The present invention relates to the field of and processes and printing apparatuses for producing optical effect layers (OEL) comprising magnetically oriented platelet-shaped magnetic or magnetizable pigment particles on a substrate. In particular, the present invention relates to processes using printing apparatuses comprising a first magnetic-field-generating device mounted on a transferring device (TD) and a static second magnetic-field-generating device for producing said OELs as anti-counterfeit means on security documents or security articles or for decorative purposes.

An ink set of radiation curable ink jet inks each of which contains polymerizable compounds, includes a color ink and a clear ink, the polymerizable compounds contained in the clear ink include a monomer A having a hydroxy group and a monomer B having a volume of 0.26 nm.sup.3 or more and a height direction area of 0.25 nm.sup.2 or more with respect to a long side each of which is defined by the Van der Waals radii, and a total content of the monomer A and the monomer B is 80 percent by mass or more with respect to a total mass of the polymerizable compounds contained in the clear ink.

An ink set of radiation curable ink jet inks each of which contains polymerizable compounds, includes a color ink and a clear ink, the polymerizable compounds contained in the clear ink include a monomer A having a hydroxy group and a monomer B having a volume of 0.26 nm.sup.3 or more and a height direction area of 0.25 nm.sup.2 or more with respect to a long side each of which is defined by the Van der Waals radii, and a total content of the monomer A and the monomer B is 80 percent by mass or more with respect to a total mass of the polymerizable compounds contained in the clear ink.

The present invention relates to a decorative material having excellent printability, and the decorative material according to the present invention has an ink-receiving layer having a radially fine sloping structure having a dendritic shape, whereby the absorbing and/or fixing property, i.e., printability, of the ink printed on the ink-receiving layer is improved, and clarity is excellent, so that aesthetic effects are excellent. In addition, since the ink-receiving layer is manufactured through UV curing, it can be directly coated on a substrate layer, and can include various kinds of substrate layers; and since it is manufactured using a solvent-free type resin composition without using an organic solvent, and has an excellent absorbing and/or fixing property with respect to a water soluble ink, it has environmental friendly advantages.

An ink set for single-pass printing including at least a cyan ink, a magenta ink, a yellow ink, and a gray ink, wherein the magenta ink satisfies a specific condition regarding spectral reflectance, and the gray ink has a spectral reflectance at a wavelength of 500 nm of 20 to 70% and satisfies the specific condition regarding spectral reflectance.

An ink set for single-pass printing including at least a cyan ink, a magenta ink, a yellow ink, and a gray ink, wherein the magenta ink satisfies a specific condition regarding spectral reflectance, and the gray ink has a spectral reflectance at a wavelength of 500 nm of 20 to 70% and satisfies the specific condition regarding spectral reflectance.

Systems and methods for optimizing the formulation of materials are provided. The systems and methods employ a data-driven, iterative approach to derivate optimal material formulations. One portion of the system includes a sample automation system that outputs the material samples to be tested, and a second portion of the system includes an optimization engine that analyzes data extracted from the material samples and generates additional formulations for materials to be printed and tested. This process continues so that optimal material formulations can be determined based on desired mechanical properties of the material to be optimized. The optimization engine can further be capable of predicting results of formulation that have not yet been tested and using those predictions to further drive the next suggested materials to be tested.

Systems and methods for optimizing the formulation of materials are provided. The systems and methods employ a data-driven, iterative approach to derivate optimal material formulations. One portion of the system includes a sample automation system that outputs the material samples to be tested, and a second portion of the system includes an optimization engine that analyzes data extracted from the material samples and generates additional formulations for materials to be printed and tested. This process continues so that optimal material formulations can be determined based on desired mechanical properties of the material to be optimized. The optimization engine can further be capable of predicting results of formulation that have not yet been tested and using those predictions to further drive the next suggested materials to be tested.

The present disclosure provides an ink vehicle composition comprising a crosslinker compound of formula (I); a hydroxy functional polymer; and a nonvolatile diluent, wherein the composition is essentially free of butanol. Also provided are thermoset heat-curable inks including the ink vehicle composition and a method of printing onto a surface of a substrate by applying the thermoset heat-curable ink. The ink vehicle composition and the thermoset heat-curable ink herein may be stable for about 6 to about 24 months at room temperature.

A photocurable inkjet printing ink composition satisfies all of requirements A to F: A: the total content of one or more compounds selected from vinyl methyl oxazolidinone, N,N-dimethylacrylamide, benzyl acrylate, and N-vinylcaprolactam is 30.0% by mass or higher; B: the total content of one or more compounds selected from saturated hydrocarbon group-containing monofunctional monomers with 6 or more carbon atoms and saturated hydrocarbon group-containing polyfunctional monomers with 6 or more carbon atoms is 15.0% by mass or higher; C: the content of bis(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)phenylphosphine oxide is 2.5% by mass or lower; D: the content of ethoxy(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)phenylphosphine oxide is 6.5 to 13.0% by mass; E: the content of amine-modified oligomer is 0.5 to 15.0% by mass; and F: as a colorant, a white pigment is contained by no more than 17.0% by mass, or not contained at all.