At present, the quality of flexographic prints has been greatly improved. People generally think that the cost of flexo printing is very low, especially for the new products designed and manufactured for the first time, the printing cost is lower. This view is prevalent nowadays, but it is wrong. There are two main reasons for this:
1. In flexographic printing, customers' various expectations often lead to unnecessary processes and waste, which obviously increases costs.
2. Many flexographic printing products designed for the first time are worth less than the cost.
In general, the quality of gravure prints is relatively high. Therefore, in the field of flexible packaging, gravure prints are favored by people, especially in the food packaging industry. However, with the development of plate making, ink and printing machinery technology, the quality level of flexographic prints has been greatly improved. On the other hand, people often think that gravure printing has a high cost and a long production cycle. Therefore, many jobs of gravure printing go to flexographic printing. In the field of flexible packaging, the current market share of gravure printing is less than 40%. In 1998, there was a zero growth in gravure printing in the United Kingdom.
First, the production process In essence, the printing of reel material, whether it is gravure process or flexographic process, the requirements are almost identical; unwinding and winding, tension control, drying and monitoring systems. For the same job, the amount of work required for gravure and flexo printing is similar.
The difference between the two lies mainly in the different processes used. Gravure printing uses engraving rollers, while flexo printing uses soft and elastic printing plates. In addition, the investment in gravure printing processes is generally 20% to 30% higher than flexographic printing.
The flexographic and gravure printing processes have their own characteristics and can generally be summarized as follows:
(a) The advantages of flexographic printing:
1, suitable for short-run printing, or the design of the content of economic changes in the printing of products;
2. If the original design is simple, the production cost is relatively low;
3, small footprint, low capital investment, fewer restrictions.
(b) The advantages of gravure printing:
1, high resistance to India, very suitable for long-lived, can repeatedly print;
2, the consistency of the printed image is good;
3, can achieve double-sided printing roll material;
4, continuous print, no joints.
Comparing with flexo products, gravure printing products have stronger visual effects and generally higher quality. Therefore, people generally cannot notice the progress and development of gravure printing. In fact, the progress of plate making and engraving technology and the development of the direction of non-film electronic engraving have greatly improved the consistency of gravure printing products.
Now, gravure printing technology has gradually emerged from the elusive predicament of relying on people's constant exploration, and it is developing in the direction of predictability and reproducibility. In the past, gravure printing used chemical etching in the direction of plate making. Due to the poor consistency of the plate cylinder, it caused many waste products each time. With the development of laser engraving, automatic plating production lines and the emergence of lightweight rollers, the consistency and ease of use of gravure printing will continue to be improved and improved.
At present, there is a common view that in the case of the same price, the quality of gravure printed matter is higher than that of flexographic prints; and when the image quality of the two is the same, people generally think that the quality of gravure printed matter is relatively poor. Defective or substandard products.
Second, production costs Although the first printing, the cost of gravure printing is higher than the flexographic printing, but for fixed jobs that need to repeat printing, the cost difference between the two will be very fast after printing multiple times. Zoom out. If the design content of the job does not change substantially within six months or even longer, the cost of gravure printing is still relatively low. For long-lived jobs, the life of a gravure cylinder can reach up to 1 million meters, but the flexo-resin version has a lifetime of only 1/2 or less. In addition, downtime required for flexographic printing is 2 to 3 percentage points longer than gravure printing.
Third, the production cycle gravure printing has formed a set of strict and careful workflow, from manuscript design to Cromartin-like, to the final printed matter, customers generally have to confirm step by step Caixing. This will undoubtedly extend the production cycle and increase production costs. On the contrary, the workflow used for flexo printing is much simpler and more direct; it is generally not more than four weeks from original design to delivery.
In addition, the development and application of electronic engraving technology is also a big progress, it can achieve multiple engraving drum, and greatly shorten the plate making cycle.
4. Conclusions Both flexographic and gravure printing are important printing processes, and they are all in rapid development. Both have their merits. In order to be able to compare these two processes better, it is necessary to develop a quantitative evaluation system for the evaluation of print image quality, and compare the flexographic and gravure prints with uniform standards and parameters. (Information provided by: Besson.com)
1. In flexographic printing, customers' various expectations often lead to unnecessary processes and waste, which obviously increases costs.
