Overview and Applications of Flexography - Essay Example

Flexography Introduction It is a thing of the past when printing was done by means of blocks and stencils. Technological advancement has brought about advanced printing processes and flexography is one of them. The reason behind the wide acceptance and adoption of this technology is that it caters to a massive market of printing packaging materials. Conventional form of printing could not suffice for such tasks effectively since the packaging materials are made in different types and sizes. The level of precision, quality and pace that can be achieved with the flexography technology cannot be matched with the old methods of printing and other competitive technologies in the modern markets. 2. Overview of Flexography Flexography is defined as a type of ‘rotary web letterpress’ that amalgamates the aspects of letterpress and rotogravure printing (“Print Process Descriptions: Printing Industry Overview: Flexography”). The material that is used for printing tends to dry faster as it is consists of a low viscosity solvent. There are three types of inks that are used in this form of printing; solvent-based, water-based and ultraviolet-cured. Each one of these inks is dried off in different ways (“Overview of Flexographic Printing”). The inks are very thin that makes this form of printing even preferable for four color printing jobs (CMYK). Ink possesses much relevance in any printing process. Since flexography printing produces fine finish printing, the ink has several characteristics; The ink should be able to create a visual effect or color. The ink must be compatible with the material on which it is being printed. Production packaging tends to suffer different environmental conditions due to its frequent displacement, therefore the printing needs to survive the presence of chemicals, scratching and fluctuation of temperature in the surroundings. 3. Applications of Flexography Flexography is considered to be the simplest and cheapest mode of printing packaging materials. There are several applications of flexography; some of them are mentioned below (“Printers - Flexographic Printing”): Ridged containers Folding cartons Multiwall sacks Paper sacks and plastic bags Milk and beverage cartons Disposable cups and containers Labels Wrappers of food items The quality of the printing is commendable and irrespective of the irregular or complex shape of the object. Another form of flexography printing exists that is designed to be used for publications, for example newspapers, comics, booklets, promotional catalogues etc. Food and candy wrappers are usually required to be printed with bright colors; flexography achieves this with factor with ease. Organizations tend to prefer this technology due to the lowering of the cost of the packaging which is coupled with competitive results. 4. Relevance of Flexography in the Graphic Information Technology Industry Flexography technology has improved to a great extent over the years due to which it has brought about greater level of precision, efficiency and quality in the graphic information technology industry (Polischuk). The improvement of this technology from satisfactory image definition and effective management of shorter runs of printing to excellent finish over massive printing activities has given the consumer an appealing alternate in the printing industry. The monopoly of the competitor technologies (like gravure and offset technologies) has been broken by the improvement of flexography (Polischuk). The designs that were traditionally considered to be impossible without the usage of gravure and offset technologies, have been proven to be achieved by flexography printing. Flexography is able to cater to the innovative design features of the modern age, as well as the contemporary one with details and precision. The processes and quality of flexography printing is able to meet the rapidly changing requirements of the modern markets since there is increasing demand of better quality and endeavors to cut costs. 5. Process Overview The printing process initiates with the development of an engraving; the engraving is in accordance with the design of the object. The end products of the engraving process are flexo-plates that are either produced from rubber or polymer; in both cases they are flexible in nature (Western Michigan University). The printing process is based on four components; Fountain roll Anilox roll Plate cylinder Impression cylinder The following figure provides a graphical representation of the printing process: Figure 1: Flexography Printing Process (Western Michigan University) It can be seen from the above figure that the fountain roller is rolling in a bath of ink and its purpose is to pick a heavy supply of ink from the pan to ensure that all the subsequent rollers get enough supply of it. The next roller, anilox roller, is either chrome or ceramic coated. It consists of numerous engraved cells that may amount to 80 to 1000 cells per inch (Western Michigan University). Anilox roll is designed to transport a thin film of ink to the following component in the process, such that the excess ink is left behind in the preceding component. The following component is the plate cylinder that is usually made out of steel. The plate cylinder also consists of printing plates which are stuck to it by means of a double sided tape. The elevated surface of the plates serves to transfer the ink from the anilox to the substrate. The impression cylinder (last component) is very smooth and polished. The pace of the movement of the impression cylinder is tried to be matched with the pace of other components to ensure smooth functioning and printing results. The substrate can be of any texture, smooth or rough (“Printing Technology”); the printing results are also independent of the absorbing or non-absorbing nature of the material. The printing plates are also considered to be long-lasting since they are capable of printing several millions impressions, thereby saving costs for the manufacturers and clients. After the printing process, a protective layering may even be pasted by means of a laminating station. The printed and laminated material may be cut across the labels by a cutting station. The futile cut-outs of the material are wasted and the required material is rolled over a stick for future use by the client. Overall, the flexography printing process goes through a number of phases; image interpretation, plate making, printing presses and finishing the resultant product. Another advantage of flexography printing is that all the processes of printing, finishing, cutting etc can be done in a single continuous process. 6. Limitations of Flexography Printing In spite of the numerous benefits of flexography printing, there exist few limitations that are explained below: A white base is preferably used in such printing materials to brighten up the colors. The following figure shows the difference in the printing results; Without white base With white base Figure 2: Difference in the brightness of colors if white base is not used Logos that might be smaller than 8 pt might not be as legible as expected; therefore, the designers are advised to use text larger than this size in the designing process. 7. Conclusion Flexography printing technology has improved the graphic information technology industry to a great extent since it has provided the opportunity to attain good quality printing at low costs. It is able to print on all types of packaging materials, ranging from ridged containers, folding cartons, multiwall sacks, milk and beverage cartons etc. The flexography printing process consists of four components, namely fountain roll, anilox roll, plate cylinder and impression cylinder. Flexography is an effective printing alternate that proves to be a better choice than other technologies, namely gravure and offset technologies. References “Overview of Flexographic Printing”, Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. Polischuk, Tom., Designing for Flexo, Package Printing, Aug 2008, Web. 22 Nov. 2011. “Print Process Descriptions: Printing Industry Overview: Flexography”, Printers’ National Environmental Assistance Center, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. “Printing Technology”, Flexo4All, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2011. “Printers - Flexographic Printing”, Castle Ink, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. Western Michigan University, Flexographic Process, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2011. Read More