Flexography printing what is it?

Author: Douglas Bryant

Author: Douglas Bryant

Flexography also known as Flexo or roll-to-roll or roll label printing. This method prints labels from a roll of stock to a finished roll of completed labels. Material is loaded onto one end of the Flexo press and the material is threaded through the press and each print station. Laminating and cutting stations are set up at the end of the press so completed labels are produced in one pass on the Flexo press. The printing head of a Flexo press is on a cylinder and prints directly, on to the substrate. This differs from letterpress that uses a flat bed, or offset presses that uses a cylinder but offsets the printed image to a blanket. The letterpress uses set type in a block, the offset press uses a plate, but transfers the image to be printed onto a blanket, and the blanket transfers the image to the substrate. The Flexo press uses plates that are made from a flexible type of rubber, much the same as a rubber stamp, which comes in direct contact with the substrate. Printing plates for the Flexo printing heads can be made in several different ways. One method uses a light-sensitive polymer. A film negative is placed on top of the light-sensitive polymer plate, which is then exposed to a ultra-violet light source. Where the light passes through the film negative it hardens the polymer. Conversely, the areas that block the light from illuminating the polymer the polymer material will stay soft. The soft areas of the plate are washed away in a tank of water or solvent facilitated by a scrub brush. Another way to make Flexo printing plates is a computer-guided laser to etch the image on to the printing plate. Such a direct laser engraving process is called digital plate making. Another process to make the printing plates is through a molding process using a zinc plate to mold the rubber printing plate from. The molding process of make Flexo plates is hardly utilized today, since light sensitive and laser digital is more cost effective, and quicker. The Flexo presses have different printing stations for each color. Some machines have three colors stations, some have six color stations. The cost of a Flexography print machine is a function of the number of color stations and the web width; a 3-color press narrow web would cost much less than that of a six or eight color wide web Flexo press. The Flexo press can have another attachment; that is known as a turn bar. A turn bar is an apparatus that turns the stock over so you can print on the liner without removing the print job from the press. The other styles of printing do not offer this feature, if a print job calls for a coupon on the liner on a letter, or offset press the press operator would remove the stock then reload the stock to print the liner. The Flexo press also has an in-line cutting station. The labels can be left on the roll or can be individually cut into single units. In the other styles of printing, cutting of the label is accomplished off-line. The advantage of the Flexo printing is once the machine is set up to print, the press operator would not have to touch the stock again until the completed labels are taken off the press. The other advantage of this method of printing is it is very fast. Fast enough that to see what is being printed a low-tech strobe light is used. The strobe light is blinking at the same speed of the printed labels thereby freezing a printed label. This was necessary so the press operator could make sure the label is being printing correctly. The ultimate advantage of this type of printing is the low cost of the labels. Flexography printing is designed for large quantities; because set-ups and make-readies are expensive, thus roll label printing is not a good solution for 500 labels. The normal minimums for this type of printing would be 1,000 labels. Large quantities for this method of printing would be 100,000-millions. The disadvantage of roll label is not a good solution for small quantities. In addition, the inks used by most roll label manufactures are water based and will fade in direct sun light. Flexography printing can print on paper and plastic substrates, and is a great solution for inside applications. This type of printing is used to brand consumer products from salsa to televisions, and warning labels for inside factory machines. I must note here that there are exceptions to these facts, so contact a company that manufactures roll labels to see if a roll label is an appropriate solution for your application. About the Author:

Doug Bryant

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