An aqueous composition can be used for pre-treating a substrate prior to inkjet printing to provide a white opaque background for inkjet-printed images. This aqueous composition includes: (a) one or more water-soluble salts of a multivalent metal cation at 5-30 weight %; (b) a nonionic or cationic water-soluble or water-dispersible polymeric binder material at 5-30 weight %; and (c) surface-treated visible light-scattering particles having a D.sub.50 (median) particle size of at least 0.04 μm and up to and including 2 μm in an amount of 5-60 weight % based on the total aqueous composition weight. The pre-treated substrate is useful as an inkjet receiving medium that can be readily inkjet-printed particularly with anionically-stabilized aqueous pigment-based inks.

A method is provided for manufacturing a paper or a thermoplastic foil printable with an inkjet printer for use as a decor paper or a decor foil in a laminate panel. The method may involve providing a paper layer or a thermoplastic foil. At least one side of the paper layer or the thermoplastic foil may be coated with an inkjet receiver coating that includes at least a pigment. The pigment may include aluminum silicates or combinations thereof

A pigmented aqueous inkjet ink set for manufacturing decorative panels comprising: a) a cyan aqueous inkjet ink containing a copper phthalocyanine pigment; b) a red aqueous inkjet ink containing a red pigment selected from the group consisting of C.I. Pigment Red 254, C.I. Pigment Red 122, C.I. Pigment Red 176 and mixed crystals thereof; c) a yellow aqueous inkjet ink containing a pigment C.I Pigment Yellow 150 or a mixed crystal thereof; and d) a black aqueous inkjet ink containing a carbon black pigment; wherein the aqueous inkjet inks contain a surfactant. An inkjet printing method for manufacturing decorative panels is also disclosed.

Disclosed is a printed object which, even if using a receptive layer that is difficult for a monomer in an active energy ray curable ink to penetrate, has excellent adhesion between the active energy ray curable ink and the receptive layer, and in which the amount of unreacted monomer dissipated from the printed object is low. This printed object includes an ink receptive layer laminated on a substrate surface and having an ink absorption rate of 100% or less, and an ink layer laminated on a surface of the ink receptive layer and made from an active energy ray curable ink which includes a polymerizable compound, wherein the glass transition temperature of the polymerizable compound is −45-25° C.

Panels having a decorative surface may include a plate shaped substrate and a top layer, and the top layer may include a paper layer having a printed pattern. A method for manufacturing such panels may involve providing the paper layer with a treatment, including providing the paper layer with an ink receiving substance. The treated paper layer may be provided with at least a portion of the printed pattern by depositing pigment containing inks using a digital inkjet printer of a single pass type. The printed pattern may have a definition of at least 200 dpi. The pigment containing inks may be water-based. The printed pattern may be a wood pattern. The pigment containing inks may include colored pigments and may comprise up to 8 different colors, including brownish and/or reddish colors. The digital inkjet printer may include print heads with nozzles for firing droplets of pigment containing inks onto the treated paper layer. The paper layer may be fed from a roll, printed upon, and rolled back up again. The paper layer, while printing, may be flexible and may be attached to the plate shaped substrate after printing. A layer of thermosetting resin may be applied above the paper layer and the printed pattern. Providing the layer of thermosetting resin may involve a press treatment.

The present invention provides a coating material that can improve gravure printing characteristics of the printing surface of a printing substrate to favorably transfer an ink fed in the cell of a gravure printing roll to the printing surface of the printing substrate, thereby achieving the beautiful gravure printing. The coating material of the present invention is a coating material for forming a surface layer, serving as a printing surface, on a printing substrate on which gravure printing is to be performed, and the coating material is characterized by including a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate-unsaturated fatty acid copolymer that includes 80 to 90% by mass of a component of vinyl chloride, 9.2 to 19.5% by mass of a component of vinyl acetate, and 0.1 to 0.8% by mass of a component of an unsaturated fatty acid.

An inkjet printed flexible film for decor applications is provided. In particular the present invention relates to an inkjet printed flexible film comprising a polymer film and an ink-receptive layer comprising polymerizable and/or crosslinkable compounds or a polymer crosslinked via (meth)acrylate moieties. Ink pigments can be applied to the ink-receptive layer in a print pattern by ink jet printing. The ink-receptive layer can be printed by means of industrial digital inkjet printing. The decor applications include any decorated surfaces for flooring, wall covering, furniture, ceilings and the like.

The invention relates to a transfer paper for transferring images onto substrates, comprising a carrier having a wax coating; a layer (A) arranged thereon, containing a wax emulsion, a binding agent, an inorganic crystalline substance, and a pigment; a layer (B) arranged on layer (A), containing an organic polymer, an inorganic crystalline substance, a fixing agent, a copolymer and a pigment; and a layer (C) arranged on layer (B), containing an organic polymer, a binding agent, an inorganic crystalline substance, a wax emulsion, a copolymer and a pigment. The invention also relates to a method for transferring images onto substrates using the transfer paper.

An inkjet printable flexible film for packaging applications is provided which includes (a) a biaxially oriented polymer film having a thickness in the range of from 8 to 70 μm; and (b) at least one ink-receiving layer including boehmite particles and poly(vinyl alcohol) having a degree of hydrolysis of from 78 to 96 mol % in a weight ratio ranging from 6.5:1 to 20:1 coated over one surface of the biaxially oriented polymer film at a dry coating weight being in the range of from 5 to less than 25 g/m.sup.2, wherein the ink-receiving layer (b) is formed by (i) applying an aqueous coating composition including boehmite particles, an acidic dispersing agent, poly(vinyl alcohol), and boric acid and/or a borate, or (ii) applying boric acid and/or a borate in a first step and then an aqueous coating composition including boehmite particles, an acidic dispersing agent, poly(vinyl alcohol), and optionally further boric acid and/or borate. The packaging applications include the packaging of food, pet food, beverages, pharmaceuticals and/or personal care products.

A thermal transfer image-receiving sheet has a primer layer and a receiving layer. The primer layer contains binder resin and metal pigment. When a value obtained by dividing the mass of the metal pigment by the mass of the binder resin is A and the thickness of the primer layer is B, A is 0.5 to 3.5, and A/B is 0.15 to 6. When light is made incident on the surface on the receiving layer side at an incident angle of 45°, ΔL* between L* at a light-receiving angle obtained by tilting specular reflection light, generated when light is made incident on the surface on the receiving layer side at an incident angle of 45°, toward the incident light side by 15° and L* at a light-receiving angle obtained by tilting the specular reflection light toward the incident light side by 110° is 110 or more.