Open-system TIJ cartridges — factory direct
Engineering
The technical background behind our recommendations: surface energy, pretreatment, drying and the tests that decide whether a code survives. If ink has failed on your product and the cause is not obvious, start with the diagnostic order.
Substrate Matching Guide
Ink adhesion is a surface energy problem before it is an ink problem. This page sets out the thresholds, the pretreatment options and the drying bands for the materials we see most often, and the tests that settle the question on your own product.
Surface energy · Pretreatment · Drying · Test methodsEngineeringDate & Batch Coding
A date code is not judged on the line. It is judged at the shelf, or in a kitchen, after the pack has been stacked, chilled, wiped and handled. Whether the mark is three lines of date code or a 25.4 mm data block, the same three things decide whether it is still readable: the surface it sits on, where it sits on it, and what happens to the pack afterwards. If you are the one signing off the code on the pack, the four failure routes below are the ones to test for.
Bottles · Pouches · Cases · Cold chain · MRPEngineeringCoding on HDPE & PP
Polyolefins are the awkward end of inkjet coding. HDPE measures roughly 28 to 32 mN/m untreated and PP around 26 to 28, both below the surface tension of most coding inks, so a mark can look perfect wet and flake off under a thumb. Three things decide the outcome: the surface state of the part you actually run, the ink system matched to it, and where on the part the code sits. The printer on the line matters far less than any of those three.
HDPE · PP · PET · Closures · Film · BagsEngineeringCable & Pipe Coding
Something is always moving on a cable or pipe line. The product does not stop for the printhead, and on an extrusion run the ink has a fraction of a second to dry before the first capstan or the water trough. Three things decide whether the mark survives: the jacket or wall compound, where the head sits relative to the cooling trough and the haul-off, and what happens to the coil afterwards — winding, dragging, burial, sunlight or a pressure test. If your mark has to survive the coil and not just the line, the three points below are where to look first.
PVC · PE / XLPE · HDPE pipe · Meterage · ReelsLast reviewed
What you will find instead is published ink properties, a stated position on where our competence ends, and a sampling process that lets you verify everything we say on your own material before you spend anything.
Substrate matching tool
Pick the material you print on and what the code has to survive. The recommendation updates immediately.
Send us your substrate — we will send back a printed code
Tell us the material, the line speed and the text you need to print. We will recommend an ink system and put printed samples in the post so you can test them yourself.