Composite panels ECOBOND are an excellent material for direct printing and films application. Owing to its light weight, high rigidity and superior flatness, this material is used widely as a plane surface for advertising and information boards in advertisement.

Painting and images application
The decorative painting of the ECOBOND® panels is applied to make a special color, to lay letterings and images. From time to time it is also required for elimination of accidental defects of paint layer that may occur because of the violation of the recommendations or careless actions during mechanical processing, transportation and installation of the panels.
Only ACP with the covering on the polyester base can be painted. The most suitable for painting are acrylic paints on solvent base, polyester, polyurethane, nitroglyptal paints, car nitroenamels and other synthetic paints. Before painting of the back side of the ACP, if its aluminium layer is not covered with anticorrosive protective coating, it is advisable beforehand to sand its surface or to etch it chemically, and then to cover it with anticorrosion primer. One can hasten the drying by putting the panels into the kiln at a temperature not more than 70oC.
It is not recommended to paint PVDF coating, as the polymericfluorine coatings have a very low value of the surface tension force, so no paint will adhere to it.
The polyethylene core of the ECOBOND® panels cannot be painted due to the same reason.
If it's required to make a local inscription on PVDF coating, this layer can be removed (for example, by milling of the top layer at the depth of 35-50 µm to the aluminium) and then painted by screen printing or by roller. The paint that fell on the polymericfluorine layer can be removed easily by hand after drying.

Procedure of painting process – Practical work

Self-adhesive films application – Practical work

Application of photos – Practical work

Printing – Practical work

The even surface of ACP ECOBOND® is an ideal base for setting the photos or printed posters. For application it’s recommended to use double-side adhesive films such as ORABOND1389 or ORABOND 4040D.They are specially intended for photos setting.
Before application works remove the protective film from ACP and clean the surface with spirit or light solvent, like hexane or heptane.

Direct printing on the ink-jet large-format printers
It’s necessary to mention that composite panels ECOBOND® Print 3mm enter the series of aluminum composite panels that are specially adapted for printing. The coating is specially developed for printing with various solvent and ecosolvent ink for ink-jet printing.
The main difference of this coating from the usual polyester one is that it absorbs the paint well and limits its spreading. The advanced technology of creating the pre-set microporosity that is used favors the wettability and quick absorption of the ink, providing the controllable size of the dot. By printing on such a surface the colors become bright and rich. Due to the initial gloss of the coating on the surface the gloss repeats after printing. The back side is similar to the front one but matt. For printing with UV-curable inks the gloss property will depend in some way on the thickness and residual roughness of the applied layer.
ECOBOND silver, bright silver and mirror that has transparent polyester lacquer (ECOBOND® DECO Mirror) are most suitable for lithography. The polymeric film not only provides the protection of the metallic mirror but also possesses a good adhesive property for inks both solvent and UV-curable.

New capabilities of the ACP for printing

The main reason that is taken into consideration when using the aluminum composite panels is their large dimensions (standard panels have the size from 1.22*3.05m up to 1.5*6.1m) along with a perfect surface and rigidity of the material. Besides, after removing the protective film the surface is almost ready for printing. These new materials for lithography definitely rank among the main materials of the choice of the printed works manufacturers, as they provide high quality, processability and minimum expenses for preliminary and additional works on afterprinting treatment.
By using a composite panel, one can make the type-high figures or hardposters, having printed the image on the solvent plotter and cutting out the necessary figure on the CNC router.
New technology and new materials offer absolutely new possibilities for the specialists of the outdoor advertising. Many of them experienced that by correct handling it’s possible to make of the composite panels everything that can be made of cardboard. A simple technology of milling and bending allows making rather complicated articles on the base of the zigzag surface, and by rolling it is easy to make a cylinder or semicylindrical curve with the simultaneous edge bending that is used for invisible fixing. It is difficult to make a sheet with such a curved and overprinted surface from other plastic materials without hot shaping or from any metal. That's where composite panels are unrivalled.
It is necessary to mention that aluminum composite panels are the building material that found wider application in other fields as well. In comparison with the ordinary polymeric sheets, they are developed with better reliability, durability and resistance to the effects of ambient conditions. It allows to impose additional functions on the base for printing. For example, it can be the supporting frame of exhibition or advertisement structure or an interior decoration panel with a printed image. more details»