What is Flexographic Printing? (To Know Within 5 Minutes)

Printing technology has undergone mammoth growth and improvements over the years. Flexographic printing can also be referred to as flexo printing and it is a new-age form of graphics printing known to be efficient, consistent, pliable, and cost-effective. It implies the use of flexible rollers and plates to print on materials in a wide range of printing procedures. 

In this article, what is flexographic printing would be examined, alongside how it works, and mainstream types of the flexographic printing press would be talked about.

How Does Flexographic Printing Work 

What is flexo printing? Flexographic printing implies the use of flexible rollers and plates to print on materials in a wide range of printing processes. Here, how flexographic printing works would be clarified.

Design Creating

When a flexographic printing machine is used, it is best for creating any design. The machine cuts and shapes any design format assigned to it. For instance, if a particular design is needed as a logo for a certain brand; flexographic printing gets the design accurately.

Creating designs guarantees high-quality printing results that mandate professional prepress work. Using and understanding flexo printing assists to get the best designs and optimal color separation. Accordingly, flexo printing is best for creating designs on any material.

Choose the Appropriate Substrate & Ink

To grasp completely how flexographic printing works, it is necessary to choose the appropriate substrate and ink to avoid printing defects or misregistrations. Not all inks are compatible with a flexographic printing machine, and not all substrates are appropriate or compatible with the flexographic printing machine. 

Inappropriate choice of substrate and ink leads to various printing defects and printing misregistration, which in turn can damage the image carrier of the machine.

Feed the Substrate to the Press 

To get the best out of flexographic printing, it is rudimentary to always feed the substrate to the press to get the best results. If this is done appropriately, it guarantees perfect printing without any shortcomings. Printing is carried out as the substrate moves through the press.

Drying and Cutting

Drying and cutting is usually the last part of flexographic printing. The whole process is automatic and the machine dries the ink, cuts out the materials, and prints it out. The drying process takes place when the image of what is to be printed is transferred to the substrate and then it moves back and forth in the plate-less sections of the machine. 

While doing these, the ink gets dry and it fixes and corrects the faults in the image. When the substrate is removed from the machine and rolled again, it transmits the image into the cutting section. This separates individual print from the others and it is cut out accordingly.

Three Aspects Of Flexographic Printing

Innumerable aspects of flexographic printing make it the best form of printing. These aspects include the advantages of flexographic printing, various substrates that flexography can print on, and a wide range of inks that flexography can use.

Advantages of Flexographic Printing

The advantages of flexographic printing range from cost-effectiveness, high-quality result and process simplification or high efficiency.

• High-Quality Result

One of the most remarkable advantages of flexo printing (Learn: Litho Vs Flexo: 5 Key Differences) is that it assures high-quality results on every printing. Familiarity with what is flexography results in familiarity with high-quality results. Most times, these results are consistent. Flexo printing assures top-quality image printing results and this makes it the promising choice for any form of printing.

• Cost-Effective 

Cost-effective printing should always be considered for any kind of printing and flexo printing warrants this. Printing can be carried out on a small or large scale and many funds would be saved. Flexo printing is cost-effective for all forms of printing. The process is also characterized by affordability and high-speed performance. Flexographic printing remains the best for cost-effective printing.

• High-Efficiency/Process Simplification 

Another remarkable advantage of flexographic printing is its highly efficient nature. Furthermore, it comprises a simple process. Notably, the flexographic printing process is fully automatic and the operator has little work to do. Some upgraded flexographic printing machines are even computer-based and highly advanced. As a result, it assures high efficiency achieved via a simple process.

Various Substrates That Flexography Can Print On

Flexography can be done on numerous substrates. Here, the various substrates that flexography can print on would be discussed. 

• Plastic Film

When considering different substrates that flexography can print on, plastic film cannot be exempted because it is one of the most used substrates in flexographic printing. No matter the quality of the plastic film, flexographic machines can easily print on them and it ensures precise printing without defects as long as the machine is operated appropriately.

• Foil

Foil is another widely known substrate that is compatible with flexography. The flexographic printing machine does not find it difficult to print on foil materials. For instance, foil is used in food packaging and flexographic printing is the perfect choice when it comes to printing on foil materials. Regardless of the thickness or lightness of the foil, flexographic printing prints on the substrate perfectly.

• Corrugated Board

Corrugated boards are one of the substrates known to be compatible with flexographic printing. Flexography works with several substrates and corrugated boards are no exception. It prints on the substrate accordingly without any printing misregistration or deficiencies.

