Flexographic printing plates: High-definition style
Packstar Flexible Packaging uses Kodak FLEXCEL NX platemaking system for accurate print, faster turnarounds.
By Associate Editor Natalie Hasselbacher -- Converting Magazine, 6/1/2009 2:00:00 AM
Thousands of eager consumers hit the malls at the stroke of midnight on Black Friday; among them, many wagered safety and their own sanity in search of the perfect holiday gift. Nationwide, electronics departments saw human stampedes stemming from remarkably low prices on big-ticket items such as high-definition televisions. Masses of red-eyed buyers stood in long lines to purchase the latest in picture-quality technology at deep discounts.
For flexographic printers seeking equally jaw-dropping improvements in visual detail and sharper images, the Kodak (http://graphics.kodak.com) FLEXCEL NX Digital Flexographic System is one high-definition solution (left). And converter Packstar Flexible Packaging (www.packstargroup.com) in Amherst, NY, has clearly differentiated itself from the competition with its FLEXCEL NX installation last August.
High-def amazement
“It's very similar to comparing HDTV quality to that of a traditional television,” says Packstar president Frank Clesse. “When customers see the difference between what we were doing with the previous plates and the NX, they feel that same amazement.”
With a full-service prepress department, Packstar has color-separation specialists who understand both gravure and flexo printing. “We receive files from customers and put them into a format that is conducive to our printing process,” says Clesse. “Everything is done in-house for flexo, and we specialize in very quick turnaround. We're very excited about what we're doing, and some of the growth is a direct result from the programs we've been able to put together by working with companies like Kodak.”
Flexo rivaling gravure
The flexible-packaging printer, which receives 25 percent of its business from converting eco-friendly PLA film into products such as colorful shrinkbands and labels for markets ranging from food and supplements to personal-care, has attracted new customers with its stated ability to match gravure quality printing using flexo.
“We've taken some customers out of gravure and brought them into flexo,” says Clesse. “It's a tremendous upside that we can capture this quality going from gravure to flexo. Gravure still has its place in the market, but it's not for everyone.”
Much of that change has been driven with help from the FLEXCEL NX. The system is rapidly establishing a name for itself within the flexographic-platemaking community as it continues to win technology awards. The Flexographic Technical Association selected the system as the sole recipient of its 2009 Technical Innovation honor. It also won the 2008 PIA/GATF Intertech Technology Award and the Flexographic Pre-Press Platemakers Association Technology Innovator of the Year award.
Dots as small as 10 microns
While Packstar's core competency is shrink-film labels, the NX system helps yield quality printing on paper, film, foil, paperboard and labelstock substrates as well. According to John Anderson, Kodak GCG's product manager for Flexo Plates Americas, the technology unites a series of components with a new method to make flexographic plates. The TRENDSETTER NX Imager thermally-images dots as small as 10 microns onto the FLEXCEL NX imaging layer. Next, that film is laminated to the FLEXCEL NXH digital-flexo plate via a FLEXCEL NX laminator. The plate is then exposed and processed as usual. The method seals out oxygen between film and plate, producing an enhanced dot structure.
Clesse explains: “The dots don't change shape when they are pressed down to the plastic we're printing on. You can put a whole bunch of these dots next to each other, and they don't change, giving us a very vivid image. It's like having a square dot or a plateau versus a peak of a mountain…the plateau is much sturdier. Flesh and skin tones were typically always off limits with flexo, but with this new technology we can now achieve it with flexo plates, and it comes with tremendous upfront savings for our customers.”
Quality is the linchpin
The ability to print 200-line screens and print a minimum highlight dot allows Packstar to produce a vignette that was not achievable prior to this technology, Clesse says.
Prepress turnaround time is another distinct advantage. “With the full-blown system, we get a much faster pickup lead time,” says Clesse.
“It takes just two hours from the point of getting the artwork approved until getting the plate on the press. We have been able to increase speed to finish a plate by 50 percent,” adds Packstar CEO Andy Sharp.
Although the converter is reaching impressive speeds, Clesse and Sharp are quick to point out why they initially invested in the FLEXCEL NX. “We bought it for the technology,” says Clesse. “The real linchpin is the quality produced…it's the best in the market that we know of.”
| MORE INFO: | ||
| CONVERTER: | ||
| PACKSTAR FLEXIBLE PACKAGING, 800/808-1688, www.packstargroup.com | ||
| SUPPLIER: | ||
| KODAK GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, 800/944-6171, http://graphics.kodak.com | ||
Flexo-workflow solution provides accurate proofs
Epson America, Inc. (www.epson.com) and Electronics For Imaging [EFI] (www.efi.com) produce a proofing workflow solution for both flexographic and commercial applications. The new Epson Stylus® Pro 900 Series proofing editions unite the proofing advantages of Stylus Pro 7900 (24-in.) and 9900 (44-in.) wide-format inkjet printers with EFI Colorproof™ v4.0 software, the company's latest RIP workflow system.
“We're very confident this collaborative effort will pay off for our customers in many new and exciting ways,” says Mark Radogna, group product manager for Epson America.
EFI's Colorproof XF v4.0 RIP for Epson takes advantage of the latest Adobe® PostScript® 3 and Adobe Print Engine 2.0 technologies and processes files to ensure consistent and accurate proofs for all types of color print work. All color management processes are completely automated. The combined hardware/software proofing editions are MSRP-priced at Stylus Pro 7900 ($7,995) and 9900 ($9,995).
Color management system ensures brand integrity
Brand owners can reportedly predict how their corporate spot colors will reproduce on a variety of substrates (from brown corrugated to clear film to white polypropylene), with the SmartColour™ portfolio of color management tools (left) from Sun Chemical (www.sunchemical.com).
“Every brand owner knows that accurate reproduction of brand colors on product packaging is critical not only to the integrity of the brand but to product sales,” says Iain Pike, business leader for Color Management, Sun Chemical North America. “Brand owners often have to manage portfolios of spot colors to maintain consistent brand color on labels, pouches, metallized surfaces, cartons and any number of additional packaging structures.”
The SmartColour system combines consulting support, customized brand-color standards, software and database systems and online collaboration tools for managing spot colors.
Flexo prepress goes "high-definition"
05/27/2009
