September 6-7 TLMI held its first printTHINK Summit printTHINK has replaced the former bi-annual TLMI Technical Conference. printTHINK was held at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare, where over 325 attendees from the Tag & Label market shared technology, experiences, and ideas. The conference was divided into 3 tracks: Strategy & Success Shops & Systems Science & Sustainability … Read More...
Esko Rumor - FREE HD Optics Rumor has it that Esko is considering extending the FREE HD Optics promo for the 2530 and 4835 Spark CDIs through October. Please reach out to your APR Sales Technician for more information! EskoWorld 2017 Review It has been a few months since EskoWorld 2017 and Esko continues it's … Read More...
Struggling with printing pleasing highlights? Using these tips, your highlight issues can fade to zero! Prepress & Software Your press can only print as good as the artwork it’s given, so it’s only fitting that prepress plays a key role in improving highlight quality. While there are some tricks to provide an illusion of smooth … Read More...
Released in April 2017, the new generation TECHKON SpectroDENS 4 has some noteworthy updates! The same three SpectroDENS models are available allowing you to upgrade from Basic to Advance to Premium as your needs change. Key NEW SpectroDENS Features and Changes Even more accurate spectral curves - now reporting every 10 nm (vs previous models … Read More...
As noted in Part One of this technical discussion, bringing prepress and platemaking in-house may offer many financial and productivity advantages. Of course there is also the simple appeal of having control of changes and turn-around times that can drive a desire for change. Working with your suppliers, it is important to carefully consider key … Read More...
Platemaking has evolved quite a bit over the past 20 years. It is no longer an art only to be completed by skilled craftsmen, but rather a "science" that is easily controlled and quick to learn. Even so, many printers are still using trade shops to complete all of their prepress and platemaking work. In … Read More...
Print geeks, dot worshippers, nerds... call us what you will, but APR's Technical Solutions Group (TSG) is asking questions and finding answers to bring new ideas to current flexo processes. You'll see some our recent blog posts are centered around these research projects. During the week of June 5th, the TSG gathered at APR's Glendale … Read More...
TSG Research Project:Mylar Dimensional Stability Under Excessive Dryer Heat Does excess dryer heat compromise the dimensional stability of the mylar backing. TSG feels that pushing the temperature higher could push the limits of thermal stability of the backing foil of the flexo printing plates. The recommended drying temperature is limited, as the raw polymer materials … Read More...
TSG Research Project:Flat-Top Dot Exposure Under Water General Description Is there anything else involved or critical to creating a flat top dot other than removing O2 from the exposure process? What happens when exposed under water? Since oxygen molecules are already bonded to hydrogen, we do not expect O2 inhibition (dot sharpening) to occur. Equipment, … Read More...
Scope of Test Determine if UVA lamp light energy (mW/cm2 or Joules) diminishes as temperature continues to rise outside the optimal operating parameters. According to most UV lamp manufacturers the optimal operating temperature for UVA lamps is 108ºF. At 120ºF it will diminish by 20% and at 140ºF it will diminish by 30%. This is … Read More...