A Wide Range of Inks That Flexography Can Use

The choice of ink or preference of ink usually stirs miscellaneous problems and constraints for other machines or other forms of printing but it is not the same with flexography. Flexo printing has a wide range of inks that can be used and they include:

• Water-Based

Water-based ink has a variety of applications including printing on paper, cardboard, and fabrics. It is commonly used in the production of food packaging, clothing, and promotional materials. Water-based ink is also used in the production of wallpaper, labels, and stickers. It is popular due to its eco-friendliness and versatility in printing on different substrates.

• Solvent-Based

Apart from water-based inks, flexography supports solvent-based inks. Solvent-based inks comprise pigment and resin (binder), which constitutes together, a solid component of the ink, diluted using a solvent. In printing technology, solvent-based inks are one of the most used and it works perfectly with flexography.

• Energy-Curable (UV & EB-based)

Flexographic printing also makes use of energy-curable (UV and EB-based) inks for printing. Energy-curable inks consist of certain materials that create iconic species and free radicals when exposed to high-energy electrons and UV light. 

It is a more complex kind of ink when described in relation to water-based and solvent-based inks. Still, it is compatible with flexography and it can be used to print on various materials.

Mainstream Types of Flexographic Printing Press

Before now, what is flexographic printing has been discussed. Now, the mainstream types of the flexographic printing press would be examined. It ranges from stack press, in-line press, wide-web press, and so on.

Stack Press

Stack Press has vertically stacked decks, which allow simultaneous printing on both sides of the flexographic machines’ substrate as it traverses through the press. Stack Press is one of the five types of flexographic printing and is fast and easy to use. It carries medium-sized substrates at once. Stack Press is known to be cost-effective and capable of carrying printing in large capabilities. 

Central Impression (CI) Press

Central Impression (CI) Press is another type of flexographic printing press. Central Impression has the printing deck at the central impression cylinder. It is usually found around a single large impression cylinder of the flexographic machine. This type of press is known to provide excellent registration. Just like other presses, it is fast and prolific.

In-line Press

In-line Press is the opposite position of Stack Press. Stack Press, for instance, is in vertically positioned decks, while in-line Press is in horizontally positioned lines, and this makes operation effortless. It is usually positioned in a straight line for easier handling of heavy substrates and corrugated boards are an ideal example. In-line Press is also understood to be fast and versatile like other types of flexographic presses.

Wide-web Press (Substrates of 21-80 inches)

Amongst all other flexo presses, Wide-web Press can handle wider and longer substrates. Wide-web Press consists of substrates between 21-80 inches. This flexo press is constructed to take more or wider rolls of substrates when compared to other flexo presses. This is the unique selling point of wide-web press because others find it difficult to handle wider substrates. In contrast to Narrow-web Press, the Press carries much more substrate.

Narrow-web Press (Substrates’ length ≤ 20 inches)

Narrow-web flexo presses cannot take lengthy substrates more than 20 inches. It only accommodates less, or exactly 20 inches-long substrates. They are mostly 10 inches wide or smaller and this is because this press was built to print labels. Consequently, it would not be an efficient press for larger or heavier substrates. Most times, the length of substrates determines the kind of flexo press that would be used.

Get Cutting-edge Flexographic Printing Machines from KETE

KETE Group is a trusted manufacturer and supplier of cutting-edge flexographic printing machines. KETE is one of the best brands when it comes to Flexographic Printing machines. These machines are excellent in performance, versatile, and suitable for high-quality printing of desired designs in any field, for any use. Correspondingly, KETE’S high-speed flexo printing machines are durable, cost-effective, and highly efficient. 

KETE manufactures and supplies an assortment of Flexographic Printing Machines. Examples are KTFP – A Series, KTFP – B Series, KTFP – AD Series, and many others. These machines are suitable for a greater scale production and work perfectly on any material like plastic film, aluminum foil, plastic and Non-woven fabric, and many others. These machines can be used for miscellaneous printing.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, what is flexographic printing and how it works have been elucidated. The subject matter has been adequately examined. Again, the different aspects of flexographic printing have been accentuated and various presses of the machine have been explored.

To get more information on these Flexo Printing Machines and flexographic printing, it is advisable to visit the official KETE Group website. Visitors get access to information concerning every machine effortlessly. Likewise, potential buyers can get a quote from the company to know how much it would cost before proceeding with a purchase.