Digital Flexographic Technology Introduction

The main difference between a traditional flexo and a digital flexo is that during the production of a digital flexo, a layer of black laser light is added to the surface of the flexo. The main role of black film is to replace the film in the traditional flexographic platemaking process. Traditional flexographic production is the transfer of image data to an imagesetter, and then the production of a flexible version of the film, while the digital flexo plate is the plate directly on the flexographic CTP platesetter, the image data will be one by one It is transmitted to the laser and the laser emitted by it erodes the black film and volatilizes it, thus forming a desired image on the surface of the printing plate.

The plate is then removed from the platesetter, exposed, and developed. In addition to the fact that the laser sensitized black film plays a role in blocking UV light, the UV exposure when producing a digital flexo is the same as that of a conventional flexo plate. The subsequent development is the same as that of the conventional plate making. In the VU exposure and development process, the purpose and role of each step is the same, but there are some subtle differences we need to pay attention to. The first thing to bear in mind is that the dot shapes produced with digital flexo are completely different from the dot shapes on traditional flexo plates. Therefore, the dot gain value is also different, and the printing press also needs to adopt a new process accordingly.

The contours of digital flexo and traditional flexo outlets are more sharp than those of traditional flexo outlets. It is these sharp dots that improve the quality and performance of digital flexo, but eliminating the precision of film and imaging technology ensures the consistency of the quality of the printing plate, which is essential in the control of printing and the completion of the final print. important. Apart from improving quality, it is even more important that we can digitally control the entire process in the printing shop.

What is the appropriate digital flexo technology?

The appropriate digital flexo technology requires an external drum structure and multiple laser imaging heads to accurately and repeatedly corrode and volatilize the black film. This can be illustrated by Creo's ThermoFlex thermal flexo platesetter, which uses multiple laser heads for imaging and uses laser diodes as laser light sources; these laser heads come in different models, according to the needs of users, the highest Up to 64 lasers, all flexo CTP suppliers are now moving towards multi-laser beam technology.

Why do all flexo CTP suppliers now tend to use multi-laser technology? The main reason is that multi-laser beam technology has strong advantages in quality, repeatability, production efficiency and reliability.

In order to obtain high quality, repeatable images, the ideal imaging system should have perfect mechanical stability. Mechanical stability is directly related to the speed of the imaging drum. To obtain the same production efficiency, the greater the number of laser beams, the slower the rotation speed of the drum. Therefore, the more laser beams, the better the image quality and repeatability.

Image quality and repeatability are also directly related to the ability of each laser to completely remove the black film. The main purpose of laser imaging is to ensure complete removal of the black film. Devices that provide Gaussian laser beams have an irregular energy distribution, so the accuracy and consistency of imaging is limited. Creo's Thermal Platesetter uses multiple laser diodes. The technology used can provide continuous energy distribution, so imaging is highly accurate and consistent.