Flexo plate making technology (medium)

III. Problems with the flexo platemaking technology Direct platemaking technology only affects the above aspects? Of course more than that. However, it is difficult to predict all aspects of the future of flexographic printing. Of course, direct plate-making technology still has some problems. As an advocate of new technologies, it is necessary to explain these facts. Let's take a look at what problems still exist in the direct platemaking technology: 1. At the "Digital Flexo Forum" held at Blackpool, many printed samples obtained using direct plate making techniques were displayed. From a visual point of view, these samples were The quality is quite high. Indeed, quality is everything. Obviously, direct platemaking technology has advantages. However, to what extent is this new technology good? Or is it just a simple matter? The dot enlargement diagram of the flexo plate making technique showed a curve, and at some point, the negative growth of the dot appeared. In fact, any output device will exhibit some form of deviation, which will be measured and adjusted, standardized and standardized, and operated in a linear mode. On the basis of standardization, consider the limit of the expansion of the Internet point, and the accurate standard deviation is obtained. This kind of deviation must be able to control whether it is for film, proofs, plates, or something else. Ideally, each device has its own standard deviation. However, one of the following three conditions may occur: (1) the equipment cannot be calibrated; (2) no one is willing to take the trouble to do the calibration work (this situation is very likely); (3) the salesman Selling one's own products to others is just to emphasize that their equipment is highly automated and does not require manual adjustment. This kind of view misleads many users. 2. As mentioned earlier, it is due to the relatively poor calibration level and control ability of the imagesetter that the direct platemaking technology can be promoted and applied. At first glance it may seem like this: Even if the control performance of new technologies is not good, but because of its high accuracy, people are more willing to accept. However, at such a seminar that attaches great importance to quality, why did anyone discuss the differences between the different media? Keep in mind this fact: As we all know, there is a layer of coating that is masked on the direct imaging plate (ablated away), and, depending on the manufacturer, the characteristics of the ablation coating also Different, therefore, must require further control. However, in the traditional flexo platemaking process, the film is used. The plate printing factory only needs to standardize one kind of film, and it is applicable to the film produced by all manufacturers. Therefore, it is easier to calibrate and control the output film. . 3. If you look at high quality halftone prints made with this so-called "digital flexo", one of the obvious highlights may be the highlight. In offset printing, people may use the four primary colors Y, M, C, and K. However, the dots of offset printing are very small enough to avoid the traditional gray highlights, but they are different in flexographic printing and must be handled. Grey highlights. How to finish this high light treatment? We know that the smaller the outlets, the smaller the expansion of the outlets and the higher the quality of printed materials. However, it is worth noting that the jumping of dot-levels in high-light areas will bring about a series of problems, especially considering the situation of printing plates and anilox rollers. When performing halftone printing, make sure that the opening area of ​​the ink roller in the anilox roller is smaller than the area of ​​the smallest dot on the printing plate. Otherwise, in the high light area, the size/area of ​​some dots is small, which is smaller than the volume of the anilox roller. The area of ​​the ink-receiving holes is small or similar. When printing, these dots will not be supported by the “wall” and will cause the loss of small dots, and the dots generated on the printing materials will increase. This is one of the reasons why people are forced to reconsider random screening in recent years. In fact, the problem is that direct imaging technology has suddenly taken a big step forward in platemaking technology, and other elements in the printing process must also be adapted to it. However, it is worth proposing that if we want to take full advantage of the direct platemaking technology, we must not only purchase the corresponding plate, but may also need more expenses.