2. Many flexographic printing products designed for the first time are worth less than the cost.
In general, the quality of gravure prints is relatively high. Therefore, in the field of flexible packaging, gravure prints are favored by people, especially in the food packaging industry. However, with the development of plate making, ink and printing machinery technology, the quality level of flexographic prints has been greatly improved. On the other hand, people often think that gravure printing has a high cost and a long production cycle. Therefore, many jobs of gravure printing go to flexographic printing. In the field of flexible packaging, the current market share of gravure printing is less than 40%. In 1998, there was a zero growth in gravure printing in the United Kingdom.
First, the production process In essence, the printing of reel material, whether it is gravure process or flexographic process, the requirements are almost identical; unwinding and winding, tension control, drying and monitoring systems. For the same job, the amount of work required for gravure and flexo printing is similar.
The difference between the two lies mainly in the different processes used. Gravure printing uses engraving rollers, while flexo printing uses soft and elastic printing plates. In addition, the investment in gravure printing processes is generally 20% to 30% higher than flexographic printing.
The flexographic and gravure printing processes have their own characteristics and can generally be summarized as follows:
(a) The advantages of flexographic printing:
1, suitable for short-run printing, or the design of the content of economic changes in the printing of products;
2. If the original design is simple, the production cost is relatively low;
3, small footprint, low capital investment, fewer restrictions.
(b) The advantages of gravure printing:
1, high resistance to India, very suitable for long-lived, can repeatedly print;
2, the consistency of the printed image is good;
3, can achieve double-sided printing roll material;
4, continuous print, no joints.
Comparing with flexo products, gravure printing products have stronger visual effects and generally higher quality. Therefore, people generally cannot notice the progress and development of gravure printing. In fact, the progress of plate making and engraving technology and the development of the direction of non-film electronic engraving have greatly improved the consistency of gravure printing products.
Now, gravure printing technology has gradually emerged from the elusive predicament of relying on people's constant exploration, and it is developing in the direction of predictability and reproducibility. In the past, gravure printing used chemical etching in the direction of plate making. Due to the poor consistency of the plate cylinder, it caused many waste products each time. With the development of laser engraving, automatic plating production lines and the emergence of lightweight rollers, the consistency and ease of use of gravure printing will continue to be improved and improved.
At present, there is a common view that in the case of the same price, the quality of gravure printed matter is higher than that of flexographic prints; and when the image quality of the two is the same, people generally think that the quality of gravure printed matter is relatively poor. Defective or substandard products.
Second, production costs Although the first printing, the cost of gravure printing is higher than the flexographic printing, but for fixed jobs that need to repeat printing, the cost difference between the two will be very fast after printing multiple times. Zoom out. If the design content of the job does not change substantially within six months or even longer, the cost of gravure printing is still relatively low. For long-lived jobs, the life of a gravure cylinder can reach up to 1 million meters, but the flexo-resin version has a lifetime of only 1/2 or less. In addition, downtime required for flexographic printing is 2 to 3 percentage points longer than gravure printing.
Third, the production cycle gravure printing has formed a set of strict and careful workflow, from manuscript design to Cromartin-like, to the final printed matter, customers generally have to confirm step by step Caixing. This will undoubtedly extend the production cycle and increase production costs. On the contrary, the workflow used for flexo printing is much simpler and more direct; it is generally not more than four weeks from original design to delivery.
In addition, the development and application of electronic engraving technology is also a big progress, it can achieve multiple engraving drum, and greatly shorten the plate making cycle.
4. Conclusions Both flexographic and gravure printing are important printing processes, and they are all in rapid development. Both have their merits. In order to be able to compare these two processes better, it is necessary to develop a quantitative evaluation system for the evaluation of print image quality, and compare the flexographic and gravure prints with uniform standards and parameters. (Information provided by: Besson.com)
Mosquito Coil Co., Ltd. , http://www.gzmosquitocoil.com