What is Flexo printing?
Hopcungcaocap – To have a beautiful and high-quality product label, decal, carton box, sticker, etc., we cannot ignore the support of modern printing techniques. One of which is the Flexo printing technique.
What is Flexo printing?
Flexo (flexography) is a relief printing technique in which the printing elements are raised higher than the non-printing elements in the opposite direction. The ink is supplied from the Anilox roller and directly transferred onto the printing material during the printing process.
Flexo is commonly used for printing on carton boxes, labels, and tags for products, various types of films, stickers, labels, etc., and has the following characteristics:
- The finished product is flexible, in sheet or roll form, depending on the customer’s needs.
- Fast printing speed, meeting urgent orders.
- Low cost if printing in large quantities.
- Can print on all types of materials.
- Can be combined with other printing technologies to create products with special effects such as silk, foil stamping, reverse printing, multi-layer printing, embossing, glossing, etc.
Principles of Flexo printing
Flexo printing is based on the principle of the Anilox roller. The Anilox roller is a metal roller with a surface with many small engraved cells. Therefore, ink is quickly supplied to the printing plate. When the Anilox roller is immersed in the ink tray, the ink will go into the small cells, and the remaining ink will be wiped off with a doctor’s blade.
Next, the printing plate comes into contact with the rollers to receive ink from the small cells and then transfer the ink onto the printing materials. The printing plate is usually made of photopolymer plastic, the image carrier is a photosensitive plate that can be produced from computer-to-plate (CTP) or laser engraving.
Flexographic printing machine for flat materials.
COMMON ERRORS WHEN PRINTING WITH FLEXOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUE:
- Ink adhesion: caused by temperature changes or pressure.
- Ink smudging: due to using incompatible ink.
- Ink foaming: caused by uneven ink pumping system.
- Ink stains or stripes on the print: due to uneven ink supply.
- Oversized print elements or ink overflow: caused by excess ink on the plate.
- Poor ink transfer: due to weak ink adhesion.
- Ink smearing: caused by excessive pressure of the subsequent ink layer while the previous layer hasn’t dried yet.
Flexo printing and offset printing
Offset printing is also widely used along with flexo printing.
Offset printing uses an offset plate made of rubber that absorbs ink, which is then transferred onto the printed material. The advantage of offset printing is that it avoids water sticking to the paper according to the ink.
If we compare these two printing techniques, we can see that the products printed with offset printing are of better quality and sharper. However, offset printing is more expensive than flexo and cannot meet orders that must be completed quickly.
To understand more about offset printing, you can read: What is offset printing?
All products produced by Hoang Vuong Paper Packaging use advanced and modern printing technology, so the company’s products are all of high quality, sharpness, aesthetics, and quality. Over 90% of customers are satisfied with the products of Hoang Vuong Paper Packaging and promise to continue to cooperate in the future.
Contact us now for attentive service and the best products for your brand!
HOANG VUONG PAPER PACKAGING CO., LTD.
With over 6 years of experience in the paper packaging industry and having built a reputable brand on the market, Hoang Vuong Paper Packaging Co., Ltd. is proud to be a private packaging enterprise in Vietnam that accompanies many big brands both domestically and internationally.
- Address: 10/6C 10th Street, Binh Hung Hoa A Ward, Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City
- Phone number: 0908.863.965 (Mr. Le Hong Son)
- Phone: 028.62696129 – 028.22481926
- Fax: 08.62696032
- E-mail: havupackage@gmail.com
- Website: www.hopcungcaocap.vn
- Fanpage: Hoang Vuong Paper Packaging Co., Ltd