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...
Category Archives: Miscellaneous
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...
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...
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...
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...
Based on recent thermal processing equipment optimization, we looked to identify strengths and limitations of some thermal plate processing equipment. Equipment, Material and Measurement Devices Used Thermal Plate Processor G&J Flex-N-One 260 Esko CDI (HD Flexo) ITP-M – 0.045 Micrometer Troika AniCam (Flexo Plate QC) Process Description Verify thermal processing reaches back exposure, determining relief. … Read More...
What's in a name? It seems like everywhere you turn, you hear the phrase Hybrid Digital Flexo, Digital Hybrid Flexo, Flexo Hybrid or some other combination... Are they all the same or is each phrase unique? In the Flexographic industry, the terms are essentially the same—however the products can vary greatly. Any phrase using the words … Read More...
EskoWorld 2017 Each year, we look forward to attending EskoWorld (Esko's user conference) to share ideas and bring our customers news of the latest innovations! This year didn't disappoint! There are many new features coming soon that will directly benefit the flexographic market, specifically those making plates. Post-RIP Scum Dot Removal Scum dots are small image … Read More...