Golden Digital Grounds

GOLDEN Digital Grounds turn just about any relatively flat surface into an ink-jet printable surface.

While almost any porous surface that is flat can be run through an ink-jet printer, including off-the-shelf papers made for printmaking and watercolour, results are usually less than satisfactory with the resulting image dull, faint or blurry. This is usually caused by the substrate being overly absorbent, with no way to prevent the ink from spreading outward or penetrating too far into the surface. Conversely, on non-porous materials like plastic and metal, the inks readily pool up, run, and are easily smeared by both the printer mechanism and subsequent handling. To combat these problems and achieve the desired richness of colour and detail, each droplet of ink somehow needs to be kept distinct and held in place by the substrate. This is perhaps the major function and benefit of applying an ink-jet receptive coating.

This a porous, opaque, white ground for use on a multitude of surfaces. As a porous ink-jet coating, it allows prints to dry extremely rapidly, making it the safest choice for use with unmodified desktop printers that still have ‘pizza wheels' or ejection rollers. It is also an ideal starting point for the first-time user looking for the most trouble free application on a wide range of materials.

This is a clear ground with a gloss sheen for use on most absorbent surfaces, allowing the underlying material to show through. The nature of this type of ink-jet receptive coating, means that prints dry much more slowly, which can present problems for desktop printers that have ejection rollers or ‘pizza wheels'. Because of this, Golden do not recommend using relatively nonporous substrates coated with the Digital Ground Clear on a desktop printer unless the printer's ‘pizza wheels' or ejection rollers have been removed. However, when used on very porous surfaces like paper, this should not present a problem.

This is similar to the Clear described above but optimized for increased adhesion and performance on non-porous surfaces such as aluminum or plastic. Golden do not recommend using the Digital Ground for Non-Porous Surfaces on a desktop printer unless the printer's ‘pizza wheels' or ejection rollers have been removed.