Flexographic printing is a branch of letterpress printing. Flexographic printing is similar to letterpress printing in printing principle. It is different from traditional letterpress printing in the printing plate, ink composition and imprinting process. The image transmission is passed during the printing process. A flexible photosensitive resin sheet obtained by photochemical reaction or a patterned rubber stick is used. Originated in the United States in the early 1920s, early use of aniline inks was toxic and failed to develop. Since then, the ink manufacturer has begun to use the acceptable coloring agent, which was renamed FlexographicProcess at the 14th American Packaging Symposium held in 1952.

Main advantages:

1. The substrate has strong adaptability;

2, printing speed: usually the normal printing speed of the flexible version can reach more than 100m / min;

3. The UV ink or ordinary ink used is environmentally friendly;

4, the amount of ink is large, the saturation is good, suitable for large color blocks, freehand design, soft gradient, good blur effect;

5, more suitable for standardization: through the mesh on the anilox roller to transfer the amount of ink, you can adjust the amount of ink by changing the anilox roller, once the appropriate anilox roller is selected, the color difference changes little during the printing process, to a certain extent Can reduce the basis for the operator's experience;

6, with a wealth of post-processing, easier to achieve the need for combined printing.

Applicable fields: Suitable for large-volume printing of paper, plastic and self-adhesive labels.

Future trends: Offset printing, gravure printing and other printing methods are pre-emptive. People are accustomed to comparing the advantages of these printing methods with the disadvantages of flexographic printing. The characteristics of flexographic printing are often overlooked. In fact, foreign experience has long proved that flexo printing can print high-end prints. However, there must be corresponding equipment and corresponding raw materials and materials as well as mature processes and high level operators. With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, it also promotes a new round of technological innovation in flexographic printing. The main innovations of flexographic printing are:

①shaftless independent drive of the flexographic printing machine;

②widely used sleeve technology;

③digital plate making;

④CDI imaging technology;

⑤automatic register control technology;

⑥UV drying technology.

With the localization of flexographic printing plates and raw materials, the cost of flexo printing in China will be lower and lower, and the prospect of flexographic printing is bright.