Fluorescent Inks
Fluorescent inks are happy inks. We have a lively assortment of cheerful colours to brighten your day!
Fondly named day glow or neon inks, fluorescent inks are fun to use as they are so luminous! Scientifically, they work by the absorbing UV light and then emitting the light to be visible to the naked eye. Under UV light, these inks exhibit a neon glow.
In UV light, standard ink changes to look black. When white light shines on invisible UV ink, the light reflected back is a wavelength not distinguishable with our eyes, and thus appears to be invisible. Fluorescent inks are semi-transparent, so their colour strength is weaker than ordinary inks, due to them not having solid colour.
Although fluorescent inks are brilliantly bright, do not expose them to natural daylight for too long. They have poor lightfastness- so are prone to fading in these conditions. These inks are best used against a white background to stand out properly and reflect the neon colours well.
In terms of printing application, fluorescent ink is suitable for flexographic or gravure printing techniques. This is especially true for the latter, as this process lays down a denser ink quantity. However, this ink does not work well in intense heat and so is not recommended for laser printing.
Our water-based fluorescent screen printing ink is suitable for paper, board and textiles. Use smooth or coated paper for the best result, as this will prevent the ink from absorbing into the material and the colours will be better represented.
Invisible inks are most often used in serious applications such as sensitive documents, certificates, warning signs (e.g on emergency vehicles) and in criminal detection work for identifying evidence.
Yet a fun side to this entertaining product is when it is used in laser tag and parties. Although there are many novel stationary items that make use of this ink, highlighters are a great everyday product that employ their neon properties.
We stock products of neon brilliance from screen and inkjet printing ink to invisible ink. We also have fluorescent pigments!