Remember King Midas? He got his wish when everything he touched was turned into soft gold – beautiful to look at and touch, but unfortunately, he couldn't eat or drink it.
The visual appeal and tactility is vital to the way we value an object. Adding eye-catching finishes and textures to your designs can more than double its value, and that's as good as gold to a graphics provider.
Roland VersaUV UV printers and ECO-UV inks can add that unique touch to any almost surface with printed clear ink, to create embossed, 3D and textural effects – in addition to the vibrant colours and extraordinary photographic detail you'd expect from Roland UV printers.
The UV printing technology from Roland is compatible with traditional 2D media such as paper, vinyl and canvas, but so much more. You can print stunning colours and incredible textures directly onto almost anything using VersaUV: leather handbags, glass coffee tables, board packaging prototypes, plastic ballpoint pens, precious metal fashion accessories, acrylic trophies, rubber phone covers, upcycled wooden signs – even resin golf balls. Roland UV printing makes short runs, one-off projects and prototypes both affordable and creative. You can truly get experimental.
With Roland digital UV print technologies, the art of adding textures and embossed effects to all many media and surfaces has become so much easier – and simply stunning.
Let your fingers do the talking
Roland VersaUV printers are equipped with CMYK plus white inks and clear varnish. Lay down a base coat of white and overprint with CMYK to make those colours pop or use the clear option to highlight areas – by altering the strength of UV curing (the UV rays emitted by the LED UV lamp) you can create both matt or glossy finishes.
But if a picture is worth a thousand words, the real story is in the textures. Clear ink can create unique tactile effects like simulated embossing, Braille and 3D textures. Some users have even printed outstanding, standalone 3D structures.
The Roland Texture System Library supplied with Roland VersaUV LEF printers has 72 ready-to-use texture patterns, all of which can be printed using clear ink. By printing several layers of transparent ink, you can print tactile lines, squares, polka dots and geometric shapes, but also flowers, leaves, raindrops, stars, woven textile and leather effects… just imagine the possibilities.
Results that would once have been complex, time consuming or even impossible are now available at the press of a button. Here are some ideas – but remember that as well as the 72 ready-made options, you can design your own.
Sensual shapes and smart lines
The poster below was created by Australian designer Dave Foster, demonstrating how you can add intricate lines and sharp geometric patterns by using UV clear ink as an integral part of your design.
Dave Foster created these brightly-coloured UV printed line effects to illustrate his unique font design
Make your text stand out
Clear UV ink can create super-stylish clear-on-black text as well as Braille and more traditional raised-text styles.
Embossed ink effects on paper and acrylic substrates, including a clear ink on black example (bottom left) by Fineline Graphics of Smithfield, Rhode Island – all showing the versatility of Roland UV technology
Experience liquid effects
Produce hyper-realistic condensation and water effects using UV inks, producing a whole new look that your customers will want to touch.
Produce hyper-realistic condensation and water effects using UV inks
Super-cool textures
It's not just the technology – and our UV lamps – that are cool. Check out these leather and animal skin textures and other custom patterns that VersaUV users have created.
Unique and personalised
These device covers, mousepads and laptops have all been printed directly with clear inks to create unique customisations that really stand out. You can personalise your whole desk – or home – or office!
Voodoo iPhone cover by award-winning graphics company, Cascade Graphics
Good as gold
Personalisation is big business: a Deloitte Consumer Review*, which used YouGov research, found that over half of adults surveyed would be interested in buying customised products or services – and would be willing to pay more for them. Half of those surveyed also believed that customised products make better gifts and more than 40% preferred to buy something unique.
This is why Apple offered a huge variety of iPhone cases so their customers could choose the one that best reflected their personality. Absolut vodka made a killing when it subtly altered its production system and each bottle was slightly different. We live in a world of mass production; almost everything we buy in our daily lives has been manufactured on an assembly line using identical tooling. But consumers love novelty, they want the personal touch. UV printing technology can offer just that – literally.
Technology to create magic
The Roland VersaUV printer range features a system for every user. Choose your ideal printer from the compact benchtop VersaUV LEF series – the entry-level VersaUV LEF-12i, the productive VersaUV LEF-200, or the heavy-duty VersaUV LEF-300 – or add extra efficiency to your studio with the dual-function VersaUV LEC printer/cutter duo. For graphics specialists, the the VersaUV family offers incredible versatility.
Request your FREE UV print guide
Keen to start exploring your creativity with Roland VersaUV? Download our guide to UV printing to be inspired.