The Flexo Printing Technique Explained

Flexographic printing is the most widely used label printing process for the production of self-adhesive labels. Compared with China, in Europe this process is around 40-50% whereas in the US it takes up more than 90%.

What is flexo printing?

Flexography is a rotary relief printing process in which ink is applied to the printing plate and, from there, to the surface of a label or flexible packaging substrate. The printing plates are typically made from a softer, resilient rubber or flexible photopolymer. This is where flexo printing gets its name – the use of the flexible printing plates wrapped around the printing cylinder. The inked plates have a raised image and rotate at high speeds to transfer ink through small holes from the roll to the substrate, each colour requires a different printing plate. This type of flexo printing is unique because it adapts well to different materials including:

Pressure sensitive label materials

Flexible packaging

Film

Paper

Shrink sleeves

What are the advantages of the flexo printing process?

High quality image reproduction

Versatility of ink types including water-based, solvent-based and UV-curable

Automated performance offering a fast, efficient printing process

High speed

Cost efficient

What are the disadvantages of flexo printing?

Initial set-up is time consuming as materials, colours, images, plates and cylinders must be thoroughly set up and installed to generate high-quality output

Not well suited to printing smaller quantities & can result in higher costs

What are the differences between flexo vs offset printing?

There are a few basics that differentiate flexo and offset printing.

The first difference is that offset printing uses a printing plate to transfer an image to an intermediate carrier and then onto the printed substrate. Whereas flexo transfers ink from the plate directly to the substrate, such as a pressure sensitive label or flexible packaging material.

The second difference is the types of materials both offset and flexo can print on. For offset printing, the printing surface must be flat or smooth which is great for paper, metal, cardboard, and vinyl. However, flexography printing can be used on almost any substrate with a flexible surface, for example, foil, cardboard, plastic, and metal.