White Ink Gradient and Texture Printing — UV Printer Products (Part 3) ARTJET 2026

1. About the Photo Below

• Looking at the photo below, the contours around the elephant’s trunk are not just an effect of good photography.
• The texture — the contours and surface detail — was actually printed with real physical dimension.
• The reason you can feel the texture is that White ink was layered higher in raised areas and lower in recessed areas.
• Even when viewing the actual printed image, you can see the three-dimensional effect, and when you touch it, you can feel the height variation — the texture.

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2. A Method That Even Experienced UV Printer Users Don’t Know

• Long-time UV printer users typically say things like:
• “White can only do Spot Color — you can’t create gradients from 0 to 100% the way you want.”
• “The RIP has a similar feature, but it’s not easy to control White exactly the way you want.”

3. However, There Is One Method.

• It cannot be done with Illustrator (AI files), but using Photoshop, you can create both gradients and texture with White ink.
• After creating an alpha channel, you can adjust the alpha channel’s Level through [Image → Adjustments → Levels].
• After adjusting the Levels, create a Spot Color assignment — and White will be printed according to those level values rather than as a flat layer.

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• Click the link below to watch a video tutorial on how to create the file.
• Click here to watch the file creation tutorial.

1. To express three-dimensional texture with White, the White layer needs sufficient thickness.

• After creating the image in Photoshop, the printing method is similar to the braille printing method explained previously.
• Adjust from 100–800% to achieve the desired height, print White first, then finish with Color to render the image.
• For the White print settings needed to express texture, refer to the link below.
• Braille Printing (Printer Program Options for White Texture Settings)

2. Is This Practical?

2_1. Braille

• When we first showed braille printing as a UV printer application, almost everyone said:
• “Building up that thickness takes way too long… it’s not practical!!”
• 95% of customers we met said this, while 5% showed genuine curiosity.
• Two companies using our printers order noticeably more White and Varnish — both are printing images that include braille, creating high-value products.

2_2. A Business Owner Who Keeps Developing New Products

• Whenever we visited this business owner’s office, they would show us new products we hadn’t seen before.
• The products seemed solid, but the business wasn’t doing well.
• On later visits, there were always new items — and after pushing hard for so long, the owner seemed worn out.
• “Do you know anyone who wants to buy a used UV DTF roll laminator? I barely use the laminator anymore either.”
• For a year, business was quiet — but two months ago, they signed a 2-year contract with a major client. Now they’re working weekends.
• When we visited last week, the owner said:
• “The client saw all the different products we’d made and loved them. Every product in the order requires lamination. I thought I’d never use the laminator again…”
• And recently, they applied UV DTF to “mugs as a sample. I think I’ll be using that machine going forward.”
• Among the various items being developed, White texture printing also seems like a valuable product category.

2_3. Texture Effects That Are Difficult with Japanese Equipment

• Rather than thinking “Japanese equipment is expensive but better,” it’s more important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each machine.
• UV printers using expensive print heads typically have 1 Color print head and a maximum of 2 White heads — meaning White output is at most 200% of Color.
• White is printed as a base layer for CMYK Color on transparent or colored substrates, but sometimes 200% White density is insufficient.
• Especially when printing White on a black substrate, the black may not be fully covered — requiring White to be printed twice.
• In the same context, to create braille or texture effects with 200% White, you would need to print 3× more passes compared to our printer with 600% White.
• Braille follows the same logic — multiple repeated prints are needed to achieve the required dot height.
• The elephant image texture also takes significantly more time on equipment with only one or two White print heads.

2_4. As a Product Category

• When talking to colleagues who run print shops with UV printers, some mention that clients occasionally ask: “Cost doesn’t matter — can you achieve this kind of effect?”
• By building a portfolio of texture-printed applications, it can help secure contracts like the business owner who signed a 2-year deal, and provide immediate solutions for artists or clients who want something special.