How to Increase the Plate-making Performance of Photosensitive Resin Plates by Flexoprinting (Part 2)

The application of Hybrid AM Screening in the flexo CTP workflow effectively eliminates the need for jump curves, and at the same time, due to the sharpness of the dots, the dot gain is minimized, which is the inherent characteristic of digital printing plates.

By using element-based allocation tools, further improvements in quality can be achieved. It allows you to choose to use Hybrid AM screening at the right place, without forcing you to use it for your entire design.

Another new technology is HyperFlex(tm) screening, which complements Hybrid AM screening.

When the photosensitive resin plate is exposed by the amplitude modulation screening, the regularly arranged dots support each other during the formation of the printing plate, resulting in an effect that is often referred to as "bridge". However, when other alternative screening technologies such as Hybrid AM screening are used, the number of high-light area sites is reduced, thereby reducing overall support. This increases the pressure on each point and affects the reproduction of dots during development and printing.

HyperFlex screening helps the photosensitive resin to form small dots or image elements. As can be seen from the image below, the use of HyperFlex screening helps to improve the plate making process.

In Figure 3, we try to break the limitations of the platemaking process by generating 25 micron dots at 120 lppi at 1% tone. As you can see, the dots on the plate are not well formed, and there is a great risk that the printing effect will be far less than expected.

In FIG. 4, the HyperFlex screening technology is only applied to the highlight area, which helps to reduce the depth of the bumps between the dots and expands the shoulder base so that the dots can be well formed and small dots that cannot be obtained by the prior art can be obtained. Another benefit is that the surface area of ​​the dot is not changed, so the HyperFlex screening process does not cause unwanted dot gain on the printed matter.

Figure 5: Plate surface

Figure 5 below shows the application of Hybrid AM screening on a block plate. There will be a cross section. Note that in the highlight part, all the ideas are the same size, but some are isolated and unsupported. These isolated outlets cannot be well formed in print.

Figure 6: Plate surface

In contrast, Figure 6 shows the same plate with HyperFlex screening. As a result, in the high-light areas, the slope is shorter, giving more support to isolated sites and achieving excellent printing results.

In short, the new digital technology continues to enhance the plate-making performance of the photosensitive resin plate. Improving Hybrid AM screening, combining Hybrid AM screening with HyperFlex screening is an example of how the use of science and technology has enabled Flexo to continue to increase its competitiveness.

Author: Creo