What is flexographic printing?
A flexographic printing press is a large printer made up of flexible plates and rollers. Printers traditionally made rubber flexo plates, but now modern technology wraps flexible photopolymer around a roller. When you break it down, a flexo printer works like a giant stamp that can print up to 2,000 feet per minute
Advantages and benefits of flexographic printing
– Flexo press, especially CI flexo press has the capability to run at extremely high speed when compared to gravure and offset
– Flexo press has the capability to print on a wide variety of substrates
– Flexo press has a shorter setup time, therefore, reducing waste when compared to gravure
– Flexo press that runs on water based ink or UV / UV-LED inks are much more environmental friendly when compared to gravure
– Flexo press is very suitable for medium to long-run jobs
Pros and cons of flexographic printing process
Pros:
- protect against scratches tears and fingerprints
- enhance the brilliance of the ink colors
- Quick drying
Cons:
- A relatively thick coating, requires pre-scoring to reduce cracking when folded.
- A slick surface, then it is difficulty to write,overprint,rubber samp,glue or apply certain labels to its surface.
Other available printing finishes
Quick reference comparison chart of 3 printing processes
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Disadvantage
– The operators of flexo press requires higher technical skills when compared to the gravure printing process
– Flexo press is less suitable for short-run jobs when compared to digital printing as the job setup time and plate preparation time is much longer and much less flexible.
How Flexographic Printing Works | A Step-by-Step Guide to Flexography
Flexographic printing is everywhere and has been for decades. You can see examples of it on candy wrappers, candy bags, snack bags, labels, cereal boxes, plastic shampoo bottles, peel-able double-sided medication labels, in your notebooks, legal pads, and desk calendars, and on your seasonal roll of printed paper towels.
Almost everything printed today can be produced flexographically.
It might seem like magic, but the steps to flexo printing are best explained as a carefully choreographed science, yielding a final printed product that is both beautiful and functional.