Part 3 - Ink Spitting In this article, we revisit an earlier article from 2009, Trouble shooting "Ink Spitting", originally written by Tim Reece, this version includes updates by Catherine Haynes. UV Ink Spitting While UV inks continue to increase in popularity over water-based and solvent-based inks due to their outstanding print results, especially in … Read More...
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Dirty Print Introduction Dirty print is a bothersome printing defect that stems from a wide array of potential causes. From the pressroom to prepress and platemaking, there are many factors that may contribute to this defect. As higher printing resolutions are demanded of flexographic printers, it is imperative that the process itself is capable of … Read More...
Ask a person ordering anilox rolls what his or her greatest fear is, as it relates to anilox rolls, and the answer you're likely to get is "that the darned thing will get scored as soon as we put it in the press." It's a common refrain. Excluding accidental occurrences such as a blade hold-down … Read More...
With new demands on flexo plates such as Full HD Flexo, 175+ LPI, and high speed presses, optimized platemaking conditions are more important than ever. At the heart of the platemaking process is a light source - UVA light to be specific - which is the foundation for producing high quality plates time after time. … Read More...
Digital Flexo Revolution...Or, as my teenage son would say, "Wait Wut?"The word revolution is a very powerful and emotional word. Merriam-Webster.com definition states: revolution rev·o·lu·tion noun \?re-v?-'lü-sh?n\ • a sudden, radical, or complete change • a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something • a changeover in use or preference especially in … Read More...
Doctor blades are essential components of the flexo printing process. When doctor blades are not optimized, the anilox roll cannot do it's job properly — that is, delivering a consistently metered, accurately measured, and evenly distributed amount of ink to the printing plate. In this blog post, we'll discuss blade selection and common factors contributing … Read More...
The next time you find yourself frustrated when realizing that the Pantone Formula Guide you are trying to match color to is dated 2009, remember this guy... Read More...
Recent news about FlexoConcepts' TruPoint Orange would indicate that there has been a major development in synthetic doctor blade technology, but are these claims truly groundbreaking or just creative marketing? Haven't synthetic blades been around for a long time (see this 1998 FTA FQC study showing synthetic blades have slightly less dot gain vs steel) … Read More...
Introduction: The importance of dot formation and plate quality has not gone unnoticed over the years. In fact, these traits have been the basis for many innovations, both recent and historic. In the 1970s, photopolymer was introduced as an improvement in quality over molded rubber due to its ability to transfer an image directly from … Read More...
In outlining the process control parameters involved in optimizing the color gamut for flexo print reproduction, it was stated in Part 1 of this series that "the path forward involves the commitment to a stringent process control plan...from prepress and proofing, through plate making and on to print reproduction." In practice, however, the path for … Read More...