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Flexography is a mechanical printing process that uses liquid ink and a fairly soft relief
image printing plate made of rubber, or more commonly, photopolymer. The process is
used predominantly for package printing. All flexographically printed packaging
substrates are web-fed with the exception of corrugated board. Unlike the other major
mechanical printing processes (namely lithography, gravure and letterpress) flexography
is in a phase of rapid development and change. It has yet to reach full maturity and for
many years now has been increasing its market share. This trend continues and the
process is now even gaining ground in markets where it has not been previously
considered well suited to the product demands, such as carton printing. Flexography is
currently the major package printing process and it is very unlikely that this position will
change over the next few years even in the light of digital printing technology.
The greatest strengths of flexography are its versatility and cost effectiveness. It is used
for printing a wide range of packaging products including:
o corrugated cases
o folding cartons
o liquid packaging containers
o flexible packaging
o multiwall sacks
o paper bags
o labels
o paper cups
o containers and closures
So where does UV technology, and in particular cationic UV ink, fit into this scenario and
what does it have to offer the flexographic printer that cannot be provided by
conventional water and solvent based ink systems?