Inline & offline digital printing primers certified for use with HP Indigo presses.
Water-based overprint coatings increase durability and enhance the look & feel of inkjet-printed materials.
High-performance primers for inkjet that improve print quality & ink adhesion on film & paper.
Advanced materials designed to enhance the performance and processing of agricultural products.
Recyclable water-based coatings that confer high barrier to paper-based packaging and wraps.
Enhancing composite performance through optimized fiber-polymer interface adhesion
Water-based sizing solutions designed to optimize interfacial adhesion in composites using carbon fiber.
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Discover trends, challenges, and innovations shaping the future of carbon fiber technology and applications.
News (Tuesday, 6 May 2025)
At Dscoop Edge, we’re helping press owners move into applications like shrink sleeves on HP Indigo & pre-print corrugated on HP PageWide.
News (Tuesday, 22 April 2025)
This Earth Day, we're happy to share we're using 100% renewable energy and cutting emissions for more sustainable production.
News (Wednesday, 12 February 2025)
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Michelman’s longstanding partnership with HP Indigo has allowed us to work in tandem with their R&D, hardware, materials, and support teams to elevate our formulation expertise. New products are developed in a truly collaborative fashion to optimize performance across applications and create solutions that are finely tuned to work with HP Indigo hardware, ElectroInk, and approved consumables. Together, we are forging new horizons in digital printing.
DigiPrime® is the recommended brand of in-line and off-line primers for use with HP Indigo Digital Presses. Its excellent adhesion to both a wide variety of substrates and HP Indigo ElectroInk® offers superior versatility and security for labels, packaging, and commercial printing applications. Whether using certified or pre-primed media, preparing substrates off-line, or using a press with an in-line priming unit (ILP), DigiPrime® delivers the best possible printed output on the widest range of materials.
For presses with in-line priming units, DigiPrime® Vision offers superior performance, compatibility, and ease of use, contributing to increased uptime and higher press operator satisfaction, with increased flexibility and consistent runnability on the widest range of substrates—including recyclable and renewably sourced materials.
Designed for converters preparing substrates off-line, DigiPrime® Icon provides superior ink adhesion, rub resistance, and runnability, as well as better cleanability and lower odor. These press-ready, water-based primers are designed for flexographic or gravure applications, and optimize most film and paper substrates.
Michelman works with leading paper mills to apply DigiPrime® technology directly onto fibers during the paper making process, resulting in papers that can achieve 3-star performance and be certified for commercial printing on HP Indigo Digital Presses without the need for an additional priming step.
DigiGuard® Plus strengtheners enhance the water, chemical, mechanical, and thermal resistance of HP-validated UV OPVs in combination with Michelman’s DigiPrime® priming solutions. This allows press owners to increase addressable market size, better serve high-performance label markets, and produce more with HP Indigo Digital Label Presses.
Our DigiGuard® water-based overprint varnishes protect and enhance the appearance of printed materials. Various grades are available for commercial print production; form, fill, and seal packaging; and food contact applications.
Digital printing is a more sustainable method for creating packaging and other printed output because it does not require the creation of plates, uses less ink, and reduces inventory waste by allowing converters and brands to economically print smaller volumes. It positively affects the environment by reducing much of the physical and chemical waste throughout the printing process and allows for high mix, low volume print production to be economically viable.
DigiPrime® primers for flexible packaging have passed extensive testing for ecotoxicity, heavy metals, and fluorine content, which conform to leading industry standards such as ASTM and the European Committee of Standardization.1 These primers will not compromise the recyclability or compostability of finished products, and enable printing on a wide variety of substrates, including recyclable and renewably-sourced materials. Additionally, our repulpable DigiPrime® grades have been favored by paper mills for more than a decade.
(1) Organic Waste Systems Laboratories testing certified up to specified limits. Contact your representative for more details.
DigiPrime® primers can also be used in conjunction with Michelman’s broad portfolio of water-based functional and barrier coatings to create packaging structures with improved end-of-life options. These coatings impart critical functionality such as water, oil, and grease resistance; oxygen and moisture vapor transmission control; and heat seal directly to paper and film substrates. This makes it possible to design packaging that is compatible with existing recycling streams, compostable, and/or lighter in weight, and can help brands transition packaging from film to paper while continuing to meet or exceed performance, regulatory, and food contact requirements.
Indigo has their own Pepper, Sapphire, and Topaz primers. First contacts between Michelman and Indigo around customers using Michelman chemistry for Indigo printability.
Michelman launches DigiPrime® 4431, a one-step water-based primer for films with food contact compliance, to replace solvent-based Topaz.
Michelman starts toll manufacturing the Sapphire Q series primers for HP Indigo.
Michelman takes over manufacturing, sales, and distribution of all primers. Collaborative R&D effort to create in-line primers for ws6X00 presses.
Launch of primers for the in-line priming units on Series 3 industrial presses.
Launch of in-line primers for flexible packaging and folding carton on HP Indigo 20000 and 30000.
Steering Committee put in place to align on R&D priorities and business planning.
Launch of DigiPrime® Icon series with improved performance for off-line converters.
Launch of DigiPrime® Vision series with improved performance, compatibility, and ease of use for in-line priming.
Michelman’s worldwide network of distributors ensures 48-hour service and delivery to press owners anywhere in the world. As full channel partners, our distributors can tap into the knowledge, experience, and insights of our Business Development and Applications (BDA) team, a global group of application engineers with deep end-to-end knowledge of labels and packaging applications, HP Indigo presses, and the applied chemistry of countless materials and coatings. This team works proactively with press owners on the development of new applications, continuously learning and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with digital printing.
Markets
Primers and OPVs each play different roles in the digital production environment, but together they provide printed material with water resi…