WHAT ARE FLEXOGRAPHIC PRINTING PLATES?
Nov 22, 2022
Flexographic printing plates are flexible photopolymer plates, used in flexo printing to transfer ink & images to a flexible substrate, such as paper or film. The printing plates are a critical element of the flexographic printing process and the quality of the printed image is largely dependant on the quality of the flexo plates used.
The flexo process itself is well known for adapting to print onto all types of flexible substrates and the plates can be used & re-used over millions of impressions. Here, you will understand the how the plates are made and how they function. The plates are designed in relief, which means the print surface is raised where the image has been exposed.
The plate surface is the only area that comes into contact with the substrate after the ink is applied to the plate. The etched or relieved areas do not contact the ink. Originally, flexo plates were made from rubber, but are today made from photopolymer material in sheet form – which differentiates them from the fixed metallic printing plates of offset printing. The plates are flexible enough to be wrapped around cylindrical print/plate rollers.
