. These are designed to be used on synthetic papers, or with metallic inks, where the ink has to dry by oxidation alone and can’t soak into the paper.
The reason Reflex Blue takes so long to “dry” is that the ink has such a high percentage of pigment compared to the other basic colors. The pigment sits on top of the paper and even after drying has poor rub resistance. The hard-dry formula has extra binders in it that help keep the ink where it belongs.
It’s good for designers to know about some of the ink issues they may encounter. It’s even better for the printer to know them.
Here’s the issue. You say:
“On another project, the blue ink appeared to be dry, so the printer proceeded to die cut and trim the sheets. All of the pieces had to be reprinted – at the printer’s expense.”
But let’s look at the suggestions:
- Specify synthetic reflex blue in the ink mix. It may be charged as a special mix, adding $35 to $50.
- Ask the printer whether reconfiguring the ink mix is advisable. [SNIP] You may be charged for some press downtime and an ink unit wash-up.
Seems to me that it would be cheaper for the print buyer to not be concerned because anything the buyer does increases their cost. While if the buyer does nothing and it screws up it’s the printer’s expense.
Let it fail.
Hi everyone, Thank you for your comments. All very good points.
Gordon, the problem with the print production manager not being concerned is that if the printer screws up, the timeline is compromised and delivery dates are not met.
In the rub-off example I gave, that job was run before I came on board at that particular firm and the reflex blue conversation was not had. Unfortunately, a faulty product was delivered and a high-profile client was unhappy. These are not desirable outcomes. Would I have paid an extra $50 to help avoid that situation? You betcha. That’s what a contingency is for. I’d also work in partnership with the rep to minimize any cost.
In my book, anticipating things that could go wrong and discussing them ahead of time with the print rep is a valuable skill that characterizes a seasoned pro.
~Nani
@ Nani
The issue of Reflex Blue has been universally known by printers and ink suppliers for at least the past 40 years. It’s not a secret.
While it is good for the designer/specifier to be aware that specifying Reflex Blue in their creative is problematic, IMHO, it is the printer’s responsibility to red-flag projects when they see Reflex Blue specified in the RFQs they receive. I.e. It is an estimating problem. Any printer that submits a quote for a job based on Reflex Blue as a line or special color and does not notify the print buyer of the potential issue, and/or does not have a well tested work around needs to take a hard look at their internal systems. If the printer wants to switch inks with an ink that’s $50 more expensive, then that’s fine. Estimating should put that information in the quote so that it informs the print buyer.
If the printer did not include that concern in the quote and went ahead and delivered a faulty product – as a print buyer, I would have to seriously question including that printer in future RFQs. If they screw up with Reflex Blue, they are likely to screw up in other areas because they are obviously not learning from their mistakes nor from the experience of others.
No, the reflex blue issue is not a secret, but clearly it’s a live concern for which folks are seeking answers: It’s one of the most frequent google searches that leads people to my blog– and this story is one of the top two most-read stories there. (The other is how to decide between running spot colors and 4-CP.)
Yep, the printer in question has not been invited by my design firm client to bid on any subsequent jobs!
~Nani
As a printer I have seen very few RFQs that actually specify the color. Most will say 1 or 2-PMS colors and that is all. It is usually at the stage where the art is submitted that we find out about the reflex blue. Having many years experience with true reflex, synthetic reflex, and other substitutes, I have found that most creatives will listen to the printer when they express concern regarding the ink. If they insist, we will print it with a clause that the client was forewarned. Reprint on my dollar when the client was warned and given alternatives? Not a chance!
The design firm I work for is typical in that they also do not specify specific PMS colors in their RFQs. I used to work for a printer and I always help my printers by including each PMS colors being used by a job in my RFQs. It is a very simple step to make and helps everyone out. Also not all inks cost the same.