Processes: Flexography

This process uses flexible rubber or polymer plates, or an image etched into a rubber roller, to transfer images. Similar to letterpress, it uses raised images on the rubber plate, and the plate is pressed against the printing material, sometimes leaving a ring of ink impression around the image as the rubber lifts away from the paper.

Fast-drying, waterbased inks are generally used, which allow for fast running speeds. The print quality depends on many variables in the flexo process, but is very influenced by the absorbency of the stock or material being printed.

Flexographic presses are web fed, so size is not limited. Flexography easily prints onto rough materials like fiberboard, and is well suited for printing large areas of solid color with high gloss and brilliance. It is possible to obtain line and half-tone quality from this process using direct-to-plate digitally imaged plates and UV inks for higher resolution dots during four-color process printing.

PRO - Fast printing speed, quick set-ups, cost-efficient, large format capability.

CON - Can sometimes leave an ink ring around images.

COST -$ Flexography is the least expensive and simplest of the processes.

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