Flexo, as the name suggests, is a flexographic printing plate made of resin and other materials. It is a letterpress printing technology. The cost of plate making is much lower than that of metal printing plates such as intaglio copper plates. This printing method was proposed in the middle of the last century. However, at that time, the supporting water-based ink technology had not been greatly developed, and the requirements for environmental protection were not so concerned at that time, so the printing of non-absorbent materials was not promoted.

Although flexographic printing and gravure printing are basically the same in process, they are both unwinding, winding, ink transfer, drying, etc., but there are still big differences in details between the two. In the past, gravure and solvent-based inks have obvious printing effects. Better than flexographic printing, now with the great development of water-based inks, UV inks and other environmentally friendly ink technologies, the characteristics of flexographic printing are beginning to show up, and they are not inferior to gravure printing. In general, flexographic printing has the following characteristics:

1. Lower cost

The cost of plate making is much lower than that of gravure, especially when printing in small batches, the gap is huge.

2. Use less ink

The flexographic printing adopts a flexographic plate, and the ink is transferred through the anilox roller, and the ink consumption is reduced by more than 20% compared with the intaglio plate.

3. The printing speed is fast and the efficiency is higher

The flexographic printing machine with high-quality water-based ink can easily reach a high speed of 400 meters per minute, while the common gravure printing can often only reach 150 meters.

4. More environmentally friendly

In flexo printing, water-based inks, UV inks and other environmentally friendly inks are generally used, which are more environmentally friendly than solvent-based inks used in gravure. There is almost no VOCS emission, and it can be food-grade.

Features of gravure printing

1. High cost of plate making

In the early days, gravure plates were made using chemical corrosion methods, but the effect was not good. Now laser plates can be used, so the precision is higher, and the printing plates made of copper and other metals are more durable than flexible resin plates, but the cost of plate making is also higher. High, greater initial investment.

2. Better printing accuracy and consistency

The metal printing plate is more suitable for mass printing, and has better consistency. It is affected by thermal expansion and contraction and is relatively small

3. Large ink consumption and high production cost

In terms of ink transfer, gravure printing consumes more ink, which virtually increases production costs.